buildroot/docs/manual/adding-packages-directory.txt

// -*- mode:doc; -*-

Package directory
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First of all, create a directory under the +package+ directory for
your software, for example +libfoo+.

Some packages have been grouped by topic in a sub-directory:
+multimedia+, +x11r7+, +efl+ and +matchbox+. If your package fits in
one of these categories, then create your package directory in these.
New subdirectories are discouraged, however.


+Config.in+ file
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then, create a file named +Config.in+. This file will contain the
option descriptions related to our +libfoo+ software that will be used
and displayed in the configuration tool. It should basically contain:

---------------------------
config BR2_PACKAGE_LIBFOO
	bool "libfoo"
	help
	  This is a comment that explains what libfoo is.

	  http://foosoftware.org/libfoo/
---------------------------

The +bool+ line, +help+ line and other meta-informations about the
configuration option must be indented with one tab. The help text
itself should be indented with one tab and two spaces, and it must
mention the upstream URL of the project.

You can add other sub-options into a +if
BR2_PACKAGE_LIBFOO...endif+ statement to configure particular things
in your software. You can look at examples in other packages. The
syntax of the +Config.in+ file is the same as the one for the kernel
Kconfig file. The documentation for this syntax is available at
http://kernel.org/doc/Documentation/kbuild/kconfig-language.txt[]

Finally you have to add your new +libfoo/Config.in+ to
+package/Config.in+ (or in a category subdirectory if you decided to
put your package in one of the existing categories). The files
included there are 'sorted alphabetically' per category and are 'NOT'
supposed to contain anything but the 'bare' name of the package.

--------------------------
source "package/libfoo/Config.in"
--------------------------

[[depends-on-vs-select]]
Choosing +depends on+ or +select+
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The +Config.in+ file of your package must also ensure that
dependencies are enabled. Typically, Buildroot uses the following
rules:

* Use a +select+ type of dependency for dependencies on
  libraries. These dependencies are generally not obvious and it
  therefore make sense to have the kconfig system ensure that the
  dependencies are selected. For example, the _libgtk2_ package uses
  +select BR2_PACKAGE_LIBGLIB2+ to make sure this library is also
  enabled.
  The +select+ keyword express the dependency with a backward
  semantic.

* Use a +depends on+ type of dependency when the user really needs to
  be aware of the dependency. Typically, Buildroot uses this type of
  dependency for dependencies on toolchain options (target
  architecture, MMU support, C library, C++ support, large file
  support, thread support, RPC support, IPV6 support, WCHAR support),
  or for dependencies on "big" things, such as the X.org system. For
  dependencies on toolchain options, there should be a +comment+ that
  is displayed when the option is not
  enabled, so that the user knows why the package is not available.
  The +depends on+ keyword express the dependency with a forward
  semantic.

.Note
The current problem with the _kconfig_ language is that these two
dependency semantics are not internally linked. Therefore, it may be
possible to select a package, whom one of its dependencies/requirement
is not met.

An example illustrates both the usage of +select+ and +depends on+.

--------------------------
config BR2_PACKAGE_ACL
        bool "acl"
        select BR2_PACKAGE_ATTR
        depends on BR2_LARGEFILE
        help
          POSIX Access Control Lists, which are used to define more
          fine-grained discretionary access rights for files and
          directories.
          This package also provides libacl.

          http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/acl

comment "acl requires a toolchain with LARGEFILE support"
        depends on !BR2_LARGEFILE
--------------------------


Note that these two dependency types are only transitive with the
dependencies of the same kind.

This means, in the following example:

--------------------------
config BR2_PACKAGE_A
        bool "Package A"

config BR2_PACKAGE_B
        bool "Package B"
        depends on BR2_PACKAGE_A

config BR2_PACKAGE_C
        bool "Package C"
        depends on BR2_PACKAGE_B

config BR2_PACKAGE_D
        bool "Package D"
        select BR2_PACKAGE_B

config BR2_PACKAGE_E
        bool "Package E"
        select BR2_PACKAGE_D
--------------------------

* Selecting +Package C+ will be visible if +Package B+ has been
  selected, which in turn is only visible if +Package A+ has been
  selected.

* Selecting +Package E+ will select +Package D+, which will select
  +Package B+, it will not check for the dependencies of +Package B+,
  so it will not select +Package A+.

* Since +Package B+ is selected but +Package A+ is not, this violates
  the dependency of +Package B+ on +Package A+.  Therefore, in such a
  situation, the transitive dependency has to be added explicitly:

--------------------------
config BR2_PACKAGE_D
	bool "Package D"
	select BR2_PACKAGE_B
	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_A

config BR2_PACKAGE_E
	bool "Package E"
	select BR2_PACKAGE_D
	depends on BR2_PACKAGE_A
--------------------------

Overall, for package library dependencies, +select+ should be
preferred.

Note that such dependencies will ensure that the dependency option
is also enabled, but not necessarily built before your package. To do
so, the dependency also needs to be expressed in the +.mk+ file of the
package.

Further formatting details: see xref:writing-rules-config-in[the
coding style].

The +.mk+ file
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally, here's the hardest part. Create a file named +libfoo.mk+. It
describes how the package should be downloaded, configured, built,
installed, etc.

Depending on the package type, the +.mk+ file must be written in a
different way, using different infrastructures:

* *Makefiles for generic packages* (not using autotools or CMake):
  These are based on an infrastructure similar to the one used for
  autotools-based packages, but require a little more work from the
  developer. They specify what should be done for the configuration,
  compilation, installation and cleanup of the package. This
  infrastructure must be used for all packages that do not use the
  autotools as their build system. In the future, other specialized
  infrastructures might be written for other build systems.  We cover
  them through in a xref:generic-package-tutorial[tutorial] and a
  xref:generic-package-reference[reference].

* *Makefiles for autotools-based software* (autoconf, automake, etc.):
  We provide a dedicated infrastructure for such packages, since
  autotools is a very common build system. This infrastructure 'must'
  be used for new packages that rely on the autotools as their build
  system. We cover them through a xref:autotools-package-tutorial[tutorial]
  and xref:autotools-package-reference[reference].

* *Makefiles for cmake-based software*: We provide a dedicated
   infrastructure for such packages, as CMake is a more and more
   commonly used build system and has a standardized behaviour. This
   infrastructure 'must' be used for new packages that rely on
   CMake. We cover them through a xref:cmake-package-tutorial[tutorial]
   and xref:cmake-package-reference[reference].

Further formating details: see xref:writing-rules-mk[the writing
rules].