Feature: Add option to emit combined compile_commands.json file

[betwo]

Add an option to emit a combined compile_commands.json file to a central place. This can then be used by other extensions / tools like clangd.

[pclay614]

@betwo Not sure if I'm misconfiguring something but I can't get this work. I have in settings.json (user)

"catkin_tools.mergedCompileCommandsJsonPath": "${workspaceFolder}/compile_commands.json"

however the combined json is never generated.

[betwo]

Hey @pclay614, thanks for the info. I'll take a look at this soon

[betwo]

So I just tried to reproduce with your settings, but running the command Reload / Merge compile commands works in my test workspaces:

1. the merged file is created
2. the status bar shows the following:

To find out why it doesn't work for you, could you please provide some more context? Are there any compile_commands.json files generated by catkin in the first place? Do you get any errors in the console log?

[pclay614]

Ok, so that works. I guess I was under the impression that it would automatically happen after performing a build or that I could use it as a Task.

My current workflow is that I chain two tasks together: the build and the merge. Current my merge looks like: jq -s 'map(.[])' ${CATKIN_BUILD_DIR}/**/compile_commands.json > ${workspaceFolder}/compile_commands.json

Note that it uses jq which has to be installed.

[betwo]

We could add an option to automatically run the merge when one of the compile_commands.json files changes. Do you think that could work instead of your current workflow?

[pclay614]

That should be fine. That would also help in the case where if someone wants to do a shell task to build, it should rebuild the compile_commands.json as well.

[betwo]

Ok, now that's strange:

I just wanted to add a new option, but then I remembered that this effectively already exists: If mergedCompileCommandsJsonPath is defined, merging should already be automatic.

In my setup that also works with the current version. I tested by running catkin build manually on the command line, the merged file was emitted.

I just release a new patch version (3.3.5) that should log this more specifically. Could you please check the debug log for "Writing merged database" when you are running a catkin command?

[pclay614]

I tried both these in settings.json

1. "catkin_tools.mergedCompileCommandsJsonPath": "${workspaceFolder}/compile_commands.json"
2. "catkin_tools.mergedCompileCommandsJsonPath": "${workspaceFolder}"

(1) gave me this output: "${workspaceFolder}/compile_commands.json" could not be found. 'includePath' from c_cpp_properties.json in folder <my project folder> will be used instead. (2) gave no output (i believe there is an if statement for this in the extension source that does something if it's just ${workspaceFolder}

Neither gave me a compile_commands.json in the workspace Folder. Note: I did use catkin build --this in a package folder. But that should generate one as well. I'll try a full build later today.

[betwo]

Sorry for taking so long, I didn't find time the last days.

"catkin_tools.mergedCompileCommandsJsonPath": "${workspaceFolder}/compile_commands.json" Neither gave me a compile_commands.json in the workspace Folder. Note: I did use catkin build --this in a package folder. But that should generate one as well.

You're right, (1) should have given you a compile_commands.json file in the workspace folder with any catkin command.

Did you find anything in the debug log like this: Either with or without the "writing merged..."?

"${workspaceFolder}/compile_commands.json" could not be found. 'includePath' from c_cpp_properties.json in folder will be used instead.

That actually looks like a problem with the c++ extension, Did you set ${workspaceFolder}/compile_commands.json in your c_cpp_properties.json file manually? If that's the case, you might try to use the automatic mode like this:

{
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "ROS",
            "cppStandard": "c++20",
            "cStandard": "c11",
            "configurationProvider": "b2.catkin_tools"
        }
    ],
    "version": 4
}

I'll try a full build later today.

Any luck with that?

---

Also, do you have multiple folders opened in your workspace, or just a single one?

[pclay614]

sorry, i haven't had a chance to check recently. I'll try this week.