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      1 .. _BuildingLibcxx:
      2 
      3 ===============
      4 Building libc++
      5 ===============
      6 
      7 .. contents::
      8   :local:
      9 
     10 .. _build instructions:
     11 
     12 Getting Started
     13 ===============
     14 
     15 On Mac OS 10.7 (Lion) and later, the easiest way to get this library is to install
     16 Xcode 4.2 or later.  However if you want to install tip-of-trunk from here
     17 (getting the bleeding edge), read on.
     18 
     19 The basic steps needed to build libc++ are:
     20 
     21 #. Checkout LLVM:
     22 
     23    * ``cd where-you-want-llvm-to-live``
     24    * ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/trunk llvm``
     25 
     26 #. Checkout libc++:
     27 
     28    * ``cd where-you-want-llvm-to-live``
     29    * ``cd llvm/projects``
     30    * ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxx/trunk libcxx``
     31 
     32 #. Checkout libc++abi:
     33 
     34    * ``cd where-you-want-llvm-to-live``
     35    * ``cd llvm/projects``
     36    * ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxxabi/trunk libcxxabi``
     37 
     38 #. Configure and build libc++ with libc++abi:
     39 
     40    CMake is the only supported configuration system.
     41 
     42    Clang is the preferred compiler when building and using libc++.
     43 
     44    * ``cd where you want to build llvm``
     45    * ``mkdir build``
     46    * ``cd build``
     47    * ``cmake -G <generator> [options] <path to llvm sources>``
     48 
     49    For more information about configuring libc++ see :ref:`CMake Options`.
     50 
     51    * ``make cxx`` --- will build libc++ and libc++abi.
     52    * ``make check-cxx check-cxxabi`` --- will run the test suites.
     53 
     54    Shared libraries for libc++ and libc++ abi should now be present in llvm/build/lib.
     55    See :ref:`using an alternate libc++ installation <alternate libcxx>`
     56 
     57 #. **Optional**: Install libc++ and libc++abi
     58 
     59    If your system already provides a libc++ installation it is important to be
     60    careful not to replace it. Remember Use the CMake option ``CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX`` to
     61    select a safe place to install libc++.
     62 
     63    * ``make install-cxx install-cxxabi`` --- Will install the libraries and the headers
     64 
     65    .. warning::
     66      * Replacing your systems libc++ installation could render the system non-functional.
     67      * Mac OS X will not boot without a valid copy of ``libc++.1.dylib`` in ``/usr/lib``.
     68 
     69 
     70 The instructions are for building libc++ on
     71 FreeBSD, Linux, or Mac using `libc++abi`_ as the C++ ABI library.
     72 On Linux, it is also possible to use :ref:`libsupc++ <libsupcxx>` or libcxxrt.
     73 
     74 It is sometimes beneficial to build outside of the LLVM tree. An out-of-tree
     75 build would look like this:
     76 
     77 .. code-block:: bash
     78 
     79   $ cd where-you-want-libcxx-to-live
     80   $ # Check out llvm, libc++ and libc++abi.
     81   $ ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/trunk llvm``
     82   $ ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxx/trunk libcxx``
     83   $ ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxxabi/trunk libcxxabi``
     84   $ cd where-you-want-to-build
     85   $ mkdir build && cd build
     86   $ export CC=clang CXX=clang++
     87   $ cmake -DLLVM_PATH=path/to/llvm \
     88           -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libcxxabi \
     89           -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS=path/to/libcxxabi/include \
     90           path/to/libcxx
     91   $ make
     92   $ make check-libcxx # optional
     93 
     94 
     95 Experimental Support for Windows
     96 --------------------------------
     97 
     98 The Windows support requires building with clang-cl as cl does not support one
     99 required extension: `#include_next`.  Furthermore, VS 2015 or newer (19.00) is
    100 required.  In the case of clang-cl, we need to specify the "MS Compatibility
    101 Version" as it defaults to 2014 (18.00).
    102 
    103 CMake + Visual Studio
    104 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    105 
    106 Building with Visual Studio currently does not permit running tests. However,
    107 it is the simplest way to build.
    108 
    109 .. code-block:: batch
    110 
    111   > cmake -G "Visual Studio 14 2015"              ^
    112           -T "LLVM-vs2014"                        ^
    113           -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED=YES              ^
    114           -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC=NO               ^
    115           -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY=NO ^
    116           \path\to\libcxx
    117   > cmake --build .
    118 
    119 CMake + ninja
    120 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    121 
    122 Building with ninja is required for development to enable tests.
    123 Unfortunately, doing so requires additional configuration as we cannot
    124 just specify a toolset.
    125 
    126 .. code-block:: batch
    127 
    128   > cmake -G Ninja                                                                    ^
    129           -DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM=/path/to/ninja                                         ^
    130           -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Windows                                                 ^
    131           -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang-cl                                                 ^
    132           -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS="-fms-compatibility-version=19.00 --target=i686--windows"   ^
    133           -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang-cl                                                ^
    134           -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-fms-compatibility-version=19.00 --target=i686--windows" ^
    135           -DLLVM_PATH=/path/to/llvm/tree                                              ^
    136           -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED=YES                                                  ^
    137           -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC=NO                                                   ^
    138           -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY=NO                                     ^
    139           \path\to\libcxx
    140   > /path/to/ninja cxx
    141   > /path/to/ninja check-cxx
    142 
    143 Note that the paths specified with backward slashes must use the `\\` as the
    144 directory separator as clang-cl may otherwise parse the path as an argument.
    145 
    146 .. _`libc++abi`: http://libcxxabi.llvm.org/
    147 
    148 
    149 .. _CMake Options:
    150 
    151 CMake Options
    152 =============
    153 
    154 Here are some of the CMake variables that are used often, along with a
    155 brief explanation and LLVM-specific notes. For full documentation, check the
    156 CMake docs or execute ``cmake --help-variable VARIABLE_NAME``.
    157 
    158 **CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE**:STRING
    159   Sets the build type for ``make`` based generators. Possible values are
    160   Release, Debug, RelWithDebInfo and MinSizeRel. On systems like Visual Studio
    161   the user sets the build type with the IDE settings.
    162 
    163 **CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX**:PATH
    164   Path where LLVM will be installed if "make install" is invoked or the
    165   "INSTALL" target is built.
    166 
    167 **CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER**:STRING
    168   The C++ compiler to use when building and testing libc++.
    169 
    170 
    171 .. _libcxx-specific options:
    172 
    173 libc++ specific options
    174 -----------------------
    175 
    176 .. option:: LIBCXX_INSTALL_LIBRARY:BOOL
    177 
    178   **Default**: ``ON``
    179 
    180   Toggle the installation of the library portion of libc++.
    181 
    182 .. option:: LIBCXX_INSTALL_HEADERS:BOOL
    183 
    184   **Default**: ``ON``
    185 
    186   Toggle the installation of the libc++ headers.
    187 
    188 .. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS:BOOL
    189 
    190   **Default**: ``ON``
    191 
    192   Build libc++ with assertions enabled.
    193 
    194 .. option:: LIBCXX_BUILD_32_BITS:BOOL
    195 
    196   **Default**: ``OFF``
    197 
    198   Build libc++ as a 32 bit library. Also see `LLVM_BUILD_32_BITS`.
    199 
    200 .. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED:BOOL
    201 
    202   **Default**: ``ON``
    203 
    204   Build libc++ as a shared library. Either `LIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED` or
    205   `LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC` has to be enabled.
    206 
    207 .. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC:BOOL
    208 
    209   **Default**: ``ON``
    210 
    211   Build libc++ as a static library. Either `LIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED` or
    212   `LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC` has to be enabled.
    213 
    214 .. option:: LIBCXX_LIBDIR_SUFFIX:STRING
    215 
    216   Extra suffix to append to the directory where libraries are to be installed.
    217   This option overrides `LLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX`.
    218 
    219 .. option:: LIBCXX_INSTALL_PREFIX:STRING
    220 
    221   **Default**: ``""``
    222 
    223   Define libc++ destination prefix.
    224 
    225 .. _libc++experimental options:
    226 
    227 libc++experimental Specific Options
    228 ------------------------------------
    229 
    230 .. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY:BOOL
    231 
    232   **Default**: ``ON``
    233 
    234   Build and test libc++experimental.a.
    235 
    236 .. option:: LIBCXX_INSTALL_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY:BOOL
    237 
    238   **Default**: ``LIBCXX_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY AND LIBCXX_INSTALL_LIBRARY``
    239 
    240   Install libc++experimental.a alongside libc++.
    241 
    242 
    243 .. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_FILESYSTEM:BOOL
    244 
    245   **Default**: ``LIBCXX_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY``
    246 
    247   Build filesystem as part of libc++experimental.a. This allows filesystem
    248   to be disabled without turning off the entire experimental library.
    249 
    250 
    251 .. _ABI Library Specific Options:
    252 
    253 ABI Library Specific Options
    254 ----------------------------
    255 
    256 .. option:: LIBCXX_CXX_ABI:STRING
    257 
    258   **Values**: ``none``, ``libcxxabi``, ``libcxxrt``, ``libstdc++``, ``libsupc++``.
    259 
    260   Select the ABI library to build libc++ against.
    261 
    262 .. option:: LIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS:PATHS
    263 
    264   Provide additional search paths for the ABI library headers.
    265 
    266 .. option:: LIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY_PATH:PATH
    267 
    268   Provide the path to the ABI library that libc++ should link against.
    269 
    270 .. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC_ABI_LIBRARY:BOOL
    271 
    272   **Default**: ``OFF``
    273 
    274   If this option is enabled, libc++ will try and link the selected ABI library
    275   statically.
    276 
    277 .. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_ABI_LINKER_SCRIPT:BOOL
    278 
    279   **Default**: ``ON`` by default on UNIX platforms other than Apple unless
    280   'LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC_ABI_LIBRARY' is ON. Otherwise the default value is ``OFF``.
    281 
    282   This option generate and installs a linker script as ``libc++.so`` which
    283   links the correct ABI library.
    284 
    285 .. option:: LIBCXXABI_USE_LLVM_UNWINDER:BOOL
    286 
    287   **Default**: ``OFF``
    288 
    289   Build and use the LLVM unwinder. Note: This option can only be used when
    290   libc++abi is the C++ ABI library used.
    291 
    292 
    293 libc++ Feature Options
    294 ----------------------
    295 
    296 .. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_EXCEPTIONS:BOOL
    297 
    298   **Default**: ``ON``
    299 
    300   Build libc++ with exception support.
    301 
    302 .. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_RTTI:BOOL
    303 
    304   **Default**: ``ON``
    305 
    306   Build libc++ with run time type information.
    307 
    308 .. option:: LIBCXX_INCLUDE_BENCHMARKS:BOOL
    309 
    310   **Default**: ``ON``
    311 
    312   Build the libc++ benchmark tests and the Google Benchmark library needed
    313   to support them.
    314 
    315 .. option:: LIBCXX_BENCHMARK_NATIVE_STDLIB:STRING
    316 
    317   **Default**:: ``""``
    318 
    319   **Values**:: ``libc++``, ``libstdc++``
    320 
    321   Build the libc++ benchmark tests and Google Benchmark library against the
    322   specified standard library on the platform. On linux this can be used to
    323   compare libc++ to libstdc++ by building the benchmark tests against both
    324   standard libraries.
    325 
    326 .. option:: LIBCXX_BENCHMARK_NATIVE_GCC_TOOLCHAIN:STRING
    327 
    328   Use the specified GCC toolchain and standard library when building the native
    329   stdlib benchmark tests.
    330 
    331 
    332 libc++ ABI Feature Options
    333 --------------------------
    334 
    335 The following options allow building libc++ for a different ABI version.
    336 
    337 .. option:: LIBCXX_ABI_VERSION:STRING
    338 
    339   **Default**: ``1``
    340 
    341   Defines the target ABI version of libc++.
    342 
    343 .. option:: LIBCXX_ABI_UNSTABLE:BOOL
    344 
    345   **Default**: ``OFF``
    346 
    347   Build the "unstable" ABI version of libc++. Includes all ABI changing features
    348   on top of the current stable version.
    349 
    350 .. option:: LIBCXX_ABI_DEFINES:STRING
    351 
    352   **Default**: ``""``
    353 
    354   A semicolon-separated list of ABI macros to persist in the site config header.
    355   See ``include/__config`` for the list of ABI macros.
    356 
    357 .. _LLVM-specific variables:
    358 
    359 LLVM-specific options
    360 ---------------------
    361 
    362 .. option:: LLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX:STRING
    363 
    364   Extra suffix to append to the directory where libraries are to be
    365   installed. On a 64-bit architecture, one could use ``-DLLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX=64``
    366   to install libraries to ``/usr/lib64``.
    367 
    368 .. option:: LLVM_BUILD_32_BITS:BOOL
    369 
    370   Build 32-bits executables and libraries on 64-bits systems. This option is
    371   available only on some 64-bits unix systems. Defaults to OFF.
    372 
    373 .. option:: LLVM_LIT_ARGS:STRING
    374 
    375   Arguments given to lit.  ``make check`` and ``make clang-test`` are affected.
    376   By default, ``'-sv --no-progress-bar'`` on Visual C++ and Xcode, ``'-sv'`` on
    377   others.
    378 
    379 
    380 Using Alternate ABI libraries
    381 =============================
    382 
    383 
    384 .. _libsupcxx:
    385 
    386 Using libsupc++ on Linux
    387 ------------------------
    388 
    389 You will need libstdc++ in order to provide libsupc++.
    390 
    391 Figure out where the libsupc++ headers are on your system. On Ubuntu this
    392 is ``/usr/include/c++/<version>`` and ``/usr/include/c++/<version>/<target-triple>``
    393 
    394 You can also figure this out by running
    395 
    396 .. code-block:: bash
    397 
    398   $ echo | g++ -Wp,-v -x c++ - -fsyntax-only
    399   ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/local/include/x86_64-linux-gnu"
    400   ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.7/../../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/include"
    401   #include "..." search starts here:
    402   #include &lt;...&gt; search starts here:
    403   /usr/include/c++/4.7
    404   /usr/include/c++/4.7/x86_64-linux-gnu
    405   /usr/include/c++/4.7/backward
    406   /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.7/include
    407   /usr/local/include
    408   /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.7/include-fixed
    409   /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu
    410   /usr/include
    411   End of search list.
    412 
    413 Note that the first two entries happen to be what we are looking for. This
    414 may not be correct on other platforms.
    415 
    416 We can now run CMake:
    417 
    418 .. code-block:: bash
    419 
    420   $ CC=clang CXX=clang++ cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" \
    421     -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libstdc++ \
    422     -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS="/usr/include/c++/4.7/;/usr/include/c++/4.7/x86_64-linux-gnu/" \
    423     -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr \
    424     <libc++-source-dir>
    425 
    426 
    427 You can also substitute ``-DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libsupc++``
    428 above, which will cause the library to be linked to libsupc++ instead
    429 of libstdc++, but this is only recommended if you know that you will
    430 never need to link against libstdc++ in the same executable as libc++.
    431 GCC ships libsupc++ separately but only as a static library.  If a
    432 program also needs to link against libstdc++, it will provide its
    433 own copy of libsupc++ and this can lead to subtle problems.
    434 
    435 .. code-block:: bash
    436 
    437   $ make cxx
    438   $ make install
    439 
    440 You can now run clang with -stdlib=libc++.
    441 
    442 
    443 .. _libcxxrt_ref:
    444 
    445 Using libcxxrt on Linux
    446 ------------------------
    447 
    448 You will need to keep the source tree of `libcxxrt`_ available
    449 on your build machine and your copy of the libcxxrt shared library must
    450 be placed where your linker will find it.
    451 
    452 We can now run CMake like:
    453 
    454 .. code-block:: bash
    455 
    456   $ CC=clang CXX=clang++ cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" \
    457           -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libcxxrt \
    458           -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS=path/to/libcxxrt-sources/src \
    459                 -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    460                 -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr \
    461                 <libc++-source-directory>
    462   $ make cxx
    463   $ make install
    464 
    465 Unfortunately you can't simply run clang with "-stdlib=libc++" at this point, as
    466 clang is set up to link for libc++ linked to libsupc++.  To get around this
    467 you'll have to set up your linker yourself (or patch clang).  For example,
    468 
    469 .. code-block:: bash
    470 
    471   $ clang++ -stdlib=libc++ helloworld.cpp \
    472             -nodefaultlibs -lc++ -lcxxrt -lm -lc -lgcc_s -lgcc
    473 
    474 Alternately, you could just add libcxxrt to your libraries list, which in most
    475 situations will give the same result:
    476 
    477 .. code-block:: bash
    478 
    479   $ clang++ -stdlib=libc++ helloworld.cpp -lcxxrt
    480 
    481 .. _`libcxxrt`: https://github.com/pathscale/libcxxrt/
    482 
    483 
    484 Using a local ABI library installation
    485 ---------------------------------------
    486 
    487 .. warning::
    488   This is not recommended in almost all cases.
    489 
    490 These instructions should only be used when you can't install your ABI library.
    491 
    492 Normally you must link libc++ against a ABI shared library that the
    493 linker can find.  If you want to build and test libc++ against an ABI
    494 library not in the linker's path you needq to set
    495 ``-DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/abi/lib`` when configuring CMake.
    496 
    497 An example build using libc++abi would look like:
    498 
    499 .. code-block:: bash
    500 
    501   $ CC=clang CXX=clang++ cmake \
    502               -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libc++abi  \
    503               -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS="/path/to/libcxxabi/include" \
    504               -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY_PATH="/path/to/libcxxabi-build/lib" \
    505                path/to/libcxx
    506   $ make
    507 
    508 When testing libc++ LIT will automatically link against the proper ABI
    509 library.
    510