# __COPYRIGHT__ # __FILE__ __REVISION__ __DATE__ __DEVELOPER__ SCons - a software construction tool Release Notes This is an alpha release of SCons, a tool for building software (and other files). SCons is implemented in Python, and its "configuration files" are actually Python scripts, allowing you to use the full power of a real scripting language to solve build problems. You do not, however, need to know Python to use SCons effectively. So that everyone using SCons can help each other learn how to use it more effectively, please sign up for the scons-users mailing list at: http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/scons-users RELEASE 0.15 - XXX This is the fifteenth alpha release of SCons. Please consult the CHANGES.txt file for a list of specific changes since last release. Please note the following important changes since release 0.14: - Please note the following important changes since release 0.13: - Tool specifications no longer take a "platform" argument. You will need to remove this argument if you define any local Tool specifications. The new env['PLATFORM'] construction variable can now be used to find the string that used to be passed in as the "platform" argument. - Emitter functions in Builders are now passed Node objects, not strings, for all targets and sources. Your emitter may need to use the str() function to examine the names of specified files. - The SetBuildSignatureType() and SetContentSignatureType() functions have been deprecated. The new names are TargetSignatures() and SourceSignatures(). - The Export() function and the exported variables argument of SConscript() now search for variables using the same rules as Python: local first, then global. If you are calling Export() or SConscript() from a module imported directly into an SConscript file, you may need to modify the module to make the previously global variables available to your Export() or SConscript() call. - The SetJobs() and GetJobs() functions have been deprecated. Their new equivalents are: SetOption('num_jobs', num) GetOption('num_jobs') - Callable expansions of construction variables in a command line now take a fourth "for_signature" argument that is set when the expansion is being called to generate a build signature. - Construction variables for building a target are now frozen when the Builder is called; later changes to the Environment do not necessarily affect how the target is build. You may need to re-order statements in your SConscript files to make sure construction variables are set before calling the Builders that will use them. SCons is developed with an extensive regression test suite, and a rigorous development methodology for continually improving that suite. Because of this, SCons is of sufficient quality that you can use it for real work. The "alpha" status of the release reflects that we still may change interfaces in future releases, which may require modifications to your SConscript files. We strive to hold these changes to a minimum. Nevertheless, please heed the following disclaimers: - There may, of course, be bugs. Please report any bugs or other problems that you find to our bug tracker at our SourceForge project page: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?func=add&group_id=30337&atid=398971 We have a reliable bug-fixing methodology already in place and strive to respond to problems relatively quickly. - Documentation is spottier than we'd like. You may need to dive into the source code to figure out how to do something. Asking questions on the scons-users mailing list is also welcome. We will be addressing the documentation in upcoming releases, but would be more than glad to have your assistance in correcting this problem... :-) In particular, the "SCons Design" documentation on the SCons web site is currently out of date, as we made significant changes to portions of the interface as we figured out what worked and what didn't during implementation. - There may be performance issues. Improving SCons performance is an ongoing priority. If you still find the performance unacceptable, we would very much like to hear from you and learn more about your configuration so we can optimize the right things. - Error messages don't always exist where they'd be helpful. Please let us know about any errors you ran into that would have benefitted from a (more) descriptive message. KNOWN PROBLEMS IN THIS RELEASE: For a complete list of known problems, consult the SCons bug tracker page at SourceForge: http://sourceforge.net/tracker/?atid=398971&group_id=30337&func=browse - Support for parallel builds (-j) does not work on WIN32 systems prior to *official* Python release 2.2 (not 2.2 pre-releases). Prior to Python 2.2, there is a bug in Python's Win32 implementation such that when a thread spawns an external command, it blocks all threads from running. This breaks the SCons multithreading architecture used to support -j builds. We have included a patch file, os_spawnv_fix.diff, that you can use if you you want to fix your version of Python to support parallel builds in SCons. - Again, the "SCons Design" documentation on the SCons web site is currently out of date. Take what you read there with a grain of salt. - If a file is specified to be built in multiple ways, the last processed builder specification overwrites all other builders, without any warning. - On Win32 systems, you must put a space between the redirection characters < and >, and the specified files (or construction variable expansions): command < $SOURCE > $TARGET If you don't supply a space (for example, "<$SOURCE"), SCons will not recognize the redirection. - People have reported problems with SCons not stopping a build when an interrupt (CTRL+C) is received. A fix was checked in to 0.11 that should fix this behavior on many systems, but there are issues with the underlying Python os.system() call that suggest this fix does not work on all systems or in all circumstances. We're working to try to find a universal solution. - Executing the -u or -U option from a source directory that has an associated BuildDir() does not build the targets in the BuildDir(). - Modifying a construction environment in a subsidiary SConscript file modifies the global environment. - MSVC .res files are not rebuilt when icons change. - The -c option does not clean up .sconsign files or directories created as part of the build. - Switching content signatures from "MD5" to "timestamp" and back again can cause unusual errors. These errors can be cleared up by removing all .sconsign files. - On Win32, SCons does not recognize that a target specified as (for example) \some\target is the same as X:\some\target (for your current volume X:). - .sconsign files can be written even when the -n option is used, possibly causing incorrect "up to date" builds the next time around. - An explicit target beginning with "../" (i.e. above the current directory) is ignored when using the -u, -U or -D options. - No support yet for the following planned command-line options: -d -e -l --list-actions --list-derived --list-where -o --override -p -r -R --random -w --write-filenames -W --warn-undefined-variables Thank you for your interest, and please let us know how we can help improve SCons for your needs. Steven Knight knight at baldmt dot com http://www.baldmt.com/~knight/ With plenty of help from the SCons Development team: Chad Austin Charles Crain Steve Leblanc Anthony Roach Greg Spencer Christoph Widemann