Re: How to modify algorithm that determines weather a target needs rebuild

[Eric Melski]

mirage1987 wrote:

Hi,

My apologies if i ended up making it an X-Y problem.
Let me elaborate on my exact requirements this time around:

I have my codebase residing on clearcase. Since i am using a dynamic view
the MVFS provides me with files based on the timestamp at which they were
last checked in.

Yeah, clearmake hasn't done a good job of tracking changes in gmake.  If I recall correctly, it's most like gmake 3.74 -- ancient by today's standards.

But, at the risk of sounding like a corporate shill, clearmake is not your only option.  ElectricMake (part of ElectricAccelerator) includes a feature called the _ledger_, which provides exactly the functionality you require -- alternative definitions of "out of date" besides the traditional "prereq is newer than output".  You can tell emake to rebuild if the timestamps have changed at all (forward or backward), or if the file sizes have changed, or if the expanded command-lines have changed.  And, emake is compatible with gmake 3.80 and 3.81.

You can find more information here:

http://www.electric-cloud.com/products/electricaccelerator.php

Disclaimer:  I'm the architect for ElectricAccelerator.

hope that helps,

Eric Melski
Electric Cloud, Inc.
http://blog.electric-cloud.com/