What Is Opus Make?

Opus Make is a programming utility designed to speed program development. Opus Make keeps track of the files that comprise the project, recompiling and relinking them only when required. Moreover, Opus Make maintains important information, such as compiler and linker options, in an editable text file called a makefile. If you’ve ever returned to a project after being absent for a while, you know how hard is to remember all the parameters that were used the last time the project was built. Opus Make remembers everything about the project for you.

What Is Opus MKMF?

Opus MKMF is a utility that helps with the maintenance of makefiles. Its principal duty is to determine the dependency information used by Make. MKMF fully supports C and C++ source files by understanding C-preprocessor directives. MKMF also supports Resource Compiler and other language files. In addition to this built-in support, MKMF can be extended to handle other languages you use.

Why Should You Use Opus Make and MKMF?

Here is the list of Opus Make and MKMF features:

• General Properties
  • Portable makefiles across operating systems
  • Extensive set of Macros and Macro Modifiers
  • Multiple-directory support (Search paths)
  • Long filename support
  • Self-extract makefiles from version control
• Shell Lines
  • Automatic generation of response files give unlimited command-line length
  • Multiple compile lines automatically rolled into single invocation of compiler
• Version Control Systems
  • Microsoft SourceSafe and Visual SourceSafe 3.x through v6.0
  • Intersolv PVCS Version Manager
  • Burton Systems Software TLIB
  • GNU RCS and MKS RCS and MKS Source Integrity
• Emulation and Compatibility
  • PolyMake v4.0 and Intersolv PVCS Configuration Builder v5.x compatibility and emulation
  • Microsoft NMAKE compatibility and emulation
• Dependency Generation
  • Source files are scanned for dependencies
  • Supports C and C++ preprocessor directives
  • Supports Resource Compiler files
  • Extensible for other languages
  • Dependency output portable to similar and dissimilar file systems

Features for Opus Make

• General makefile properties
  • Portable makefiles--Makefiles created on one operating system can be read by Opus Make on any other operating system.
  • Makefiles can contain conditionally read sections, can include other makefiles and can iterate sections.
  • An automatically included initialization file can be customized by you.
  • On shell lines, directives provide conditional and iteration capability independent of the underlying operating system shell.
  • The "%do" directive executes the shell lines of another target, like a subroutine call. This subroutine call can pass along macro definitions on which the called target can act.
  • With a command-line option Opus Make shows each makefile read and each conditional evaluated, with full macro expansion, for easier makefile debugging.
  • Long filename support--Target names can be double quoted, supporting target names with spaces in them.
  • The "\" and "/" characters can be considered equivalent in target names.
  • For Win95 and WinNT, mixed-case file names are supported.
  • The "SH" (execute shell) macro modifier executes the shell line defined by a macro and returns the output of the shell line.
• Multiple directory support (search directories)
• Inference rules and targets
• Shell lines
• Version control systems
• "Make makefile" mode
• Emulation and compatibility
• Object and library support

Features for MKMF

• General features
  • Source files are scanned for statements that include header files and dependencies are added to the corresponding object file. Included header files are scanned recursively and the resulting dependency information is added to the makefile
  • Full treatment of C-preprocessor directives for C/C++ language files.
  • MKMF has special handling for Resource Compiler files to add the proper dependency information that result from Resource Compiler statements.
  • Extensibility for other programming languages.
  • Automatic update of several important makefile macros so they reflect a growing project. In particular, MKMF updates the SRCS, OBJS, HDRS and EXTHDRS macro definitions in the makefile
  • MKMF can do dependencies for listed object files, from which it determines the source files to be scanned. This has the advantage that object files with path names show up in the makefile. Previously, source files were given to MKMF and their resultant object files never had path names: you had to use a .PATH macro to locate the object files.
  • The RC file support has been enhanced to recognize more Resource Compiler keywords.
  • Trigraph support of ??= (which represents the ‘#’ character), ??’ (‘^’) and ??! (‘|’) has been added.
  • MKMF now uses exactly the same rule finding mechanism as does Opus Make for mapping between object files and source files.
  • Much faster dependency determination than in the past, especially for networked files. The "-s" flag now caches included files in memory. The new "-S" flag is the same as old "-s" flag, specifying slow scanning without include file caching.
  • Various double-quoted file name bugs have been fixed.
  • For Win95 and WinNT, better support of mixed-case file names.
  • The "SH" (execute shell) macro modifier executes the shell line defined by a macro and returns the output of the shell line.
  • The "%exec" directive is now supported (just like Opus Make).
  • MKMF's makefile emulation can now be set (just like Opus Make).
• Dependency Output

The Opus Make software package comes with two principle tools: Opus Make and Opus MKMF.