1 ===================================
2 How To Setup Clang Tooling For LLVM
3 ===================================
5 Clang Tooling provides infrastructure to write tools that need syntactic
6 and semantic information about a program. This term also relates to a set
7 of specific tools using this infrastructure (e.g. ``clang-check``). This
8 document provides information on how to set up and use Clang Tooling for
14 Clang Tooling needs a compilation database to figure out specific build
15 options for each file. Currently it can create a compilation database
16 from the ``compilation_commands.json`` file, generated by CMake. When
17 invoking clang tools, you can either specify a path to a build directory
18 using a command line parameter ``-p`` or let Clang Tooling find this
19 file in your source tree. In either case you need to configure your
20 build using CMake to use clang tools.
22 Setup Clang Tooling Using CMake and Make
23 ========================================
25 If you intend to use make to build LLVM, you should have CMake 2.8.6 or
26 later installed (can be found `here <http://cmake.org>`_).
28 First, you need to generate Makefiles for LLVM with CMake. You need to
29 make a build directory and run CMake from it:
31 .. code-block:: console
33 $ mkdir your/build/directory
34 $ cd your/build/directory
35 $ cmake -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON path/to/llvm/sources
37 If you want to use clang instead of GCC, you can add
38 ``-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/path/to/clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/path/to/clang++``.
39 You can also use ``ccmake``, which provides a curses interface to configure
40 CMake variables for lazy people.
42 As a result, the new ``compile_commands.json`` file should appear in the
43 current directory. You should link it to the LLVM source tree so that
44 Clang Tooling is able to use it:
46 .. code-block:: console
48 $ ln -s $PWD/compile_commands.json path/to/llvm/source/
50 Now you are ready to build and test LLVM using make:
52 .. code-block:: console
59 After you completed the previous steps, you are ready to run clang tools. If
60 you have a recent clang installed, you should have ``clang-check`` in
61 ``$PATH``. Try to run it on any ``.cpp`` file inside the LLVM source tree:
63 .. code-block:: console
65 $ clang-check tools/clang/lib/Tooling/CompilationDatabase.cpp
67 If you're using vim, it's convenient to have clang-check integrated. Put
68 this into your ``.vimrc``:
72 function! ClangCheckImpl(cmd)
73 if &autowrite | wall | endif
74 echo "Running " . a:cmd . " ..."
75 let l:output = system(a:cmd)
78 let w:quickfix_title = a:cmd
82 let g:clang_check_last_cmd = a:cmd
85 function! ClangCheck()
86 let l:filename = expand('%')
87 if l:filename =~ '\.\(cpp\|cxx\|cc\|c\)$'
88 call ClangCheckImpl("clang-check " . l:filename)
89 elseif exists("g:clang_check_last_cmd")
90 call ClangCheckImpl(g:clang_check_last_cmd)
92 echo "Can't detect file's compilation arguments and no previous clang-check invocation!"
96 nmap <silent> <F5> :call ClangCheck()<CR><CR>
98 When editing a .cpp/.cxx/.cc/.c file, hit F5 to reparse the file. In
99 case the current file has a different extension (for example, .h), F5
100 will re-run the last clang-check invocation made from this vim instance
101 (if any). The output will go into the error window, which is opened
102 automatically when clang-check finds errors, and can be re-opened with
105 Other ``clang-check`` options that can be useful when working with clang
108 * ``-ast-print`` --- Build ASTs and then pretty-print them.
109 * ``-ast-dump`` --- Build ASTs and then debug dump them.
110 * ``-ast-dump-filter=<string>`` --- Use with ``-ast-dump`` or ``-ast-print`` to
111 dump/print only AST declaration nodes having a certain substring in a
112 qualified name. Use ``-ast-list`` to list all filterable declaration node
114 * ``-ast-list`` --- Build ASTs and print the list of declaration node qualified
119 .. code-block:: console
121 $ clang-check tools/clang/tools/clang-check/ClangCheck.cpp -ast-dump -ast-dump-filter ActionFactory::newASTConsumer
122 Processing: tools/clang/tools/clang-check/ClangCheck.cpp.
123 Dumping ::ActionFactory::newASTConsumer:
124 clang::ASTConsumer *newASTConsumer() (CompoundStmt 0x44da290 </home/alexfh/local/llvm/tools/clang/tools/clang-check/ClangCheck.cpp:64:40, line:72:3>
125 (IfStmt 0x44d97c8 <line:65:5, line:66:45>
127 (ImplicitCastExpr 0x44d96d0 <line:65:9> '_Bool':'_Bool' <UserDefinedConversion>
129 $ clang-check tools/clang/tools/clang-check/ClangCheck.cpp -ast-print -ast-dump-filter ActionFactory::newASTConsumer
130 Processing: tools/clang/tools/clang-check/ClangCheck.cpp.
131 Printing <anonymous namespace>::ActionFactory::newASTConsumer:
132 clang::ASTConsumer *newASTConsumer() {
133 if (this->ASTList.operator _Bool())
134 return clang::CreateASTDeclNodeLister();
135 if (this->ASTDump.operator _Bool())
136 return clang::CreateASTDumper(this->ASTDumpFilter);
137 if (this->ASTPrint.operator _Bool())
138 return clang::CreateASTPrinter(&llvm::outs(), this->ASTDumpFilter);
139 return new clang::ASTConsumer();
142 (Experimental) Using Ninja Build System
143 =======================================
145 Optionally you can use the `Ninja <https://github.com/martine/ninja>`_
146 build system instead of make. It is aimed at making your builds faster.
147 Currently this step will require building Ninja from sources.
149 To take advantage of using Clang Tools along with Ninja build you need
150 at least CMake 2.8.9.
152 Clone the Ninja git repository and build Ninja from sources:
154 .. code-block:: console
156 $ git clone git://github.com/martine/ninja.git
160 This will result in a single binary ``ninja`` in the current directory.
161 It doesn't require installation and can just be copied to any location
162 inside ``$PATH``, say ``/usr/local/bin/``:
164 .. code-block:: console
166 $ sudo cp ninja /usr/local/bin/
167 $ sudo chmod a+rx /usr/local/bin/ninja
169 After doing all of this, you'll need to generate Ninja build files for
170 LLVM with CMake. You need to make a build directory and run CMake from
173 .. code-block:: console
175 $ mkdir your/build/directory
176 $ cd your/build/directory
177 $ cmake -G Ninja -DCMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS=ON path/to/llvm/sources
179 If you want to use clang instead of GCC, you can add
180 ``-DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/path/to/clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/path/to/clang++``.
181 You can also use ``ccmake``, which provides a curses interface to configure
182 CMake variables in an interactive manner.
184 As a result, the new ``compile_commands.json`` file should appear in the
185 current directory. You should link it to the LLVM source tree so that
186 Clang Tooling is able to use it:
188 .. code-block:: console
190 $ ln -s $PWD/compile_commands.json path/to/llvm/source/
192 Now you are ready to build and test LLVM using Ninja:
194 .. code-block:: console
198 Other target names can be used in the same way as with make.