Boost C++ Libraries - Builtin tools

Builtin tools

C++ Compilers
Third-party libraries

Boost.Build comes with support for a large number of C++ compilers, and other tools. This section documents how to use those tools.

Before using any tool, you must declare your intention, and possibly specify additional information about the tool's configuration. This is done with the using rule, for example:

using gcc ;

additional parameters can be passed just like for other rules, for example:

using gcc : 4.0 : g++-4.0 ;

The options that can be passed to each tool will be documented in the subsequent sections.

C++ Compilers

GNU C++
Microsoft Visual C++
Intel C++
HP aC++ compiler
Borland C++ Compiler
Comeau C/C++ Compiler
Code Warrior
Digital Mars C/C++ Compiler
HP C++ Compiler for Tru64 Unix
Sun Studio
IBM Visual Age

This section lists all Boost.Build modules that support C++ compilers and documents how each one can be initialized.

GNU C++

The gcc module supports the GNU C++ compiler on Linux, a number of Unix-like system including MacOS X, SunOS and BeOS, and on Windows (either Cygwin or MinGW).

The gcc module is initialized using the following syntax:

using gcc : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If the version is not explicitly specified, it will be automatically detected by running the compiler with the -v option. If the command is not specified, the g++ binary will be searched in PATH.

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.
root: Specifies root directory of the compiler installation. This option is necessary only if it is not possible to detect this information from the compiler command—for example if the specified compiler command is a user script.
rc: Specifies the resource compiler command that will be used with the version of gcc that is being configured. This setting makes sense only for Windows and only if you plan to use resource files. By default windres will be used.
rc-type: Specifies the type of resource compiler. The value can be either windres for msvc resource compiler, or rc for borland's resource compiler.

In order to compile 64-bit applications, you have to specify address-model=64, and the instruction-set feature should refer to a 64 bit processor. Currently, those include nocona, opteron, athlon64 and athlon-fx.

Microsoft Visual C++

64-bit support

The msvc module supports the Microsoft Visual C++ command-line tools on Microsoft Windows. The supported products and versions of command line tools are listed below:

Visual Studio 2008—9.0
Visual Studio 2005—8.0
Visual Studio .NET 2003—7.1
Visual Studio .NET—7.0
Visual Studio 6.0, Service Pack 5—6.5

The msvc module is initialized using the following syntax:

using msvc : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If the version is not explicitly specified, the most recent version found in the registry will be used instead. If the special value all is passed as the version, all versions found in the registry will be configured. If a version is specified, but the command is not, the compiler binary will be searched in standard installation paths for that version, followed by PATH.

The compiler command should be specified using forward slashes, and quoted.

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.
assembler: The command that compiles assembler sources. If not specified, ml will be used. The command will be invoked after the setup script was executed and adjusted the PATH variable.
compiler: The command that compiles C and C++ sources. If not specified, cl will be used. The command will be invoked after the setup script was executed and adjusted the PATH variable.
compiler-filter: Command through which to pipe the output of running the compiler. For example to pass the output to STLfilt.
idl-compiler: The command that compiles Microsoft COM interface definition files. If not specified, midl will be used. The command will be invoked after the setup script was executed and adjusted the PATH variable.
linker: The command that links executables and dynamic libraries. If not specified, link will be used. The command will be invoked after the setup script was executed and adjusted the PATH variable.
mc-compiler: The command that compiles Microsoft message catalog files. If not specified, mc will be used. The command will be invoked after the setup script was executed and adjusted the PATH variable.
resource-compiler: The command that compiles resource files. If not specified, rc will be used. The command will be invoked after the setup script was executed and adjusted the PATH variable.
setup: The filename of the global environment setup script to run before invoking any of the tools defined in this toolset. Will not be used in case a target platform specific script has been explicitly specified for the current target platform. Used setup script will be passed the target platform identifier (x86, x86_amd64, x86_ia64, amd64 or ia64) as a arameter. If not specified a default script is chosen based on the used compiler binary, e.g. vcvars32.bat or vsvars32.bat.
setup-amd64, setup-i386, setup-ia64: The filename of the target platform specific environment setup script to run before invoking any of the tools defined in this toolset. If not specified the global environment setup script is used.

64-bit support

Starting with version 8.0, Microsoft Visual Studio can generate binaries for 64-bit processor, both 64-bit flavours of x86 (codenamed AMD64/EM64T), and Itanium (codenamed IA64). In addition, compilers that are itself run in 64-bit mode, for better performance, are provided. The complete list of compiler configurations are as follows (we abbreviate AMD64/EM64T to just AMD64):

32-bit x86 host, 32-bit x86 target
32-bit x86 host, 64-bit AMD64 target
32-bit x86 host, 64-bit IA64 target
64-bit AMD64 host, 64-bit AMD64 target
64-bit IA64 host, 64-bit IA64 target

The 32-bit host compilers can be always used, even on 64-bit Windows. On the contrary, 64-bit host compilers require both 64-bit host processor and 64-bit Windows, but can be faster. By default, only 32-bit host, 32-bit target compiler is installed, and additional compilers need to be installed explicitly.

To use 64-bit compilation you should:

Configure you compiler as usual. If you provide a path to the compiler explicitly, provide the path to the 32-bit compiler. If you try to specify the path to any of 64-bit compilers, configuration will not work.
When compiling, use address-model=64, to generate AMD64 code.
To generate IA64 code, use architecture=ia64

The (AMD64 host, AMD64 target) compiler will be used automatically when you are generating AMD64 code and are running 64-bit Windows on AMD64. The (IA64 host, IA64 target) compiler will never be used, since nobody has an IA64 machine to test.

It is believed that AMD64 and EM64T targets are essentially compatible. The compiler options /favor:AMD64 and /favor:EM64T, which are accepted only by AMD64 targeting compilers, cause the generated code to be tuned to a specific flavor of 64-bit x86. Boost.Build will make use of those options depending on the value of theinstruction-set feature.

Intel C++

The intel-linux and intel-win modules support the Intel C++ command-line compiler—the Linux and Windows versions respectively.

The module is initialized using the following syntax:

using intel-linux : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

using intel-win : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

respectively.

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If compiler command is not specified, then Boost.Build will look in PATH for an executable icpc (on Linux), or icc.exe (on Windows).

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.

The Linux version supports the following additional options:

root: Specifies root directory of the compiler installation. This option is necessary only if it is not possible to detect this information from the compiler command—for example if the specified compiler command is a user script.

HP aC++ compiler

The acc module supports the HP aC++ compiler for the HP-UX operating system.

The module is initialized using the following syntax:

using acc : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If the command is not specified, the aCC binary will be searched in PATH.

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.

Borland C++ Compiler

The borland module supports the command line C++ compiler included in C++ Builder 2006 product and earlier version of it, running on Microsoft Windows.

The supported products are listed below. The version reported by the command lines tools is also listed for reference.:

C++ Builder 2006—5.8.2
CBuilderX—5.6.5, 5.6.4 (depending on release)
CBuilder6—5.6.4
Free command line tools—5.5.1

The module is initialized using the following syntax:

using borland : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If the command is not specified, Boost.Build will search for a binary named bcc32 in PATH.

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.

Comeau C/C++ Compiler

The como-linux and the como-win modules supports the Comeau C/C++ Compiler on Linux and Windows respectively.

The module is initialized using the following syntax:

using como-linux : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If the command is not specified, Boost.Build will search for a binary named como in PATH.

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.

Before using the Windows version of the compiler, you need to setup necessary environment variables per compiler's documentation. In particular, the COMO_XXX_INCLUDE variable should be set, where XXX corresponds to the used backend C compiler.

Code Warrior

The cw module support CodeWarrior compiler, originally produced by Metrowerks and presently developed by Freescale. Boost.Build supports only the versions of the compiler that target x86 processors. All such versions were released by Metrowerks before aquisition and are not sold any longer. The last version known to work is 9.4.

The module is initialized using the following syntax:

using cw : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If the command is not specified, Boost.Build will search for a binary named mwcc in default installation paths and in PATH.

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.
root: Specifies root directory of the compiler installation. This option is necessary only if it is not possible to detect this information from the compiler command—for example if the specified compiler command is a user script.
setup: The command that sets up environment variables prior to invoking the compiler. If not specified, cwenv.bat alongside the compiler binary will be used.
compiler: The command that compiles C and C++ sources. If not specified, mwcc will be used. The command will be invoked after the setup script was executed and adjusted the PATH variable.
linker: The command that links executables and dynamic libraries. If not specified, mwld will be used. The command will be invoked after the setup script was executed and adjusted the PATH variable.

Digital Mars C/C++ Compiler

The dmc module supports the Digital Mars C++ compiler.

The module is initialized using the following syntax:

using dmc : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If the command is not specified, Boost.Build will search for a binary named como in PATH.

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.

HP C++ Compiler for Tru64 Unix

The hp_cxx modules supports the HP C++ Compiler for Tru64 Unix.

The module is initialized using the following syntax:

using hp_cxx : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If the command is not specified, Boost.Build will search for a binary named hp_cxx in PATH.

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.

Sun Studio

The sun module supports the Sun Studio C++ compilers for the Solaris OS.

The module is initialized using the following syntax:

using sun : [version] : [c++-compile-command] : [compiler options] ;

This statement may be repeated several times, if you want to configure several versions of the compiler.

If the command is not specified, Boost.Build will search for a binary named CC in /opt/SUNWspro/bin and in PATH.

When using this compiler on complex C++ code, such as the Boost C++ library, it is recommended to specify the following options when intializing the sun module:

-library=stlport4 -features=tmplife -features=tmplrefstatic

See the Sun C++ Frontend Tales for details.

The following options can be provided, using <option-name>option-value syntax:

cflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C sources.
cxxflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling C++ sources.
compileflags: Specifies additional compiler flags that will be used when compiling both C and C++ sources.
linkflags: Specifies additional command line options that will be passed to the linker.

Starting with Sun Studio 12, you can create 64-bit applications by using the address-model=64 property.

IBM Visual Age

The vacpp module supports the IBM Visual Age C++ Compiler, for the AIX operating system. Versions 7.1 and 8.0 are known to work.

The module is initialized using the following syntax:

using vacpp ;

The module does not accept any initialization options. The compiler should be installed in the /usr/vacpp/bin directory.

Later versions of Visual Age are known as XL C/C++. They were not tested with the the vacpp module.

Third-party libraries

STLport library

Boost.Build provides special support for some third-party C++ libraries, documented below.

STLport library

The STLport library is an alternative implementation of C++ runtime library. Boost.Build supports using that library on Windows platfrom. Linux is hampered by different naming of libraries in each STLport version and is not officially supported.

Before using STLport, you need to configure it in user-config.jam using the following syntax:

using stlport : [version] : header-path : [library-path] ;

Where version is the version of STLport, for example 5.1.4, headers is the location where STLport headers can be found, and libraries is the location where STLport libraries can be found. The version should always be provided, and the library path should be provided if you're using STLport's implementation of iostreams. Note that STLport 5.* always uses its own iostream implementation, so the library path is required.

When STLport is configured, you can build with STLport by requesting stdlib=stlport on the command line.