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Compiling Cantera C++ Programs
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In general, it should be possible to use Cantera with any build system by
specifying the appropriate header and library paths, and specifying the required
libraries when linking. It is also necessary to specify the paths for libraries
used by Cantera, e.g. Sundials, BLAS, and LAPACK.
pkg-config
==========
On systems where the ``pkg-config`` program is installed, it can be used to
determine the correct compiler and linker flags for use with Cantera. For
example:
.. code-block:: bash
g++ myProgram.cpp -o myProgram $(pkg-config --cflags --libs cantera)
It can also be used to populate variables in a Makefile:
.. code-block:: make
CFLAGS += $(shell pkg-config --cflags cantera)
LIBS += $(shell pkg-config --libs cantera)
Or in an SConstruct file::
env.ParseConfig("pkg-config --cflags --libs cantera")
Note that ``pkg-config`` will work only if it can find the ``cantera.pc``
file. If Cantera's libraries are not installed in a standard location such as
``/usr/lib`` or ``/usr/local/lib``, you may need to set the ``PKG_CONFIG_PATH``
environment variable appropriately before using ``pkg-config``.
SCons
=====
SCons is a multi-platform, Python-based build system. It is the build system
used to compile Cantera. The description of how to build a project is contained
in a file named ``SConstruct``. The ``SConstruct`` file is actually a Python
script, which makes it very straightforward to add functionality to a
SCons-based build system.
A typical ``SConstruct`` file for compiling a program that uses Cantera might
look like this::
env = Environment()
env.Append(CCFLAGS='-g',
CPPPATH=['/usr/local/cantera/include',
'/usr/local/sundials/include'],
LIBS=['cantera', 'sundials_cvodes', 'sundials_ida',
'sundials_nvecserial', 'lapack', 'blas'],
LIBPATH=['/usr/local/cantera/lib',
'/usr/local/sundials/lib'],
LINKFLAGS=['-g', '-pthread'])
sample = env.Program('sample', 'sample.cpp')
Default(sample)
This script establishes what SCons refers to as a "construction environment"
named ``env``, and sets the header (``CPPPATH``) and library (``LIBPATH``) paths
to include the directories containing the Cantera headers and libraries, as well
as libraries that Cantera depends on, such as Sundials, BLAS, and LAPACK. Then,
a program named ``sample`` is compiled using the single source file
``sample.cpp``.
Several other example ``SConstruct`` files are included with the C++ examples
contained in the ``samples`` subdirectory of the Cantera installation directory.
For more information on SCons, see the `SCons Wiki `_
and the `SCons homepage `_.
CMake
=====
CMake is a multi-platform build system which uses a high-level project
description to generate platform-specific build scripts (i.e. on Linux, CMake
will generate Makefiles). The configuration file for a CMake project is called
``CMakeLists.txt``. A typical ``CMakeLists.txt`` file for compiling a program
that uses Cantera might look like this:
.. code-block:: cmake
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.1)
project (sample)
set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE ON)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
include_directories("/opt/cantera/include" "/opt/sundials-2.7.0/include")
link_directories("/opt/cantera/lib" "/opt/sundials-2.7.0/lib")
add_executable(sample sample.cpp)
target_link_libraries(sample cantera sundials_cvodes sundials_ida sundials_nvecserial fmt Threads::Threads)
Several example ``CMakeLists.txt`` files are included with the C++ examples
contained in the ``samples`` subdirectory of the Cantera installation directory,
which have the paths and lists of libraries correctly configured for system on
which they are installed.
Make
====
Cantera is distributed with an "include Makefile" that can be used with
Make-based build systems. This file ``Cantera.mak`` is located in the
``samples`` subdirectory of the Cantera installation directory. To use it, add a
line referencing this file to the top of your Makefile::
include path/to/Cantera.mak
The path specified should be the relative path from the ``Makefile`` to
``Cantera.mak``. This file defines several variables which can be used in your
Makefile. The following is an example ``Makefile`` that uses the definitions
contained in ``Cantera.mak``:
.. code-block:: makefile
include ../../Cantera.mak
CC=gcc
CXX=g++
RM=rm -f
CCFLAGS=-g
CPPFLAGS=$(CANTERA_INCLUDES)
LDFLAGS=
LDLIBS=$(CANTERA_LIBS)
SRCS=sample.cpp
OBJS=$(subst .cpp,.o,$(SRCS))
all: sample
kinetics1: $(OBJS)
$(CXX) $(LDFLAGS) -o sample $(OBJS) $(LDLIBS)
clean:
$(RM) $(OBJS)
dist-clean: clean
$(RM) *~