| ======== |
| Glossary |
| ======== |
| |
| .. glossary:: |
| :sorted: |
| |
| object directory |
| A directory holding the output of the build system. The build |
| system attempts to isolate all file modifications to this |
| directory. By convention, object directories are commonly |
| directories under the source directory prefixed with **obj-**. |
| e.g. **obj-firefox**. |
| |
| mozconfig |
| A shell script used to configure the build system. |
| |
| configure |
| A generated shell script which detects the current system |
| environment, applies a requested set of build configuration |
| options, and writes out metadata to be consumed by the build |
| system. |
| |
| config.status |
| An executable file produced by **configure** that takes the |
| generated build config and writes out files used to build the |
| tree. Traditionally, config.status writes out a bunch of |
| Makefiles. |
| |
| install manifest |
| A file containing metadata describing file installation rules. |
| A large part of the build system consists of copying files |
| around to appropriate places. We write out special files |
| describing the set of required operations so we can process the |
| actions effeciently. These files are install manifests. |
| |
| clobber build |
| A build performed with an initially empty object directory. All |
| build actions must be performed. |
| |
| incremental build |
| A build performed with the result of a previous build in an |
| object directory. The build should not have to work as hard because |
| it will be able to reuse the work from previous builds. |
| |
| mozinfo |
| An API for accessing a common and limited subset of the build and |
| run-time configuration. See :ref:`mozinfo`. |