meson-reference(3) Library Functions Manual meson-reference(3) NAME meson-reference v1.4.0 - a reference for meson functions and objects DESCRIPTION This manual is divided into two sections, FUNCTIONS and OBJECTS. FUNCTIONS contains a reference for all meson functions and methods. Methods are denoted by object_name.method_name(). OBJECTS contains additional information about each object. FUNCTIONS add_global_arguments() SYNOPSIS void add_global_arguments( Compiler argument..., language:, native: false, ) DESCRIPTION Adds global arguments to the compiler command line. VARARGS Compiler argument str, 0...N times The compiler arguments to add KWARGS language list[str], required Specifies the language(s) that the arguments should be applied to. If a list of languages is given, the arguments are added to each of the corresponding compiler command lines. Note that there is no way to remove an argument set in this way. If you have an argument that is only used in a subset of targets, you have to specify it in per-target flags. native bool, default: false, since 0.48.0 A boolean specifying whether the arguments should be applied to the native or cross compilation. If `true` the arguments will only be used for native compilations. If `false` the arguments will only be used in cross compilations. If omitted, the flags are added to native compilations if compiling natively and cross compilations (only) when cross compiling. NOTES Usually you should use add_project_arguments instead, because that works even when you project is used as a subproject. You must pass always arguments individually `arg1, arg2, ...` rather than as a string `'arg1 arg2', ...` add_global_link_arguments() SYNOPSIS void add_global_link_arguments( Linker argument..., language:, native: false, ) DESCRIPTION Adds global arguments to the linker command line. Like add_global_arguments but the arguments are passed to the linker. VARARGS Linker argument str, 0...N times The linker arguments to add KWARGS language list[str], required Specifies the language(s) that the arguments should be applied to. If a list of languages is given, the arguments are added to each of the corresponding compiler command lines. Note that there is no way to remove an argument set in this way. If you have an argument that is only used in a subset of targets, you have to specify it in per-target flags. native bool, default: false, since 0.48.0 A boolean specifying whether the arguments should be applied to the native or cross compilation. If `true` the arguments will only be used for native compilations. If `false` the arguments will only be used in cross compilations. If omitted, the flags are added to native compilations if compiling natively and cross compilations (only) when cross compiling. NOTES Usually you should use add_project_link_arguments instead, because that works even when you project is used as a subproject. You must pass always arguments individually `arg1, arg2, ...` rather than as a string `'arg1 arg2', ...` add_languages() SYNOPSIS bool add_languages(Language..., native:, required: true) DESCRIPTION Add programming languages used by the project. This is equivalent to having them in the `project` declaration. This function is usually used to add languages that are only used under some conditions. Returns `true` if all languages specified were found and `false` otherwise. If `native` is omitted, the languages may be used for either build or host machine, but are never required for the build machine. (i.e. it is equivalent to `add_languages(langs, native: false, required: required) and add_languages(langs, native: true, required: false)`. This default behaviour may change to `native: false` in a future Meson version. VARARGS Language str, 0...N times The languages to add KWARGS native bool, since 0.54.0 If set to `true`, the language will be used to compile for the build machine, if `false`, for the host machine. required bool | feature, default: true If set to `true`, Meson will halt if any of the languages specified are not found. (since 0.47.0) The value of a `feature`[1] option can also be passed. EXAMPLE project('foobar', 'c') if compiling_for_osx add_languages('objc') endif if add_languages('cpp', required : false) executable('cpp-app', 'main.cpp') endif # More code... add_project_arguments() SYNOPSIS void add_project_arguments( Compiler argument..., language:, native: false, ) DESCRIPTION Adds project specific arguments to the compiler command line. This function behaves in the same way as add_global_arguments except that the arguments are only used for the current project, they won't be used in any other subproject. VARARGS Compiler argument str, 0...N times The compiler arguments to add KWARGS language list[str], required Specifies the language(s) that the arguments should be applied to. If a list of languages is given, the arguments are added to each of the corresponding compiler command lines. Note that there is no way to remove an argument set in this way. If you have an argument that is only used in a subset of targets, you have to specify it in per-target flags. native bool, default: false, since 0.48.0 A boolean specifying whether the arguments should be applied to the native or cross compilation. If `true` the arguments will only be used for native compilations. If `false` the arguments will only be used in cross compilations. If omitted, the flags are added to native compilations if compiling natively and cross compilations (only) when cross compiling. NOTES You must pass always arguments individually `arg1, arg2, ...` rather than as a string `'arg1 arg2', ...` add_project_dependencies() SYNOPSIS void add_project_dependencies( dependencies..., language:, native: false, ) since 0.63.0 DESCRIPTION Adds arguments to the compiler and linker command line, so that the given set of dependencies is included in all build products for this project. VARARGS dependencies dep, 0...N times The dependencies to add; if internal dependencies are included, they must not include any built object. KWARGS language list[str], required Specifies the language(s) that the arguments should be applied to. If a list of languages is given, the arguments are added to each of the corresponding compiler command lines. Note that there is no way to remove an argument set in this way. If you have an argument that is only used in a subset of targets, you have to specify it in per-target flags. native bool, default: false, since 0.48.0 A boolean specifying whether the arguments should be applied to the native or cross compilation. If `true` the arguments will only be used for native compilations. If `false` the arguments will only be used in cross compilations. If omitted, the flags are added to native compilations if compiling natively and cross compilations (only) when cross compiling. add_project_link_arguments() SYNOPSIS void add_project_link_arguments( Linker argument..., language:, native: false, ) DESCRIPTION Adds project specific arguments to the linker command line. Like add_project_arguments but the arguments are passed to the linker. VARARGS Linker argument str, 0...N times The linker arguments to add KWARGS language list[str], required Specifies the language(s) that the arguments should be applied to. If a list of languages is given, the arguments are added to each of the corresponding compiler command lines. Note that there is no way to remove an argument set in this way. If you have an argument that is only used in a subset of targets, you have to specify it in per-target flags. native bool, default: false, since 0.48.0 A boolean specifying whether the arguments should be applied to the native or cross compilation. If `true` the arguments will only be used for native compilations. If `false` the arguments will only be used in cross compilations. If omitted, the flags are added to native compilations if compiling natively and cross compilations (only) when cross compiling. NOTES You must pass always arguments individually `arg1, arg2, ...` rather than as a string `'arg1 arg2', ...` add_test_setup() SYNOPSIS void add_test_setup( name, env:, exclude_suites:, exe_wrapper:, gdb: false, is_default: false, timeout_multiplier: 1, ) DESCRIPTION Add a custom test setup. This setup can be used to run the tests with a custom setup, for example under Valgrind. To use the test setup, run `meson test --setup=name` inside the build dir. Note that all these options are also available while running the `meson test` script for running tests instead of `ninja test` or `msbuild RUN_TESTS.vcxproj`, etc depending on the backend. POSARGS name str, required The name of the test setup KWARGS env env | list[str] | dict[str] environment variables to set , such as `['NAME1=value1', 'NAME2=value2']`, or an env object which allows more sophisticated environment juggling. (Since 0.52.0) A dictionary is also accepted. exclude_suites list[str], since 0.57.0 A list of test suites that should be excluded when using this setup. Suites specified in the `--suite` option to `meson test` will always run, overriding `add_test_setup` if necessary. exe_wrapper list[str | external_program] The command or script followed by the arguments to it gdb bool, default: false If `true`, the tests are also run under `gdb` is_default bool, default: false, since 0.49.0 Set whether this is the default test setup. If `true`, the setup will be used whenever `meson test` is run without the `--setup` option. timeout_multiplier int, default: 1 A number to multiply the test timeout with. Since 0.57 if timeout_multiplier is `<= 0` the test has infinite duration, in previous versions of Meson the test would fail with a timeout immediately. alias_target() SYNOPSIS alias_tgt alias_target(target_name, Dep...) since 0.52.0 DESCRIPTION This function creates a new top-level target. Like all top-level targets, this integrates with the selected backend. For instance, with you can run it as `meson compile target_name`. This is a dummy target that does not execute any command, but ensures that all dependencies are built. Dependencies can be any build target. Since 0.60.0, this includes run_tgt. POSARGS target_name str, required The name of the alias target VARARGS Dep tgt, 1...N times The targets to depend on assert() SYNOPSIS void assert(condition, [message]) DESCRIPTION Abort with an error message if `condition` evaluates to `false`. POSARGS condition bool, required Abort if this evaluates to `false` OPTARGS message str The error message to print. NOTES The `message` argument is optional since 0.53.0 and defaults to print the condition statement. benchmark() SYNOPSIS void benchmark( name, executable, args:, depends:, env:, priority: 0, protocol: 'exitcode', should_fail: false, suite:, timeout: 30, verbose: false, workdir:, ) DESCRIPTION Creates a benchmark item that will be run when the benchmark target is run. The behavior of this function is identical to test except for: * benchmark() has no `is_parallel` keyword because benchmarks are not run in parallel * benchmark() does not automatically add the `MALLOC_PERTURB_` environment variable Defined benchmarks can be run in a backend-agnostic way by calling `meson test --benchmark` inside the build dir, or by using backend- specific commands, such as `ninja benchmark` or `msbuild RUN_TESTS.vcxproj`. POSARGS name str, required The unique test id executable exe | jar | external_program | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx, required The program to execute. (Since 1.4.0) A CustomTarget is also accepted. KWARGS args list[str | file | tgt] Arguments to pass to the executable depends list[build_tgt | custom_tgt], since 0.46.0 specifies that this test depends on the specified target(s), even though it does not take any of them as a command line argument. This is meant for cases where test finds those targets internally, e.g. plugins or globbing. Those targets are built before test is executed even if they have `build_by_default : false`. env env | list[str] | dict[str] environment variables to set, such as `['NAME1=value1', 'NAME2=value2']`, or an env object which allows more sophisticated environment juggling. (Since 0.52.0) A dictionary is also accepted. priority int, default: 0, since 0.52.0 specifies the priority of a test. Tests with a higher priority are started before tests with a lower priority. The starting order of tests with identical priorities is implementation- defined. The default priority is 0, negative numbers are permitted. protocol str, default: 'exitcode', since 0.50.0 specifies how the test results are parsed and can be one of `exitcode`, `tap`, or `gtest`. For more information about test harness protocol read Unit Tests[2]. The following values are accepted: - `exitcode`: the executable's exit code is used by the test harness to record the outcome of the test). - `tap`: Test Anything Protocol[3]. - `gtest` (since 0.55.0): for Google Tests. - `rust` (since 0.56.0): for native rust tests should_fail bool, default: false when true the test is considered passed if the executable returns a non-zero return value (i.e. reports an error) suite str | list[str] `'label'` (or list of labels `['label1', 'label2']`) attached to this test. The suite name is qualified by a (sub)project name resulting in `(sub)project_name:label`. In the case of a list of strings, the suite names will be `(sub)project_name:label1`, `(sub)project_name:label2`, etc. timeout int, default: 30 the amount of seconds the test is allowed to run, a test that exceeds its time limit is always considered failed, defaults to 30 seconds. Since 0.57 if timeout is `<= 0` the test has infinite duration, in previous versions of Meson the test would fail with a timeout immediately. verbose bool, default: false, since 0.62.0 if true, forces the test results to be logged as if `--verbose` was passed to `meson test`. workdir str absolute path that will be used as the working directory for the test NOTES Prior to 0.52.0 benchmark would warn that `depends` and `priority` were unsupported, this is incorrect. both_libraries() SYNOPSIS both_libs both_libraries( target_name, source..., _args:, _pch:, _shared_args:, _static_args:, build_by_default: true, build_rpath:, d_debug:, d_import_dirs:, d_module_versions:, d_unittest: false, darwin_versions:, dependencies:, extra_files:, gnu_symbol_visibility:, gui_app: false, implicit_include_directories: true, include_directories:, install: false, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_rpath:, install_tag:, link_args:, link_depends:, link_language:, link_whole:, link_with:, name_prefix:, name_suffix:, native: false, objects:, override_options:, pic:, prelink:, rust_abi:, rust_crate_type:, rust_dependency_map:, sources:, soversion:, vala_args:, vala_shared_args:, vala_static_args:, version:, vs_module_defs:, win_subsystem: 'console', ) since 0.46.0 DESCRIPTION Builds both a static and shared library with the given sources. Positional and keyword arguments are otherwise the same as for library. Source files will be compiled only once and object files will be reused to build both shared and static libraries, unless `b_staticpic` user option or `pic` argument are set to false in which case sources will be compiled twice. POSARGS target_name str, required The unique name of the build target VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 0...N times Input source to compile. The following types are supported: - Strings relative to the current source directory - file objects defined in any preceding build file - The return value of configure-time generators such as configure_file - The return value of build-time generators such as custom_target or generator.process These input files can be sources, objects, libraries, or any other file. Meson will automatically categorize them based on the extension and use them accordingly. For instance, sources (`.c`, `.cpp`, `.vala`, `.rs`, etc) will be compiled and objects (`.o`, `.obj`) and libraries (`.so`, `.dll`, etc) will be linked. With the Ninja backend, Meson will create a build-time order-only dependency[4] on all generated input files, including unknown files. This is needed to bootstrap the generation of the real dependencies in the depfile[5] generated by your compiler to determine when to rebuild sources. Ninja relies on this dependency file for all input files, generated and non-generated. The behavior is similar for other backends. KWARGS _args list[str] compiler flags to use for the given language; eg: `cpp_args` for C++ _pch str precompiled header file to use for the given language _shared_args list[str], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a shared library _static_args list[str], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a static library build_by_default bool, default: true, since 0.38.0 Causes, when set to `true`, to have this target be built by default. This means it will be built when `meson compile` is called without any arguments. The default value is `true` for all built target types. build_rpath str, since 0.42.0 A string to add to target's rpath definition in the build dir, but which will be removed on install d_debug list[str] The D version identifiers[6] to add during the compilation of D source files. d_import_dirs list[str] List of directories to look in for string imports used in the D programming language. d_module_versions list[str | int] List of module version identifiers set when compiling D sources. d_unittest bool, default: false When set to true, the D modules are compiled in debug mode. darwin_versions str | int | list[str], since 0.48.0 Defines the `compatibility version` and `current version` for the dylib on macOS. If a list is specified, it must be either zero, one, or two elements. If only one element is specified or if it's not a list, the specified value will be used for setting both compatibility version and current version. If unspecified, the `soversion` will be used as per the aforementioned rules. dependencies list[dep] one or more dependency objects created with dependency or compiler.find_library (for external deps) or declare_dependency (for deps built by the project) extra_files str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Not used for the build itself but are shown as source files in IDEs that group files by targets (such as Visual Studio) gnu_symbol_visibility str, since 0.48.0 Specifies how symbols should be exported, see e.g the GCC Wiki[7] for more information. This value can either be an empty string or one of `default`, `internal`, `hidden`, `protected` or `inlineshidden`, which is the same as `hidden` but also includes things like C++ implicit constructors as specified in the GCC manual. Ignored on compilers that do not support GNU visibility arguments. gui_app bool, default: false, deprecated since 0.56.0 When set to true flags this target as a GUI application on platforms where this makes a difference, deprecated since 0.56.0, use `win_subsystem` instead. implicit_include_directories bool, default: true, since 0.42.0 Controls whether Meson adds the current source and build directories to the include path include_directories list[inc | str] one or more objects created with the include_directories function, or (since 0.50.0) strings, which will be transparently expanded to include directory objects install bool, default: false When set to true, this executable should be installed. install_dir str override install directory for this file. If the value is a relative path, it will be considered relative the `prefix` option. For example, if you want to install plugins into a subdir, you'd use something like this: `install_dir : get_option('libdir') / 'projectname-1.0'`. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_rpath str A string to set the target's rpath to after install (but not before that). On Windows, this argument has no effect. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default all build targets have the tag `runtime` except for static libraries that have the `devel` tag. link_args list[str] Flags to use during linking. You can use UNIX-style flags here for all platforms. link_depends str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Strings, files, or custom targets the link step depends on such as a symbol visibility map. The purpose is to automatically trigger a re-link (but not a re-compile) of the target when this file changes. link_language str, since 0.51.0 Makes the linker for this target be for the specified language. It is generally unnecessary to set this, as Meson will detect the right linker to use in most cases. There are only two cases where this is needed. One, your main function in an executable is not in the language Meson picked, or second you want to force a library to use only one ABI. (broken until 0.55.0) link_whole list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx], since 0.40.0 Links all contents of the given static libraries whether they are used or not, equivalent to the `-Wl,--whole-archive` argument flag of GCC, or the '/WHOLEARCHIVE' MSVC linker option. This allows the linked target to re-export symbols from all objects in the static libraries. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list that list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) This argument also accepts outputs produced by custom targets. The user must ensure that the output is a library in the correct format. link_with list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx] One or more shared or static libraries (built by this project) that this target should be linked with. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list this list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) The arguments can also be custom targets. In this case Meson will assume that merely adding the output file in the linker command line is sufficient to make linking work. If this is not sufficient, then the build system writer must write all other steps manually. name_prefix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the prefix for the target output filename by overriding the default (only used for libraries). By default this is `lib` on all platforms and compilers, except for MSVC shared libraries where it is omitted to follow convention, and Cygwin shared libraries where it is `cyg`. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. name_suffix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the extension for the target by overriding the default. By default on Windows this is `exe` for executables and on other platforms it is omitted. For shared libraries, the default value is `dylib` on macOS, `dll` on Windows, and `so` everywhere else. For static libraries, it is `a` everywhere. By convention MSVC static libraries use the `lib` suffix, but we use `a` to avoid a potential name clash with shared libraries which also generate import libraries with a `lib` suffix. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. native bool, default: false Controls whether the target is compiled for the build or host machines. objects list[extracted_obj | file | str] List of object files that should be linked in this target. Since 1.1.0 this can include generated files in addition to object files that you don't have source to or that object files produced by other build targets. In earlier release, generated object files had to be placed in `sources`. override_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.40.0 takes an array of strings in the same format as `project`'s `default_options` overriding the values of these options for this target only. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. pic bool, since 0.36.0 Builds the library as positional independent code (so it can be linked into a shared library). This option has no effect on Windows and OS X since it doesn't make sense on Windows and PIC cannot be disabled on OS X. prelink bool, since 0.57.0 If `true` the object files in the target will be prelinked, meaning that it will contain only one prelinked object file rather than the individual object files. rust_abi str, since 1.3.0 Set the specific ABI to compile (when compiling rust). - 'rust' (default): Create a "rlib" or "dylib" crate depending on the library type being build. - 'c': Create a "cdylib" or "staticlib" crate depending on the library type being build. rust_crate_type str, deprecated since 1.3.0, since 0.42.0 Set the specific type of rust crate to compile (when compiling rust). If the target is an executable this defaults to "bin", the only allowed value. If it is a static_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "staticlib", or "rlib". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "staticlib" means a C ABI library, "rlib" means a Rust ABI. If it is a shared_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "dylib", "cdylib", or "proc-macro". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "cdylib" means a C ABI library, "dylib" means a Rust ABI, and "proc-macro" is a special rust procedural macro crate. "proc-macro" is new in 0.62.0. Since 1.3.0 this is deprecated and replaced by "rust_abi" keyword argument. `proc_macro` crates are now handled by the `rust.proc_macro()`[8] method. rust_dependency_map dict[str], since 1.2.0 On rust targets this provides a map of library names to the crate name with which it would be available inside the rust code. This allows renaming similar to the dependency renaming feature of cargo or `extern crate foo as bar` inside rust code. sources str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list | structured_src Additional source files. Same as the source varargs. soversion str | int A string or integer specifying the soversion of this shared library, such as `0`. On Linux and Windows this is used to set the soversion (or equivalent) in the filename. For example, if `soversion` is `4`, a Windows DLL will be called `foo-4.dll` and one of the aliases of the Linux shared library would be `libfoo.so.4`. If this is not specified, the first part of `version` is used instead (see below). For example, if `version` is `3.6.0` and `soversion` is not defined, it is set to `3`. vala_args list[str | file] Compiler flags for Vala. Unlike other languages this may contain Files vala_shared_args list[str | file], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a shared library Like `vala_args`, files is allowed in addition to string vala_static_args list[str | file], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a static library Like `vala_args`, files is allowed in addition to string version str A string specifying the version of this shared library, such as `1.1.0`. On Linux and OS X, this is used to set the shared library version in the filename, such as `libfoo.so.1.1.0` and `libfoo.1.1.0.dylib`. If this is not specified, `soversion` is used instead (see above). vs_module_defs str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Specify a Microsoft module definition file for controlling symbol exports, etc., on platforms where that is possible (e.g. Windows). (Since 1.3.0) custom_idx are supported win_subsystem str, default: 'console', since 0.56.0 Specifies the subsystem type to use on the Windows platform. Typical values include `console` for text mode programs and `windows` for gui apps. The value can also contain version specification such as `windows,6.0`. See MSDN documentation[9] for the full list. build_target() SYNOPSIS build_tgt build_target( target_name, source..., _args:, _pch:, _shared_args:, _static_args:, build_by_default: true, build_rpath:, d_debug:, d_import_dirs:, d_module_versions:, d_unittest: false, darwin_versions:, dependencies:, export_dynamic:, extra_files:, gnu_symbol_visibility:, gui_app: false, implib:, implicit_include_directories: true, include_directories:, install: false, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_rpath:, install_tag:, java_resources:, link_args:, link_depends:, link_language:, link_whole:, link_with:, main_class:, name_prefix:, name_suffix:, native: false, objects:, override_options:, pic:, pie:, prelink:, rust_abi:, rust_crate_type:, rust_dependency_map:, sources:, soversion:, target_type:, vala_args:, vala_shared_args:, vala_static_args:, version:, vs_module_defs:, win_subsystem: 'console', ) DESCRIPTION Creates a build target whose type can be set dynamically with the `target_type` keyword argument. `target_type` may be set to one of: - `executable` (see executable) - `shared_library` (see shared_library) - `shared_module` (see shared_module) - `static_library` (see static_library) - `both_libraries` (see both_libraries) - `library` (see library) - `jar` (see jar)* This declaration: executable() is equivalent to this: build_target(, target_type : 'executable') The lists for the kwargs (such as `sources`, `objects`, and `dependencies`) are always flattened, which means you can freely nest and add lists while creating the final list. The returned object also has methods that are documented in build_tgt. *"jar" is deprecated because it is fundementally a different thing than the other build_target types. POSARGS target_name str, required The unique name of the build target VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 0...N times Input source to compile. The following types are supported: - Strings relative to the current source directory - file objects defined in any preceding build file - The return value of configure-time generators such as configure_file - The return value of build-time generators such as custom_target or generator.process These input files can be sources, objects, libraries, or any other file. Meson will automatically categorize them based on the extension and use them accordingly. For instance, sources (`.c`, `.cpp`, `.vala`, `.rs`, etc) will be compiled and objects (`.o`, `.obj`) and libraries (`.so`, `.dll`, etc) will be linked. With the Ninja backend, Meson will create a build-time order-only dependency[3] on all generated input files, including unknown files. This is needed to bootstrap the generation of the real dependencies in the depfile[4] generated by your compiler to determine when to rebuild sources. Ninja relies on this dependency file for all input files, generated and non-generated. The behavior is similar for other backends. KWARGS _args list[str] compiler flags to use for the given language; eg: `cpp_args` for C++ _pch str precompiled header file to use for the given language _shared_args list[str], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a shared library _static_args list[str], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a static library build_by_default bool, default: true, since 0.38.0 Causes, when set to `true`, to have this target be built by default. This means it will be built when `meson compile` is called without any arguments. The default value is `true` for all built target types. build_rpath str, since 0.42.0 A string to add to target's rpath definition in the build dir, but which will be removed on install d_debug list[str] The D version identifiers[5] to add during the compilation of D source files. d_import_dirs list[str] List of directories to look in for string imports used in the D programming language. d_module_versions list[str | int] List of module version identifiers set when compiling D sources. d_unittest bool, default: false When set to true, the D modules are compiled in debug mode. darwin_versions str | int | list[str], since 0.48.0 Defines the `compatibility version` and `current version` for the dylib on macOS. If a list is specified, it must be either zero, one, or two elements. If only one element is specified or if it's not a list, the specified value will be used for setting both compatibility version and current version. If unspecified, the `soversion` will be used as per the aforementioned rules. dependencies list[dep] one or more dependency objects created with dependency or compiler.find_library (for external deps) or declare_dependency (for deps built by the project) export_dynamic bool, since 0.45.0 when set to true causes the target's symbols to be dynamically exported, allowing modules built using the shared_module function to refer to functions, variables and other symbols defined in the executable itself. Implies the `implib` argument. extra_files str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Not used for the build itself but are shown as source files in IDEs that group files by targets (such as Visual Studio) gnu_symbol_visibility str, since 0.48.0 Specifies how symbols should be exported, see e.g the GCC Wiki[6] for more information. This value can either be an empty string or one of `default`, `internal`, `hidden`, `protected` or `inlineshidden`, which is the same as `hidden` but also includes things like C++ implicit constructors as specified in the GCC manual. Ignored on compilers that do not support GNU visibility arguments. gui_app bool, default: false, deprecated since 0.56.0 When set to true flags this target as a GUI application on platforms where this makes a difference, deprecated since 0.56.0, use `win_subsystem` instead. implib bool | str, since 0.42.0 When set to true, an import library is generated for the executable (the name of the import library is based on exe_name). Alternatively, when set to a string, that gives the base name for the import library. The import library is used when the returned build target object appears in `link_with:` elsewhere. Only has any effect on platforms where that is meaningful (e.g. Windows). Implies the `export_dynamic` argument. implicit_include_directories bool, default: true, since 0.42.0 Controls whether Meson adds the current source and build directories to the include path include_directories list[inc | str] one or more objects created with the include_directories function, or (since 0.50.0) strings, which will be transparently expanded to include directory objects install bool, default: false When set to true, this executable should be installed. install_dir str override install directory for this file. If the value is a relative path, it will be considered relative the `prefix` option. For example, if you want to install plugins into a subdir, you'd use something like this: `install_dir : get_option('libdir') / 'projectname-1.0'`. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_rpath str A string to set the target's rpath to after install (but not before that). On Windows, this argument has no effect. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default all build targets have the tag `runtime` except for static libraries that have the `devel` tag. java_resources structured_src, since 0.62.0 Resources to be added to the jar link_args list[str] Flags to use during linking. You can use UNIX-style flags here for all platforms. link_depends str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Strings, files, or custom targets the link step depends on such as a symbol visibility map. The purpose is to automatically trigger a re-link (but not a re-compile) of the target when this file changes. link_language str, since 0.51.0 Makes the linker for this target be for the specified language. It is generally unnecessary to set this, as Meson will detect the right linker to use in most cases. There are only two cases where this is needed. One, your main function in an executable is not in the language Meson picked, or second you want to force a library to use only one ABI. (broken until 0.55.0) link_whole list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx], since 0.40.0 Links all contents of the given static libraries whether they are used or not, equivalent to the `-Wl,--whole-archive` argument flag of GCC, or the '/WHOLEARCHIVE' MSVC linker option. This allows the linked target to re-export symbols from all objects in the static libraries. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list that list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) This argument also accepts outputs produced by custom targets. The user must ensure that the output is a library in the correct format. link_with list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx] One or more shared or static libraries (built by this project) that this target should be linked with. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list this list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) The arguments can also be custom targets. In this case Meson will assume that merely adding the output file in the linker command line is sufficient to make linking work. If this is not sufficient, then the build system writer must write all other steps manually. main_class str Main class for running the built jar name_prefix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the prefix for the target output filename by overriding the default (only used for libraries). By default this is `lib` on all platforms and compilers, except for MSVC shared libraries where it is omitted to follow convention, and Cygwin shared libraries where it is `cyg`. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. name_suffix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the extension for the target by overriding the default. By default on Windows this is `exe` for executables and on other platforms it is omitted. For shared libraries, the default value is `dylib` on macOS, `dll` on Windows, and `so` everywhere else. For static libraries, it is `a` everywhere. By convention MSVC static libraries use the `lib` suffix, but we use `a` to avoid a potential name clash with shared libraries which also generate import libraries with a `lib` suffix. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. native bool, default: false Controls whether the target is compiled for the build or host machines. objects list[extracted_obj | file | str] List of object files that should be linked in this target. Since 1.1.0 this can include generated files in addition to object files that you don't have source to or that object files produced by other build targets. In earlier release, generated object files had to be placed in `sources`. override_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.40.0 takes an array of strings in the same format as `project`'s `default_options` overriding the values of these options for this target only. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. pic bool, since 0.36.0 Builds the library as positional independent code (so it can be linked into a shared library). This option has no effect on Windows and OS X since it doesn't make sense on Windows and PIC cannot be disabled on OS X. pie bool, since 0.49.0 Build a position-independent executable. prelink bool, since 0.57.0 If `true` the object files in the target will be prelinked, meaning that it will contain only one prelinked object file rather than the individual object files. rust_abi str, since 1.3.0 Set the specific ABI to compile (when compiling rust). - 'rust' (default): Create a "rlib" or "dylib" crate depending on the library type being build. - 'c': Create a "cdylib" or "staticlib" crate depending on the library type being build. rust_crate_type str, deprecated since 1.3.0, since 0.42.0 Set the specific type of rust crate to compile (when compiling rust). If the target is an executable this defaults to "bin", the only allowed value. If it is a static_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "staticlib", or "rlib". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "staticlib" means a C ABI library, "rlib" means a Rust ABI. If it is a shared_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "dylib", "cdylib", or "proc-macro". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "cdylib" means a C ABI library, "dylib" means a Rust ABI, and "proc-macro" is a special rust procedural macro crate. "proc-macro" is new in 0.62.0. Since 1.3.0 this is deprecated and replaced by "rust_abi" keyword argument. `proc_macro` crates are now handled by the `rust.proc_macro()`[7] method. rust_dependency_map dict[str], since 1.2.0 On rust targets this provides a map of library names to the crate name with which it would be available inside the rust code. This allows renaming similar to the dependency renaming feature of cargo or `extern crate foo as bar` inside rust code. sources str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list | structured_src Additional source files. Same as the source varargs. soversion str | int A string or integer specifying the soversion of this shared library, such as `0`. On Linux and Windows this is used to set the soversion (or equivalent) in the filename. For example, if `soversion` is `4`, a Windows DLL will be called `foo-4.dll` and one of the aliases of the Linux shared library would be `libfoo.so.4`. If this is not specified, the first part of `version` is used instead (see below). For example, if `version` is `3.6.0` and `soversion` is not defined, it is set to `3`. target_type str The actual target type to build vala_args list[str | file] Compiler flags for Vala. Unlike other languages this may contain Files vala_shared_args list[str | file], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a shared library Like `vala_args`, files is allowed in addition to string vala_static_args list[str | file], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a static library Like `vala_args`, files is allowed in addition to string version str A string specifying the version of this shared library, such as `1.1.0`. On Linux and OS X, this is used to set the shared library version in the filename, such as `libfoo.so.1.1.0` and `libfoo.1.1.0.dylib`. If this is not specified, `soversion` is used instead (see above). vs_module_defs str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx, since 1.3.0 Specify a Microsoft module definition file for controlling symbol exports, etc., on platforms where that is possible (e.g. Windows). This can be used to expose which functions a shared_module loaded by an executable will be allowed to use. win_subsystem str, default: 'console', since 0.56.0 Specifies the subsystem type to use on the Windows platform. Typical values include `console` for text mode programs and `windows` for gui apps. The value can also contain version specification such as `windows,6.0`. See MSDN documentation[8] for the full list. configuration_data() SYNOPSIS cfg_data configuration_data([data]) DESCRIPTION Creates an empty configuration object. You should add your configuration with the cfg_data method calls and finally use it in a call to configure_file. OPTARGS data dict[str | bool | int], since 0.49.0 Optional dictionary to specify an initial data set. If provided, each key/value pair is added into the cfg_data object as if the cfg_data.set method was called for each of them. configure_file() SYNOPSIS file configure_file( capture: false, command:, configuration:, copy: false, depfile:, encoding: 'utf-8', format: 'meson', input:, install: false, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_tag:, macro_name:, output:, output_format:, ) DESCRIPTION This function can run in three modes depending on the keyword arguments passed to it. When a cfg_data object is passed to the `configuration:` keyword argument, it takes a template file as the `input:` (optional) and produces the `output:` (required) by substituting values from the configuration data as detailed in the configuration file documentation[10]. (since 0.49.0) A dictionary can be passed instead of a cfg_data object. When a list of strings is passed to the `command:` keyword argument, it takes any source or configured file as the `input:` and assumes that the `output:` is produced when the specified command is run. (since 0.47.0) When the `copy:` keyword argument is set to `true`, this function will copy the file provided in `input:` to a file in the build directory with the name `output:` in the current directory. KWARGS capture bool, default: false, since 0.41.0 When this argument is set to true, Meson captures `stdout` of the `command` and writes it to the target file specified as `output`. command list[str | file] As explained above, if specified, Meson does not create the file itself but rather runs the specified command, which allows you to do fully custom file generation. (since 0.52.0) The command can contain file objects and more than one file can be passed to the `input` keyword argument, see custom_target for details about string substitutions. configuration cfg_data | dict[str | int | bool] As explained above, when passed this will provide the replacement data for the input file (if provided) or key value pairs to be written to the output. copy bool, default: false, since 0.47.0 As explained above, if specified Meson only copies the file from input to output. depfile str, since 0.52.0 A dependency file that the command can write listing all the additional files this target depends on. A change in any one of these files triggers a reconfiguration. encoding str, default: 'utf-8', since 0.47.0 Set the file encoding for the input and output file. The supported encodings are those of python3, see standard- encodings[11]. format str, default: 'meson', since 0.46.0 The format of defines. It defaults to `'meson'`, and so substitutes `#mesondefine` statements and variables surrounded by `@` characters, you can also use `'cmake'` to replace `#cmakedefine` statements and variables with the `${variable}` syntax. Finally you can use `'cmake@'` in which case substitutions will apply on `#cmakedefine` statements and variables with the `@variable@` syntax. input str | file The input file name. If it's not specified in configuration mode, all the variables in the `configuration:` object (see above) are written to the `output:` file. install bool, default: false, since 0.50.0 When true, this generated file is installed during the install step, and `install_dir` must be set and not empty. When false, this generated file is not installed regardless of the value of `install_dir`. When omitted it defaults to true when `install_dir` is set and not empty, false otherwise. install_dir str The subdirectory to install the generated file to (e.g. `share/myproject`), if omitted or given the value of empty string, the file is not installed. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default the file has no install tag which means it is not being installed when `--tags` argument is specified. macro_name str, since 1.3.0 When specified, macro guards will be used instead of '#pragma once'. The macro guard name will be the specified name. output str The output file name. (since 0.41.0) may contain `@PLAINNAME@` or `@BASENAME@` substitutions. In configuration mode, the permissions of the input file (if it is specified) are copied to the output file. output_format str, since 0.47.0 The format of the output to generate when no input was specified. It defaults to `c`, in which case preprocessor directives will be prefixed with `#`, you can also use `nasm`, in which case the prefix will be `%`. (since 1.3.0) `json` format can also be used. WARNINGS the `install_mode` kwarg ignored integer values between 0.62 -- 1.1.0. custom_target() SYNOPSIS custom_tgt custom_target( [name], build_always:, build_always_stale: false, build_by_default:, capture: false, command:, console:, depend_files:, depends:, depfile:, env:, feed: false, input:, install:, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_tag:, output:, ) DESCRIPTION Create a custom top level build target. The only positional argument is the name of this target and cannot contain path separators (`/` or ``). The name of custom target might not be used by every backends, for instance with the Ninja backend, `subdir/meson.build` containing the example below, `ninja -C builddir foo` or `ninja -C builddir subdir/foo` won't work, it is instead `ninja -C builddir subdir/file.txt`. However, `meson compile subdir/foo` is accepted. custom_target('foo', output: 'file.txt', ...) Since 0.60.0 the name argument is optional and defaults to the basename of the first output (`file.txt` in the example above). The list of strings passed to the `command` keyword argument accept the following special string substitutions: - `@INPUT@`: the full path to the input passed to `input`. If more than one input is specified, all of them will be substituted as separate arguments only if the command uses `'@INPUT@'` as a standalone-argument. For instance, this would not work: `command : ['cp', './@INPUT@']`, but this would: `command : ['cp', '@INPUT@']`. - `@OUTPUT@`: the full path to the output passed to `output`. If more than one outputs are specified, the behavior is the same as `@INPUT@`. - `@INPUT0@` `@INPUT1@` `...`: the full path to the input with the specified array index in `input` - `@OUTPUT0@` `@OUTPUT1@` `...`: the full path to the output with the specified array index in `output` - `@OUTDIR@`: the full path to the directory where the output(s) must be written - `@DEPFILE@`: the full path to the dependency file passed to `depfile` - `@PLAINNAME@`: the input filename, without a path - `@BASENAME@`: the input filename, with extension removed - `@PRIVATE_DIR@` (since 0.50.1): path to a directory where the custom target must store all its intermediate files. - `@SOURCE_ROOT@`: the path to the root of the source tree. Depending on the backend, this may be an absolute or a relative to current workdir path. - `@BUILD_ROOT@`: the path to the root of the build tree. Depending on the backend, this may be an absolute or a relative to current workdir path. - `@CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR@`: this is the directory where the currently processed meson.build is located in. Depending on the backend, this may be an absolute or a relative to current workdir path. (since 0.47.0) The `depfile` keyword argument also accepts the `@BASENAME@` and `@PLAINNAME@` substitutions. The returned object also has methods that are documented in custom_tgt. OPTARGS name str The unique id of the custom target This posarg is optional since 0.60.0. It defaults to the basename of the first output. KWARGS build_always bool, deprecated since 0.47.0 If `true` this target is always considered out of date and is rebuilt every time. Equivalent to setting both `build_always_stale` and `build_by_default` to true. build_always_stale bool, default: false, since 0.47.0 If `true` the target is always considered out of date. Useful for things such as build timestamps or revision control tags. The associated command is run even if the outputs are up to date. build_by_default bool, since 0.38.0 Causes, when set to true, to have this target be built by default. This means it will be built when `meson compile` is called without any arguments. The default value is `false`. (since 0.50.0) If `build_by_default` is explicitly set to false, `install` will no longer override it. If `build_by_default` is not set, `install` will still determine its default. capture bool, default: false There are some compilers that can't be told to write their output to a file but instead write it to standard output. When this argument is set to true, Meson captures `stdout` and writes it to the target file. Note that your command argument list may not contain `@OUTPUT@` when capture mode is active. command list[str | file | exe | external_program] Command to run to create outputs from inputs. The command may be strings or the return value of functions that return file-like objects such as find_program, executable, configure_file, files, custom_target, etc. Meson will automatically insert the appropriate dependencies on targets and files listed in this keyword argument. Note: always specify commands in array form `['commandname', '-arg1', '-arg2']` rather than as a string `'commandname -arg1 -arg2'` as the latter will not work. console bool, since 0.48.0 Keyword argument conflicts with `capture`, and is meant for commands that are resource-intensive and take a long time to finish. With the Ninja backend, setting this will add this target to Ninja's `console` pool[12], which has special properties such as not buffering stdout and serializing all targets in this pool. depend_files list[str | file] files (str, file, or the return value of configure_file that this target depends on but are not listed in the `command` keyword argument. Useful for adding regen dependencies. depends list[build_tgt | custom_tgt] Specifies that this target depends on the specified target(s), even though it does not take any of them as a command line argument. This is meant for cases where you have a tool that e.g. does globbing internally. Usually you should just put the generated sources as inputs and Meson will set up all dependencies automatically. depfile str A dependency file that the command can write listing all the additional files this target depends on, for example a C compiler would list all the header files it included, and a change in any one of these files triggers a recompilation. (since 0.47.0) the `@BASENAME@` and `@PLAINNAME@` substitutions are also accepted. env env | list[str] | dict[str], since 0.57.0 environment variables to set, such as `{'NAME1': 'value1', 'NAME2': 'value2'}` or `['NAME1=value1', 'NAME2=value2']`, or an env object which allows more sophisticated environment juggling. feed bool, default: false, since 0.59.0 There are some compilers that can't be told to read their input from a file and instead read it from standard input. When this argument is set to `true`, Meson feeds the input file to `stdin`. Note that your argument list may not contain `@INPUT@` when feed mode is active. input list[str | file] List of source files. (since 0.41.0) the list is flattened. install bool When true, one or more files of this target are installed during the install step (see `install_dir` for details). install_dir str | list[str | bool] If only one install_dir is provided, all outputs are installed there. Since 0.40.0 Allows you to specify the installation directory for each corresponding output. For example: custom_target('different-install-dirs', output : ['first.file', 'second.file'], install : true, install_dir : ['somedir', 'otherdir']) This would install `first.file` to `somedir` and `second.file` to `otherdir`. To only install some outputs, pass `false` for the outputs that you don't want installed. For example: custom_target('only-install-second', output : ['first.file', 'second.file'], install : true, install_dir : [false, 'otherdir']) This would install `second.file` to `otherdir` and not install `first.file`. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 The file mode and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_tag list[str], since 0.60.0 A list of strings, one per output, used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default all outputs have no install tag which means they are not being installed when `--tags` argument is specified. If only one tag is specified, it is assumed that all outputs have the same tag. `false` can be used for outputs that have no tag or are not installed. output list[str] List of output files. NOTES Assuming that `command:` is executed by a POSIX `sh` shell is not portable, notably to Windows. Instead, consider using a `native: true` executable, or a python script. WARNINGS the `install_mode` kwarg ignored integer values between 0.60.0 -- 1.1.0. debug() SYNOPSIS void debug(message, msg...) since 0.63.0 DESCRIPTION Write the argument string to the meson build log. POSARGS message str | int | bool | list[str | int | bool] | dict[str | int | bool], required The message to print VARARGS msg str | int | bool | list[str | int | bool] | dict[str | int | bool], 0...N times Additional parameters will be separated by spaces declare_dependency() SYNOPSIS dep declare_dependency( compile_args:, d_import_dirs:, d_module_versions:, dependencies:, extra_files:, include_directories:, link_args:, link_whole:, link_with:, objects:, sources:, variables:, version:, ) DESCRIPTION This function returns a dep object that behaves like the return value of dependency but is internal to the current build. The main use case for this is in subprojects. This allows a subproject to easily specify how it should be used. This makes it interchangeable with the same dependency that is provided externally by the system. KWARGS compile_args list[str] Compile arguments to use. d_import_dirs list[inc | str], since 0.62.0 the directories to add to the string search path (i.e. `-J` switch for DMD). Must be inc objects or plain strings. d_module_versions str | int | list[str | int], since 0.62.0 The D version identifiers[5] to add during the compilation of D source files. dependencies list[dep] Other dependencies needed to use this dependency. extra_files list[str | file], since 1.2.0 extra files to add to targets. mostly used for IDE integration. include_directories list[inc | str] the directories to add to header search path, must be inc objects or (since 0.50.0) plain strings. link_args list[str] Link arguments to use. link_whole list[lib], since 0.46.0 Libraries to link fully, same as executable. link_with list[lib] Libraries to link against. objects list[extracted_obj], since 1.1.0 a list of object files, to be linked directly into the targets that use the dependency. sources list[str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list] sources to add to targets (or generated header files that should be built before sources including them are built) variables dict[str] | list[str], since 0.54.0 a dictionary of arbitrary strings, this is meant to be used in subprojects where special variables would be provided via cmake or pkg-config. since 0.56.0 it can also be a list of `'key=value'` strings. version str the version of this dependency, such as `1.2.3`. Defaults to the project version. dependency() SYNOPSIS dep dependency( names..., allow_fallback:, default_options:, disabler: false, fallback:, include_type: 'preserve', language:, method: 'auto', native: false, not_found_message:, required: true, static: false, version:, ) DESCRIPTION Finds an external dependency (usually a library installed on your system) with the given name with `pkg-config` and with CMake[13] if `pkg-config` fails. Additionally, frameworks (OSX only) and library-specific fallback detection logic[14] are also supported. Since 0.60.0 more than one name can be provided, they will be tried in order and the first name to be found will be used. The fallback subproject will be used only if none of the names are found on the system. Once one of the name has been found, all other names are added into the cache so subsequent calls for any of those name will return the same value. This is useful in case a dependency could have different names, such as `png` and `libpng`. Since 0.64.0* a dependency fallback can be provided by WrapDB. Simply download the database locally using `meson wrap update-db` command and Meson will automatically fallback to subprojects provided by WrapDB if the dependency is not found on the system and the project does not ship their own `.wrap` file. Dependencies can also be resolved in two other ways: * if the same name was used in a `meson.override_dependency` prior to the call to `dependency`, the overriding dependency will be returned unconditionally; that is, the overriding dependency will be used independent of whether an external dependency is installed in the system. Typically, `meson.override_dependency` will have been used by a subproject. * by a fallback subproject which, if needed, will be brought into the current build specification as if `subproject()` had been called. The subproject can be specified with the `fallback` argument. Alternatively, if the `fallback` argument is absent, since 0.55.0 Meson can automatically identify a subproject as a fallback if a wrap file provides[15] the dependency, or if a subproject has the same name as the dependency. In the latter case, the subproject must use `meson.override_dependency` to specify the replacement, or Meson will report a hard error. See the Wrap documentation[14] for more details. This automatic search can be controlled using the `allow_fallback` keyword argument. If `dependency_name` is `''`, the dependency is always not found. So with `required: false`, this always returns a dependency object for which the `found()` method returns `false`, and which can be passed like any other dependency to the `dependencies:` keyword argument of a `build_target`. This can be used to implement a dependency which is sometimes not required e.g. in some branches of a conditional, or with a `fallback:` kwarg, can be used to declare an optional dependency that only looks in the specified subproject, and only if that's allowed by `--wrap-mode`. The returned object dep also has additional methods. VARARGS names str, 1...N times, since 0.60.0 The names of the dependency to look up. The dependencies are looked up in the order they are provided here. The first found dependency will then be used. The fallback subproject will be used only if none of the names are found on the system. Once one of the name has been found, all other names are added into the cache so subsequent calls for any of those name will return the same value. This is useful in case a dependency could have different names, such as `png` and `libpng`. NOTE: Before 0.60.0 only a single dependency name was allowed. KWARGS allow_fallback bool, since 0.56.0 Specifies whether Meson should automatically pick a fallback subproject in case the dependency is not found in the system. If `true` and the dependency is not found on the system, Meson will fallback to a subproject that provides this dependency. If `false`, Meson will not fallback even if a subproject provides this dependency. By default, Meson will do so if `required` is `true` or `enabled`[0]; see the Wrap documentation[14] for more details. default_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.38.0 An array of default option values that override those set in the subproject's `meson.options` (like `default_options` in project, they only have effect when Meson is run for the first time, and command line arguments override any default options in build files) (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. disabler bool, default: false, since 0.49.0 Returns a disabler object instead of a not-found dependency if this kwarg is set to `true` and the dependency couldn't be found. fallback list[str] | str Manually specifies a subproject fallback to use in case the dependency is not found in the system. This is useful if the automatic search is not applicable or if you want to support versions of Meson older than 0.55.0. If the value is an array `['subproj_name', 'subproj_dep']`, the first value is the name of the subproject and the second is the variable name in that subproject that contains a dependency object such as the return value of declare_dependency or dependency, etc. Note that this means the fallback dependency may be a not-found dependency, in which case the value of the `required:` kwarg will be obeyed. Since 0.54.0 the value can be a single string, the subproject name; in this case the subproject must use `meson.override_dependency('dependency_name', subproj_dep)` to specify the dependency object used in the superproject. If the value is an empty list, it has the same effect as `allow_fallback: false`. include_type str, default: 'preserve', since 0.52.0 An enum flag, marking how the dependency flags should be converted. Supported values are `'preserve'`, `'system'` and `'non-system'`. System dependencies may be handled differently on some platforms, for instance, using `-isystem` instead of `-I`, where possible. If `include_type` is set to `'preserve'`, no additional conversion will be performed. language str, since 0.42.0 Defines what language-specific dependency to find if it's available for multiple languages. method str, default: 'auto', since 0.40.0 Defines the way the dependency is detected, the default is `auto` but can be overridden to be e.g. `qmake` for Qt development, and different dependencies support different values[16] for this (though `auto` will work on all of them) native bool, default: false If set to `true`, causes Meson to find the dependency on the build machine system rather than the host system (i.e. where the cross compiled binary will run on), usually only needed if you build a tool to be used during compilation. not_found_message str, since 0.50.0 An optional string that will be printed as a message if the dependency was not found. required bool | feature, default: true When set to `false`, Meson will proceed with the build even if the dependency is not found. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. (since 0.47.0) The value of a `feature` option can also be passed. static bool, default: false Tells the dependency provider to try to get static libraries instead of dynamic ones (note that this is not supported by all dependency backends) Since 0.60.0 it also sets `default_library` option accordingly on the fallback subproject if it was not set explicitly in `default_options` keyword argument. version list[str] | str, since 0.37.0 Specifies the required version, a string containing a comparison operator followed by the version string, examples include `>1.0.0`, `<=2.3.5` or `3.1.4` for exact matching. You can also specify multiple restrictions by passing a list to this keyword argument, such as: `['>=3.14.0', '<=4.1.0']`. These requirements are never met if the version is unknown. NOTES This function supports additional library-specific[13] keyword arguments that may also be accepted (e.g. `modules` specifies submodules to use for dependencies such as Qt5 or Boost. `components` allows the user to manually add CMake `COMPONENTS` for the `find_package` lookup) disabler() SYNOPSIS disabler disabler() since 0.44.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a disabler object. environment() SYNOPSIS env environment([env], method:, separator:) since 0.35.0 DESCRIPTION Returns an empty env object. OPTARGS env str | list[str] | dict[str] | dict[list[str]], since 0.52.0 If provided, each key/value pair is added into the env object as if env.set method was called for each of them. Since 0.62.0 list of strings is allowed in dictionary values. In that case values are joined using the separator. KWARGS method str, since 0.62.0 Must be one of 'set', 'prepend', or 'append' (defaults to 'set'). Controls if initial values defined in the first positional argument are prepended, appended or replace the current value of the environment variable. separator str, since 0.62.0 The separator to use for the initial values defined in the first positional argument. If not explicitly specified, the default path separator for the host operating system will be used, i.e. ';' for Windows and ':' for UNIX/POSIX systems. error() SYNOPSIS void error(message, msg...) DESCRIPTION Print the argument string and halts the build process. POSARGS message str, required The message to print VARARGS msg str, 0...N times, since 0.58.0 Additional parameters will be separated by spaces executable() SYNOPSIS exe executable( target_name, source..., _args:, _pch:, build_by_default: true, build_rpath:, d_debug:, d_import_dirs:, d_module_versions:, d_unittest: false, dependencies:, export_dynamic:, extra_files:, gnu_symbol_visibility:, gui_app: false, implib:, implicit_include_directories: true, include_directories:, install: false, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_rpath:, install_tag:, link_args:, link_depends:, link_language:, link_whole:, link_with:, name_prefix:, name_suffix:, native: false, objects:, override_options:, pie:, rust_crate_type:, rust_dependency_map:, sources:, vala_args:, vs_module_defs:, win_subsystem: 'console', ) DESCRIPTION Creates a new executable. The first argument specifies its name and the remaining positional arguments define the input files to use. The lists for the kwargs (such as `sources`, `objects`, and `dependencies`) are always flattened, which means you can freely nest and add lists while creating the final list. The returned object also has methods that are documented in exe. Since 1.3.0 executable names can be the same across multiple targets as long as they each have a different `name_suffix`. POSARGS target_name str, required The unique name of the build target VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 0...N times Input source to compile. The following types are supported: - Strings relative to the current source directory - file objects defined in any preceding build file - The return value of configure-time generators such as configure_file - The return value of build-time generators such as custom_target or generator.process These input files can be sources, objects, libraries, or any other file. Meson will automatically categorize them based on the extension and use them accordingly. For instance, sources (`.c`, `.cpp`, `.vala`, `.rs`, etc) will be compiled and objects (`.o`, `.obj`) and libraries (`.so`, `.dll`, etc) will be linked. With the Ninja backend, Meson will create a build-time order-only dependency[3] on all generated input files, including unknown files. This is needed to bootstrap the generation of the real dependencies in the depfile[4] generated by your compiler to determine when to rebuild sources. Ninja relies on this dependency file for all input files, generated and non-generated. The behavior is similar for other backends. KWARGS _args list[str] compiler flags to use for the given language; eg: `cpp_args` for C++ _pch str precompiled header file to use for the given language build_by_default bool, default: true, since 0.38.0 Causes, when set to `true`, to have this target be built by default. This means it will be built when `meson compile` is called without any arguments. The default value is `true` for all built target types. build_rpath str, since 0.42.0 A string to add to target's rpath definition in the build dir, but which will be removed on install d_debug list[str] The D version identifiers[5] to add during the compilation of D source files. d_import_dirs list[str] List of directories to look in for string imports used in the D programming language. d_module_versions list[str | int] List of module version identifiers set when compiling D sources. d_unittest bool, default: false When set to true, the D modules are compiled in debug mode. dependencies list[dep] one or more dependency objects created with dependency or compiler.find_library (for external deps) or declare_dependency (for deps built by the project) export_dynamic bool, since 0.45.0 when set to true causes the target's symbols to be dynamically exported, allowing modules built using the shared_module function to refer to functions, variables and other symbols defined in the executable itself. Implies the `implib` argument. extra_files str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Not used for the build itself but are shown as source files in IDEs that group files by targets (such as Visual Studio) gnu_symbol_visibility str, since 0.48.0 Specifies how symbols should be exported, see e.g the GCC Wiki[6] for more information. This value can either be an empty string or one of `default`, `internal`, `hidden`, `protected` or `inlineshidden`, which is the same as `hidden` but also includes things like C++ implicit constructors as specified in the GCC manual. Ignored on compilers that do not support GNU visibility arguments. gui_app bool, default: false, deprecated since 0.56.0 When set to true flags this target as a GUI application on platforms where this makes a difference, deprecated since 0.56.0, use `win_subsystem` instead. implib bool | str, since 0.42.0 When set to true, an import library is generated for the executable (the name of the import library is based on exe_name). Alternatively, when set to a string, that gives the base name for the import library. The import library is used when the returned build target object appears in `link_with:` elsewhere. Only has any effect on platforms where that is meaningful (e.g. Windows). Implies the `export_dynamic` argument. implicit_include_directories bool, default: true, since 0.42.0 Controls whether Meson adds the current source and build directories to the include path include_directories list[inc | str] one or more objects created with the include_directories function, or (since 0.50.0) strings, which will be transparently expanded to include directory objects install bool, default: false When set to true, this executable should be installed. install_dir str override install directory for this file. If the value is a relative path, it will be considered relative the `prefix` option. For example, if you want to install plugins into a subdir, you'd use something like this: `install_dir : get_option('libdir') / 'projectname-1.0'`. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_rpath str A string to set the target's rpath to after install (but not before that). On Windows, this argument has no effect. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default all build targets have the tag `runtime` except for static libraries that have the `devel` tag. link_args list[str] Flags to use during linking. You can use UNIX-style flags here for all platforms. link_depends str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Strings, files, or custom targets the link step depends on such as a symbol visibility map. The purpose is to automatically trigger a re-link (but not a re-compile) of the target when this file changes. link_language str, since 0.51.0 Makes the linker for this target be for the specified language. It is generally unnecessary to set this, as Meson will detect the right linker to use in most cases. There are only two cases where this is needed. One, your main function in an executable is not in the language Meson picked, or second you want to force a library to use only one ABI. (broken until 0.55.0) link_whole list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx], since 0.40.0 Links all contents of the given static libraries whether they are used or not, equivalent to the `-Wl,--whole-archive` argument flag of GCC, or the '/WHOLEARCHIVE' MSVC linker option. This allows the linked target to re-export symbols from all objects in the static libraries. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list that list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) This argument also accepts outputs produced by custom targets. The user must ensure that the output is a library in the correct format. link_with list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx] One or more shared or static libraries (built by this project) that this target should be linked with. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list this list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) The arguments can also be custom targets. In this case Meson will assume that merely adding the output file in the linker command line is sufficient to make linking work. If this is not sufficient, then the build system writer must write all other steps manually. name_prefix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the prefix for the target output filename by overriding the default (only used for libraries). By default this is `lib` on all platforms and compilers, except for MSVC shared libraries where it is omitted to follow convention, and Cygwin shared libraries where it is `cyg`. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. name_suffix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the extension for the target by overriding the default. By default on Windows this is `exe` for executables and on other platforms it is omitted. For shared libraries, the default value is `dylib` on macOS, `dll` on Windows, and `so` everywhere else. For static libraries, it is `a` everywhere. By convention MSVC static libraries use the `lib` suffix, but we use `a` to avoid a potential name clash with shared libraries which also generate import libraries with a `lib` suffix. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. native bool, default: false Controls whether the target is compiled for the build or host machines. objects list[extracted_obj | file | str] List of object files that should be linked in this target. Since 1.1.0 this can include generated files in addition to object files that you don't have source to or that object files produced by other build targets. In earlier release, generated object files had to be placed in `sources`. override_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.40.0 takes an array of strings in the same format as `project`'s `default_options` overriding the values of these options for this target only. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. pie bool, since 0.49.0 Build a position-independent executable. rust_crate_type str, deprecated since 1.3.0, since 0.42.0 Set the specific type of rust crate to compile (when compiling rust). If the target is an executable this defaults to "bin", the only allowed value. If it is a static_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "staticlib", or "rlib". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "staticlib" means a C ABI library, "rlib" means a Rust ABI. If it is a shared_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "dylib", "cdylib", or "proc-macro". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "cdylib" means a C ABI library, "dylib" means a Rust ABI, and "proc-macro" is a special rust procedural macro crate. "proc-macro" is new in 0.62.0. Since 1.3.0 this is deprecated and replaced by "rust_abi" keyword argument. `proc_macro` crates are now handled by the `rust.proc_macro()`[7] method. rust_dependency_map dict[str], since 1.2.0 On rust targets this provides a map of library names to the crate name with which it would be available inside the rust code. This allows renaming similar to the dependency renaming feature of cargo or `extern crate foo as bar` inside rust code. sources str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list | structured_src Additional source files. Same as the source varargs. vala_args list[str | file] Compiler flags for Vala. Unlike other languages this may contain Files vs_module_defs str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx, since 1.3.0 Specify a Microsoft module definition file for controlling symbol exports, etc., on platforms where that is possible (e.g. Windows). This can be used to expose which functions a shared_module loaded by an executable will be allowed to use. win_subsystem str, default: 'console', since 0.56.0 Specifies the subsystem type to use on the Windows platform. Typical values include `console` for text mode programs and `windows` for gui apps. The value can also contain version specification such as `windows,6.0`. See MSDN documentation[8] for the full list. WARNINGS The `link_language` kwarg was broken until 0.55.0 files() SYNOPSIS list[file] files(file...) DESCRIPTION This command takes the strings given to it in arguments and returns corresponding File objects that you can use as sources for build targets. The difference is that file objects remember the subdirectory they were defined in and can be used anywhere in the source tree. VARARGS file str, 0...N times Path to the file. EXAMPLE As an example suppose you have source file `foo.cpp` in subdirectory `bar1` and you would like to use it in a build target that is defined in `bar2`. To make this happen you first create the object in `bar1` like this: foofile = files('foo.cpp') Then you can use it in `bar2` like this: executable('myprog', 'myprog.cpp', foofile, ...) Meson will then do the right thing. find_program() SYNOPSIS external_program find_program( program_name, fallback..., default_options:, dirs:, disabler: false, native: false, required: true, version:, ) DESCRIPTION `program_name` here is a string that can be an executable or script to be searched for in `PATH` or other places inside the project. The search order is: 1. Program overrides set via meson.override_find_program 1. `[provide]` sections[14] in subproject wrap files, if `wrap_mode`[17] is set to `forcefallback` 1. `[binaries]` section[18] in your machine files 1. Directories provided using the `dirs:` kwarg (see below) 1. Project's source tree relative to the current subdir - If you use the return value of configure_file, the current subdir inside the build tree is used instead 1. `PATH` environment variable 1. `[provide]` sections[14] in subproject wrap files, if `wrap_mode`[16] is set to anything other than `nofallback` Meson will also autodetect scripts with a shebang line and run them with the executable/interpreter specified in it both on Windows (because the command invocator will reject the command otherwise) and Unixes (if the script file does not have the executable bit set). Hence, you must not manually add the interpreter while using this script as part of a list of commands. Since 0.50.0 if the "python3" program is requested and it is not found in the system, Meson will return its current interpreter. If you need to check for a program in a non-standard location, you can just pass an absolute path to `find_program`, e.g. setcap = find_program('setcap', '/usr/sbin/setcap', '/sbin/setcap', required : false) It is also possible to pass an array to `find_program` in case you need to construct the set of paths to search on the fly: setcap = find_program(['setcap', '/usr/sbin/setcap', '/sbin/setcap'], required : false) Since 1.2.0 `find_program('meson')` is automatically overridden to the Meson command used to execute the build script. The returned external_program object also has documented methods. POSARGS program_name str | file, required The name of the program to search, or a file object to be used without searching. VARARGS fallback str | file, 0...N times, since 0.37.0 These parameters are used as fallback names to search for. This is meant to be used for cases where the program may have many alternative names, such as `foo` and `foo.py`. The function will check for the arguments one by one and the first one that is found is returned. KWARGS default_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 1.3.0 An array of default option values that override those set in the subproject's `meson.options` (like `default_options` in project, they only have effect when Meson is run for the first time, and command line arguments override any default options in build files) dirs list[str], since 0.53.0 extra list of absolute paths where to look for program names. disabler bool, default: false, since 0.49.0 If `true` and the program couldn't be found, return a disabler object instead of a not-found object. native bool, default: false, since 0.43.0 Defines how this executable should be searched. By default it is set to `false`, which causes Meson to first look for the executable in the cross file (when cross building) and if it is not defined there, then from the system. If set to `true`, the cross file is ignored and the program is only searched from the system. required bool | feature, default: true When `true`, Meson will abort if no program can be found. If `required` is set to `false`, Meson continue even if none of the programs can be found. You can then use the `.found()` method on the returned external_program to check whether it was found or not. (since 0.47.0) The value of a `feature`[0] option can also be passed to the `required` keyword argument. version str | list[str], since 0.52.0 Specifies the required version, see dependency for argument format. The version of the program is determined by running `program_name --version` command. If stdout is empty it fallbacks to stderr. If the output contains more text than simply a version number, only the first occurrence of numbers separated by dots is kept. If the output is more complicated than that, the version checking will have to be done manually using run_command. generator() SYNOPSIS generator generator( exe, arguments:, capture: false, depends:, depfile:, output:, ) DESCRIPTION See also: custom_target This function creates a generator object that can be used to run custom compilation commands. The only positional argument is the executable to use. It can either be a self-built executable or one returned by find_program. The template strings passed to all the keyword arguments accept the following special substitutions: - `@PLAINNAME@`: the complete input file name, e.g: `foo.c` becomes `foo.c` (unchanged) - `@BASENAME@`: the base of the input filename, e.g.: `foo.c.y` becomes `foo.c` (extension is removed) Each string passed to the `output` keyword argument must be constructed using one or both of these two substitutions. In addition to the above substitutions, the `arguments` keyword argument also accepts the following: - `@OUTPUT@`: the full path to the output file - `@INPUT@`: the full path to the input file - `@DEPFILE@`: the full path to the depfile - `@SOURCE_DIR@`: the full path to the root of the source tree - `@CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR@`: this is the directory where the currently processed meson.build is located in - `@BUILD_DIR@`: the full path to the root of the build dir where the output will be placed NOTE: Generators should only be used for outputs that will only be used as inputs for a build_target or a custom_target. When you use the processed output of a generator in multiple targets, the generator will be run multiple times to create outputs for each target. Each output will be created in a target-private directory `@BUILD_DIR@`. If you want to generate files for general purposes such as for generating headers to be used by several sources, or data that will be installed, and so on, use a custom_target instead. POSARGS exe exe | external_program, required Executable for the command to run KWARGS arguments list[str] A list of template strings that will be the command line arguments passed to the executable. capture bool, default: false, since 0.43.0 When this argument is set to true, Meson captures `stdout` of the `executable` and writes it to the target file specified as `output`. depends list[build_tgt | custom_tgt], since 0.51.0 An array of build targets that must be built before this generator can be run. This is used if you have a generator that calls a second executable that is built in this project. depfile str A template string pointing to a dependency file that a generator can write listing all the additional files this target depends on, for example a C compiler would list all the header files it included, and a change in any one of these files triggers a recompilation, output list[str] Template string (or list of template strings) defining how an output file name is (or multiple output names are) generated from a single source file name. get_option() SYNOPSIS str | int | bool | feature | list[str | int | bool] get_option( option_name, ) DESCRIPTION Obtains the value of the project build option[19] specified in the positional argument. Note that the value returned for built-in options that end in `dir` such as `bindir` and `libdir` is usually a path relative to (and inside) the `prefix` but you should not rely on that, as it can also be an absolute path in some cases[20]. `install_dir` arguments[21] handle that as expected but if you need an absolute path, e.g. to use in a define etc., you should use the path concatenation operator like this: `get_option('prefix') / get_option('localstatedir')`. Never manually join paths as if they were strings. For options of type `feature` a feature option object is returned instead of a string. See `feature` options[0] documentation for more details. POSARGS option_name str, required Name of the option to query get_variable() SYNOPSIS any get_variable(variable_name, [default]) DESCRIPTION This function can be used to dynamically obtain a variable. `res = get_variable(varname, fallback)` takes the value of `varname` (which must be a string) and stores the variable of that name into `res`. If the variable does not exist, the variable `fallback` is stored to `res`instead. If a fallback is not specified, then attempting to read a non-existing variable will cause a fatal error. POSARGS variable_name str, required Name of the variable to get OPTARGS default any Fallback value to return when the variable does not exist import() SYNOPSIS module import(module_name, disabler:, required: true) DESCRIPTION Imports the given extension module. Returns an object that can be used to call the methods of the module. Here's an example for a hypothetical `testmod` module. POSARGS module_name str, required Name of the module to import. KWARGS disabler bool, since 0.59.0 Returns a disabler object when not found. required bool | feature, default: true, since 0.59.0 When set to `false`, Meson will proceed with the build even if the module is not found. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. EXAMPLE tmod = import('testmod') tmod.do_something() include_directories() SYNOPSIS inc include_directories(includes..., is_system: false) DESCRIPTION Returns an opaque object which contains the directories (relative to the current directory) given in the positional arguments. The result can then be passed to the `include_directories:` keyword argument when building executables or libraries. You can use the returned object in any subdirectory you want, Meson will make the paths work automatically. Note that this function call itself does not add the directories into the search path, since there is no global search path. For something like that, see `add_project_arguments()`. See also `implicit_include_directories` parameter of executable, which adds current source and build directories to include path. Each directory given is converted to two include paths: one that is relative to the source root and one relative to the build root. VARARGS includes str, 0...N times Include paths to add. KWARGS is_system bool, default: false If set to `true`, flags the specified directories as system directories. This means that they will be used with the `-isystem` compiler argument rather than `-I` on compilers that support this flag (in practice everything except Visual Studio). EXAMPLE For example, with the following source tree layout in `/home/user/project.git`: `meson.build`: project(...) subdir('include') subdir('src') `include/meson.build`: inc = include_directories('.') `src/meson.build`: sources = [...] executable('some-tool', sources, include_directories : inc, ...) If the build tree is `/tmp/build-tree`, the following include paths will be added to the `executable()` call: `-I/tmp/build- tree/include -I/home/user/project.git/include`. install_data() SYNOPSIS void install_data( file..., follow_symlinks: true, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_tag:, preserve_path: false, rename:, sources:, ) DESCRIPTION Installs files from the source tree that are listed as positional arguments. See Installing[20] for more examples. VARARGS file file | str, 0...N times Files to install. KWARGS follow_symlinks bool, default: true, since 1.3.0 If true, dereferences links and copies their target instead. The default value will become false in the future. install_dir str The absolute or relative path to the installation directory. If this is a relative path, it is assumed to be relative to the prefix. If omitted, the directory defaults to `{datadir}/{projectname}` (since 0.45.0). install_mode list[str | int], since 0.38.0 specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. For example: `install_mode: 'rw-r--r--'` for just the file mode `install_mode: ['rw-r--r--', 'nobody', 'nogroup']` for the file mode and the user/group `install_mode: ['rw-r-----', 0, 0]` for the file mode and uid/gid To leave any of these three as the default, specify `false`. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default these files have no install tag which means they are not being installed when `--tags` argument is specified. preserve_path bool, default: false, since 0.64.0 Disable stripping child-directories from data files when installing. This is equivalent to GNU Automake's `nobase` option. rename list[str], since 0.46.0 If specified renames each source file into corresponding file from `rename` list. Nested paths are allowed and they are joined with `install_dir`. Length of `rename` list must be equal to the number of sources. sources list[file | str] Additional files to install. WARNINGS the `install_mode` kwarg ignored integer values between 0.59.0 -- 1.1.0. an omitted `install_dir` kwarg did not work correctly inside of a subproject until 1.3.0. an omitted `install_dir` kwarg did not work correctly when combined with the `preserve_path` kwarg untill 1.3.0. install_emptydir() SYNOPSIS void install_emptydir(dirpath..., install_mode:, install_tag:) since 0.60.0 DESCRIPTION Installs a new directory entry to the location specified by the positional argument. If the directory exists and is not empty, the contents are left in place. VARARGS dirpath str, 0...N times Directory to create during installation. KWARGS install_mode list[str | int] Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the created directory. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_tag str A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default this directory has no install tag which means it is not installed when the `--tags` argument is specified. WARNINGS the `install_mode` kwarg ignored integer values before 1.1.0. install_headers() SYNOPSIS void install_headers( file..., follow_symlinks: true, install_dir:, install_mode:, preserve_path: false, subdir:, ) DESCRIPTION Installs the specified header files from the source tree into the system header directory (usually `/{prefix}/include`) during the install step. This directory can be overridden by specifying it with the `install_dir` keyword argument. If you just want to install into a subdirectory of the system header directory, then use the `subdir` argument. As an example if this has the value `myproj` then the headers would be installed to `/{prefix}/include/myproj`. VARARGS file file | str, 0...N times Header files to install. KWARGS follow_symlinks bool, default: true, since 1.3.0 If true, dereferences links and copies their target instead. The default value will become false in the future. install_dir str Where to install to. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. preserve_path bool, default: false, since 0.63.0 Disable stripping child-directories from header files when installing. This is equivalent to GNU Automake's `nobase` option. subdir str Install to the `subdir` subdirectory of the default includedir. Incompatible with the `install_dir` kwarg. WARNINGS the `install_mode` kwarg ignored integer values between 0.59.0 -- 1.1.0. EXAMPLE For example, this will install `common.h` and `kola.h` into `/{prefix}/include`: install_headers('common.h', 'proj/kola.h') This will install `common.h` and `kola.h` into `/{prefix}/include/myproj`: install_headers('common.h', 'proj/kola.h', subdir : 'myproj') This will install `common.h` and `kola.h` into `/{prefix}/cust/myproj`: install_headers('common.h', 'proj/kola.h', install_dir : 'cust', subdir : 'myproj') This will install `common.h` into `/{prefix}/include` and `kola.h` into `/{prefix}/include/proj/`: install_headers('common.h, 'proj/kola.h', preserve_path : true) install_man() SYNOPSIS void install_man(file..., install_dir:, install_mode:, locale:) DESCRIPTION Installs the specified man files from the source tree into system's man directory during the install step. This directory can be overridden by specifying it with the `install_dir` keyword argument. (since 0.49.0) [manpages are no longer compressed implicitly][install_man_49]. [install_man_49]: https://mesonbuild.com/Release-notes- for-0-49-0.html#manpages-are-no-longer-compressed-implicitly VARARGS file file | str, 0...N times Man pages to install. KWARGS install_dir str Where to install to. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. locale str, since 0.58.0 Can be used to specify the locale into which the man page will be installed within the manual page directory tree. An example manual might be `foo.fr.1` with a locale of `fr`, such that `{mandir}/{locale}/man{num}/foo.1` becomes the installed file. WARNINGS the `install_mode` kwarg ignored integer values between 0.59.0 -- 1.1.0. install_subdir() SYNOPSIS void install_subdir( subdir_name, exclude_directories:, exclude_files:, follow_symlinks: true, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_tag:, strip_directory: false, ) DESCRIPTION Installs the entire given subdirectory and its contents from the source tree to the location specified by the keyword argument `install_dir`. (since 0.45.0, deprecated since 0.60.0) If the subdirectory does not exist in the source tree, an empty directory is created in the specified location. A newly created subdirectory may only be created in the keyword argument `install_dir`. There are a number of flaws with this method, and it was never intentionally designed to work this way, please use install_emptydir instead. POSARGS subdir_name str, required The sub-directory to install KWARGS exclude_directories list[str], since 0.47.0 A list of directory names that should not be installed. Names are interpreted as paths relative to the `subdir_name` location. exclude_files list[str] A list of file names that should not be installed. Names are interpreted as paths relative to the `subdir_name` location. follow_symlinks bool, default: true, since 1.3.0 If true, dereferences links and copies their target instead. The default value will become false in the future. install_dir str Where to install to. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default these files have no install tag which means they are not being installed when `--tags` argument is specified. strip_directory bool, default: false, since 0.45.0 Install directory contents. If `strip_directory=true` only the last component of the source path is used. WARNINGS the `install_mode` kwarg ignored integer values between 0.59.0 -- 1.1.0. EXAMPLE For a given directory `foo`: text foo/ bar/ file1 file2 `install_subdir('foo', install_dir : 'share', strip_directory : false)` creates text share/ foo/ bar/ file1 file2 `install_subdir('foo', install_dir : 'share', strip_directory : true)` creates text share/ bar/ file1 file2 `install_subdir('foo/bar', install_dir : 'share', strip_directory : false)` creates text share/ bar/ file1 `install_subdir('foo/bar', install_dir : 'share', strip_directory : true)` creates text share/ file1 `install_subdir('new_directory', install_dir : 'share')` creates text share/ new_directory/ install_symlink() SYNOPSIS void install_symlink( link_name, install_dir:, install_tag:, pointing_to:, ) since 0.61.0 DESCRIPTION Installs a symbolic link to `pointing_to` target under install_dir. POSARGS link_name str, required Name of the created link under `install_dir`. It cannot contain path separators. Those should go in `install_dir`. KWARGS install_dir str, required The absolute or relative path to the installation directory for the links. If this is a relative path, it is assumed to be relative to the prefix. install_tag str A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default these files have no install tag which means they are not being installed when `--tags` argument is specified. pointing_to str, required Target to point the link to. Can be absolute or relative and that will be respected when creating the link. is_disabler() SYNOPSIS bool is_disabler(var) since 0.52.0 DESCRIPTION Returns true if a variable is a disabler and false otherwise. POSARGS var any, required The variable to test is_variable() SYNOPSIS bool is_variable(var) since 0.52.0 DESCRIPTION Returns true if a variable of the given name exists and false otherwise. POSARGS var str, required The variable to test jar() SYNOPSIS jar jar( target_name, source..., _args:, _pch:, build_by_default: true, build_rpath:, d_debug:, d_import_dirs:, d_module_versions:, d_unittest: false, dependencies:, extra_files:, gnu_symbol_visibility:, gui_app: false, implicit_include_directories: true, include_directories:, install: false, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_rpath:, install_tag:, java_resources:, link_args:, link_depends:, link_language:, link_whole:, link_with:, main_class:, name_prefix:, name_suffix:, native: false, objects:, override_options:, rust_crate_type:, rust_dependency_map:, sources:, vala_args:, win_subsystem: 'console', ) DESCRIPTION Build a jar from the specified Java source files. Keyword arguments are the same as executable's, with the addition of `main_class` which specifies the main class to execute when running the jar with `java -jar file.jar`. POSARGS target_name str, required The unique name of the build target VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 0...N times Input source to compile. The following types are supported: - Strings relative to the current source directory - file objects defined in any preceding build file - The return value of configure-time generators such as configure_file - The return value of build-time generators such as custom_target or generator.process These input files can be sources, objects, libraries, or any other file. Meson will automatically categorize them based on the extension and use them accordingly. For instance, sources (`.c`, `.cpp`, `.vala`, `.rs`, etc) will be compiled and objects (`.o`, `.obj`) and libraries (`.so`, `.dll`, etc) will be linked. With the Ninja backend, Meson will create a build-time order-only dependency[3] on all generated input files, including unknown files. This is needed to bootstrap the generation of the real dependencies in the depfile[4] generated by your compiler to determine when to rebuild sources. Ninja relies on this dependency file for all input files, generated and non-generated. The behavior is similar for other backends. KWARGS _args list[str] compiler flags to use for the given language; eg: `cpp_args` for C++ _pch str precompiled header file to use for the given language build_by_default bool, default: true, since 0.38.0 Causes, when set to `true`, to have this target be built by default. This means it will be built when `meson compile` is called without any arguments. The default value is `true` for all built target types. build_rpath str, since 0.42.0 A string to add to target's rpath definition in the build dir, but which will be removed on install d_debug list[str] The D version identifiers[5] to add during the compilation of D source files. d_import_dirs list[str] List of directories to look in for string imports used in the D programming language. d_module_versions list[str | int] List of module version identifiers set when compiling D sources. d_unittest bool, default: false When set to true, the D modules are compiled in debug mode. dependencies list[dep] one or more dependency objects created with dependency or compiler.find_library (for external deps) or declare_dependency (for deps built by the project) extra_files str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Not used for the build itself but are shown as source files in IDEs that group files by targets (such as Visual Studio) gnu_symbol_visibility str, since 0.48.0 Specifies how symbols should be exported, see e.g the GCC Wiki[6] for more information. This value can either be an empty string or one of `default`, `internal`, `hidden`, `protected` or `inlineshidden`, which is the same as `hidden` but also includes things like C++ implicit constructors as specified in the GCC manual. Ignored on compilers that do not support GNU visibility arguments. gui_app bool, default: false, deprecated since 0.56.0 When set to true flags this target as a GUI application on platforms where this makes a difference, deprecated since 0.56.0, use `win_subsystem` instead. implicit_include_directories bool, default: true, since 0.42.0 Controls whether Meson adds the current source and build directories to the include path include_directories list[inc | str] one or more objects created with the include_directories function, or (since 0.50.0) strings, which will be transparently expanded to include directory objects install bool, default: false When set to true, this executable should be installed. install_dir str override install directory for this file. If the value is a relative path, it will be considered relative the `prefix` option. For example, if you want to install plugins into a subdir, you'd use something like this: `install_dir : get_option('libdir') / 'projectname-1.0'`. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_rpath str A string to set the target's rpath to after install (but not before that). On Windows, this argument has no effect. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default all build targets have the tag `runtime` except for static libraries that have the `devel` tag. java_resources structured_src, since 0.62.0 Resources to be added to the jar link_args list[str] Flags to use during linking. You can use UNIX-style flags here for all platforms. link_depends str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Strings, files, or custom targets the link step depends on such as a symbol visibility map. The purpose is to automatically trigger a re-link (but not a re-compile) of the target when this file changes. link_language str, since 0.51.0 Makes the linker for this target be for the specified language. It is generally unnecessary to set this, as Meson will detect the right linker to use in most cases. There are only two cases where this is needed. One, your main function in an executable is not in the language Meson picked, or second you want to force a library to use only one ABI. (broken until 0.55.0) link_whole list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx], since 0.40.0 Links all contents of the given static libraries whether they are used or not, equivalent to the `-Wl,--whole-archive` argument flag of GCC, or the '/WHOLEARCHIVE' MSVC linker option. This allows the linked target to re-export symbols from all objects in the static libraries. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list that list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) This argument also accepts outputs produced by custom targets. The user must ensure that the output is a library in the correct format. link_with list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx] One or more shared or static libraries (built by this project) that this target should be linked with. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list this list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) The arguments can also be custom targets. In this case Meson will assume that merely adding the output file in the linker command line is sufficient to make linking work. If this is not sufficient, then the build system writer must write all other steps manually. main_class str Main class for running the built jar name_prefix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the prefix for the target output filename by overriding the default (only used for libraries). By default this is `lib` on all platforms and compilers, except for MSVC shared libraries where it is omitted to follow convention, and Cygwin shared libraries where it is `cyg`. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. name_suffix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the extension for the target by overriding the default. By default on Windows this is `exe` for executables and on other platforms it is omitted. For shared libraries, the default value is `dylib` on macOS, `dll` on Windows, and `so` everywhere else. For static libraries, it is `a` everywhere. By convention MSVC static libraries use the `lib` suffix, but we use `a` to avoid a potential name clash with shared libraries which also generate import libraries with a `lib` suffix. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. native bool, default: false Controls whether the target is compiled for the build or host machines. objects list[extracted_obj | file | str] List of object files that should be linked in this target. Since 1.1.0 this can include generated files in addition to object files that you don't have source to or that object files produced by other build targets. In earlier release, generated object files had to be placed in `sources`. override_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.40.0 takes an array of strings in the same format as `project`'s `default_options` overriding the values of these options for this target only. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. rust_crate_type str, deprecated since 1.3.0, since 0.42.0 Set the specific type of rust crate to compile (when compiling rust). If the target is an executable this defaults to "bin", the only allowed value. If it is a static_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "staticlib", or "rlib". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "staticlib" means a C ABI library, "rlib" means a Rust ABI. If it is a shared_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "dylib", "cdylib", or "proc-macro". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "cdylib" means a C ABI library, "dylib" means a Rust ABI, and "proc-macro" is a special rust procedural macro crate. "proc-macro" is new in 0.62.0. Since 1.3.0 this is deprecated and replaced by "rust_abi" keyword argument. `proc_macro` crates are now handled by the `rust.proc_macro()`[7] method. rust_dependency_map dict[str], since 1.2.0 On rust targets this provides a map of library names to the crate name with which it would be available inside the rust code. This allows renaming similar to the dependency renaming feature of cargo or `extern crate foo as bar` inside rust code. sources str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list | structured_src Additional source files. Same as the source varargs. vala_args list[str | file] Compiler flags for Vala. Unlike other languages this may contain Files win_subsystem str, default: 'console', since 0.56.0 Specifies the subsystem type to use on the Windows platform. Typical values include `console` for text mode programs and `windows` for gui apps. The value can also contain version specification such as `windows,6.0`. See MSDN documentation[8] for the full list. join_paths() SYNOPSIS str join_paths(part...) since 0.36.0 DESCRIPTION Joins the given strings into a file system path segment. For example `join_paths('foo', 'bar')` results in `foo/bar`. If any one of the individual segments is an absolute path, all segments before it are dropped. That means that `join_paths('foo', '/bar')` returns `/bar`. (since 0.49.0) Using the `/` operator on strings is equivalent to calling join_paths. # res1 and res2 will have identical values res1 = join_paths(foo, bar) res2 = foo / bar VARARGS part str, 1...N times The path parts to join. WARNINGS Don't use join_paths for sources in library and executable. You should use files instead. library() SYNOPSIS lib library( target_name, source..., _args:, _pch:, _shared_args:, _static_args:, build_by_default: true, build_rpath:, d_debug:, d_import_dirs:, d_module_versions:, d_unittest: false, darwin_versions:, dependencies:, extra_files:, gnu_symbol_visibility:, gui_app: false, implicit_include_directories: true, include_directories:, install: false, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_rpath:, install_tag:, link_args:, link_depends:, link_language:, link_whole:, link_with:, name_prefix:, name_suffix:, native: false, objects:, override_options:, pic:, prelink:, rust_abi:, rust_crate_type:, rust_dependency_map:, sources:, soversion:, vala_args:, vala_shared_args:, vala_static_args:, version:, vs_module_defs:, win_subsystem: 'console', ) DESCRIPTION Builds a library that is either static, shared or both depending on the value of `default_library` user option[22]. You should use this instead of shared_library, static_library or both_libraries most of the time. This allows you to toggle your entire project (including subprojects) from shared to static with only one option. This option applies to libraries being built internal to the entire project. For external dependencies, the default library type preferred is shared. This can be adapted on a per library basis using the dependency `static` keyword. The keyword arguments for this are the same as for build_target POSARGS target_name str, required The unique name of the build target VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 0...N times Input source to compile. The following types are supported: - Strings relative to the current source directory - file objects defined in any preceding build file - The return value of configure-time generators such as configure_file - The return value of build-time generators such as custom_target or generator.process These input files can be sources, objects, libraries, or any other file. Meson will automatically categorize them based on the extension and use them accordingly. For instance, sources (`.c`, `.cpp`, `.vala`, `.rs`, etc) will be compiled and objects (`.o`, `.obj`) and libraries (`.so`, `.dll`, etc) will be linked. With the Ninja backend, Meson will create a build-time order-only dependency[3] on all generated input files, including unknown files. This is needed to bootstrap the generation of the real dependencies in the depfile[4] generated by your compiler to determine when to rebuild sources. Ninja relies on this dependency file for all input files, generated and non-generated. The behavior is similar for other backends. KWARGS _args list[str] compiler flags to use for the given language; eg: `cpp_args` for C++ _pch str precompiled header file to use for the given language _shared_args list[str], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a shared library _static_args list[str], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a static library build_by_default bool, default: true, since 0.38.0 Causes, when set to `true`, to have this target be built by default. This means it will be built when `meson compile` is called without any arguments. The default value is `true` for all built target types. build_rpath str, since 0.42.0 A string to add to target's rpath definition in the build dir, but which will be removed on install d_debug list[str] The D version identifiers[5] to add during the compilation of D source files. d_import_dirs list[str] List of directories to look in for string imports used in the D programming language. d_module_versions list[str | int] List of module version identifiers set when compiling D sources. d_unittest bool, default: false When set to true, the D modules are compiled in debug mode. darwin_versions str | int | list[str], since 0.48.0 Defines the `compatibility version` and `current version` for the dylib on macOS. If a list is specified, it must be either zero, one, or two elements. If only one element is specified or if it's not a list, the specified value will be used for setting both compatibility version and current version. If unspecified, the `soversion` will be used as per the aforementioned rules. dependencies list[dep] one or more dependency objects created with dependency or compiler.find_library (for external deps) or declare_dependency (for deps built by the project) extra_files str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Not used for the build itself but are shown as source files in IDEs that group files by targets (such as Visual Studio) gnu_symbol_visibility str, since 0.48.0 Specifies how symbols should be exported, see e.g the GCC Wiki[6] for more information. This value can either be an empty string or one of `default`, `internal`, `hidden`, `protected` or `inlineshidden`, which is the same as `hidden` but also includes things like C++ implicit constructors as specified in the GCC manual. Ignored on compilers that do not support GNU visibility arguments. gui_app bool, default: false, deprecated since 0.56.0 When set to true flags this target as a GUI application on platforms where this makes a difference, deprecated since 0.56.0, use `win_subsystem` instead. implicit_include_directories bool, default: true, since 0.42.0 Controls whether Meson adds the current source and build directories to the include path include_directories list[inc | str] one or more objects created with the include_directories function, or (since 0.50.0) strings, which will be transparently expanded to include directory objects install bool, default: false When set to true, this executable should be installed. install_dir str override install directory for this file. If the value is a relative path, it will be considered relative the `prefix` option. For example, if you want to install plugins into a subdir, you'd use something like this: `install_dir : get_option('libdir') / 'projectname-1.0'`. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_rpath str A string to set the target's rpath to after install (but not before that). On Windows, this argument has no effect. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default all build targets have the tag `runtime` except for static libraries that have the `devel` tag. link_args list[str] Flags to use during linking. You can use UNIX-style flags here for all platforms. link_depends str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Strings, files, or custom targets the link step depends on such as a symbol visibility map. The purpose is to automatically trigger a re-link (but not a re-compile) of the target when this file changes. link_language str, since 0.51.0 Makes the linker for this target be for the specified language. It is generally unnecessary to set this, as Meson will detect the right linker to use in most cases. There are only two cases where this is needed. One, your main function in an executable is not in the language Meson picked, or second you want to force a library to use only one ABI. (broken until 0.55.0) link_whole list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx], since 0.40.0 Links all contents of the given static libraries whether they are used or not, equivalent to the `-Wl,--whole-archive` argument flag of GCC, or the '/WHOLEARCHIVE' MSVC linker option. This allows the linked target to re-export symbols from all objects in the static libraries. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list that list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) This argument also accepts outputs produced by custom targets. The user must ensure that the output is a library in the correct format. link_with list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx] One or more shared or static libraries (built by this project) that this target should be linked with. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list this list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) The arguments can also be custom targets. In this case Meson will assume that merely adding the output file in the linker command line is sufficient to make linking work. If this is not sufficient, then the build system writer must write all other steps manually. name_prefix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the prefix for the target output filename by overriding the default (only used for libraries). By default this is `lib` on all platforms and compilers, except for MSVC shared libraries where it is omitted to follow convention, and Cygwin shared libraries where it is `cyg`. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. name_suffix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the extension for the target by overriding the default. By default on Windows this is `exe` for executables and on other platforms it is omitted. For shared libraries, the default value is `dylib` on macOS, `dll` on Windows, and `so` everywhere else. For static libraries, it is `a` everywhere. By convention MSVC static libraries use the `lib` suffix, but we use `a` to avoid a potential name clash with shared libraries which also generate import libraries with a `lib` suffix. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. native bool, default: false Controls whether the target is compiled for the build or host machines. objects list[extracted_obj | file | str] List of object files that should be linked in this target. Since 1.1.0 this can include generated files in addition to object files that you don't have source to or that object files produced by other build targets. In earlier release, generated object files had to be placed in `sources`. override_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.40.0 takes an array of strings in the same format as `project`'s `default_options` overriding the values of these options for this target only. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. pic bool, since 0.36.0 Builds the library as positional independent code (so it can be linked into a shared library). This option has no effect on Windows and OS X since it doesn't make sense on Windows and PIC cannot be disabled on OS X. prelink bool, since 0.57.0 If `true` the object files in the target will be prelinked, meaning that it will contain only one prelinked object file rather than the individual object files. rust_abi str, since 1.3.0 Set the specific ABI to compile (when compiling rust). - 'rust' (default): Create a "rlib" or "dylib" crate depending on the library type being build. - 'c': Create a "cdylib" or "staticlib" crate depending on the library type being build. rust_crate_type str, deprecated since 1.3.0, since 0.42.0 Set the specific type of rust crate to compile (when compiling rust). If the target is an executable this defaults to "bin", the only allowed value. If it is a static_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "staticlib", or "rlib". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "staticlib" means a C ABI library, "rlib" means a Rust ABI. If it is a shared_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "dylib", "cdylib", or "proc-macro". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "cdylib" means a C ABI library, "dylib" means a Rust ABI, and "proc-macro" is a special rust procedural macro crate. "proc-macro" is new in 0.62.0. Since 1.3.0 this is deprecated and replaced by "rust_abi" keyword argument. `proc_macro` crates are now handled by the `rust.proc_macro()`[7] method. rust_dependency_map dict[str], since 1.2.0 On rust targets this provides a map of library names to the crate name with which it would be available inside the rust code. This allows renaming similar to the dependency renaming feature of cargo or `extern crate foo as bar` inside rust code. sources str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list | structured_src Additional source files. Same as the source varargs. soversion str | int A string or integer specifying the soversion of this shared library, such as `0`. On Linux and Windows this is used to set the soversion (or equivalent) in the filename. For example, if `soversion` is `4`, a Windows DLL will be called `foo-4.dll` and one of the aliases of the Linux shared library would be `libfoo.so.4`. If this is not specified, the first part of `version` is used instead (see below). For example, if `version` is `3.6.0` and `soversion` is not defined, it is set to `3`. vala_args list[str | file] Compiler flags for Vala. Unlike other languages this may contain Files vala_shared_args list[str | file], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a shared library Like `vala_args`, files is allowed in addition to string vala_static_args list[str | file], since 1.3.0 Arguments that are only passed to a static library Like `vala_args`, files is allowed in addition to string version str A string specifying the version of this shared library, such as `1.1.0`. On Linux and OS X, this is used to set the shared library version in the filename, such as `libfoo.so.1.1.0` and `libfoo.1.1.0.dylib`. If this is not specified, `soversion` is used instead (see above). vs_module_defs str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Specify a Microsoft module definition file for controlling symbol exports, etc., on platforms where that is possible (e.g. Windows). (Since 1.3.0) custom_idx are supported win_subsystem str, default: 'console', since 0.56.0 Specifies the subsystem type to use on the Windows platform. Typical values include `console` for text mode programs and `windows` for gui apps. The value can also contain version specification such as `windows,6.0`. See MSDN documentation[8] for the full list. WARNINGS using _shared_args and/or _static_args may lead to much higher compilation times with both_library, as object files cannot be shared between the static and shared targets. It is guaranteed to not duplicate the build if these arguments are empty arrays message() SYNOPSIS void message(text, more_text...) DESCRIPTION This function prints its argument to stdout. POSARGS text str | int | bool | list[str | int | bool] | dict[str | int | bool], required The message to print. VARARGS more_text str | int | bool | list[str | int | bool] | dict[str | int | bool], 0...N times, since 0.54.0 Additional text that will be printed separated by spaces. project() SYNOPSIS void project( project_name, language..., default_options:, license:, license_files:, meson_version:, subproject_dir: 'subprojects', version:, ) DESCRIPTION The first function called in each project, to initialize Meson. The first argument to this function must be a string defining the name of this project. The project name can be any string you want, it's not used for anything except descriptive purposes. However since it is written to e.g. the dependency manifest is usually makes sense to have it be the same as the project tarball or pkg-config name. So for example you would probably want to use the name _libfoobar_ instead of _The Foobar Library_. It may be followed by the list of programming languages that the project uses. (since 0.40.0) The list of languages is optional. These languages may be used both for `native: false` (the default) (host machine) targets and for `native: true` (build machine) targets. (since 0.56.0) The build machine compilers for the specified languages are not required. Supported values for languages are `c`, `cpp` (for `C++`), `cuda`, `cython`, `d`, `objc`, `objcpp`, `fortran`, `java`, `cs` (for `C#`), `vala` and `rust`. POSARGS project_name str, required The name of the project. VARARGS language str, 0...N times The languages that Meson should initialize. KWARGS default_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]] Accepts strings in the form `key=value` which have the same format as options to `meson configure`. For example to set the default project type you would set this: `default_options : ['buildtype=debugoptimized']`. Note that these settings are only used when running Meson for the first time. Global options such as `buildtype` can only be specified in the master project, settings in subprojects are ignored. Project specific options are used normally even in subprojects. Note that some options can override the default behavior; for example, using `c_args` here means that the `CFLAGS` environment variable is not used. Consider using add_project_arguments() instead. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. license str | list[str] Takes a string or array of strings describing the license(s) the code is under. This should be an SPDX license expression[23], using the standardized license identifier from the SPDX license list[24]. Usually this would be something like `license : 'GPL-2.0-or- later'`. If there are multiple licenses you can use the `AND` and `OR` operators to join them: `license : 'Apache-2.0 OR GPL-2.0'`. For backwards compatibility reasons you can also pass an array of licenses here. This is not recommended, as it is ambiguous: `license : ['Apache-2.0', 'GPL-2.0-only']` instead use an SPDX expression: `license : 'Apache-2.0 OR GPL-2.0-only'`, which makes it clear that the license mean OR, not AND. Note that the text is informal and is only written to the dependency manifest. Meson does not do any license validation, you are responsible for verifying that you abide by all licensing terms. You can access the value in your Meson build files with `meson.project_license()`. license_files str | list[str], since 1.1.0 Takes a string or array of strings with the paths to the license file(s) the code is under. This enhances the value of the `license` kwarg by allowing to specify both the short license name and the full license text. Usually this would be something like `license_files: ['COPYING']`. Note that the files are informal and are only installed with the dependency manifest. Meson does not do any license validation, you are responsible for verifying that you abide by all licensing terms. You can access the value in your Meson build files with meson.project_license_files. meson_version str Takes a string describing which Meson version the project requires. Usually something like `>=0.28.0`. subproject_dir str, default: 'subprojects' Specifies the top level directory name that holds Meson subprojects. This is only meant as a compatibility option for existing code bases that house their embedded source code in a custom directory. All new projects should not set this but instead use the default value. It should be noted that this keyword argument is ignored inside subprojects. There can be only one subproject dir and it is set in the top level Meson file. version str | file A free form string describing the version of this project. You can access the value in your Meson build files with meson.project_version. (Since 0.57.0) this can also be a file object pointing to a file that contains exactly one line of text. range() SYNOPSIS range range([start], [stop], [step]) since 0.58.0 DESCRIPTION Return an opaque object that can be only be used in `foreach` statements. 
range range(int stop)
           range range(int start, int stop[, int
           step])
- `start` must be integer greater or equal to 0. Defaults to 0. - `stop` must be integer greater or equal to `start`. - `step` must be integer greater or equal to 1. Defaults to 1. It cause the `foreach` loop to be called with the value from `start` included to `stop` excluded with an increment of `step` after each loop. OPTARGS start int, default: 0 The start of the range stop int The end of the range step int, default: 1 The loop increment EXAMPLE # Loop 15 times with i from 0 to 14 included. foreach i : range(15) ... endforeach The range object can also be assigned to a variable and indexed. r = range(5, 10, 2) assert(r[2] == 9) run_command() SYNOPSIS runresult run_command( command..., capture: true, check: false, env:, ) DESCRIPTION Runs the command specified in positional arguments. `command` can be a string, or the output of find_program, files or configure_file, or a compiler object. Returns a runresult object containing the result of the invocation. The command is run from an unspecified directory, and Meson will set three environment variables `MESON_SOURCE_ROOT`, `MESON_BUILD_ROOT` and `MESON_SUBDIR` that specify the source directory, build directory and subdirectory the target was defined in, respectively. See also External commands[25]. VARARGS command str | file | external_program, 0...N times The command to execute during the setup process. KWARGS capture bool, default: true, since 0.47.0 If `true`, any output generated on stdout will be captured and returned by the `.stdout()` method. If it is false, then `.stdout()` will return an empty string. check bool, default: false, since 0.47.0 If `true`, the exit status code of the command will be checked, and the configuration will fail if it is non-zero. Note that the default value will be `true` in future releases. env env | list[str] | dict[str], since 0.50.0 environment variables to set, such as `['NAME1=value1', 'NAME2=value2']`, or an env object which allows more sophisticated environment juggling. (Since 0.52.0) A dictionary is also accepted. run_target() SYNOPSIS run_tgt run_target(target_name, command:, depends:, env:) DESCRIPTION This function creates a new top-level target that runs a specified command with the specified arguments. Like all top-level targets, this integrates with the selected backend. For instance, you can run it as `meson compile target_name`. Note that a run target produces no output as far as Meson is concerned. It is only meant for tasks such as running a code formatter or flashing an external device's firmware with a built file. The command is run from an unspecified directory, and Meson will set three environment variables `MESON_SOURCE_ROOT`, `MESON_BUILD_ROOT` and `MESON_SUBDIR` that specify the source directory, build directory and subdirectory the target was defined in, respectively. Since 0.57.0 The template strings passed to `command` keyword arguments accept the following special substitutions: - `@SOURCE_ROOT@`: the path to the root of the source tree. Depending on the backend, this may be an absolute or a relative to current workdir path. - `@BUILD_ROOT@`: the path to the root of the build tree. Depending on the backend, this may be an absolute or a relative to current workdir path. - `@CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR@` Since 0.57.1: this is the directory where the currently processed meson.build is located in. Depending on the backend, this may be an absolute or a relative to current workdir path. POSARGS target_name str, required The name of the run target KWARGS command list[exe| external_program | custom_tgt | file | str] A list containing the command to run and the arguments to pass to it. Each list item may be a string or a target. For instance, passing the return value of executable as the first item will run that executable, or passing a string as the first item will find that command in `PATH` and run it. depends list[build_tgt | custom_tgt] A list of targets that this target depends on but which are not listed in the command array (because, for example, the script does file globbing internally) env env | list[str] | dict[str], since 0.57.0 environment variables to set, such as `{'NAME1': 'value1', 'NAME2': 'value2'}` or `['NAME1=value1', 'NAME2=value2']`, or an env object which allows more sophisticated environment juggling. set_variable() SYNOPSIS void set_variable(variable_name, value) DESCRIPTION Assigns a value to the given variable name. Calling `set_variable('foo', bar)` is equivalent to `foo = bar`. (since 0.46.1) The `value` parameter can be an array type. POSARGS variable_name str, required The name of the variable to set value any, required The value to set the variable to shared_library() SYNOPSIS lib shared_library( target_name, source..., _args:, _pch:, build_by_default: true, build_rpath:, d_debug:, d_import_dirs:, d_module_versions:, d_unittest: false, darwin_versions:, dependencies:, extra_files:, gnu_symbol_visibility:, gui_app: false, implicit_include_directories: true, include_directories:, install: false, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_rpath:, install_tag:, link_args:, link_depends:, link_language:, link_whole:, link_with:, name_prefix:, name_suffix:, native: false, objects:, override_options:, rust_abi:, rust_crate_type:, rust_dependency_map:, sources:, soversion:, vala_args:, version:, vs_module_defs:, win_subsystem: 'console', ) DESCRIPTION Builds a shared library with the given sources. POSARGS target_name str, required The unique name of the build target VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 0...N times Input source to compile. The following types are supported: - Strings relative to the current source directory - file objects defined in any preceding build file - The return value of configure-time generators such as configure_file - The return value of build-time generators such as custom_target or generator.process These input files can be sources, objects, libraries, or any other file. Meson will automatically categorize them based on the extension and use them accordingly. For instance, sources (`.c`, `.cpp`, `.vala`, `.rs`, etc) will be compiled and objects (`.o`, `.obj`) and libraries (`.so`, `.dll`, etc) will be linked. With the Ninja backend, Meson will create a build-time order-only dependency[3] on all generated input files, including unknown files. This is needed to bootstrap the generation of the real dependencies in the depfile[4] generated by your compiler to determine when to rebuild sources. Ninja relies on this dependency file for all input files, generated and non-generated. The behavior is similar for other backends. KWARGS _args list[str] compiler flags to use for the given language; eg: `cpp_args` for C++ _pch str precompiled header file to use for the given language build_by_default bool, default: true, since 0.38.0 Causes, when set to `true`, to have this target be built by default. This means it will be built when `meson compile` is called without any arguments. The default value is `true` for all built target types. build_rpath str, since 0.42.0 A string to add to target's rpath definition in the build dir, but which will be removed on install d_debug list[str] The D version identifiers[5] to add during the compilation of D source files. d_import_dirs list[str] List of directories to look in for string imports used in the D programming language. d_module_versions list[str | int] List of module version identifiers set when compiling D sources. d_unittest bool, default: false When set to true, the D modules are compiled in debug mode. darwin_versions str | int | list[str], since 0.48.0 Defines the `compatibility version` and `current version` for the dylib on macOS. If a list is specified, it must be either zero, one, or two elements. If only one element is specified or if it's not a list, the specified value will be used for setting both compatibility version and current version. If unspecified, the `soversion` will be used as per the aforementioned rules. dependencies list[dep] one or more dependency objects created with dependency or compiler.find_library (for external deps) or declare_dependency (for deps built by the project) extra_files str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Not used for the build itself but are shown as source files in IDEs that group files by targets (such as Visual Studio) gnu_symbol_visibility str, since 0.48.0 Specifies how symbols should be exported, see e.g the GCC Wiki[6] for more information. This value can either be an empty string or one of `default`, `internal`, `hidden`, `protected` or `inlineshidden`, which is the same as `hidden` but also includes things like C++ implicit constructors as specified in the GCC manual. Ignored on compilers that do not support GNU visibility arguments. gui_app bool, default: false, deprecated since 0.56.0 When set to true flags this target as a GUI application on platforms where this makes a difference, deprecated since 0.56.0, use `win_subsystem` instead. implicit_include_directories bool, default: true, since 0.42.0 Controls whether Meson adds the current source and build directories to the include path include_directories list[inc | str] one or more objects created with the include_directories function, or (since 0.50.0) strings, which will be transparently expanded to include directory objects install bool, default: false When set to true, this executable should be installed. install_dir str override install directory for this file. If the value is a relative path, it will be considered relative the `prefix` option. For example, if you want to install plugins into a subdir, you'd use something like this: `install_dir : get_option('libdir') / 'projectname-1.0'`. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_rpath str A string to set the target's rpath to after install (but not before that). On Windows, this argument has no effect. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default all build targets have the tag `runtime` except for static libraries that have the `devel` tag. link_args list[str] Flags to use during linking. You can use UNIX-style flags here for all platforms. link_depends str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Strings, files, or custom targets the link step depends on such as a symbol visibility map. The purpose is to automatically trigger a re-link (but not a re-compile) of the target when this file changes. link_language str, since 0.51.0 Makes the linker for this target be for the specified language. It is generally unnecessary to set this, as Meson will detect the right linker to use in most cases. There are only two cases where this is needed. One, your main function in an executable is not in the language Meson picked, or second you want to force a library to use only one ABI. (broken until 0.55.0) link_whole list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx], since 0.40.0 Links all contents of the given static libraries whether they are used or not, equivalent to the `-Wl,--whole-archive` argument flag of GCC, or the '/WHOLEARCHIVE' MSVC linker option. This allows the linked target to re-export symbols from all objects in the static libraries. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list that list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) This argument also accepts outputs produced by custom targets. The user must ensure that the output is a library in the correct format. link_with list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx] One or more shared or static libraries (built by this project) that this target should be linked with. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list this list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) The arguments can also be custom targets. In this case Meson will assume that merely adding the output file in the linker command line is sufficient to make linking work. If this is not sufficient, then the build system writer must write all other steps manually. name_prefix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the prefix for the target output filename by overriding the default (only used for libraries). By default this is `lib` on all platforms and compilers, except for MSVC shared libraries where it is omitted to follow convention, and Cygwin shared libraries where it is `cyg`. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. name_suffix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the extension for the target by overriding the default. By default on Windows this is `exe` for executables and on other platforms it is omitted. For shared libraries, the default value is `dylib` on macOS, `dll` on Windows, and `so` everywhere else. For static libraries, it is `a` everywhere. By convention MSVC static libraries use the `lib` suffix, but we use `a` to avoid a potential name clash with shared libraries which also generate import libraries with a `lib` suffix. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. native bool, default: false Controls whether the target is compiled for the build or host machines. objects list[extracted_obj | file | str] List of object files that should be linked in this target. Since 1.1.0 this can include generated files in addition to object files that you don't have source to or that object files produced by other build targets. In earlier release, generated object files had to be placed in `sources`. override_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.40.0 takes an array of strings in the same format as `project`'s `default_options` overriding the values of these options for this target only. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. rust_abi str, since 1.3.0 Set the specific ABI to compile (when compiling rust). - 'rust' (default): Create a "dylib" crate. - 'c': Create a "cdylib" crate. rust_crate_type str, deprecated since 1.3.0, since 0.42.0 Set the specific type of rust crate to compile (when compiling rust). If the target is an executable this defaults to "bin", the only allowed value. If it is a static_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "staticlib", or "rlib". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "staticlib" means a C ABI library, "rlib" means a Rust ABI. If it is a shared_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "dylib", "cdylib", or "proc-macro". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "cdylib" means a C ABI library, "dylib" means a Rust ABI, and "proc-macro" is a special rust procedural macro crate. "proc-macro" is new in 0.62.0. Since 1.3.0 this is deprecated and replaced by "rust_abi" keyword argument. `proc_macro` crates are now handled by the `rust.proc_macro()`[7] method. rust_dependency_map dict[str], since 1.2.0 On rust targets this provides a map of library names to the crate name with which it would be available inside the rust code. This allows renaming similar to the dependency renaming feature of cargo or `extern crate foo as bar` inside rust code. sources str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list | structured_src Additional source files. Same as the source varargs. soversion str | int A string or integer specifying the soversion of this shared library, such as `0`. On Linux and Windows this is used to set the soversion (or equivalent) in the filename. For example, if `soversion` is `4`, a Windows DLL will be called `foo-4.dll` and one of the aliases of the Linux shared library would be `libfoo.so.4`. If this is not specified, the first part of `version` is used instead (see below). For example, if `version` is `3.6.0` and `soversion` is not defined, it is set to `3`. vala_args list[str | file] Compiler flags for Vala. Unlike other languages this may contain Files version str A string specifying the version of this shared library, such as `1.1.0`. On Linux and OS X, this is used to set the shared library version in the filename, such as `libfoo.so.1.1.0` and `libfoo.1.1.0.dylib`. If this is not specified, `soversion` is used instead (see above). vs_module_defs str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Specify a Microsoft module definition file for controlling symbol exports, etc., on platforms where that is possible (e.g. Windows). (Since 1.3.0) custom_idx are supported win_subsystem str, default: 'console', since 0.56.0 Specifies the subsystem type to use on the Windows platform. Typical values include `console` for text mode programs and `windows` for gui apps. The value can also contain version specification such as `windows,6.0`. See MSDN documentation[8] for the full list. shared_module() SYNOPSIS build_tgt shared_module( target_name, source..., _args:, _pch:, build_by_default: true, build_rpath:, d_debug:, d_import_dirs:, d_module_versions:, d_unittest: false, dependencies:, extra_files:, gnu_symbol_visibility:, gui_app: false, implicit_include_directories: true, include_directories:, install: false, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_rpath:, install_tag:, link_args:, link_depends:, link_language:, link_whole:, link_with:, name_prefix:, name_suffix:, native: false, objects:, override_options:, rust_abi:, rust_crate_type:, rust_dependency_map:, sources:, vala_args:, vs_module_defs:, win_subsystem: 'console', ) since 0.37.0 DESCRIPTION Builds a shared module with the given sources. This is useful for building modules that will be `dlopen()`ed and hence may contain undefined symbols that will be provided by the library that is loading it. If you want the shared module to be able to refer to functions and variables defined in the executable it is loaded by, you will need to set the `export_dynamic` argument of the executable to `true`. POSARGS target_name str, required The unique name of the build target VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 0...N times Input source to compile. The following types are supported: - Strings relative to the current source directory - file objects defined in any preceding build file - The return value of configure-time generators such as configure_file - The return value of build-time generators such as custom_target or generator.process These input files can be sources, objects, libraries, or any other file. Meson will automatically categorize them based on the extension and use them accordingly. For instance, sources (`.c`, `.cpp`, `.vala`, `.rs`, etc) will be compiled and objects (`.o`, `.obj`) and libraries (`.so`, `.dll`, etc) will be linked. With the Ninja backend, Meson will create a build-time order-only dependency[3] on all generated input files, including unknown files. This is needed to bootstrap the generation of the real dependencies in the depfile[4] generated by your compiler to determine when to rebuild sources. Ninja relies on this dependency file for all input files, generated and non-generated. The behavior is similar for other backends. KWARGS _args list[str] compiler flags to use for the given language; eg: `cpp_args` for C++ _pch str precompiled header file to use for the given language build_by_default bool, default: true, since 0.38.0 Causes, when set to `true`, to have this target be built by default. This means it will be built when `meson compile` is called without any arguments. The default value is `true` for all built target types. build_rpath str, since 0.42.0 A string to add to target's rpath definition in the build dir, but which will be removed on install d_debug list[str] The D version identifiers[5] to add during the compilation of D source files. d_import_dirs list[str] List of directories to look in for string imports used in the D programming language. d_module_versions list[str | int] List of module version identifiers set when compiling D sources. d_unittest bool, default: false When set to true, the D modules are compiled in debug mode. dependencies list[dep] one or more dependency objects created with dependency or compiler.find_library (for external deps) or declare_dependency (for deps built by the project) extra_files str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Not used for the build itself but are shown as source files in IDEs that group files by targets (such as Visual Studio) gnu_symbol_visibility str, since 0.48.0 Specifies how symbols should be exported, see e.g the GCC Wiki[6] for more information. This value can either be an empty string or one of `default`, `internal`, `hidden`, `protected` or `inlineshidden`, which is the same as `hidden` but also includes things like C++ implicit constructors as specified in the GCC manual. Ignored on compilers that do not support GNU visibility arguments. gui_app bool, default: false, deprecated since 0.56.0 When set to true flags this target as a GUI application on platforms where this makes a difference, deprecated since 0.56.0, use `win_subsystem` instead. implicit_include_directories bool, default: true, since 0.42.0 Controls whether Meson adds the current source and build directories to the include path include_directories list[inc | str] one or more objects created with the include_directories function, or (since 0.50.0) strings, which will be transparently expanded to include directory objects install bool, default: false When set to true, this executable should be installed. install_dir str override install directory for this file. If the value is a relative path, it will be considered relative the `prefix` option. For example, if you want to install plugins into a subdir, you'd use something like this: `install_dir : get_option('libdir') / 'projectname-1.0'`. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_rpath str A string to set the target's rpath to after install (but not before that). On Windows, this argument has no effect. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default all build targets have the tag `runtime` except for static libraries that have the `devel` tag. link_args list[str] Flags to use during linking. You can use UNIX-style flags here for all platforms. link_depends str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Strings, files, or custom targets the link step depends on such as a symbol visibility map. The purpose is to automatically trigger a re-link (but not a re-compile) of the target when this file changes. link_language str, since 0.51.0 Makes the linker for this target be for the specified language. It is generally unnecessary to set this, as Meson will detect the right linker to use in most cases. There are only two cases where this is needed. One, your main function in an executable is not in the language Meson picked, or second you want to force a library to use only one ABI. (broken until 0.55.0) link_whole list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx], since 0.40.0 Links all contents of the given static libraries whether they are used or not, equivalent to the `-Wl,--whole-archive` argument flag of GCC, or the '/WHOLEARCHIVE' MSVC linker option. This allows the linked target to re-export symbols from all objects in the static libraries. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list that list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) This argument also accepts outputs produced by custom targets. The user must ensure that the output is a library in the correct format. link_with list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx] One or more shared or static libraries (built by this project) that this target should be linked with. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list this list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) The arguments can also be custom targets. In this case Meson will assume that merely adding the output file in the linker command line is sufficient to make linking work. If this is not sufficient, then the build system writer must write all other steps manually. name_prefix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the prefix for the target output filename by overriding the default (only used for libraries). By default this is `lib` on all platforms and compilers, except for MSVC shared libraries where it is omitted to follow convention, and Cygwin shared libraries where it is `cyg`. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. name_suffix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the extension for the target by overriding the default. By default on Windows this is `exe` for executables and on other platforms it is omitted. For shared libraries, the default value is `dylib` on macOS, `dll` on Windows, and `so` everywhere else. For static libraries, it is `a` everywhere. By convention MSVC static libraries use the `lib` suffix, but we use `a` to avoid a potential name clash with shared libraries which also generate import libraries with a `lib` suffix. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. native bool, default: false Controls whether the target is compiled for the build or host machines. objects list[extracted_obj | file | str] List of object files that should be linked in this target. Since 1.1.0 this can include generated files in addition to object files that you don't have source to or that object files produced by other build targets. In earlier release, generated object files had to be placed in `sources`. override_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.40.0 takes an array of strings in the same format as `project`'s `default_options` overriding the values of these options for this target only. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. rust_abi str, since 1.3.0 Set the specific ABI to compile (when compiling rust). - 'rust' (default): Create a "dylib" crate. - 'c': Create a "cdylib" crate. rust_crate_type str, deprecated since 1.3.0, since 0.42.0 Set the specific type of rust crate to compile (when compiling rust). If the target is an executable this defaults to "bin", the only allowed value. If it is a static_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "staticlib", or "rlib". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "staticlib" means a C ABI library, "rlib" means a Rust ABI. If it is a shared_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "dylib", "cdylib", or "proc-macro". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "cdylib" means a C ABI library, "dylib" means a Rust ABI, and "proc-macro" is a special rust procedural macro crate. "proc-macro" is new in 0.62.0. Since 1.3.0 this is deprecated and replaced by "rust_abi" keyword argument. `proc_macro` crates are now handled by the `rust.proc_macro()`[7] method. rust_dependency_map dict[str], since 1.2.0 On rust targets this provides a map of library names to the crate name with which it would be available inside the rust code. This allows renaming similar to the dependency renaming feature of cargo or `extern crate foo as bar` inside rust code. sources str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list | structured_src Additional source files. Same as the source varargs. vala_args list[str | file] Compiler flags for Vala. Unlike other languages this may contain Files vs_module_defs str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx, since 0.52.0 Specify a Microsoft module definition file for controlling symbol exports, etc., on platforms where that is possible (e.g. Windows). (Since 1.3.0) custom_idx are supported win_subsystem str, default: 'console', since 0.56.0 Specifies the subsystem type to use on the Windows platform. Typical values include `console` for text mode programs and `windows` for gui apps. The value can also contain version specification such as `windows,6.0`. See MSDN documentation[8] for the full list. NOTES *Linking to a shared module on platforms other than Android is deprecated, and will be an error in the future*. It was previously allowed because it was the only way to have a shared-library-like target that contained references to undefined symbols. However, since 0.40.0, the `override_options:` build_target keyword argument can be used to create such a shared_library by passing `override_options: 'b_lundef=false'`. Shared modules have other characteristics that make them incompatible with linking, such as a lack of SONAME. On macOS and iOS, linking to shared modules is disallowed by the linker, so we disallow it at configure time. On Android, if a shared module `foo` uses symbols from another shared module `bar`, `foo` must also be linked to `bar`. Hence, linking one shared module to another will always be allowed when building for Android. static_library() SYNOPSIS lib static_library( target_name, source..., _args:, _pch:, build_by_default: true, build_rpath:, d_debug:, d_import_dirs:, d_module_versions:, d_unittest: false, dependencies:, extra_files:, gnu_symbol_visibility:, gui_app: false, implicit_include_directories: true, include_directories:, install: false, install_dir:, install_mode:, install_rpath:, install_tag:, link_args:, link_depends:, link_language:, link_whole:, link_with:, name_prefix:, name_suffix:, native: false, objects:, override_options:, pic:, prelink:, rust_abi:, rust_crate_type:, rust_dependency_map:, sources:, vala_args:, win_subsystem: 'console', ) DESCRIPTION Builds a static library with the given sources. POSARGS target_name str, required The unique name of the build target VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 0...N times Input source to compile. The following types are supported: - Strings relative to the current source directory - file objects defined in any preceding build file - The return value of configure-time generators such as configure_file - The return value of build-time generators such as custom_target or generator.process These input files can be sources, objects, libraries, or any other file. Meson will automatically categorize them based on the extension and use them accordingly. For instance, sources (`.c`, `.cpp`, `.vala`, `.rs`, etc) will be compiled and objects (`.o`, `.obj`) and libraries (`.so`, `.dll`, etc) will be linked. With the Ninja backend, Meson will create a build-time order-only dependency[3] on all generated input files, including unknown files. This is needed to bootstrap the generation of the real dependencies in the depfile[4] generated by your compiler to determine when to rebuild sources. Ninja relies on this dependency file for all input files, generated and non-generated. The behavior is similar for other backends. KWARGS _args list[str] compiler flags to use for the given language; eg: `cpp_args` for C++ _pch str precompiled header file to use for the given language build_by_default bool, default: true, since 0.38.0 Causes, when set to `true`, to have this target be built by default. This means it will be built when `meson compile` is called without any arguments. The default value is `true` for all built target types. build_rpath str, since 0.42.0 A string to add to target's rpath definition in the build dir, but which will be removed on install d_debug list[str] The D version identifiers[5] to add during the compilation of D source files. d_import_dirs list[str] List of directories to look in for string imports used in the D programming language. d_module_versions list[str | int] List of module version identifiers set when compiling D sources. d_unittest bool, default: false When set to true, the D modules are compiled in debug mode. dependencies list[dep] one or more dependency objects created with dependency or compiler.find_library (for external deps) or declare_dependency (for deps built by the project) extra_files str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Not used for the build itself but are shown as source files in IDEs that group files by targets (such as Visual Studio) gnu_symbol_visibility str, since 0.48.0 Specifies how symbols should be exported, see e.g the GCC Wiki[6] for more information. This value can either be an empty string or one of `default`, `internal`, `hidden`, `protected` or `inlineshidden`, which is the same as `hidden` but also includes things like C++ implicit constructors as specified in the GCC manual. Ignored on compilers that do not support GNU visibility arguments. gui_app bool, default: false, deprecated since 0.56.0 When set to true flags this target as a GUI application on platforms where this makes a difference, deprecated since 0.56.0, use `win_subsystem` instead. implicit_include_directories bool, default: true, since 0.42.0 Controls whether Meson adds the current source and build directories to the include path include_directories list[inc | str] one or more objects created with the include_directories function, or (since 0.50.0) strings, which will be transparently expanded to include directory objects install bool, default: false When set to true, this executable should be installed. install_dir str override install directory for this file. If the value is a relative path, it will be considered relative the `prefix` option. For example, if you want to install plugins into a subdir, you'd use something like this: `install_dir : get_option('libdir') / 'projectname-1.0'`. install_mode list[str | int], since 0.47.0 Specify the file mode in symbolic format and optionally the owner/uid and group/gid for the installed files. See the `install_mode` kwarg of install_data for more information. install_rpath str A string to set the target's rpath to after install (but not before that). On Windows, this argument has no effect. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default all build targets have the tag `runtime` except for static libraries that have the `devel` tag. link_args list[str] Flags to use during linking. You can use UNIX-style flags here for all platforms. link_depends str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx Strings, files, or custom targets the link step depends on such as a symbol visibility map. The purpose is to automatically trigger a re-link (but not a re-compile) of the target when this file changes. link_language str, since 0.51.0 Makes the linker for this target be for the specified language. It is generally unnecessary to set this, as Meson will detect the right linker to use in most cases. There are only two cases where this is needed. One, your main function in an executable is not in the language Meson picked, or second you want to force a library to use only one ABI. (broken until 0.55.0) link_whole list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx], since 0.40.0 Links all contents of the given static libraries whether they are used or not, equivalent to the `-Wl,--whole-archive` argument flag of GCC, or the '/WHOLEARCHIVE' MSVC linker option. This allows the linked target to re-export symbols from all objects in the static libraries. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list that list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) This argument also accepts outputs produced by custom targets. The user must ensure that the output is a library in the correct format. link_with list[lib | custom_tgt | custom_idx] One or more shared or static libraries (built by this project) that this target should be linked with. (since 0.41.0) If passed a list this list will be flattened. (since 0.51.0) The arguments can also be custom targets. In this case Meson will assume that merely adding the output file in the linker command line is sufficient to make linking work. If this is not sufficient, then the build system writer must write all other steps manually. name_prefix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the prefix for the target output filename by overriding the default (only used for libraries). By default this is `lib` on all platforms and compilers, except for MSVC shared libraries where it is omitted to follow convention, and Cygwin shared libraries where it is `cyg`. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. name_suffix str | list[void] The string that will be used as the extension for the target by overriding the default. By default on Windows this is `exe` for executables and on other platforms it is omitted. For shared libraries, the default value is `dylib` on macOS, `dll` on Windows, and `so` everywhere else. For static libraries, it is `a` everywhere. By convention MSVC static libraries use the `lib` suffix, but we use `a` to avoid a potential name clash with shared libraries which also generate import libraries with a `lib` suffix. Set this to `[]`, or omit the keyword argument for the default behaviour. native bool, default: false Controls whether the target is compiled for the build or host machines. objects list[extracted_obj | file | str] List of object files that should be linked in this target. Since 1.1.0 this can include generated files in addition to object files that you don't have source to or that object files produced by other build targets. In earlier release, generated object files had to be placed in `sources`. override_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.40.0 takes an array of strings in the same format as `project`'s `default_options` overriding the values of these options for this target only. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. pic bool, since 0.36.0 Builds the library as positional independent code (so it can be linked into a shared library). This option has no effect on Windows and OS X since it doesn't make sense on Windows and PIC cannot be disabled on OS X. prelink bool, since 0.57.0 If `true` the object files in the target will be prelinked, meaning that it will contain only one prelinked object file rather than the individual object files. rust_abi str, since 1.3.0 Set the specific ABI to compile (when compiling rust). - 'rust' (default): Create a "rlib" crate. - 'c': Create a "staticlib" crate. rust_crate_type str, deprecated since 1.3.0, since 0.42.0 Set the specific type of rust crate to compile (when compiling rust). If the target is an executable this defaults to "bin", the only allowed value. If it is a static_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "staticlib", or "rlib". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "staticlib" means a C ABI library, "rlib" means a Rust ABI. If it is a shared_library it defaults to "lib", and may be "lib", "dylib", "cdylib", or "proc-macro". If "lib" then Rustc will pick a default, "cdylib" means a C ABI library, "dylib" means a Rust ABI, and "proc-macro" is a special rust procedural macro crate. "proc-macro" is new in 0.62.0. Since 1.3.0 this is deprecated and replaced by "rust_abi" keyword argument. `proc_macro` crates are now handled by the `rust.proc_macro()`[7] method. rust_dependency_map dict[str], since 1.2.0 On rust targets this provides a map of library names to the crate name with which it would be available inside the rust code. This allows renaming similar to the dependency renaming feature of cargo or `extern crate foo as bar` inside rust code. sources str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list | structured_src Additional source files. Same as the source varargs. vala_args list[str | file] Compiler flags for Vala. Unlike other languages this may contain Files win_subsystem str, default: 'console', since 0.56.0 Specifies the subsystem type to use on the Windows platform. Typical values include `console` for text mode programs and `windows` for gui apps. The value can also contain version specification such as `windows,6.0`. See MSDN documentation[8] for the full list. structured_sources() SYNOPSIS structured_src structured_sources(root, [additional]) since 0.62.0 DESCRIPTION Create a StructuredSource object, which is opaque and may be passed as a source to any build_target (including static_library, shared_library, executable, etc.). This is useful for languages like Rust, which use the filesystem layout to determine import names. This is only allowed in Rust targets, and cannot be mixed with non structured inputs. POSARGS root list[str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list], required Sources to put at the root of the generated structure OPTARGS additional dict[str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list] Additional sources, where the key is the directory under the root to place the values subdir() SYNOPSIS void subdir(dir_name, if_found:) DESCRIPTION Enters the specified subdirectory and executes the `meson.build` file in it. Once that is done, it returns and execution continues on the line following this `subdir()` command. Variables defined in that `meson.build` file are then available for use in later parts of the current build file and in all subsequent build files executed with `subdir()`. Note that this means that each `meson.build` file in a source tree can and must only be executed once. POSARGS dir_name str, required Directory relative to the current `meson.build` to enter. Cannot contain `..` KWARGS if_found list[dep], since 0.44.0 Only enter the subdir if all dep.found methods return `true`. subdir_done() SYNOPSIS void subdir_done() since 0.46.0 DESCRIPTION Stops further interpretation of the Meson script file from the point of the invocation. All steps executed up to this point are valid and will be executed by Meson. This means that all targets defined before the call of subdir_done will be build. If the current script was called by `subdir` the execution returns to the calling directory and continues as if the script had reached the end. If the current script is the top level script Meson configures the project as defined up to this point. EXAMPLE project('example exit', 'cpp') executable('exe1', 'exe1.cpp') subdir_done() executable('exe2', 'exe2.cpp') The executable `exe1` will be build, while the executable `exe2` is not build. subproject() SYNOPSIS subproject subproject( subproject_name, default_options:, required: true, version:, ) DESCRIPTION Takes the project specified in the positional argument and brings that in the current build specification by returning a subproject object. Subprojects must always be placed inside the `subprojects` directory at the top source directory. So for example a subproject called `foo` must be located in `${MESON_SOURCE_ROOT}/subprojects/foo`. - `default_options` (since 0.37.0): an array of default option values that override those set in the subproject's `meson.options` (like `default_options` in `project`, they only have effect when Meson is run for the first time, and command line arguments override any default options in build files). (since 0.54.0): `default_library` built-in option can also be overridden. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may be passed instead of array. - `version`: works just like the same as in `dependency`. It specifies what version the subproject should be, as an example `>=1.0.1` - `required` (since 0.48.0): By default, `required` is `true` and Meson will abort if the subproject could not be setup. You can set this to `false` and then use the `.found()` method on the subproject object. You may also pass the value of a `feature`[0] option, same as dependency. Note that you can use the returned subproject object to access any variable in the subproject. However, if you want to use a dependency object from inside a subproject, an easier way is to use the `fallback:` keyword argument to dependency. See additional documentation[26]. POSARGS subproject_name str, required Name of the subproject. The subproject must exist in the `subprojects` directory (or the directory specified in the `subproject_dir` of project) as a directory or wrap file. KWARGS default_options list[str] | dict[str | bool | int | list[str]], since 0.37.0 An array of default option values that override those set in the subproject's `meson.options` (like `default_options` in project, they only have effect when Meson is run for the first time, and command line arguments override any default options in build files). (since 0.54.0): `default_library` built-in option can also be overridden. (since 1.2.0): A dictionary may now be passed. required bool | feature, default: true, since 0.48.0 Works just the same as in dependency. version str Works just like the same as in dependency. It specifies what version the subproject should be, as an example `>=1.0.1`. summary() SYNOPSIS void summary( key_or_dict, [value], bool_yn: false, list_sep:, section:, ) since 0.53.0 DESCRIPTION This function is used to summarize build configuration at the end of the build process. This function provides a way for projects (and subprojects) to report this information in a clear way. The content is a series of key/value pairs grouped into sections. If the section keyword argument is omitted, those key/value pairs are implicitly grouped into a section with no title. key/value pairs can optionally be grouped into a dictionary, but keep in mind that dictionaries do not guarantee ordering. `key` must be string, `value` can be: - an integer, boolean or string - since 0.57.0 an external program or a dependency - since 0.58.0 a feature option - a list of those. Instead of calling summary as `summary(key, value)`, it is also possible to directly pass a dictionary to the summary function, as seen in the example below. `summary()` can be called multiple times as long as the same section/key pair doesn't appear twice. All sections will be collected and printed at the end of the configuration in the same order as they have been called. POSARGS key_or_dict str | dict[str | bool | int | dep | external_program | list[str | bool | int | dep | external_program]], required The name of the new entry, or a dict containing multiple entries. If a dict is passed it is equivalent to calling summary() once for each key-value pair. Keep in mind that dictionaries do not guarantee ordering. OPTARGS value str | bool | int | dep | external_program | list[str | bool | int | dep | external_program] The value to print for the `key`. Only valid if `key_or_dict` is a str. KWARGS bool_yn bool, default: false Convert bool values to yes and no list_sep str, since 0.54.0 The separator to use when printing list values in this summary. If no separator is given, each list item will be printed on its own line. section str The section to put this summary information under. If the section keyword argument is omitted, key/value pairs are implicitly grouped into a section with no title. EXAMPLE Example `meson.build`: project('My Project', version : '1.0') summary({'bindir': get_option('bindir'), 'libdir': get_option('libdir'), 'datadir': get_option('datadir'), }, section: 'Directories') summary({'Some boolean': false, 'Another boolean': true, 'Some string': 'Hello World', 'A list': ['string', 1, true], }, section: 'Configuration') Output: My Project 1.0 Directories prefix : /opt/gnome bindir : bin libdir : lib/x86_64-linux-gnu datadir : share Configuration Some boolean : False Another boolean: True Some string : Hello World A list : string 1 True test() SYNOPSIS void test( name, executable, args:, depends:, env:, is_parallel: true, priority: 0, protocol: 'exitcode', should_fail: false, suite:, timeout: 30, verbose: false, workdir:, ) DESCRIPTION Defines a test to run with the test harness. Takes two positional arguments, the first is the name of the test and the second is the executable to run. The executable can be an exe object returned by executable or an external_program object] returned by find_program. (since 0.55.0) When cross compiling, if an exe_wrapper is needed and defined the environment variable `MESON_EXE_WRAPPER` will be set to the string value of that wrapper (implementation detail: using `mesonlib.join_args`). Test scripts may use this to run cross built binaries. If your test needs `MESON_EXE_WRAPPER` in cross build situations it is your responsibility to return code 77 to tell the harness to report "skip". By default, environment variable `MALLOC_PERTURB_`[27] is automatically set by `meson test` to a random value between 1..255. This can help find memory leaks on configurations using glibc, including with non-GCC compilers. However, this can have a performance impact, and may fail a test due to external libraries whose internals are out of the user's control. To check if this feature is causing an expected runtime crash, disable the feature by temporarily setting environment variable `MALLOC_PERTURB_=0`. While it's preferable to only temporarily disable this check, if a project requires permanent disabling of this check in meson.build do like: nomalloc = environment({'MALLOC_PERTURB_': '0'}) test(..., env: nomalloc, ...) By default, the environment variables `ASAN_OPTIONS`, `UBSAN_OPTIONS`, and `MSAN_OPTIONS` are set to enable aborting on detected violations and to give a backtrace. To suppress this, `ASAN_OPTIONS`, `UBSAN_OPTIONS`, or `MSAN_OPTIONS` can be set in the environment. In addition to running individual executables as test cases, `test()` can also be used to invoke an external test harness. In this case, it is best to use `verbose: true` (since 0.62.0) and, if supported by the external harness, `protocol: 'tap'` (since 0.50.0). This will ensure that Meson logs each subtest as it runs, instead of including the whole log at the end of the run. Defined tests can be run in a backend-agnostic way by calling `meson test` inside the build dir, or by using backend-specific commands, such as `ninja test` or `msbuild RUN_TESTS.vcxproj`. POSARGS name str, required The unique test id executable exe | jar | external_program | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx, required The program to execute. (Since 1.4.0) A CustomTarget is also accepted. KWARGS args list[str | file | tgt] Arguments to pass to the executable depends list[build_tgt | custom_tgt], since 0.46.0 specifies that this test depends on the specified target(s), even though it does not take any of them as a command line argument. This is meant for cases where test finds those targets internally, e.g. plugins or globbing. Those targets are built before test is executed even if they have `build_by_default : false`. env env | list[str] | dict[str] environment variables to set, such as `['NAME1=value1', 'NAME2=value2']`, or an env object which allows more sophisticated environment juggling. (Since 0.52.0) A dictionary is also accepted. is_parallel bool, default: true when false, specifies that no other test must be running at the same time as this test priority int, default: 0, since 0.52.0 specifies the priority of a test. Tests with a higher priority are started before tests with a lower priority. The starting order of tests with identical priorities is implementation- defined. The default priority is 0, negative numbers are permitted. protocol str, default: 'exitcode', since 0.50.0 specifies how the test results are parsed and can be one of `exitcode`, `tap`, or `gtest`. For more information about test harness protocol read Unit Tests[1]. The following values are accepted: - `exitcode`: the executable's exit code is used by the test harness to record the outcome of the test). - `tap`: Test Anything Protocol[2]. - `gtest` (since 0.55.0): for Google Tests. - `rust` (since 0.56.0): for native rust tests should_fail bool, default: false when true the test is considered passed if the executable returns a non-zero return value (i.e. reports an error) suite str | list[str] `'label'` (or list of labels `['label1', 'label2']`) attached to this test. The suite name is qualified by a (sub)project name resulting in `(sub)project_name:label`. In the case of a list of strings, the suite names will be `(sub)project_name:label1`, `(sub)project_name:label2`, etc. timeout int, default: 30 the amount of seconds the test is allowed to run, a test that exceeds its time limit is always considered failed, defaults to 30 seconds. Since 0.57 if timeout is `<= 0` the test has infinite duration, in previous versions of Meson the test would fail with a timeout immediately. verbose bool, default: false, since 0.62.0 if true, forces the test results to be logged as if `--verbose` was passed to `meson test`. workdir str absolute path that will be used as the working directory for the test unset_variable() SYNOPSIS void unset_variable(varname) since 0.60.0 DESCRIPTION Unsets a variable. Referencing a variable which has been unset is an error until it has been set again. POSARGS varname str, required The variable to unset. vcs_tag() SYNOPSIS custom_tgt vcs_tag( command:, fallback: [[meson.project_version]], input:, output:, replace_string: '@VCS_TAG@', ) DESCRIPTION This command detects revision control commit information at build time and places it in the specified output file. This file is guaranteed to be up to date on every build. Keywords are similar to custom_target. Meson will read the contents of `input`, substitute the `replace_string` with the detected revision number, and write the result to `output`. This method returns a custom_tgt object that (as usual) should be used to signal dependencies if other targets use the file outputted by this. For example, if you generate a header with this and want to use that in a build target, you must add the return value to the sources of that build target. Without that, Meson will not know the order in which to build the targets. If you desire more specific behavior than what this command provides, you should use custom_target. KWARGS command list[exe | external_program | custom_tgt | file | str] The command to execute, see custom_target for details on how this command must be specified. This parameter is optional. If it is absent, Meson will try its best to find a suitable default command. (since 0.62.0) file is accepted. (since 0.63.0) custom_tgt, exe, and external_program are accepted. fallback str, default: [[meson.project_version]] Version number to use when no revision control information is present, such as when building from a release tarball. input str, required File to modify (e.g. `version.c.in`). output str, required File to write the results to (e.g. `version.c`). replace_string str, default: '@VCS_TAG@' String in the input file to substitute with the commit information. warning() SYNOPSIS void warning(text, more_text...) since 0.44.0 DESCRIPTION This function prints its argument to stdout prefixed with WARNING:. POSARGS text str | int | bool | list[str | int | bool] | dict[str | int | bool], required The message to print. VARARGS more_text str | int | bool | list[str | int | bool] | dict[str | int | bool], 0...N times, since 0.54.0 Additional text that will be printed separated by spaces. bool.to_int() SYNOPSIS int bool.to_int() DESCRIPTION Returns `1` if `true` and `0` if `false` bool.to_string() SYNOPSIS str bool.to_string([true_str], [false_str]) DESCRIPTION Returns the string `'true'` if the boolean is true or `'false'` otherwise. You can also pass it two strings as positional arguments to specify what to return for true/false. For instance, `bool.to_string('yes', 'no')` will return `yes` if the boolean is true and `no` if it is false. OPTARGS true_str str, default: 'true' The string to return when the boolean is `true` false_str str, default: 'false' The string to return when the boolean is `false` both_libs.get_shared_lib() SYNOPSIS lib both_libs.get_shared_lib() DESCRIPTION Returns the stored shared library both_libs.get_static_lib() SYNOPSIS lib both_libs.get_static_lib() DESCRIPTION Returns the stored static library build_machine.cpu() SYNOPSIS str build_machine.cpu() DESCRIPTION Returns a more specific CPU name, such as `i686`, `amd64`, etc. build_machine.cpu_family() SYNOPSIS str build_machine.cpu_family() DESCRIPTION Returns the CPU family name. This table[28] contains all known CPU families. These are guaranteed to continue working. build_machine.endian() SYNOPSIS str build_machine.endian() DESCRIPTION returns `'big'` on big-endian systems and `'little'` on little- endian systems. build_machine.system() SYNOPSIS str build_machine.system() DESCRIPTION Returns the operating system name. This table[29] Lists all of the currently known Operating System names, these are guaranteed to continue working. build_tgt.extract_all_objects() SYNOPSIS extracted_obj build_tgt.extract_all_objects( recursive: true, ) DESCRIPTION Acts the same as `extract_objects`, but returns all object files generated by this target. By default only objects built for this target are returned to maintain backward compatibility with previous versions. The default value for the `recursive` kwarg will eventually be changed to `true` in a future version. KWARGS recursive bool, default: true, since 0.46.0 Also return objects passed to the `objects` argument of this target. build_tgt.extract_objects() SYNOPSIS extracted_obj build_tgt.extract_objects(source...) DESCRIPTION Returns an opaque value representing the object files generated for those source files. This is typically used to take single object files and link them to unit tests or to compile some source files with custom flags. To use the object file(s) in another build target, use the `objects:` keyword argument to a build_target or declare_dependency, or include them in the command line of a custom_target. VARARGS source str | file, 1...N times Source filenames for which the built objects should be extracted. build_tgt.found() SYNOPSIS bool build_tgt.found() since 0.59.0 DESCRIPTION Always returns `true`. This function is meant to make executables objects feature compatible with external_program objects. This simplifies use-cases where an executable is used instead of an external_program. build_tgt.full_path() SYNOPSIS str build_tgt.full_path() DESCRIPTION Returns a full path pointing to the result target file. NOTE: In most cases using the object itself will do the same job as this and will also allow Meson to setup inter-target dependencies correctly. Please file a bug if that doesn't work for you. build_tgt.name() SYNOPSIS str build_tgt.name() since 0.54.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the name of the target. build_tgt.path() SYNOPSIS str build_tgt.path() deprecated since 0.59.0, since 0.59.0 DESCRIPTION Does the exact same as build_tgt.full_path. NOTE: This function is solely kept for compatibility with external_program objects. It will be removed once the, also deprecated, corresponding `path()` function in the external_program object is removed. build_tgt.private_dir_include() SYNOPSIS inc build_tgt.private_dir_include() DESCRIPTION Returns a value that works like include_directories, but points to the private directory of this target. Usually only needed if an another target needs to access some generated internal headers of this target. cfg_data.get() SYNOPSIS str | int | bool cfg_data.get(varname, [default_value]) since 0.38.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the value of `varname`, if the value has not been set returns `default_value` if it is defined (since 0.38.0) and errors out if not POSARGS varname str, required The name of the variable to query OPTARGS default_value str | int | bool The default value to return when `varname` does not exist cfg_data.get_unquoted() SYNOPSIS str | int | bool cfg_data.get_unquoted(varname, [default_value]) since 0.44.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the value of `varname` but without surrounding double quotes (`"`). If the value has not been set returns `default_value` if it is defined and errors out if not. POSARGS varname str, required The name of the variable to query OPTARGS default_value str | int | bool The default value to return when `varname` does not exist cfg_data.has() SYNOPSIS bool cfg_data.has(varname) DESCRIPTION returns `true` if the specified variable is set POSARGS varname str, required The name of the variable to query cfg_data.keys() SYNOPSIS list[str] cfg_data.keys() since 0.57.0 DESCRIPTION Returns an array of keys of the configuration data object. You can iterate over this array with the `foreach` statement[30]. cfg_data.merge_from() SYNOPSIS void cfg_data.merge_from(other) since 0.42.0 DESCRIPTION Takes as argument a different configuration data object and copies all entries from that object to the current. POSARGS other cfg_data, required The other cfg_data object to merge into this one. cfg_data.set() SYNOPSIS void cfg_data.set(varname, value, description:) DESCRIPTION Sets a variable to a given value POSARGS varname str, required The name of the variable to set value str | int | bool, required The value to set KWARGS description str Message / Comment that will be written in the result file. The replacement assumes a file with C syntax. If your generated file is source code in some other language, you probably don't want to add a description field because it most likely will cause a syntax error. cfg_data.set10() SYNOPSIS void cfg_data.set10(varname, value, description:) DESCRIPTION Is the same as cfg_data.set but the value is either `true` or `false` and will be written as 1 or 0, respectively POSARGS varname str, required The name of the variable to set value bool | int, required The value to set as either `1` or `0` Passing numbers was never intended to work, and since 0.62 it has been deprecated. It will be removed in a future version of Meson. If you need to pass numbers use the `.set` method. KWARGS description str Message / Comment that will be written in the result file. The replacement assumes a file with C syntax. If your generated file is source code in some other language, you probably don't want to add a description field because it most likely will cause a syntax error. WARNINGS numeric values < 0 have the surprising behavior of being converted to `true`, values > 1 have the more expected but unintentional behavior of being interpreted as `true`. cfg_data.set_quoted() SYNOPSIS void cfg_data.set_quoted(varname, value, description:) DESCRIPTION Is same as cfg_data.set but quotes the value in double quotes (`"`) POSARGS varname str, required The name of the variable to set value str | int | bool, required The value to set KWARGS description str Message / Comment that will be written in the result file. The replacement assumes a file with C syntax. If your generated file is source code in some other language, you probably don't want to add a description field because it most likely will cause a syntax error. cmake.subproject_options() SYNOPSIS cmake_options cmake.subproject_options() DESCRIPTION Returns an empty `cmake_options` object. cmake_options.add_cmake_defines() SYNOPSIS void cmake_options.add_cmake_defines(defines...) DESCRIPTION Add CMake defines (`-D=`) to the CMake commandline VARARGS defines dict[str], 0...N times A `key` `value` map of CMake defines to add (`-D=`) compiler.alignment() SYNOPSIS int compiler.alignment(typename, args:, dependencies:, prefix:) DESCRIPTION Returns the alignment of the specified type. For C-like languages, For C-like languages, the header `stddef.h` and `stdio.h` are included implicitly for native compilation, only `stddef.h` is included when cross-compiling. POSARGS typename str, required The name of the type to check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). compiler.check_header() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.check_header( header_name, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, required: false, ) since 0.47.0 DESCRIPTION Returns true if the specified header is usable with the specified prefix, dependencies, and arguments. POSARGS header_name str, required The header to check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). required bool | feature, default: false, since 0.50.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the header check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.cmd_array() SYNOPSIS list[str] compiler.cmd_array() DESCRIPTION Returns an array containing the command(s) for the compiler. compiler.compiles() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.compiles( code, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, name:, no_builtin_args: false, werror: false, ) DESCRIPTION Returns true if the code compiles. POSARGS code str | file, required The source code to check. If a string is passed, the code is used directly. If a file object is passed, its content is used for the compiler check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. name str The name to use for printing a message about the compiler check. If this keyword argument is not passed, no message will be printed about the check. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. werror bool, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, compiler warnings are treated as error. compiler.compute_int() SYNOPSIS int compiler.compute_int( expr, args:, dependencies:, guess:, high: 1024, include_directories:, low: -1024, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, ) since 0.40.0 DESCRIPTION Computes the value of the given expression (as an example `1 + 2`). When cross compiling this is evaluated with an iterative algorithm, you can specify keyword arguments `low` (defaults to -1024), `high` (defaults to 1024) and `guess` to specify max and min values for the search and the value to try first. For C-like languages, the header `stddef.h` and `stdio.h` are included implicitly for native compilation, only `stddef.h` is included when cross-compiling. POSARGS expr str, required The expression to compute. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. guess int The value to try first. high int, default: 1024 The max value. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. low int, default: -1024 The min value. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). compiler.find_library() SYNOPSIS dep compiler.find_library( libname, dirs:, disabler: false, has_headers:, header_args:, header_dependencies:, header_include_directories:, header_no_builtin_args: false, header_prefix:, required: true, static: false, ) DESCRIPTION Tries to find the library specified in the positional argument. POSARGS libname str, required The library to find. KWARGS dirs list[str] Additional directories to search in. By default the library is searched for in the system library directory (e.g. /usr/lib). Specifying more directories here, causes Meson to search in those directories as well as the system directories. disabler bool, default: false, since 0.49.0 If `true`, this method will return a disabler on a failed check. has_headers list[str], since 0.50.0 List of headers that must be found as well. This check is equivalent to checking each header with a compiler.has_header call. When used, kwargs that compiler.has_header would accept can be passed here prefixed with `header_`, and will have the same effect on the header check. header_args list[str], since 0.51.0 When the `has_headers` kwarg is also used, this argument is passed to compiler.has_header as `args`. header_dependencies dep | list[dep], since 0.51.0 When the `has_headers` kwarg is also used, this argument is passed to compiler.has_header as `dependencies`. header_include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.51.0 When the `has_headers` kwarg is also used, this argument is passed to compiler.has_header as `include_directories`. header_no_builtin_args bool, default: false, since 0.51.0 When the `has_headers` kwarg is also used, this argument is passed to compiler.has_header as `no_builtin_args`. header_prefix str, since 0.51.0 When the `has_headers` kwarg is also used, this argument is passed to compiler.has_header as `prefix`. required bool | feature, default: true If set `true`, Meson will abort with an error if the library could not be found. Otherwise, Meson will continue and the found method of the returned object will return `false`. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. (since 0.47.0) The value of a `feature` option can also be passed here. static bool, default: false, since 0.51.0 If `true`, the search is limited to static libraries only. Setting this value to `false` (the default) will search for both shared and static libraries. compiler.first_supported_argument() SYNOPSIS list[str] compiler.first_supported_argument(arg...) since 0.43.0 DESCRIPTION Given a list of strings, returns a single-element list containing the first argument that passes the compiler.has_argument test or an empty array if none pass. VARARGS arg str, 0...N times The arguments to check. compiler.first_supported_link_argument() SYNOPSIS list[str] compiler.first_supported_link_argument(arg...) since 0.46.0 DESCRIPTION Given a list of strings, returns the first argument that passes the compiler.has_link_argument test or an empty array if none pass. VARARGS arg str, 0...N times The link arguments to check. compiler.get_argument_syntax() SYNOPSIS str compiler.get_argument_syntax() since 0.49.0 DESCRIPTION returns a string identifying the type of arguments the compiler takes. Can be one of `gcc`, `msvc`, or an undefined string value. This method is useful for identifying compilers that are not gcc or msvc, but use the same argument syntax as one of those two compilers such as clang or icc, especially when they use different syntax on different operating systems. compiler.get_define() SYNOPSIS str compiler.get_define( definename, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, ) since 0.40.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the given preprocessor symbol's value as a string or empty string if it is not defined. (since 0.47.0) This method will concatenate string literals as the compiler would. E.g. `"a" "b"` will become `"ab"`. POSARGS definename str, required The define to check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). compiler.get_id() SYNOPSIS str compiler.get_id() DESCRIPTION Returns a string identifying the compiler. For example, `gcc`, `msvc`, and more[31]. compiler.get_linker_id() SYNOPSIS str compiler.get_linker_id() since 0.53.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string identifying the linker. For example, `ld.bfd`, `link`, and more[32]. compiler.get_supported_arguments() SYNOPSIS list[str] compiler.get_supported_arguments( arg..., checked: 'off', ) since 0.43.0 DESCRIPTION Returns an array containing only the arguments supported by the compiler, as if compiler.has_argument were called on them individually. VARARGS arg str, 0...N times The arguments to check. KWARGS checked str, default: 'off', since 0.59.0 Supported values: - `'off'`: Quietly ignore unsupported arguments - `'warn'`: Print a warning for unsupported arguments - `'require'`: Abort if at least one argument is not supported compiler.get_supported_function_attributes() SYNOPSIS list[str] compiler.get_supported_function_attributes() since 0.48.0 DESCRIPTION Returns an array containing any names that are supported GCC style attributes. Equivalent to compiler.has_function_attribute was called on each of them individually. compiler.get_supported_link_arguments() SYNOPSIS list[str] compiler.get_supported_link_arguments(arg...) since 0.46.0 DESCRIPTION Returns an array containing only the arguments supported by the compiler, as if compiler.has_link_argument were called on them individually. VARARGS arg str, 0...N times The link arguments to check. compiler.has_argument() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_argument(argument, required: false) DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the compiler accepts the specified command line argument, that is, can compile code without erroring out or printing a warning about an unknown flag. POSARGS argument str, required The argument to check. KWARGS required bool | feature, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_define() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_define( definename, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, ) since 1.3.0 DESCRIPTION Returns true if the given preprocessor symbol is defined. POSARGS definename str, required The define to check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). compiler.has_function() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_function( funcname, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, required: false, ) DESCRIPTION Returns true if the given function is provided by the standard library or a library passed in with the `args` keyword. POSARGS funcname str, required The function to check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). required bool | feature, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_function_attribute() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_function_attribute( name, required: false, ) since 0.48.0 DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the compiler supports the GNU style (`__attribute__(...)`) `name`. This is preferable to manual compile checks as it may be optimized for compilers that do not support such attributes. This table[33] lists all of the supported attributes. POSARGS name str, required The attribute name to check. KWARGS required bool | feature, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_header() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_header( header_name, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, required: false, ) DESCRIPTION Returns true if the specified header is exists with the specified prefix, dependencies, and arguments. This method is faster than compiler.check_header since it only does a pre-processor check. POSARGS header_name str, required The header to check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). required bool | feature, default: false, since 0.50.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the header check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_header_symbol() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_header_symbol( header, symbol, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, required: false, ) DESCRIPTION Detects whether a particular symbol is declared in the specified header. Symbols here include function, variable, `#define`, type definition, etc. POSARGS header str, required The header to check. symbol str, required The symbol to check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). required bool | feature, default: false, since 0.50.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the header check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_link_argument() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_link_argument(argument, required: false) since 0.46.0 DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the linker accepts the specified command line argument, that is, can compile and link code without erroring out or printing a warning about an unknown flag. Link arguments will be passed to the compiler, so should usually have the `-Wl,` prefix. On VisualStudio a `/link` argument will be prepended. POSARGS argument str, required The argument to check. KWARGS required bool | feature, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_member() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_member( typename, membername, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, required: false, ) DESCRIPTION Returns true if the type has the specified member. POSARGS typename str, required The type to check. membername str, required The member to check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). required bool | feature, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_members() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_members( typename, member..., args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, required: false, ) DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the type has all the specified members. POSARGS typename str, required The type to check. VARARGS member str, 1...N times The members to check KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). required bool | feature, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_multi_arguments() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_multi_arguments(arg..., required: false) since 0.37.0 DESCRIPTION the same as compiler.has_argument but takes multiple arguments and uses them all in a single compiler invocation. VARARGS arg str, 0...N times The arguments to check. KWARGS required bool | feature, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_multi_link_arguments() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_multi_link_arguments( arg..., required: false, ) since 0.46.0 DESCRIPTION the same as compiler.has_link_argument but takes multiple arguments and uses them all in a single compiler invocation. VARARGS arg str, 0...N times The link arguments to check. KWARGS required bool | feature, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.has_type() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.has_type( typename, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, required: false, ) DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the specified token is a type. POSARGS typename str, required The type to check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). required bool | feature, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, Meson will halt if the check fails. When set to a `feature`[0] option, the feature will control if it is searched and whether to fail if not found. compiler.links() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.links( code, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, name:, no_builtin_args: false, werror: false, ) DESCRIPTION Returns true if the code compiles and links. Since 0.60.0, if the `file` object's suffix does not match the compiler object's language, the compiler corresponding to the suffix is used to compile the source, while the target of the `links` method is used to link the resulting object file. POSARGS code str | file, required The source code to check. If a string is passed, the code is used directly. If a file object is passed, its content is used for the compiler check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. name str The name to use for printing a message about the compiler check. If this keyword argument is not passed, no message will be printed about the check. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. werror bool, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, compiler warnings are treated as error. compiler.preprocess() SYNOPSIS list[custom_idx] compiler.preprocess( source..., compile_args:, dependencies:, depends:, include_directories:, output:, ) since 0.64.0 DESCRIPTION Preprocess a list of source files but do not compile them. The preprocessor will receive the same arguments (include directories, defines, etc) as with normal compilation. That includes for example args added with `add_project_arguments()`, or on the command line with `-Dc_args=-DFOO`. VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 0...N times Input source to preprocess. The following types are supported: - Strings relative to the current source directory - file objects defined in any preceding build file - The return value of configure-time generators such as configure_file - The return value of build-time generators such as custom_target or generator.process KWARGS compile_args list[str] Extra flags to pass to the preprocessor dependencies dep | list[dep], since 1.1.0 Additionally dependencies required. depends list[build_tgt | custom_tgt], since 1.4.0 Specifies that this target depends on the specified target(s). These targets should be built before starting to preprocess an input. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. output str Template for name of preprocessed files: `@PLAINNAME@` is replaced by the source filename and `@BASENAME@` is replaced by the source filename without its extension. compiler.run() SYNOPSIS runresult compiler.run( code, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, name:, no_builtin_args: false, werror: false, ) DESCRIPTION Attempts to compile and execute the given code fragment. POSARGS code str | file, required The source code to check. If a string is passed, the code is used directly. If a file object is passed, its content is used for the compiler check. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. name str The name to use for printing a message about the compiler check. If this keyword argument is not passed, no message will be printed about the check. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. werror bool, default: false, since 1.3.0 When set to `true`, compiler warnings are treated as error. compiler.sizeof() SYNOPSIS int compiler.sizeof( typename, args:, dependencies:, include_directories:, no_builtin_args: false, prefix:, ) DESCRIPTION returns the size of the given type (e.g. `'int'`) or -1 if the type is unknown. For C-like languages, the header `stddef.h` and `stdio.h` are included implicitly for native compilation, only `stddef.h` is included when cross-compiling. POSARGS typename str, required The type to compute. KWARGS args list[str] Used to pass a list of compiler arguments. Defining include paths for headers not in the default include path via `-Isome/path/to/header` is generally supported, however, usually not recommended. This is because include directories can also be specified via the `include_directories` or the `dependency` kwarg (if present). The same is also true for passing libraries to link with `-lfoo`. dependencies dep | list[dep] Additionally dependencies required for compiling and / or linking. include_directories inc | list[inc], since 0.38.0 Extra directories for header searches. no_builtin_args bool, default: false When set to `true`, the compiler arguments controlled by built-in configuration options are not added. prefix str | list[str] Used to add `#include`s and other things that are required for the symbol to be declared. Since 1.0.0 an array is accepted too. When an array is passed, the items are concatenated together separated by a newline. System definitions should be passed via compiler args (eg: `_GNU_SOURCE` is often required for some symbols to be exposed on Linux, and it should be passed via `args` keyword argument). compiler.symbols_have_underscore_prefix() SYNOPSIS bool compiler.symbols_have_underscore_prefix() since 0.37.0 DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the C symbol mangling is one underscore (`_`) prefixed to the symbol. compiler.version() SYNOPSIS str compiler.version() DESCRIPTION Returns the compiler's version number as a string. custom_idx.full_path() SYNOPSIS str custom_idx.full_path() since 0.54.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a full path pointing to the result target file NOTE: In most cases using the object itself will do the same job as this and will also allow Meson to setup inter-target dependencies correctly. Please file a bug if that doesn't work for you. See custom_tgt.full_path custom_tgt.[index]() SYNOPSIS custom_idx custom_tgt.[index]() DESCRIPTION Returns an opaque object that references this target, and can be used as a source in other targets. When it is used as such it will make that target depend on this custom target, but the only source added will be the one that corresponds to the index of the custom target's output argument. custom_tgt.full_path() SYNOPSIS str custom_tgt.full_path() DESCRIPTION Returns a full path pointing to the result target file NOTE: In most cases using the object itself will do the same job as this and will also allow Meson to setup inter-target dependencies correctly. Please file a bug if that doesn't work for you. (since 0.54.0) It can be also called on indexes objects: `custom_targets[i].full_path()`. custom_tgt.to_list() SYNOPSIS list[custom_idx] custom_tgt.to_list() since 0.54.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a list of opaque objects that references this target, and can be used as a source in other targets. This can be used to iterate outputs with `foreach` loop. dep.as_link_whole() SYNOPSIS dep dep.as_link_whole() since 0.56.0 DESCRIPTION Only dependencies created with declare_dependency, returns a copy of the dependency object with all link_with arguments changed to link_whole. This is useful for example for fallback dependency from a subproject built with `default_library=static`. Note that all `link_with` objects must be static libraries otherwise an error will be raised when trying to `link_whole` a shared library. dep.as_system() SYNOPSIS dep dep.as_system([value]) since 0.52.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a copy of the dependency object, which has changed the value of `include_type` to `value`. The `value` argument is optional and defaults to `'preserve'`. OPTARGS value str The new value. See dependency for supported values. dep.found() SYNOPSIS bool dep.found() DESCRIPTION Returns whether the dependency was found. dep.get_configtool_variable() SYNOPSIS str dep.get_configtool_variable(var_name) deprecated since 0.56.0, since 0.44.0 DESCRIPTION Gets the command line argument from the config tool (with `--` prepended), or, if invoked on a non config-tool dependency, error out. POSARGS var_name str, required Name of the variable to query dep.get_pkgconfig_variable() SYNOPSIS str dep.get_pkgconfig_variable( var_name, default:, define_variable:, ) deprecated since 0.56.0, since 0.36.0 DESCRIPTION Gets the pkg-config variable specified, or, if invoked on a non pkg-config dependency, error out. POSARGS var_name str, required Name of the variable to query KWARGS default str, since 0.45.0 The value to return if the variable was not found. A warning is issued if the variable is not defined and this kwarg is not set. define_variable list[str], since 0.44.0 You can also redefine a variable by passing a list to this kwarg that can affect the retrieved variable: `['prefix', '/'])`. (Since 1.3.0) Multiple variables can be specified in pairs. dep.get_variable() SYNOPSIS str dep.get_variable( [varname], cmake:, configtool:, default_value:, internal:, pkgconfig:, pkgconfig_define:, ) since 0.51.0 DESCRIPTION A generic variable getter method, which replaces the `get_type_variable` methods. This allows one to get the variable from a dependency without knowing specifically how that dependency was found. If `default_value` is set and the value cannot be gotten from the object then `default_value` is returned, if it is not set then an error is raised. OPTARGS varname str, since 0.58.0 This argument is used as a default value for `cmake`, `pkgconfig`, `configtool` and `internal` keyword arguments. It is useful in the common case where `pkgconfig` and `internal` use the same variable name, in which case it's easier to write `dep.get_variable('foo')` instead of `dep.get_variable(pkgconfig: 'foo', internal: 'foo')`. KWARGS cmake str The CMake variable name configtool str The configtool variable name default_value str The default value to return when the variable does not exist internal str, since 0.54.0 The internal variable name pkgconfig str The pkgconfig variable name pkgconfig_define list[str] See dep.get_pkgconfig_variable WARNINGS Before 1.3.0, specifying multiple pkgconfig_define pairs would silently malform the results. Only the first variable would be redefined, but its value would contain both the second variable name, as well as its value. dep.include_type() SYNOPSIS str dep.include_type() since 0.52.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the value set by the `include_type` kwarg. dep.name() SYNOPSIS str dep.name() since 0.48.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the name of the dependency that was searched. Returns `'internal'` for dependencies created with declare_dependency. dep.partial_dependency() SYNOPSIS dep dep.partial_dependency( compile_args: false, includes: false, link_args: false, links: false, sources: false, ) since 0.46.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a new dependency object with the same name, version, found status, type name, and methods as the object that called it. This new object will only inherit other attributes from its parent as controlled by keyword arguments. If the parent has any dependencies, those will be applied to the new partial dependency with the same rules. So, given: dep1 = declare_dependency(compile_args : '-Werror=foo', link_with : 'libfoo') dep2 = declare_dependency(compile_args : '-Werror=bar', dependencies : dep1) dep3 = dep2.partial_dependency(compile_args : true) dep3 will add `['-Werror=foo', '-Werror=bar']` to the compiler args of any target it is added to, but libfoo will not be added to the link_args. The following arguments will add the following attributes: - compile_args: any arguments passed to the compiler - link_args: any arguments passed to the linker - links: anything passed via link_with or link_whole - includes: any include_directories - sources: any compiled or static sources the dependency has KWARGS compile_args bool, default: false Whether to include compile_args includes bool, default: false Whether to include includes link_args bool, default: false Whether to include link_args links bool, default: false Whether to include links sources bool, default: false Whether to include sources WARNINGS A bug present until 0.50.1 results in the above behavior not working correctly. dep.type_name() SYNOPSIS str dep.type_name() DESCRIPTION Returns a string describing the type of the dependency, the most common values are `internal` for deps created with declare_dependency and `pkgconfig` for system dependencies obtained with Pkg-config. dep.version() SYNOPSIS str dep.version() DESCRIPTION the version number as a string, for example `1.2.8`. `unknown` if the dependency provider doesn't support determining the version. dict.get() SYNOPSIS any dict.get(key, [fallback]) DESCRIPTION returns the value for the key given as first argument if it is present in the dictionary, or the optional fallback value given as the second argument. If a single argument was given and the key was not found, causes a fatal error POSARGS key str, required The key to query. OPTARGS fallback any Fallback value that is returned if the key is not in the dict. dict.has_key() SYNOPSIS bool dict.has_key(key) DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the dictionary contains the key given as argument, `false` otherwise. POSARGS key str, required The key to query. dict.keys() SYNOPSIS list[str] dict.keys() DESCRIPTION Returns an array of keys in the dictionary. disabler.found() SYNOPSIS bool disabler.found() DESCRIPTION Always returns `false` env.append() SYNOPSIS void env.append(variable, Value..., separator:) DESCRIPTION appends the given values to the old value of the environment variable, e.g. `env.append('FOO', 'BAR', 'BAZ', separator : ';')` produces `BOB;BAR;BAZ` if `FOO` had the value `BOB` and plain `BAR;BAZ` if the value was not defined. POSARGS variable str, required The variable to modify VARARGS Value str, 0...N times The values to append KWARGS separator str The separator to use. If not explicitly specified, the default path separator for the host operating system will be used, i.e. ';' for Windows and ':' for UNIX/POSIX systems. env.prepend() SYNOPSIS void env.prepend(variable, Value..., separator:) DESCRIPTION Same as `append` except that it writes to the beginning of the variable. POSARGS variable str, required The variable to modify VARARGS Value str, 0...N times The values to prepend KWARGS separator str The separator to use. If not explicitly specified, the default path separator for the host operating system will be used, i.e. ';' for Windows and ':' for UNIX/POSIX systems. env.set() SYNOPSIS void env.set(variable, Value..., separator:) DESCRIPTION Sets the environment variable specified in the first argument to the values in the varargs joined by the separator. For instance, `env.set('FOO', 'BAR'),` sets envvar `FOO` to value `BAR`. POSARGS variable str, required The variable to modify VARARGS Value str, 0...N times The values to set KWARGS separator str The separator to use. If not explicitly specified, the default path separator for the host operating system will be used, i.e. ';' for Windows and ':' for UNIX/POSIX systems. env.unset() SYNOPSIS void env.unset() since 1.4.0 DESCRIPTION Unset the specified environment variable. If this variable does not exist, nothing happens. external_program.found() SYNOPSIS bool external_program.found() DESCRIPTION Returns whether the executable was found. external_program.full_path() SYNOPSIS str external_program.full_path() since 0.55.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string pointing to the script or executable. NOTE: You should not usually need to use this method. Passing the object itself should work in most contexts where a program can appear, and allows Meson to setup inter-target dependencies correctly (for example in cases where a program might be overridden by a build_tgt). Only use this if you specifically need a string, such as when embedding a program path into a header file, or storing it into an environment variable. For example: run_command(find_program('foo'), 'arg1', 'arg2') external_program.path() SYNOPSIS str external_program.path() deprecated since 0.55.0 DESCRIPTION Deprecated: Use external_program.full_path instead. Returns a string pointing to the script or executable. NOTE: You should not usually need to use this method. Passing the object itself should work in most contexts where a program can appear, and allows Meson to setup inter-target dependencies correctly (for example in cases where a program might be overridden by a build_tgt). Only use this if you specifically need a string, such as when embedding a program path into a header file, or storing it into an environment variable. For example: run_command(find_program('foo'), 'arg1', 'arg2') external_program.version() SYNOPSIS str external_program.version() since 0.62.0 DESCRIPTION The version number as a string, for example `1.2.8`. `unknown` if the program cannot determine the version via a `--version` argument. feature.allowed() SYNOPSIS bool feature.allowed() since 0.59.0 DESCRIPTION Returns whether the feature was set to `'enabled'` or `'auto'` feature.auto() SYNOPSIS bool feature.auto() DESCRIPTION Returns whether the feature was set to `'auto'` feature.disable_auto_if() SYNOPSIS feature feature.disable_auto_if(value) since 0.59.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the feature, with `'auto'` converted to `'disabled'` if value is true. | Feature | `value = true` | `value = false` | | -------- | -------------- | --------------- | | Auto | Disabled | Auto | | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled | | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled | POSARGS value bool, required See the table above EXAMPLE `disable_auto_if` is useful to give precedence to mutually exclusive dependencies (that provide the same API) if either or both are available: # '-Dfoo=auto -Dbar=enabled' will not pick foo even if installed. use_bar = get_option('bar') use_foo = get_option('foo').disable_auto_if(use_bar.enabled()) dep_foo = dependency('foo', required: use_foo) if not dep_foo.found() dep_foo = dependency('bar', required: use_bar) endif feature.disable_if() SYNOPSIS feature feature.disable_if(value, error_message: '') since 1.1.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the object itself if the value is false; an error if the object is `'enabled'` and the value is true; a disabled feature if the object is `'auto'` or `'disabled'` and the value is true. | Feature | `value = true` | `value = false` | | -------- | -------------- | --------------- | | Auto | Disabled | Auto | | Enabled | Error | Enabled | | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled | This is equivalent to `feature_opt.require(not condition)`, but may make code easier to reason about, especially when mixed with `enable_if` POSARGS value bool, required The value to check KWARGS error_message str, default: '' The error message to print if the check fails EXAMPLE `disable_if` is useful to restrict the applicability of `'auto'` features, particularly when passing them to dependency: use_os_feature = get_option('foo') .br .disable_if(host_machine.system() == 'darwin', error_message : 'os feature not supported on MacOS') dep_os_feature = dependency('os_feature', required: use_os_feature) feature.disabled() SYNOPSIS bool feature.disabled() DESCRIPTION Returns whether the feature was set to `'disabled'` feature.enable_auto_if() SYNOPSIS feature feature.enable_auto_if(value) since 1.1.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the feature, with `'auto'` converted to `'enabled'` if value is true. | Feature | `value = true` | `value = false` | | -------- | -------------- | --------------- | | Auto | Enabled | Auto | | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled | | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled | POSARGS value bool, required See the table above feature.enable_if() SYNOPSIS feature feature.enable_if(value, error_message: '') since 1.1.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the object itself if the value is false; an error if the object is `'disabled'` and the value is true; an enabled feature if the object is `'auto'` or `'enabled'` and the value is true. | Feature | `value = true` | `value = false` | | -------- | -------------- | --------------- | | Auto | Enabled | Auto | | Enabled | Enabled | Enabled | | Disabled | Error | Disabled | POSARGS value bool, required The value to check KWARGS error_message str, default: '' The error message to print if the check fails EXAMPLE `enable_if` is useful to restrict the applicability of `'auto'` features, particularly when passing them to dependency: use_llvm = get_option('llvm').enable_if(with_clang).enable_if(with_llvm_libs) dep_llvm = dependency('llvm', required: use_llvm) feature.enabled() SYNOPSIS bool feature.enabled() DESCRIPTION Returns whether the feature was set to `'enabled'` feature.require() SYNOPSIS feature feature.require(value, error_message: '') since 0.59.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the object itself if the value is true; an error if the object is `'enabled'` and the value is false; a disabled feature if the object is `'auto'` or `'disabled'` and the value is false. | Feature | `value = true` | `value = false` | | -------- | -------------- | --------------- | | Auto | Auto | Disabled | | Enabled | Enabled | Error | | Disabled | Disabled | Disabled | POSARGS value bool, required The value to check KWARGS error_message str, default: '' The error message to print if the check fails EXAMPLE `require` is useful to restrict the applicability of `'auto'` features, for example based on other features or on properties of the host machine: if get_option('directx').require(host_machine.system() == 'windows', error_message: 'DirectX only available on Windows').allowed() then src += ['directx.c'] config.set10('HAVE_DIRECTX', true) endif file.full_path() SYNOPSIS str file.full_path() since 1.4.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a full path pointing to the file. This is useful for printing the path with e.g message function for debugging purpose. NOTE: In most cases using the object itself will do the same job as this and will also allow Meson to setup dependencies correctly. generator.process() SYNOPSIS generated_list generator.process( source..., env:, extra_args:, preserve_path_from:, ) DESCRIPTION Takes a list of files, causes them to be processed and returns an object containing the result which can then, for example, be passed into a build target definition. VARARGS source str | file | custom_tgt | custom_idx | generated_list, 1...N times List of sources to process. KWARGS env env | list[str] | dict[str], since 1.3.0 environment variables to set, such as `{'NAME1': 'value1', 'NAME2': 'value2'}` or `['NAME1=value1', 'NAME2=value2']`, or an env object which allows more sophisticated environment juggling. extra_args list[str] If present, will be used to replace an entry `@EXTRA_ARGS@` in the argument list. preserve_path_from str, since 0.45.0 If given, specifies that the output files need to maintain their directory structure inside the target temporary directory. The most common value for this is `meson.current_source_dir()`. With this value when a file called `subdir/one.input` is processed it generates a file `{target private directory}/subdir/one.out` as opposed to `{target private directory}/one.out`. int.is_even() SYNOPSIS bool int.is_even() DESCRIPTION Returns true if the number is even. int.is_odd() SYNOPSIS bool int.is_odd() DESCRIPTION Returns true if the number is odd int.to_string() SYNOPSIS str int.to_string([fill]) DESCRIPTION Returns the value of the number as a string. OPTARGS fill int Left fill the string with zeros until it reaches the length specified by this argument. A leading negative sign counts towards the length, and is handled by inserting the padding after the `-` character rather than before. The original string is returned if the value provided is less than or equal to the former's length. list.contains() SYNOPSIS bool list.contains(item) DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the array contains the object given as argument, `false` otherwise POSARGS item any, required The item to check list.get() SYNOPSIS any list.get(index, [fallback]) DESCRIPTION returns the object at the given index, negative indices count from the back of the array, indexing out of bounds returns the `fallback` value (since 0.38.0) or, if it is not specified, causes a fatal error POSARGS index int, required Index of the list position to query. Negative values start at the end of the list OPTARGS fallback any Fallback value that is returned if the index is out of range. list.length() SYNOPSIS int list.length() DESCRIPTION Returns the current size of the array / list. meson.add_devenv() SYNOPSIS void meson.add_devenv(env, method:, separator:) since 0.58.0 DESCRIPTION add an env object (returned by environment) to the list of environments that will be applied when using `meson devenv`[34] command line. This is useful for developers who wish to use the project without installing it, it is often needed to set for example the path to plugins directory, etc. Alternatively, a list or dictionary can be passed as first argument. devenv = environment() devenv.set('PLUGINS_PATH', meson.current_build_dir()) meson.add_devenv(devenv) After configuring and compiling that project, a terminal can be opened with the environment set: sh $ meson devenv -C $ echo $PLUGINS_PATH /path/to/source/subdir See `meson devenv`[33] command documentation for a list of environment variables that are set by default by Meson. POSARGS env env | str | list[str] | dict[str] | dict[list[str]], required The env object to add. Since 0.62.0 list of strings is allowed in dictionary values. In that case values are joined using the separator. KWARGS method str, since 0.62.0 Must be one of 'set', 'prepend', or 'append' (defaults to 'set'). Controls if initial values defined in the first positional argument are prepended, appended or replace the current value of the environment variable. separator str, since 0.62.0 The separator to use for the initial values defined in the first positional argument. If not explicitly specified, the default path separator for the host operating system will be used, i.e. ';' for Windows and ':' for UNIX/POSIX systems. meson.add_dist_script() SYNOPSIS void meson.add_dist_script(script_name, arg...) since 0.48.0 DESCRIPTION Causes the script given as argument to run during `dist` operation after the distribution source has been generated but before it is archived. Note that this runs the script file that is in the _staging_ directory, not the one in the source directory. If the script file cannot be found in the staging directory, it is a hard error. The `MESON_DIST_ROOT` environment variables is set when dist scripts is run. (since 0.54.0) The `MESON_SOURCE_ROOT` and `MESON_BUILD_ROOT` environment variables are set when dist scripts are run. They are path to the root source and build directory of the main project, even when the script comes from a subproject. (since 0.58.0) This command can be invoked from a subproject, it was a hard error in earlier versions. Subproject dist scripts will only be executed when running `meson dist --include-subprojects`. `MESON_PROJECT_SOURCE_ROOT`, `MESON_PROJECT_BUILD_ROOT` and `MESON_PROJECT_DIST_ROOT` environment variables are set when dist scripts are run. They are identical to `MESON_SOURCE_ROOT`, `MESON_BUILD_ROOT` and `MESON_DIST_ROOT` for main project scripts, but for subproject scripts they have the path to the root of the subproject appended, usually `subprojects/`. (since 1.4.0) The `MESONREWRITE` environment variable contains the path to the rewrite command that corresponds to the `meson` executable that was used to configure the build. (This might be a different path than the first executable found in `PATH`.) It can be used to remove or replace any run_command that depends on the revision control system from the build configuration. Note that the value will contain many parts. For example, it may be `python3 /path/to/meson.py introspect`. The user is responsible for splitting the string to an array if needed by splitting lexically like a UNIX shell would. If your script uses Python, `shlex.split()` is the easiest correct way to do this. POSARGS script_name str | file | external_program, required The script to execute. (since 0.55.0) The output of find_program as well as strings are accepted. (since 0.57.0) file objects and the output of configure_file may be used. VARARGS arg str | file | external_program, 0...N times, since 0.49.0 Additional arguments (since 0.55.0) The output of configure_file, files, and find_program as well as strings are accepted. meson.add_install_script() SYNOPSIS void meson.add_install_script( script_name, arg..., dry_run: false, install_tag:, skip_if_destdir: false, ) DESCRIPTION Causes the script given as an argument to be run during the install step, this script will have the environment variables `MESON_SOURCE_ROOT`, `MESON_BUILD_ROOT`, `MESON_INSTALL_PREFIX`, `MESON_INSTALL_DESTDIR_PREFIX`, and `MESONINTROSPECT` set. All positional arguments are passed as parameters. (since 0.54.0) If `meson install` is called with the `--quiet` option, the environment variable `MESON_INSTALL_QUIET` will be set. (since 1.1.0) If `meson install` is called with the `--dry-run` option, the environment variable `MESON_INSTALL_DRY_RUN` will be set. Meson uses the `DESTDIR` environment variable as set by the inherited environment to determine the (temporary) installation location for files. Your install script must be aware of this while manipulating and installing files. The correct way to handle this is with the `MESON_INSTALL_DESTDIR_PREFIX` variable which is always set and contains `DESTDIR` (if set) and `prefix` joined together. This is useful because both are usually absolute paths and there are platform-specific edge-cases in joining two absolute paths. In case it is needed, `MESON_INSTALL_PREFIX` is also always set and has the value of the `prefix` option passed to Meson. `MESONINTROSPECT` contains the path to the introspect command that corresponds to the `meson` executable that was used to configure the build. (This might be a different path than the first executable found in `PATH`.) It can be used to query build configuration. Note that the value will contain many parts, f.ex., it may be `python3 /path/to/meson.py introspect`. The user is responsible for splitting the string to an array if needed by splitting lexically like a UNIX shell would. If your script uses Python, `shlex.split()` is the easiest correct way to do this. POSARGS script_name str | file | external_program | exe | custom_tgt | custom_idx, required The script to execute. (since 0.55.0) The output of find_program, executable, custom_target, as well as strings are accepted. (since 0.57.0) file objects and the output of configure_file may be used. VARARGS arg str | file | external_program | exe | custom_tgt | custom_idx, 0...N times, since 0.49.0 Additional arguments (since 0.55.0) The output of find_program, executable, custom_target, as well as strings are accepted. KWARGS dry_run bool, default: false, since 1.1.0 If `true` the script will be run even if `--dry-run` option is provided to the `meson install` command. The script can use the `MESON_INSTALL_DRY_RUN` variable to determine if it is in dry run mode or not. install_tag str, since 0.60.0 A string used by the `meson install --tags` command to install only a subset of the files. By default the script has no install tag which means it is not being run when `meson install --tags` argument is specified. skip_if_destdir bool, default: false, since 0.57.0 If `true` the script will not be run if DESTDIR is set during installation. This is useful in the case the script updates system wide cache that is only needed when copying files into final destination. meson.add_postconf_script() SYNOPSIS void meson.add_postconf_script(script_name, arg...) DESCRIPTION Runs the given command after all project files have been generated. This script will have the environment variables `MESON_SOURCE_ROOT` and `MESON_BUILD_ROOT` set. POSARGS script_name str | file | external_program, required The script to execute. (since 0.55.0) The output of find_program as well as strings are accepted. (since 0.57.0) file objects and the output of configure_file may be used. VARARGS arg str | file | external_program, 0...N times, since 0.49.0 Additional arguments (since 0.55.0) The output of configure_file, files, and find_program as well as strings are accepted. meson.backend() SYNOPSIS str meson.backend() since 0.37.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string representing the current backend: - `ninja` - `vs2010` - `vs2012` - `vs2013` - `vs2015` - `vs2017` - `vs2019` - `vs2022` - `xcode` meson.build_options() SYNOPSIS str meson.build_options() since 1.1.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string with the configuration line used to set the current project up. NOTES Do not try to parse this string! You should use cfg_data.set_quoted to safely escape any embedded quotes prior to storing it into e.g. a C header macro. The contents returned by this function are the same as the "Build Options:" line reported in `/meson-logs/meson-log.txt`. meson.build_root() SYNOPSIS str meson.build_root() deprecated since 0.56.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string with the absolute path to the build root directory. This function will return the build root of the parent project if called from a subproject, which is usually not what you want. Try using meson.current_build_dir or meson.project_build_root. In the rare cases where the root of the main project is needed, use meson.global_build_root that has the same behaviour but with a more explicit name. meson.can_run_host_binaries() SYNOPSIS bool meson.can_run_host_binaries() since 0.55.0 DESCRIPTION Returns true if the build machine can run binaries compiled for the host. This returns `true` unless you are cross compiling, need a helper to run host binaries, and don't have one. For example when cross compiling from Linux to Windows, one can use `wine` as the helper. meson.current_build_dir() SYNOPSIS str meson.current_build_dir() DESCRIPTION Returns a string with the absolute path to the current build directory. meson.current_source_dir() SYNOPSIS str meson.current_source_dir() DESCRIPTION Returns a string to the current source directory. NOTES You do not need to use this function! When passing files from the current source directory to a function since that is the default. Also, you can use the files function to refer to files in the current or any other source directory instead of constructing paths manually with meson.current_source_dir. meson.get_compiler() SYNOPSIS compiler meson.get_compiler(language, native: false) DESCRIPTION Returns a compiler object describing a compiler. POSARGS language str, required The language of the compiler to return. See our list of supported languages[35]. KWARGS native bool, default: false When set to `true` Meson returns the compiler for the build machine (the "native" compiler) and when `false` it returns the host compiler (the "cross" compiler). If `native` is omitted, Meson returns the "cross" compiler if we're currently cross- compiling and the "native" compiler if we're not. meson.get_cross_property() SYNOPSIS any meson.get_cross_property(propname, [fallback_value]) deprecated since 0.58.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the given property from a cross file, the optional fallback_value is returned if not cross compiling or the given property is not found. This method is replaced by meson.get_external_property. POSARGS propname str, required Name of the property in the cross / native file. OPTARGS fallback_value any Value to return if `propname` is not set in the machine file. meson.get_external_property() SYNOPSIS any meson.get_external_property( propname, [fallback_value], native:, ) since 0.54.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the given property from a native or cross file. The optional fallback_value is returned if the given property is not found. POSARGS propname str, required Name of the property in the cross / native file. OPTARGS fallback_value any Value to return if `propname` is not set in the machine file. KWARGS native bool Setting `native` to `true` forces retrieving a variable from the native file, even when cross-compiling. If `native: false` or not specified, the variable is retrieved from the cross-file if cross-compiling, and from the native-file when not cross- compiling. meson.global_build_root() SYNOPSIS str meson.global_build_root() since 0.58.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string with the absolute path to the build root directory. This function will return the build root of the main project if called from a subproject, which is usually not what you want. It is usually preferable to use meson.current_build_dir or meson.project_build_root. meson.global_source_root() SYNOPSIS str meson.global_source_root() since 0.58.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string with the absolute path to the source root directory. This function will return the source root of the main project if called from a subproject, which is usually not what you want. It is usually preferable to use meson.current_source_dir or meson.project_source_root. meson.has_exe_wrapper() SYNOPSIS bool meson.has_exe_wrapper() deprecated since 0.55.0 DESCRIPTION Use meson.can_run_host_binaries instead. meson.has_external_property() SYNOPSIS bool meson.has_external_property(propname, native:) since 0.58.0 DESCRIPTION Checks whether the given property exist in a native or cross file. POSARGS propname str, required Name of the property in the cross / native file. KWARGS native bool Setting `native` to `true` forces retrieving a variable from the native file, even when cross-compiling. If `native: false` or not specified, the variable is retrieved from the cross-file if cross-compiling, and from the native-file when not cross- compiling. meson.install_dependency_manifest() SYNOPSIS void meson.install_dependency_manifest(output_name) DESCRIPTION Installs a manifest file containing a list of all subprojects, their versions and license names to the file name given as the argument. If license files are defined as well, they will be copied next to the manifest and referenced in it. If this function is not used, the builtin option `licensedir` can be used to install the manifest to a given directory with the name `depmf.json`. POSARGS output_name str, required Name of the manifest file to install meson.is_cross_build() SYNOPSIS bool meson.is_cross_build() DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the current build is a cross build[36] and `false` otherwise. meson.is_subproject() SYNOPSIS bool meson.is_subproject() DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the current project is being built as a subproject of some other project and `false` otherwise. meson.is_unity() SYNOPSIS bool meson.is_unity() DESCRIPTION Returns `true` when doing a unity build[37] (multiple sources are combined before compilation to reduce build time) and `false` otherwise. meson.override_dependency() SYNOPSIS void meson.override_dependency( name, dep_object, native: false, static:, ) since 0.54.0 DESCRIPTION Specifies that whenever dependency with `name` is used, Meson should not look it up on the system but instead return `dep_object`, which may either be the result of dependency or declare_dependency. Doing this in a subproject allows the parent project to retrieve the dependency without having to know the dependency variable name: `dependency(name, fallback : subproject_name)`. POSARGS name str, required The name of the dependency to override. dep_object dep, required The dependency to set as the override for `name`. KWARGS native bool, default: false If set to `true`, the dependency is always overwritten for the build machine. Otherwise, the dependency is overwritten for the host machine, which differs from the build machine when cross- compiling. static bool, since 0.60.0 Used to override static and/or shared dependencies separately. If not specified it is assumed `dep_object` follows `default_library` option value. meson.override_find_program() SYNOPSIS void meson.override_find_program(progname, program) since 0.46.0 DESCRIPTION specifies that whenever find_program is used to find a program named `progname`, Meson should not look it up on the system but instead return `program`, which may either be the result of find_program, configure_file or executable. (since 0.55.0) If a version check is passed to find_program for a program that has been overridden with an executable, the current project version is used. POSARGS progname str, required The name of the program to override. program exe | file | external_program, required The program to set as the override for `progname`. meson.project_build_root() SYNOPSIS str meson.project_build_root() since 0.56.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string with the absolute path to the build root directory of the current (sub)project. meson.project_license() SYNOPSIS list[str] meson.project_license() since 0.45.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the array of licenses specified in project function call. meson.project_license_files() SYNOPSIS list[file] meson.project_license_files() since 1.1.0 DESCRIPTION Returns the array of license files specified in the project function call. meson.project_name() SYNOPSIS str meson.project_name() DESCRIPTION Returns the project name specified in the project function call. meson.project_source_root() SYNOPSIS str meson.project_source_root() since 0.56.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string with the absolute path to the source root directory of the current (sub)project. meson.project_version() SYNOPSIS str meson.project_version() DESCRIPTION Returns the version string specified in project function call. meson.source_root() SYNOPSIS str meson.source_root() deprecated since 0.56.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a string with the absolute path to the source root directory. This function will return the source root of the parent project if called from a subproject, which is usually not what you want. Try using meson.current_source_dir or meson.project_source_root. In the rare cases where the root of the main project is needed, use meson.global_source_root that has the same behaviour but with a more explicit name. NOTES You should use the files function to refer to files in the root source directory instead of constructing paths manually with meson.source_root. meson.version() SYNOPSIS str meson.version() DESCRIPTION Return a string with the version of Meson. module.found() SYNOPSIS bool module.found() since 0.59.0 DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if the module was successfully imported, otherwise `false`. runresult.compiled() SYNOPSIS bool runresult.compiled() DESCRIPTION If `true`, the compilation succeeded, if `false` it did not and the other methods return unspecified data. This is only available for `compiler.run()` results. runresult.returncode() SYNOPSIS int runresult.returncode() DESCRIPTION The return code of executing the compiled binary runresult.stderr() SYNOPSIS str runresult.stderr() DESCRIPTION The standard error produced when the command was run. runresult.stdout() SYNOPSIS str runresult.stdout() DESCRIPTION The standard out produced when the command was run. str.contains() SYNOPSIS bool str.contains(fragment) DESCRIPTION Returns `true` if string contains the string specified as the argument. POSARGS fragment str, required The string fragment to check EXAMPLE target = 'x86_FreeBSD' is_fbsd = target.to_lower().contains('freebsd') # is_fbsd now has the boolean value 'true' str.endswith() SYNOPSIS bool str.endswith(fragment) DESCRIPTION Returns true if string ends with the string specified as the argument. POSARGS fragment str, required The string fragment to check EXAMPLE target = 'x86_FreeBSD' is_bsd = target.to_lower().endswith('bsd') # boolean value 'true' str.format() SYNOPSIS str str.format(fmt, value...) DESCRIPTION Strings can be built using the string formatting functionality. See the Meson syntax entry[38] for more information. Since 1.3.0 values other than strings, integers, bools, options, dictionaries and lists thereof are deprecated. They were previously printing the internal representation of the raw Python object. POSARGS fmt str, required The string to format. The formatting works by replacing placeholders of type `@number@` with the corresponding varargs. VARARGS value int | bool | str, 0...N times The values to replace the @number@ placeholders in the format string. EXAMPLE template = 'string: @0@, number: @1@, bool: @2@' res = template.format('text', 1, true) # res now has value 'string: text, number: 1, bool: true' str.join() SYNOPSIS str str.join(strings...) DESCRIPTION The opposite of split, for example `'.'.join(['a', 'b', 'c']` yields `'a.b.c'`. VARARGS strings str, 0...N times, since 0.60.0 The strings to join with the current string. Before Meson 0.60.0 this function only accepts a single positional argument of the type list[str]. EXAMPLE # Similar to the Python str.join() output = ' '.join(['foo', 'bar']) # Output value is 'foo bar' pathsep = ':' path = pathsep.join(['/usr/bin', '/bin', '/usr/local/bin']) # path now has the value '/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/local/bin' str.replace() SYNOPSIS str str.replace(old, new) since 0.58.0 DESCRIPTION Search all occurrences of `old` and replace it with `new` POSARGS old str, required The substring to search new str, required The replacement string EXAMPLE # Replaces all instances of one substring with another s = 'semicolons;as;separators' s = s.replace('as', 'are') # 's' now has the value of 'semicolons;are;separators' str.split() SYNOPSIS list[str] str.split([split_string]) DESCRIPTION Splits the string at the specified character (or whitespace if not set) and returns the parts in an array. OPTARGS split_string str Specifies the character / substring where to split the string. EXAMPLE # Similar to the Python str.split() components = 'a b c d '.split() # components now has the value ['a', 'b', 'c', 'd'] components = 'a b c d '.split(' ') # components now has the value ['a', 'b', '', '', 'c', 'd', ''] str.splitlines() SYNOPSIS list[str] str.splitlines() since 1.2.0 DESCRIPTION Splits the string into an array of lines. Unlike .split('0), the empty string produced an empty array, and if the string ends in a newline, splitlines() doesn't split on that last newline. '0, '' and '0 are all considered newlines. EXAMPLE output = 'hello0orld0.splitlines() # Output value is ['hello', 'world'] output = ''.splitlines() # Output value is [] fs = import('fs') paths = fs.read('my_paths.list').splitlines() # paths is now the paths listed in 'my_paths.list', or an empty list # if 'my_paths.list' is empty str.startswith() SYNOPSIS bool str.startswith(fragment) DESCRIPTION Returns true if string starts with the string specified as the argument. POSARGS fragment str, required The string fragment to check EXAMPLE target = 'x86_FreeBSD' is_x86 = target.startswith('x86') # boolean value 'true' str.strip() SYNOPSIS str str.strip([strip_chars]) DESCRIPTION Removes leading/ending characters from the string. By default the characters to remove are spaces and newlines. OPTARGS strip_chars str, since 0.43.0 Instead of whitespace, strip all the characters in this string. EXAMPLE # Similar to the Python str.strip(). Removes leading/ending spaces and newlines define = ' -Dsomedefine ' stripped_define = define.strip() # 'stripped_define' now has the value '-Dsomedefine' str.substring() SYNOPSIS str str.substring([start], [end]) since 0.56.0 DESCRIPTION Returns a substring specified from `start` to `end`. Both `start` and `end` arguments are optional, so, for example, `'foobar'.substring()` will return `'foobar'`. The method accepts negative values where negative `start` is relative to the end of string `len(string) - start` as well as negative `end`. If `start` or `end` are out of bounds, the position of the closest character will be used. If `start` is bigger than `end`, the result will be an empty substring. OPTARGS start int The start position end int The end position EXAMPLE # Similar to the Python str[start:end] syntax target = 'x86_FreeBSD' platform = target.substring(0, 3) # prefix string value 'x86' system = target.substring(4) # suffix string value 'FreeBSD' Example with negative values: string = 'foobar' string.substring(-5, -3) # => 'oo' string.substring(1, -1) # => 'ooba' Example with out of bound values: string = 'foobar' string.substring(64) # => '' string.substring(0, 64) # => 'foobar' string.substring(64, 0) # => '' str.to_int() SYNOPSIS int str.to_int() DESCRIPTION Converts the string to an int and throws an error if it can't be EXAMPLE version = '1' # Converts the string to an int and throws an error if it can't be ver_int = version.to_int() str.to_lower() SYNOPSIS str str.to_lower() DESCRIPTION Converts all characters to lower case EXAMPLE target = 'x86_FreeBSD' lower = target.to_lower() # t now has the value 'x86_freebsd' str.to_upper() SYNOPSIS str str.to_upper() DESCRIPTION Converts all characters to upper case EXAMPLE target = 'x86_FreeBSD' upper = target.to_upper() # t now has the value 'X86_FREEBSD' str.underscorify() SYNOPSIS str str.underscorify() DESCRIPTION Creates a string where every non-alphabetical non-number character is replaced with `_`. EXAMPLE name = 'Meson Docs.txt#Reference-manual' # Replaces all characters other than `a-zA-Z0-9` with `_` (underscore) # Useful for substituting into #defines, filenames, etc. underscored = name.underscorify() # underscored now has the value 'Meson_Docs_txt_Reference_manual' str.version_compare() SYNOPSIS bool str.version_compare(compare_string) DESCRIPTION Does semantic version comparison. POSARGS compare_string str, required The string to compare to. EXAMPLE version = '1.2.3' # Compare version numbers semantically is_new = version.version_compare('>=2.0') # is_new now has the boolean value false # Supports the following operators: '>', '<', '>=', '<=', '!=', '==', '=' Meson version comparison conventions include: '3.6'.version_compare('>=3.6.0') == false It is best to be unambiguous and specify the full revision level to compare. subproject.found() SYNOPSIS bool subproject.found() since 0.48.0 DESCRIPTION Returns whether the subproject was successfully setup. subproject.get_variable() SYNOPSIS any subproject.get_variable(var_name, [fallback]) DESCRIPTION fetches the specified variable from inside the subproject. This is useful to, for instance, get a declare_dependency from the subproject[25]. If the variable does not exist, the variable `fallback` is returned. If a fallback is not specified, then attempting to read a non-existing variable will cause a fatal error. POSARGS var_name str, required The name of the variable to query OPTARGS fallback any The fallback value to return if `var_name` does not exist. OBJECTS alias_tgt extends: tgt returned_by: alias_target Opaque object returned by alias_target. any returned_by: get_variable, get, get, get_cross_property, get_external_property, get_variable A placeholder representing all types. This includes builtin, as well as returned objects. bool returned_by: add_languages, get_option, is_disabler, is_variable, found, get, get_unquoted, has, check_header, compiles, has_argument, has_define, has_function, has_function_attribute, has_header, has_header_symbol, has_link_argument, has_member, has_members, has_multi_arguments, has_multi_link_arguments, has_type, links, symbols_have_underscore_prefix, found, has_key, found, found, allowed, auto, disabled, enabled, is_even, is_odd, contains, can_run_host_binaries, has_exe_wrapper, has_external_property, is_cross_build, is_subproject, is_unity, found, compiled, contains, endswith, startswith, version_compare, found A boolean object which is either `true` or `false` both_libs since 0.46.0 extends: lib returned_by: both_libraries Container for both a static and shared library. build_machine extended_by: host_machine, target_machine Provides information about the build machine -- the machine that is doing the actual compilation. See Cross-compilation[35]. Currently, these values are populated using `platform.system()`[39] and `platform.machine()`[40]. If you think the returned values for any of these are incorrect for your system or CPU, or if your OS is not in the linked table, please file a bug[41] report with details and we'll look into it. build_tgt extends: tgt returned_by: build_target, shared_module extended_by: exe, jar, lib A build target is either an executable, shared library, static library, both shared and static library or shared module. cfg_data returned_by: configuration_data This object encapsulates configuration values to be used for generating configuration files. A more in-depth description can be found in the the configuration wiki page[9]. cmake The CMake module cmake_options since 0.55.0 returned_by: subproject_options Central configuration object for CMake subprojects compiler returned_by: get_compiler This object is returned by meson.get_compiler. It represents a compiler for a given language and allows you to query its properties. NOTES These compiler checks do not use compiler arguments added with `add_*_arguments()`, via `-Dlang_args` on the command-line, or through `CFLAGS`/`LDFLAGS`, etc in the environment. Hence, you can trust that the tests will be fully self-contained, and won't fail because of custom flags added by other parts of the build file or by users. Note that if you have a single prefix with all your dependencies, you might find it easier to append to the environment variables `C_INCLUDE_PATH` with GCC/Clang and `INCLUDE` with MSVC to expand the default include path, and `LIBRARY_PATH` with GCC/Clang and `LIB` with MSVC to expand the default library search path. However, with GCC, these variables will be ignored when cross- compiling. In that case you need to use a specs file. See: http://www.mingw.org/wiki/SpecsFileHOWTO custom_idx returned_by: [index] References a specific output file of a custom_tgt object. custom_tgt extends: tgt returned_by: custom_target, vcs_tag This object is returned by custom_target and contains a target with the following methods: dep returned_by: declare_dependency, dependency, find_library, as_link_whole, as_system, partial_dependency Abstract representation of a dependency dict since 0.47.0 Stores a mapping of strings to other objects. See dictionaries[42]. You can also iterate over dictionaries with the `foreach` statement[29]. (since 0.48.0): Dictionaries can be added (e.g. `d1 = d2 + d3` and `d1 += d2`). Values from the second dictionary overrides values from the first. (since 0.62.0): Dictionary order is guaranteed to be insertion order. disabler returned_by: disabler A disabler object is an object that behaves in much the same way as NaN numbers do in floating point math. That is when used in any statement (function call, logical op, etc) they will cause the statement evaluation to immediately short circuit to return a disabler object. A disabler object has one method: env returned_by: environment This object is returned by environment and stores detailed information about how environment variables should be set. It should be passed as the `env` keyword argument to tests and other functions. Since 0.58.0 env.append and env.prepend can be called multiple times on the same `varname`. Earlier Meson versions would warn and only the last operation took effect. EXAMPLE env = environment() # MY_PATH will be '0:1:2:3' env.set('MY_PATH', '1') env.append('MY_PATH', '2') env.append('MY_PATH', '3') env.prepend('MY_PATH', '0') exe extends: build_tgt returned_by: executable An executable external_program returned_by: find_program Opaque object representing an external program extracted_obj returned_by: extract_all_objects, extract_objects Opaque object representing extracted object files from build targets feature since 0.47.0 returned_by: get_option, disable_auto_if, disable_if, enable_auto_if, enable_if, require Meson object representing a `feature` options[0] file returned_by: configure_file Object that stores the path to an existing file generated_list returned_by: process Opaque object representing the result of a generator.process call. generator returned_by: generator This object is returned by generator and contains a generator that is used to transform files from one type to another by an executable (e.g. `idl` files into source code and headers). host_machine extends: build_machine Provides information about the host machine -- the machine on which the compiled binary will run. See Cross-compilation[35]. It has the same methods as build_machine. When not cross-compiling, all the methods return the same values as build_machine (because the build machine is the host machine) Note that while cross-compiling, it simply returns the values defined in the cross-info file. inc returned_by: include_directories, private_dir_include Opaque wrapper for storing include directories int returned_by: get_option, to_int, get, get_unquoted, alignment, compute_int, sizeof, length, returncode, to_int All integer numbers. See Numbers[43] for more information. jar extends: build_tgt returned_by: jar A Java JAR build target lib extends: build_tgt returned_by: library, shared_library, static_library, get_shared_lib, get_static_lib extended_by: both_libs Represents either a shared or static library list returned_by: files, get_option, keys, cmd_array, first_supported_argument, first_supported_link_argument, get_supported_arguments, get_supported_function_attributes, get_supported_link_arguments, preprocess, to_list, keys, project_license, project_license_files, split, splitlines An array of elements. See arrays[44]. meson The `meson` object allows you to introspect various properties of the system. This object is always mapped in the `meson` variable. module returned_by: import Base type for all modules. Modules provide their own specific implementation methods, but all modules provide the following methods: range since 0.58.0 returned_by: range Opaque object that can be used in a loop and accessed via `[num]`. run_tgt extends: tgt returned_by: run_target Opaque object returned by run_target. runresult returned_by: run_command, run This object encapsulates the result of trying to compile and run a sample piece of code with compiler.run or run_command. str returned_by: get_option, join_paths, to_string, cpu, cpu_family, endian, system, full_path, name, path, get, get_unquoted, get_argument_syntax, get_define, get_id, get_linker_id, version, full_path, full_path, get_configtool_variable, get_pkgconfig_variable, get_variable, include_type, name, type_name, version, full_path, path, version, full_path, to_string, backend, build_options, build_root, current_build_dir, current_source_dir, global_build_root, global_source_root, project_build_root, project_name, project_source_root, project_version, source_root, version, stderr, stdout, format, join, replace, strip, substring, to_lower, to_upper, underscorify All strings[45] have the following methods. Strings are immutable, all operations return their results as a new string. structured_src returned_by: structured_sources Opaque object returned by structured_sources. subproject returned_by: subproject This object is returned by subproject and is an opaque object representing it. target_machine extends: build_machine Provides information about the target machine -- the machine on which the compiled binary's output will run. Hence, this object should only be used while cross-compiling a compiler. See Cross-compilation[35]. It has the same methods as build_machine. When all compilation is 'native', all the methods return the same values as build_machine (because the build machine is the host machine and the target machine). Note that while cross-compiling, it simply returns the values defined in the cross-info file. If `target_machine` values are not defined in the cross-info file, `host_machine` values are returned instead. tgt extended_by: alias_tgt, build_tgt, custom_tgt, run_tgt Opaque base object for all Meson targets void returned_by: add_global_arguments, add_global_link_arguments, add_project_arguments, add_project_dependencies, add_project_link_arguments, add_test_setup, assert, benchmark, debug, error, install_data, install_emptydir, install_headers, install_man, install_subdir, install_symlink, message, project, set_variable, subdir, subdir_done, summary, test, unset_variable, warning, merge_from, set, set10, set_quoted, add_cmake_defines, append, prepend, set, unset, add_devenv, add_dist_script, add_install_script, add_postconf_script, install_dependency_manifest, override_dependency, override_find_program Indicates that the function does not return anything. Similar to `void` in C and C++ SEE ALSO [1] Build-options.md#features [2] Unit-tests.md [3] https://www.testanything.org/ [4] https://ninja-build.org/manual.html#ref_dependencies [5] https://ninja-build.org/manual.html#ref_headers [6] https://dlang.org/spec/version.html#version [7] https://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/Visibility [8] Rust-module.md#proc_macro [9] https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/reference/subsystem- specify-subsystem [10] Configuration.md [11] https://docs.python.org/3/library/codecs.html#standard-encodings [12] https://ninja- build.org/manual.html#_the_literal_console_literal_pool [13] Dependencies.md#cmake [14] Dependencies.md#dependencies-with-custom-lookup-functionality [15] Wrap-dependency-system-manual.md#provide-section [16] Dependencies.md#dependencies-with-custom-lookup-functionality [17] Builtin-options.md#core-options [18] Machine-files.md#binaries [19] Build-options.md [20] Builtin-options.md#universal-options [21] Installing.md [22] https://mesonbuild.com/Builtin-options.html [23] https://spdx.dev/ids/ [24] https://spdx.org/licenses/ [25] External-commands.md [26] Subprojects.md [27] http://man7.org/linux/man-pages/man3/mallopt.3.html [28] Reference-tables.md#cpu-families [29] Reference-tables.md#operating-system-names [30] Syntax.md#foreach-statements [31] Reference-tables.md#compiler-ids [32] Reference-tables.md#linker-ids [33] Reference-tables.md#gcc-__attribute__ [34] Commands.md#devenv [35] Reference-tables.md#language-arguments-parameter-names [36] Cross-compilation.md [37] Unity-builds.md [38] Syntax.md#string-formatting [39] https://docs.python.org/3.7/library/platform.html#platform.system [40] https://docs.python.org/3.7/library/platform.html#platform.machine [41] https://github.com/mesonbuild/meson/issues/new [42] Syntax.md#dictionaries [43] Syntax.md#numbers [44] Syntax.md#arrays [45] Syntax.md#strings 2024-03-12 meson-reference(3)