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1.. _BuildingLibcxx:
2
3===============
4Building libc++
5===============
6
7.. contents::
8  :local:
9
10.. _build instructions:
11
12Getting Started
13===============
14
15On Mac OS 10.7 (Lion) and later, the easiest way to get this library is to install
16Xcode 4.2 or later.  However if you want to install tip-of-trunk from here
17(getting the bleeding edge), read on.
18
19The basic steps needed to build libc++ are:
20
21#. Checkout LLVM:
22
23   * ``cd where-you-want-llvm-to-live``
24   * ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/trunk llvm``
25
26#. Checkout libc++:
27
28   * ``cd where-you-want-llvm-to-live``
29   * ``cd llvm/projects``
30   * ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxx/trunk libcxx``
31
32#. Checkout libc++abi:
33
34   * ``cd where-you-want-llvm-to-live``
35   * ``cd llvm/projects``
36   * ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxxabi/trunk libcxxabi``
37
38#. Configure and build libc++ with libc++abi:
39
40   CMake is the only supported configuration system.
41
42   Clang is the preferred compiler when building and using libc++.
43
44   * ``cd where you want to build llvm``
45   * ``mkdir build``
46   * ``cd build``
47   * ``cmake -G <generator> [options] <path to llvm sources>``
48
49   For more information about configuring libc++ see :ref:`CMake Options`.
50
51   * ``make cxx`` --- will build libc++ and libc++abi.
52   * ``make check-cxx check-cxxabi`` --- will run the test suites.
53
54   Shared libraries for libc++ and libc++ abi should now be present in llvm/build/lib.
55   See :ref:`using an alternate libc++ installation <alternate libcxx>`
56
57#. **Optional**: Install libc++ and libc++abi
58
59   If your system already provides a libc++ installation it is important to be
60   careful not to replace it. Remember Use the CMake option ``CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX`` to
61   select a safe place to install libc++.
62
63   * ``make install-cxx install-cxxabi`` --- Will install the libraries and the headers
64
65   .. warning::
66     * Replacing your systems libc++ installation could render the system non-functional.
67     * Mac OS X will not boot without a valid copy of ``libc++.1.dylib`` in ``/usr/lib``.
68
69
70The instructions are for building libc++ on
71FreeBSD, Linux, or Mac using `libc++abi`_ as the C++ ABI library.
72On Linux, it is also possible to use :ref:`libsupc++ <libsupcxx>` or libcxxrt.
73
74It is sometimes beneficial to build outside of the LLVM tree. An out-of-tree
75build would look like this:
76
77.. code-block:: bash
78
79  $ cd where-you-want-libcxx-to-live
80  $ # Check out llvm, libc++ and libc++abi.
81  $ ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/llvm/trunk llvm``
82  $ ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxx/trunk libcxx``
83  $ ``svn co http://llvm.org/svn/llvm-project/libcxxabi/trunk libcxxabi``
84  $ cd where-you-want-to-build
85  $ mkdir build && cd build
86  $ export CC=clang CXX=clang++
87  $ cmake -DLLVM_PATH=path/to/llvm \
88          -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libcxxabi \
89          -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS=path/to/libcxxabi/include \
90          path/to/libcxx
91  $ make
92  $ make check-libcxx # optional
93
94
95Experimental Support for Windows
96--------------------------------
97
98The Windows support requires building with clang-cl as cl does not support one
99required extension: `#include_next`.  Furthermore, VS 2015 or newer (19.00) is
100required.  In the case of clang-cl, we need to specify the "MS Compatibility
101Version" as it defaults to 2014 (18.00).
102
103CMake + Visual Studio
104~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
105
106Building with Visual Studio currently does not permit running tests. However,
107it is the simplest way to build.
108
109.. code-block:: batch
110
111  > cmake -G "Visual Studio 14 2015"              ^
112          -T "LLVM-vs2014"                        ^
113          -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED=YES              ^
114          -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC=NO               ^
115          -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY=NO ^
116          \path\to\libcxx
117  > cmake --build .
118
119CMake + ninja
120~~~~~~~~~~~~~
121
122Building with ninja is required for development to enable tests.
123Unfortunately, doing so requires additional configuration as we cannot
124just specify a toolset.
125
126.. code-block:: batch
127
128  > cmake -G Ninja                                                                    ^
129          -DCMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM=/path/to/ninja                                         ^
130          -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=Windows                                                 ^
131          -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang-cl                                                 ^
132          -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS="-fms-compatibility-version=19.00 --target=i686--windows"   ^
133          -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang-cl                                                ^
134          -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-fms-compatibility-version=19.00 --target=i686--windows" ^
135          -DLLVM_PATH=/path/to/llvm/tree                                              ^
136          -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED=YES                                                  ^
137          -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC=NO                                                   ^
138          -DLIBCXX_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY=NO                                     ^
139          \path\to\libcxx
140  > /path/to/ninja cxx
141  > /path/to/ninja check-cxx
142
143Note that the paths specified with backward slashes must use the `\\` as the
144directory separator as clang-cl may otherwise parse the path as an argument.
145
146.. _`libc++abi`: http://libcxxabi.llvm.org/
147
148
149.. _CMake Options:
150
151CMake Options
152=============
153
154Here are some of the CMake variables that are used often, along with a
155brief explanation and LLVM-specific notes. For full documentation, check the
156CMake docs or execute ``cmake --help-variable VARIABLE_NAME``.
157
158**CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE**:STRING
159  Sets the build type for ``make`` based generators. Possible values are
160  Release, Debug, RelWithDebInfo and MinSizeRel. On systems like Visual Studio
161  the user sets the build type with the IDE settings.
162
163**CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX**:PATH
164  Path where LLVM will be installed if "make install" is invoked or the
165  "INSTALL" target is built.
166
167**CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER**:STRING
168  The C++ compiler to use when building and testing libc++.
169
170
171.. _libcxx-specific options:
172
173libc++ specific options
174-----------------------
175
176.. option:: LIBCXX_INSTALL_LIBRARY:BOOL
177
178  **Default**: ``ON``
179
180  Toggle the installation of the library portion of libc++.
181
182.. option:: LIBCXX_INSTALL_HEADERS:BOOL
183
184  **Default**: ``ON``
185
186  Toggle the installation of the libc++ headers.
187
188.. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_ASSERTIONS:BOOL
189
190  **Default**: ``ON``
191
192  Build libc++ with assertions enabled.
193
194.. option:: LIBCXX_BUILD_32_BITS:BOOL
195
196  **Default**: ``OFF``
197
198  Build libc++ as a 32 bit library. Also see `LLVM_BUILD_32_BITS`.
199
200.. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED:BOOL
201
202  **Default**: ``ON``
203
204  Build libc++ as a shared library. Either `LIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED` or
205  `LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC` has to be enabled.
206
207.. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC:BOOL
208
209  **Default**: ``ON``
210
211  Build libc++ as a static library. Either `LIBCXX_ENABLE_SHARED` or
212  `LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC` has to be enabled.
213
214.. option:: LIBCXX_LIBDIR_SUFFIX:STRING
215
216  Extra suffix to append to the directory where libraries are to be installed.
217  This option overrides `LLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX`.
218
219.. option:: LIBCXX_INSTALL_PREFIX:STRING
220
221  **Default**: ``""``
222
223  Define libc++ destination prefix.
224
225.. option:: LIBCXX_HERMETIC_STATIC_LIBRARY:BOOL
226
227  **Default**: ``OFF``
228
229  Do not export any symbols from the static libc++ library. This is useful when
230  This is useful when the static libc++ library is being linked into shared
231  libraries that may be used in with other shared libraries that use different
232  C++ library. We want to avoid avoid exporting any libc++ symbols in that case.
233
234.. _libc++experimental options:
235
236libc++experimental Specific Options
237------------------------------------
238
239.. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY:BOOL
240
241  **Default**: ``ON``
242
243  Build and test libc++experimental.a.
244
245.. option:: LIBCXX_INSTALL_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY:BOOL
246
247  **Default**: ``LIBCXX_ENABLE_EXPERIMENTAL_LIBRARY AND LIBCXX_INSTALL_LIBRARY``
248
249  Install libc++experimental.a alongside libc++.
250
251
252.. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_FILESYSTEM:BOOL
253
254  **Default**: ``ON``
255
256  Build filesystem as a standalone library libc++fs.a.
257
258.. option:: LIBCXX_INSTALL_FILESYSTEM_LIBRARY:BOOL
259
260  **Default**: ``LIBCXX_ENABLE_FILESYSTEM AND LIBCXX_INSTALL_LIBRARY``
261
262  Install libc++fs.a alongside libc++.
263
264.. _ABI Library Specific Options:
265
266ABI Library Specific Options
267----------------------------
268
269.. option:: LIBCXX_CXX_ABI:STRING
270
271  **Values**: ``none``, ``libcxxabi``, ``libcxxrt``, ``libstdc++``, ``libsupc++``.
272
273  Select the ABI library to build libc++ against.
274
275.. option:: LIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS:PATHS
276
277  Provide additional search paths for the ABI library headers.
278
279.. option:: LIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY_PATH:PATH
280
281  Provide the path to the ABI library that libc++ should link against.
282
283.. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC_ABI_LIBRARY:BOOL
284
285  **Default**: ``OFF``
286
287  If this option is enabled, libc++ will try and link the selected ABI library
288  statically.
289
290.. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_ABI_LINKER_SCRIPT:BOOL
291
292  **Default**: ``ON`` by default on UNIX platforms other than Apple unless
293  'LIBCXX_ENABLE_STATIC_ABI_LIBRARY' is ON. Otherwise the default value is ``OFF``.
294
295  This option generate and installs a linker script as ``libc++.so`` which
296  links the correct ABI library.
297
298.. option:: LIBCXXABI_USE_LLVM_UNWINDER:BOOL
299
300  **Default**: ``OFF``
301
302  Build and use the LLVM unwinder. Note: This option can only be used when
303  libc++abi is the C++ ABI library used.
304
305
306libc++ Feature Options
307----------------------
308
309.. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_EXCEPTIONS:BOOL
310
311  **Default**: ``ON``
312
313  Build libc++ with exception support.
314
315.. option:: LIBCXX_ENABLE_RTTI:BOOL
316
317  **Default**: ``ON``
318
319  Build libc++ with run time type information.
320
321.. option:: LIBCXX_INCLUDE_BENCHMARKS:BOOL
322
323  **Default**: ``ON``
324
325  Build the libc++ benchmark tests and the Google Benchmark library needed
326  to support them.
327
328.. option:: LIBCXX_BENCHMARK_TEST_ARGS:STRING
329
330  **Default**: ``--benchmark_min_time=0.01``
331
332  A semicolon list of arguments to pass when running the libc++ benchmarks using the
333  ``check-cxx-benchmarks`` rule. By default we run the benchmarks for a very short amount of time,
334  since the primary use of ``check-cxx-benchmarks`` is to get test and sanitizer coverage, not to
335  get accurate measurements.
336
337.. option:: LIBCXX_BENCHMARK_NATIVE_STDLIB:STRING
338
339  **Default**:: ``""``
340
341  **Values**:: ``libc++``, ``libstdc++``
342
343  Build the libc++ benchmark tests and Google Benchmark library against the
344  specified standard library on the platform. On linux this can be used to
345  compare libc++ to libstdc++ by building the benchmark tests against both
346  standard libraries.
347
348.. option:: LIBCXX_BENCHMARK_NATIVE_GCC_TOOLCHAIN:STRING
349
350  Use the specified GCC toolchain and standard library when building the native
351  stdlib benchmark tests.
352
353.. option:: LIBCXX_HIDE_FROM_ABI_PER_TU_BY_DEFAULT:BOOL
354
355  **Default**: ``OFF``
356
357  Pick the default for whether to constrain ABI-unstable symbols to
358  each individual translation unit. This setting controls whether
359  `_LIBCPP_HIDE_FROM_ABI_PER_TU_BY_DEFAULT` is defined by default --
360  see the documentation of that macro for details.
361
362
363libc++ ABI Feature Options
364--------------------------
365
366The following options allow building libc++ for a different ABI version.
367
368.. option:: LIBCXX_ABI_VERSION:STRING
369
370  **Default**: ``1``
371
372  Defines the target ABI version of libc++.
373
374.. option:: LIBCXX_ABI_UNSTABLE:BOOL
375
376  **Default**: ``OFF``
377
378  Build the "unstable" ABI version of libc++. Includes all ABI changing features
379  on top of the current stable version.
380
381.. option:: LIBCXX_ABI_NAMESPACE:STRING
382
383  **Default**: ``__n`` where ``n`` is the current ABI version.
384
385  This option defines the name of the inline ABI versioning namespace. It can be used for building
386  custom versions of libc++ with unique symbol names in order to prevent conflicts or ODR issues
387  with other libc++ versions.
388
389  .. warning::
390    When providing a custom namespace, it's the users responsibility to ensure the name won't cause
391    conflicts with other names defined by libc++, both now and in the future. In particular, inline
392    namespaces of the form ``__[0-9]+`` are strictly reserved by libc++ and may not be used by users.
393    Doing otherwise could cause conflicts and hinder libc++ ABI evolution.
394
395.. option:: LIBCXX_ABI_DEFINES:STRING
396
397  **Default**: ``""``
398
399  A semicolon-separated list of ABI macros to persist in the site config header.
400  See ``include/__config`` for the list of ABI macros.
401
402.. _LLVM-specific variables:
403
404LLVM-specific options
405---------------------
406
407.. option:: LLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX:STRING
408
409  Extra suffix to append to the directory where libraries are to be
410  installed. On a 64-bit architecture, one could use ``-DLLVM_LIBDIR_SUFFIX=64``
411  to install libraries to ``/usr/lib64``.
412
413.. option:: LLVM_BUILD_32_BITS:BOOL
414
415  Build 32-bits executables and libraries on 64-bits systems. This option is
416  available only on some 64-bits unix systems. Defaults to OFF.
417
418.. option:: LLVM_LIT_ARGS:STRING
419
420  Arguments given to lit.  ``make check`` and ``make clang-test`` are affected.
421  By default, ``'-sv --no-progress-bar'`` on Visual C++ and Xcode, ``'-sv'`` on
422  others.
423
424
425Using Alternate ABI libraries
426=============================
427
428
429.. _libsupcxx:
430
431Using libsupc++ on Linux
432------------------------
433
434You will need libstdc++ in order to provide libsupc++.
435
436Figure out where the libsupc++ headers are on your system. On Ubuntu this
437is ``/usr/include/c++/<version>`` and ``/usr/include/c++/<version>/<target-triple>``
438
439You can also figure this out by running
440
441.. code-block:: bash
442
443  $ echo | g++ -Wp,-v -x c++ - -fsyntax-only
444  ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/local/include/x86_64-linux-gnu"
445  ignoring nonexistent directory "/usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.7/../../../../x86_64-linux-gnu/include"
446  #include "..." search starts here:
447  #include &lt;...&gt; search starts here:
448  /usr/include/c++/4.7
449  /usr/include/c++/4.7/x86_64-linux-gnu
450  /usr/include/c++/4.7/backward
451  /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.7/include
452  /usr/local/include
453  /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-linux-gnu/4.7/include-fixed
454  /usr/include/x86_64-linux-gnu
455  /usr/include
456  End of search list.
457
458Note that the first two entries happen to be what we are looking for. This
459may not be correct on other platforms.
460
461We can now run CMake:
462
463.. code-block:: bash
464
465  $ CC=clang CXX=clang++ cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" \
466    -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libstdc++ \
467    -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS="/usr/include/c++/4.7/;/usr/include/c++/4.7/x86_64-linux-gnu/" \
468    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr \
469    <libc++-source-dir>
470
471
472You can also substitute ``-DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libsupc++``
473above, which will cause the library to be linked to libsupc++ instead
474of libstdc++, but this is only recommended if you know that you will
475never need to link against libstdc++ in the same executable as libc++.
476GCC ships libsupc++ separately but only as a static library.  If a
477program also needs to link against libstdc++, it will provide its
478own copy of libsupc++ and this can lead to subtle problems.
479
480.. code-block:: bash
481
482  $ make cxx
483  $ make install
484
485You can now run clang with -stdlib=libc++.
486
487
488.. _libcxxrt_ref:
489
490Using libcxxrt on Linux
491------------------------
492
493You will need to keep the source tree of `libcxxrt`_ available
494on your build machine and your copy of the libcxxrt shared library must
495be placed where your linker will find it.
496
497We can now run CMake like:
498
499.. code-block:: bash
500
501  $ CC=clang CXX=clang++ cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" \
502          -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libcxxrt \
503          -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS=path/to/libcxxrt-sources/src \
504                -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
505                -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr \
506                <libc++-source-directory>
507  $ make cxx
508  $ make install
509
510Unfortunately you can't simply run clang with "-stdlib=libc++" at this point, as
511clang is set up to link for libc++ linked to libsupc++.  To get around this
512you'll have to set up your linker yourself (or patch clang).  For example,
513
514.. code-block:: bash
515
516  $ clang++ -stdlib=libc++ helloworld.cpp \
517            -nodefaultlibs -lc++ -lcxxrt -lm -lc -lgcc_s -lgcc
518
519Alternately, you could just add libcxxrt to your libraries list, which in most
520situations will give the same result:
521
522.. code-block:: bash
523
524  $ clang++ -stdlib=libc++ helloworld.cpp -lcxxrt
525
526.. _`libcxxrt`: https://github.com/pathscale/libcxxrt/
527
528
529Using a local ABI library installation
530---------------------------------------
531
532.. warning::
533  This is not recommended in almost all cases.
534
535These instructions should only be used when you can't install your ABI library.
536
537Normally you must link libc++ against a ABI shared library that the
538linker can find.  If you want to build and test libc++ against an ABI
539library not in the linker's path you needq to set
540``-DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY_PATH=/path/to/abi/lib`` when configuring CMake.
541
542An example build using libc++abi would look like:
543
544.. code-block:: bash
545
546  $ CC=clang CXX=clang++ cmake \
547              -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI=libc++abi  \
548              -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_INCLUDE_PATHS="/path/to/libcxxabi/include" \
549              -DLIBCXX_CXX_ABI_LIBRARY_PATH="/path/to/libcxxabi-build/lib" \
550               path/to/libcxx
551  $ make
552
553When testing libc++ LIT will automatically link against the proper ABI
554library.
555