premake5 add generated files to vstudio project - premake

Question

I have overridden the onProject function for the vs2012 action which generates some cpp files and then tries to include them in the project
--cant override the generateProject directly
--so have to override at the action level
premake.override( premake.action._list.vs2012, 'onProject', function(base, prj)
if premake.project.iscpp(prj) then
--generate files
--print( "Generating extra files ...")
local extraFiles = mine.getExtraFiles(prj)
for _,file in ipairs( extraFiles ) do
p.generate( file, nil, mine.generateExtraFile )
mine.addFileToSources(file)
end
end
--Generate regular stuff
base(prj)
end)
function mine.getExtraFiles(prj)
local extraFiles = {}
--works out what files to generate and add relevant info to table
return extraFiles
end
--this function is passed as a callback to premake.generate
function mine.generateExtraFile(extraFile)
--write contents of file
end
This is the function that attempts to add each generated file to the project
function mine.addFileToSources(extraFile)
local prj = extraFile.prj
local cfg = extraFile.cfg
local groups = premake.vstudio.vc2010.categorizeSources(prj)
local compiledFiles = groups.ClCompile or {}
--create a new file config for generated file
local filename = path.join(extraFile.location, extraFile.filename)
local fcfg = premake.fileconfig.new( filename, prj)
premake.fileconfig.addconfig(fcfg, cfg)
--add the config to the project's sources
table.insert(compiledFiles, fcfg)
compiledFiles[filename] = fcfg
--add to the projects source tree
--this bit is copied from premake.project.getsourcetree
-- The tree represents the logical source code tree to be displayed
-- in the IDE, not the physical organization of the file system. So
-- virtual paths are used when adding nodes.
-- If the project script specifies a virtual path for a file, disable
-- the logic that could trim out empty root nodes from that path. If
-- the script writer wants an empty root node they should get it.
local flags
if fcfg.vpath ~= fcfg.relpath then
flags = { trim = false }
end
-- Virtual paths can overlap, potentially putting files with the same
-- name in the same folder, even though they have different paths on
-- the underlying filesystem. The tree.add() call won't overwrite
-- existing nodes, so provide the extra logic here. Start by getting
-- the parent folder node, creating it if necessary.
local tr = premake.project.getsourcetree(prj)
local parent = premake.tree.add(tr, path.getdirectory(fcfg.vpath), flags)
local node = premake.tree.insert(parent, premake.tree.new(path.getname(fcfg.vpath)))
-- Pass through value fetches to the file configuration
setmetatable(node, { __index = fcfg })
end
For the most part - this all works:
The files are generated correctly and to correct location
The files are also included in the vcxproj file correctly
My problem is that the vcxproj.filters file is not being generated.
When I run premake I get this error:
Generating myproject.vcxproj.filters...Error: [string "src/actions/vstudio/vs2010_vcxproj_filters...."]:82: attempt to index field 'parent' (a nil value)
which corresponds to the function premake.vstudio.vc2010.filterGroup(prj, groups, group)
I get that the new fcfg I created needs to have a parent but I can't work out where or what I should be adding it to.
Can anyone help?
EDIT 1
I've got things working by adding this line to the end of function mine.addFileToSources(extraFile)
fcfg.parent = parent
This gives the file config a parent node so everything works out but I feel kinda dirty doing this so I'll look at following Citron's advice
EDIT 2
Overriding the bakefiles was much cleaner and neater. It wasn't as straightforward as Citron's code since I needed the information from the baked files in order to carry out my file generation but I am now confident that my code is correct and will possibly work with other exporters than vstudio too.
Here's my new code:
premake.override( premake.oven, 'bakeFiles', function(base, prj)
--bake the files as normal
local bakedFiles = base(prj)
if premake.project.iscpp(prj) then
--gather information about what files to generate and how
local extraFiles = mine.getExtraFiles(prj, bakedFiles)
for _,file in ipairs( extraFiles ) do
--do the generation
premake.generate( file, file.extension, mine.generateExtraFile )
--add the new files
local filename = premake.filename(file, file.extension)
table.insert(file.cfg.files, filename)
-- This should be the first time I've seen this file, start a new
-- file configuration for it. Track both by key for quick lookups
-- and indexed for ordered iteration.
assert( bakedFiles[filename] == nil )
local fcfg = premake.fileconfig.new(filename, file.prj)
bakedFiles[filename] = fcfg
table.insert(bakedFiles, fcfg)
premake.fileconfig.addconfig( bakedFiles[filename], file.cfg)
end
--sort the baked files again - since we have added to them
table.sort(bakedFiles, function(a,b)
return a.vpath < b.vpath
end)
end
return bakedFiles
end)

Answer 1

I don't know what the problem is with your code (a bit too much to read, and not enough time :p) but if you just want to add some generated files to your project tree, I would advise you to override premake.oven.bakeFiles instead.
This is what I used to add files generated by Qt in my addon. See premake.extensions.qt.customBakeFiles on https://github.com/dcourtois/premake-qt/blob/master/qt.lua
Basically in the bakeFiles override, you can just browse your projects, and insert files in the list easily. Then, if those added files need some custom configuration, you can then override premake.fileconfig.addconfig. See premake.extensions.qt.customAddFileConfig in the aforementioned addon.
In this addconfig override, you'll have access to the files and you will be able to modify their configuration object: you can add custom build rules, special options, etc.
It's not a direct answer to your specific question, but I hope it will help you achieve what you need.