Q: Pass a computed linkopts to a cc_binary rule? - bazel

Question

Suppose I have this macro which creates a native.cc_binary target:
def build_it(name, **kwargs):
native.cc_binary(
name = name + ".out",
linkopts = [
"-Lsomedir",
"-lsomelib"
],
**kwargs)
And I also have this rule which takes some sources, runs a tool on them, and generates a value, writing that value to an output file:
def _write_value_impl:
args = [f.path for f in ctx.files.srcs] + [ctx.outputs.out.path]
ctx.actions.run(
inputs = ctx.files.srcs,
outputs = [ctx.outputs.out],
arguments = args,
executable = ctx.executable._tool
)
write_value = rule(
implementation=_write_value_impl,
attrs = {
"srcs": attr.label_list(allow_files = True),
"out": attr.output(mandatory = True),
"_tool": attr.label(
executable = True,
allow_files = True,
default = Label("//tools:generate_value")
}
)
Okay, what I'd like to do is modify the macro so that it adds the value generated by the write_value rule to the linkopts. Something like this:
def build_it(name, value, **kwargs):
native.cc_binary(
name = name + ".out",
linkopts = [
"-Lsomedir",
"-lsomelib",
"-Wl,--defsym=SOME_SYMBOL={}".format(value)
],
**kwargs)
How do I make this work? The problem is that the target of build_it is generated at analysis time, but the value it needs is generated at evaluation time. Also, the value got put into a file. How do I get the value out of the file and give it to the macro?
I suspect that instead of a macro, I need a rule, but how do I get the rule to call native.cc_binary?

Answer 1

You can write a repository_rule() to create files and generate values prior to the loading phase, and then files in the #external_repo//... will be accessible by the rules during analysis. https://docs.bazel.build/versions/master/skylark/repository_rules.html

Answer 2

This can't be done in Bazel, precisely because of what you mentioned. All the inputs to rules need to be determined in the analysis phase rather than the execution phase. Bazel wants to build the complete action graph before executing any actions, and this would require the write_value rule to run before build_it could be analyzed.
A workaround might be to generate the BUILD file yourself outside of Bazel beforehand, and then use the generated BUILD file during your build.
Another workaround is to hard-code the linkopts to specify them to what you expect them to be. Then in write_value check if they are what you expected and if not throw an exit code. That way Bazel will at least warn you when they aren't going to match, but it will take some effort to update both places so they're aligned again.
For your specific problem there is a concept of linker scripts, and even implicit linker scripts. Perhaps you could generate one and supply that to cc_binary in the srcs attribute. You may need to name it as a .o file (even though it's not an object file). The GCC linker documentation says:
If you specify a linker input file which the linker can not recognize
as an object file or an archive file, it will try to read the file as
a linker script.