Last Modified
2013-05-18 11:04:49 -0700
Requires

Description

Compile ↑

mruby is using Rake to compile and cross-compile all libraries and binaries.

Prerequisites ↑

To compile mruby out of the source code you need the following tools: * C Compiler (i.e. gcc) * Linker (i.e. gcc) * Archive utility (i.e. ar) * Parser generator (i.e. bison) * Ruby 1.8 or 1.9 (i.e. ruby or jruby)

Optional: * GIT (to update mruby source and integrate mrbgems easier) * C++ compiler (to use GEMs which include *.cpp) * Assembler (to use GEMs which include *.asm)

Usage ↑

Inside of the root directory of the mruby source a file exists called build_config.rb. This file contains the build configuration of mruby and looks like this for example:

    MRuby::Build.new do |conf|
      toolchain :gcc
    end

All tools necessary to compile mruby can be set or modified here. In case you want to maintain an additional build_config.rb you can define a customized path using the $MRUBY_CONFIG environment variable.

To compile just call ./minirake inside of the mruby source root. To generate and execute the test tools call ./minirake test. To clean all build files call ./minirake clean.

Build Configuration ↑

Inside of the build_config.rb the following options can be configured based on your environment.

Toolchains ↑

The mruby build system already contains a set of toolchain templates which configure the build environment for specific compiler infrastructures.

GCC ↑

Toolchain configuration for the GNU C Compiler.

    toolchain :gcc

clang ↑

Toolchain configuration for the LLVM C Compiler clang. Mainly equal to the GCC toolchain.

    toolchain :clang

Visual Studio 2010 ↑

Toolchain configuration for Visual Studio 2010 on Windows.

    toolchain :vs2010

Visual Studio 2012 ↑

Toolchain configuration for Visual Studio 2012 on Windows.

    toolchain :vs2012

Android ↑

Toolchain configuration for Android.

    toolchain :androideabi

Requires the custom standalone Android NDK and the toolchain path in ANDROID_STANDALONE_TOOLCHAIN.

Binaries ↑

It is possible to select which tools should be compiled during the compilation process. The following tools can be selected: * mruby (mruby interpreter) * mirb (mruby interactive shell)

To select them declare conf.gem as follows:

    conf.gem "#{root}/mrbgems/mruby-bin-mruby"

    conf.gem "#{root}/mrbgems/mruby-bin-mirb"

File Separator ↑

Some environments require a different file separator character. It is possible to set the character via conf.file_separator.

    conf.file_separator = '/'

C Compiler ↑

Configuration of the C compiler binary, flags and include paths.

    conf.cc do |cc|
      cc.command = ...
      cc.flags = ...
      cc.include_paths = ...
      cc.defines = ...
      cc.option_include_path = ...
      cc.option_define = ...
      cc.compile_options = ...
    end

Linker ↑

Configuration of the Linker binary, flags and library paths.

    conf.linker do |linker|
      linker.command = ...
      linker.flags = ...
      linker.flags_before_libraries = ...
      linker.libraries = ...
      linker.flags_after_libraries = ...
      linker.library_paths = ....
      linker.option_library = ...
      linker.option_library_path = ...
      linker.link_options = ...
    end

Archiver ↑

Configuration of the Archiver binary and flags.

    conf.archiver do |archiver|
      archiver.command = ...
      archiver.archive_options = ...
    end

Parser Generator ↑

Configuration of the Parser Generator binary and flags.

    conf.yacc do |yacc|
      yacc.command = ...
      yacc.compile_options = ...
    end

GPerf ↑

Configuration of the GPerf binary and flags.

    conf.gperf do |gperf|
      gperf.command = ...
      gperf.compile_options = ...
    end

File Extensions ↑

    conf.exts do |exts
      exts.object = ...
      exts.executable = ...
      exts.library = ...
    end

Mrbgems ↑

Integrate GEMs in the build process.

    # Integrate GEM with additional configuration
    conf.gem 'path/to/gem' do |g|
      g.cc.flags << ...
    end

    # Integrate GEM without additional configuration
    conf.gem 'path/to/another/gem'

Mrbtest ↑

Configuration Mrbtest build process.

If you want mrbtest.a only, You should set conf.build_mrbtest_lib_only

    conf.build_mrbtest_lib_only

Cross-Compilation ↑

mruby can also be cross-compiled from one platform to another. To achieve this the build_config.rb needs to contain an instance of MRuby::CrossBuild. This instance defines the compilation tools and flags for the target platform. An example could look like this:

    MRuby::CrossBuild.new('32bit') do |conf|
      toolchain :gcc

      conf.cc.flags << "-m32"
      conf.linker.flags << "-m32"
    end

All configuration options of MRuby::Build can also be used in MRuby::CrossBuild.

Build process ↑

During the build process the directory build will be created in the root directory. The structure of this directory will look like this:

    +- build
       |
       +-  host
           |
           +- bin          <- Binaries (mirb, mrbc and mruby)
           |
           +- lib          <- Libraries (libmruby.a and libmruby_core.a)
           |
           +- mrblib
           |
           +- src
           |
           +- test         <- mrbtest tool
           |
           +- tools
              |
              +- mirb
              |
              +- mrbc
              | 
              +- mruby

The compilation workflow will look like this: * compile all files under src (object files will be stored in build/host/src) * generate parser grammar out of src/parse.y (generated result will be stored in build/host/src/y.tab.c) * compile build/host/src/y.tab.c to build/host/src/y.tab.o * create build/host/lib/libmruby_core.a out of all object files (C only) * create build/host/bin/mrbc by compiling tools/mrbc/mrbc.c and linking with build/host/lib/libmruby_core.a * create build/host/mrblib/mrblib.c by compiling all *.rb files under mrblib with build/host/bin/mrbc * compile build/host/mrblib/mrblib.c to build/host/mrblib/mrblib.o * create build/host/lib/libmruby.a out of all object files (C and Ruby) * create build/host/bin/mruby by compiling mrbgems/mruby-bin-mruby/tools/mruby/mruby.c and linking with build/host/lib/libmruby.a * create build/host/bin/mirb by compiling mrbgems/mruby-bin-mirb/tools/mirb/mirb.c and linking with build/host/lib/libmruby.a

_____    _____    ______    ____    ____    _____    _____    ____
| CC  |->|GEN  |->|AR    |->|CC  |->|CC  |->|AR   |->|CC   |->|CC  |
| *.c |  |y.tab|  |core.a|  |mrbc|  |*.rb|  |lib.a|  |mruby|  |mirb|
 -----    -----    ------    ----    ----    -----    -----    ----

Cross-Compilation ↑

In case of a cross-compilation to i386 the build directory structure looks like this:

    +- build
       |
       +-  host
       |   |
       |   +- bin           <- Native Binaries
       |   |
       |   +- lib           <- Native Libraries
       |   |
       |   +- mrblib
       |   |
       |   +- src
       |   |
       |   +- test          <- Native mrbtest tool
       |   |
       |   +- tools
       |      |
       |      +- mirb
       |      |
       |      +- mrbc
       |      | 
       |      +- mruby 
       +- i386
          |
          +- bin            <- Cross-compiled Binaries
          |
          +- lib            <- Cross-compiled Libraries
          |
          +- mrblib
          |
          +- src
          |
          +- test           <- Cross-compiled mrbtest tool
          |
          +- tools
             |
             +- mirb
             |
             +- mrbc
             | 
             +- mruby

An extra directory is created for the target platform. In case you compile for i386 a directory called i386 is created under the build direcotry.

The cross compilation workflow starts in the same way as the normal compilation by compiling all native libraries and binaries. Afterwards the cross compilation process proceeds like this: * cross-compile all files under src (object files will be stored in build/i386/src) * generate parser grammar out of src/parse.y (generated result will be stored in build/i386/src/y.tab.c) * cross-compile build/i386/src/y.tab.c to build/i386/src/y.tab.o * create build/i386/mrblib/mrblib.c by compiling all *.rb files under mrblib with the native build/host/bin/mrbc * cross-compile build/host/mrblib/mrblib.c to build/host/mrblib/mrblib.o * create build/i386/lib/libmruby.a out of all object files (C and Ruby) * create build/i386/bin/mruby by cross-compiling mrbgems/mruby-bin-mruby/tools/mruby/mruby.c and linking with build/i386/lib/libmruby.a * create build/i386/bin/mirb by cross-compiling mrbgems/mruby-bin-mirb/tools/mirb/mirb.c and linking with build/i386/lib/libmruby.a * create build/i386/lib/libmruby_core.a out of all object files (C only) * create build/i386/bin/mrbc by cross-compiling tools/mrbc/mrbc.c and linking with build/i386/lib/libmruby_core.a

_______________________________________________________________
|              Native Compilation for Host System               |
|  _____      ______      _____      ____      ____      _____  |
| | CC  | -> |AR    | -> |GEN  | -> |CC  | -> |CC  | -> |AR   | |
| | *.c |    |core.a|    |y.tab|    |mrbc|    |*.rb|    |lib.a| |
|  -----      ------      -----      ----      ----      -----  |
 ---------------------------------------------------------------
                                ||
                               \||/
                                \/
 ________________________________________________________________
|             Cross Compilation for Target System                |
|  _____      _____      _____      ____      ______      _____  |
| | CC  | -> |AR   | -> |CC   | -> |CC  | -> |AR    | -> |CC   | |
| | *.c |    |lib.a|    |mruby|    |mirb|    |core.a|    |mrbc | |
|  -----      -----      -----      ----      ------      -----  |
 ----------------------------------------------------------------

Build Configuration Examples ↑

Minimal Library ↑

To build a minimal mruby library you need to use the Cross Compiling feature due to the reason that there are functions (i.e. stdio) which can’t be disabled for the main build.

    MRuby::CrossBuild.new('Minimal') do |conf|
      toolchain :gcc

      conf.cc.defines = %w(DISABLE_STDIO)
      conf.bins = []  
    end

This configuration defines a cross compile build called ‘Minimal’ which is using the GCC and compiles for the host machine. It also disables all usages of stdio and doesn’t compile any binaries (i.e. mrbc).

Test Environment ↑

mruby’s build process includes a test environment. In case you start the testing of mruby, a native binary called mrbtest will be generated and executed. This binary contains all test cases which are defined under test/t. In case of a cross-compilation an additional cross-compiled mrbtest binary is generated. You can copy this binary and run on your target system.

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