Summary

A light version of mkmf designed for use within programs.

Installation

gem install mkmf-lite

Prerequisites

A C compiler somewhere on your system.

Synopsis

require 'mkmf/lite'

class System
  include Mkmf::Lite

  HAVE_PW_NAME = have_struct_member('struct passwd', 'pw_name', 'pwd.h')

  def some_method
    if HAVE_PW_NAME
      # Do something
    end
  end
end

Description

The mkmf library that ships as part of the Ruby standard library is not
meant for use as an internal library. It's strictly designed for building
C extensions. It's huge, its methods sit in a global namespace, it contains
many methods you don't care about, and it emits stuff to $stdout that cannot
easily be disabled. Also, the source code is monstrous.

The mkmf-lite library is a module, it's small, and it's designed to be mixed
into classes. It contains a handful of methods that, most likely, will be
used in conjunction with FFI. Also, the source code is quite readable.

It does not package C extensions, nor generate a log file or a Makefile. It
does, however, require that you have a C compiler somewhere on your system.

Known Issues

You may see this warning from JRuby 1.4.x and earlier:

warning: Useless use of a variable in void context.

You can ignore these (or, upgrade your Jruby).

License

Artistic 2.0

(C) 2010 Daniel J. Berger
All Rights Reserved

Warranty

This library is provided "as is" and without any express or
implied warranties, including, without limitation, the implied
warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Author

Daniel Berger