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Build Files

 AdvMake  AdvMake

Format

AdvMake uses Starlark as the format for its build files. Extra builtins are also defined for both convenience and extra functionality.

Starlark is a Python-like language meant for configuration files.

Configuration

Build files are by default called AdvMakefile, but that can be set via -f

An AdvMakefile example can be found at AdvMake’s repo as it uses AdvMake itself.

AdvMake runs functions exposed by starlark in the format <name>_<target>. To set the default name and target, the global variables defaultName, and defaultTarget must be set. Here is an example from AdvMake’s AdvMakefile:

defaultName = "advmake"
defaultTarget = "build"

This will tell AdvMake to run the function advmake_build() when run with no arguments.

If AdvMake is run with one argument (such as advmake install), it will use the default name with the specified target, so in that case, it would run advmake_install().

If run with two arguments, AdvMake will use the first argument as the name and the second as the target. So, running advmake hello world would run the function hello_world().

Builtins

As previously mentioned, AdvMake comes with extra builtins. Those are as follows:

log()

The log function uses zerolog in go to log a message to STDOUT. It has two arguments. The first is a string with the message to log, and the second is level which is optional

Examples:

log("Info log") # Default level is info
log("Warn log", level="warn") # Warn level log
log("Debug log", level="debug") # Debug level log
log("Fatal log", level="fatal") # Fatal level log. This will exit the program when executed

execute()

The execute function runs a script using sh -c. This function has three arguments. The first is required and is a string with the script to run, the second is output which is optional. It can be set to return, stdout, or both, and the default is both.

The output argument controls where the script’s output will be directed:

  • return: Returns script output as string
  • stdout: Prints script output to STDOUT, returning nothing
  • both: Prints to STDOUT and returns as string

The third argument is concurrent which can be either True or False, default False. If concurrent is set to True, all the lines in the script will be split and run concurrently via goroutines. The maximum threads for goroutines can be controlled using the GOMAXPROCS environment variable and is by default the amount of CPU cores present.

Examples:

user = execute("whoami") # This will print the username to STDOUT and set the user variable to it
user = execute("whoami", output="return") # This will set the user variable to the username but not print it

execute("""
cp file destination
mv destination destination-1
echo 'hello world'
""") # Example of a multiline script

execute("""
install -Dm755 program /usr/bin
install -Dm755 program.cfg /etc
""", concurrent=True) # Example of a concurrent multiline script

getEnv()

The getEnv function simply returns the value of the environment variable specified in its first argument.

Example:

term = getEnv("TERM") # Sets variable term to value of $TERM
print("Nice " + term) # Prints "Nice $TERM"

setEnv()

The setEnv function sets an environment variable. It has three arguments. The first is the key, it is the name of the environment variable. The second is the new value, what the key should be set to. The third is optional, it is onlyIfUnset and it can be set to True or False, default False

onlyIfUnset checks that the variable is not already set before setting it, this can be useful for setting defaults.

Examples:

setEnv("MY_ENV_VAR", "Hello, World") # Sets $MY_ENV_VAR to "Hello, World"
setEnv("CC", "gcc", onlyIfUnset=True) # Sets $CC to "gcc", but only if $CC is not already set

expandFile()

The expandFile function replaces all instances of $VAR with the value specified.

expandFile has two arguments. The first accepts a filename to modify. The second accepts a dictionary to act as mappings for value replacements.

Example:

expandFile("a.txt", {"A": "Hello", "B": "World"}) # Replace $A with Hello and $B with world in file a.txt

download()

The download function downloads a file at a URL.

download has two arguments. The first is a URL, and the second is an optional argument called filename. If filename is not provided, the filename will be taken from the URL.

Examples:

download("https://www.arsenm.dev/logo-white.png") # Downloads logo-white.png
download("https://www.arsenm.dev/logo-white.png", filename="logo.png") # Downloads logo-white.png as logo.png

lookPath()

The lookPath function uses go’s exec.LookPath() to find the absolute path of a command. It has a single argument which is the command to look for. If a command is not found, lookPath returns -1.

Examples:

lookPath("sh") # /bin/sh
lookPath("nonExistentCommand") # -1

userChoice()

The userChoice function presents the user with a choice. It has two arguments. The first is a prompt to be displayed to the user, and the second is a list of choices.

Example:

userChoice("Choose command", ["find", "ls"])
# This returns:

# [1] "find"
# [2] "ls"
# Choose command:

The function will return the chosen object (if input to above is 1, function returns "find")

input()

The input function is a simple function that uses go’s fmt.Print() and fmt.Scanln() to replicate the functionality of python’s input() function. It has a single argument, which is the prompt and returns the inputted text.

Example:

x = input("Name: ") # This will print "Name: " and then wait for input.

fileExists()

The fileExists function checks if a specified file exists and is accessible in the filesystem. It has a single argument which is the path to the file being checked, and returns a boolean reflecting the state of the file.

Examples:

if fileExists("/etc/passwd"):
	print("/etc/passwd exists!") # /etc/passwd exists!
if fileExists("/abcdef"):
	print("/abcdef exists!") # No output because /abcdef most likely does not exist

getOS()

The getOS function returns the value of runtime.GOOS. It has no arguments.

Example:

if getOS() == "linux":
	print("This is Linux!")

getArch()

The getArch function returns the value of runtime.GOARCH. It has no arguments.

Example:

if getArch() == "386":
	print("x86 32-bit")

getCPUNum()

The getCPUNum function returns the amount of CPUs available to AdvMake. It has no arguments.

Example:

print(getCPUNum() + " CPUs available!")