Frequently asked questions about GMPS and the demo-project

• Where can I find the build instructions?

The path to gms_target: $(GMPS_TOP)/$(GMPS_HOME)/etc/sample/common/gms_targets.xml -> Here you can see all registered targets of the project. To see the build instructions (target configuration files and templates) go to the command line and call “gms_list” to see all registered targets. Then choose one target from which you want to see the configuration file, e. g. Target “ab”, then type “gms_make ab –ti”, you’ll get all target information including the path to the configuration file. Example: $(GMPS_TOP)/sample_src/apache_1.3.22/src/support/ab/ab.xml. In this file there is one build instruction called “Cpp” (XML-tag).

To see all build instructions allowed in the sample-project open “templates_section.xml”, Path: $(GMPS_TOP)/$(GMPS_HOME)/etc/sample/common/templates_section.xml.

All GMPS-templates are in the directory “xsl-tmpl”, Path: $(GMPS_TOP)/$(GMPS_HOME)/xsl-tmpl.

• No one uses MinGW on Windows for anything real. Many projects use Visual Studio compiler for Windows. Is it supported?

For our demo we have chosen MinGW because we wanted to deliver everything, including tools and compilers, with our demo and we couldn’t deliver the MSVS-compiler (licensed), also the demo-project should be all-purpose.

If you want to use the MSVS-compiler please change the compiler in tools.xml, Path: $(GMPS_TOP)/$(GMPS_HOME)/etc/sample/win32/tools/tools.xml. Change path to compiler in “<CC WIN32 PATH=”Path to the VisualStudioCompiler”

• For example, the normal Apache/Subversion build requires Perl and Python. Does GMPS support this?

For the Apache Project are included all tools and compilers you need. You find them in $(GMPS_TOP)/sample_tools/win.

You are right, that Apache 1.3 has two optional targets which require Perl. We haven’t taken them into the demo-project because of the size for the download. The idea to get Subversion under the GMPS-build-control is really great and we’re working on it. So you’ll get also Python supported.

• How the tool analyzes the source tree and figures out the make targets? Does it work like auto* tools to generate the make files?

GMPS works not like auto*tools. GMPS don’t searches for any configuration on the developer’s workstations. It gets all configurations from the project/configuration management. The global settings are stored in $(GMPS_TOP)/$(GMPS_HOME)/etc/sample. (This structure is created by the GMPS-Project-Wizard).

For new files the developer has to put the name of the new file into the target configuration file (targetname.xml). gms_make notices the changes in the target configuration files and automatically generates the new Makefile.