12.3 Project Files for gnatxref and gnatfind

Project files allow a programmer to specify how to compile its application, where to find sources, etc. These files are used primarily by GPS, but they can also be used by the two tools gnatxref and gnatfind.

A project file name must end with .gpr. If a single one is present in the current directory, then gnatxref and gnatfind will extract the information from it. If multiple project files are found, none of them is read, and you have to use the `-p' switch to specify the one you want to use.

The following lines can be included, even though most of them have default values which can be used in most cases. The lines can be entered in any order in the file. Except for src_dir and obj_dir, you can only have one instance of each line. If you have multiple instances, only the last one is taken into account.

src_dir=DIR

[default: "./"] specifies a directory where to look for source files. Multiple src_dir lines can be specified and they will be searched in the order they are specified.

obj_dir=DIR

[default: "./"] specifies a directory where to look for object and library files. Multiple obj_dir lines can be specified, and they will be searched in the order they are specified

comp_opt=SWITCHES

[default: ""] creates a variable which can be referred to subsequently by using the ${comp_opt} notation. This is intended to store the default switches given to gnatmake and gcc.

bind_opt=SWITCHES

[default: ""] creates a variable which can be referred to subsequently by using the `${bind_opt}' notation. This is intended to store the default switches given to gnatbind.

link_opt=SWITCHES

[default: ""] creates a variable which can be referred to subsequently by using the `${link_opt}' notation. This is intended to store the default switches given to gnatlink.

main=EXECUTABLE

[default: ""] specifies the name of the executable for the application. This variable can be referred to in the following lines by using the `${main}' notation.

comp_cmd=COMMAND

[default: "gcc -c -I${src_dir} -g -gnatq"] specifies the command used to compile a single file in the application.

make_cmd=COMMAND

[default: "gnatmake ${main} -aI${src_dir} -aO${obj_dir} -g -gnatq -cargs ${comp_opt} -bargs ${bind_opt} -largs ${link_opt}"] specifies the command used to recompile the whole application.

run_cmd=COMMAND

[default: "${main}"] specifies the command used to run the application.

debug_cmd=COMMAND

[default: "gdb ${main}"] specifies the command used to debug the application

gnatxref and gnatfind only take into account the src_dir and obj_dir lines, and ignore the others.