HOME Generic Build Support (GBS) - User Manual
Quick Start

Description

Description

Environment

OS / Shell

GBS runs on:

Windows 10 CMD (DosBox)
Windows 10 WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)
Linux Bourne-Again-SHell (bash)

WSL Considerations

You will need:

X server (e.g. Xming)
Additional bash commands:
- xterm
- at
Optionally a Desktop environment (GNOME)

More information: Install Notes→Environment→WSL

Linux considerations

On some Linux distributions some necessary bash commands are not installed. You will need:

xterm
at

More information: Install Notes→Environment→Linux

Perl

GBS is based on Perl-scripts.
Perl must be installed and the perl command must be either in the PATH or specified via an Environment-Variable (GBS_PERL_PATH).
You need at least Perl version 5.16.3.
More information on installing Perl for GBS can be found in Install Notes→Environment

Install

GBS can be installed in two ways:

Single User:
GBS will be installed in your environment.
Setup (make this version current) is optional.
A Local Shortcut will be created to run the Setup.
Multi User:
GBS will be installed in a System area or on another global accessible location (E.g.: network drive).
A System Shortcut will be created for indvidual users to Setup this version.
Elevated privileges are required. (Linux: sudo -E, Windows: Run as Administrator).

If GBS is pre-installed (local or on a network drive) you will then only need to do the Setup as explained below.

If you need to install GBS yourself:

Obtain the GBS Installation file (.zip)
Unzip the file to a temporary location
Follow the instructions in the ReadeMe.txt file.
Do not unzip the file at the location where you want to install GBS!
Run Install as explained in the ReadMe file
- Defaults are fine for QuickStart!
You will need to provide a Site-ID

More info on Install: Install Notes→Install

Setup

To setup GBS:
If setup was not executed by Install:

Use the 'Setup GBS [version]' to startup the Setup.
It may be on your Desktop and/or the Programs Folder.
If it is not present (maybe you do not have a desktop...)
- [ Inquire at your GBS Administrator where GBS is installed. ]
- Navigate to the directory where the wanted GBS-version is installed.
  e.g.: Q:\Tools\gbs\2.02
- Execute:
  _gbssetup.bat (Windows) (Mind the '_'!) or
  . _gbssetup.sh (Linux) (Mind the dot, the space and the '_'!)
Answer the questions.
- Defaults are fine for QuickStart!
- Possible values are between ( )
- Default value is between [ ]
- Enter ! to quit processing safely

What happens on Windows:

Some internal stuff is setup
A GBS Startup and a GBS Help shortcut are placed on your Desktop and in the 'All Programs' menu.

What happens on Linux:

Some internal stuff is setup
Your ENV-file(s) (~/.bashrc or ~/.bash_aliases) are updated to contain GBS startup stuff
On systems with a Desktop (e.g. GNOME) A GBS Startup and a GBS Help shortcut are placed on your Desktop and in the 'All Programs' menu.

More info on Setup: Install Notes→Setup

Startup

Startup GBS

On Windows: Double-Click the GBS shortcut on your DeskTop. A GBS CMD-Window will be opened.
On Linux - with GUI: Double-Click the GBS shortcut on your DeskTop. A GBS XTerm will be opened.
On Linux - No GUI: Open an XTerm and enter gbs.

You will be presented a choice of functions.

Enter: gbs
The general GBS command line interface is started.

The first time you startup GBS you may need to give its some additional information:
Just answer the questions.

Define your own editor

In GBS you use the gbsedit command to edit (GBS) files. Sometimes other GBS functions may invoke the editor
The gbsedit command has a lot of builtin knowledge of .gbs files.
It will also aid you in editing your code.
By default GBS uses Notepad on Win32 and gedit on Linux.
You may want to change that to your favorite editor.:
gbssettings → Change Profile settings → General Settings
Make sure you use an editor that startup fast after multiple invocations

GBS Manual Page

To obtain current information on all implemented GBS commands enter: gbsman

GBS Help

To obtain extensive Help in HTML format (including this page) enter: gbshelp

Getting Started

Organising your GBS-WAs / Systems

You can place a GBS-WA/System anywhere you want. You can also have them all on totally different locations. They do not need to be grouped in one directory, although that is a good idea.
The default for the GBS WorkArea Path is:

Win32: %MYDOCUMENTS%\GBSWA
Linux: ~/GBSWA

SystemName and SystemId

The SystemName is the generic name of your project.
The SystemId is the parent-directory of your GBS WorkArea.
It is important that SystemId reflects the SystemName:

For the main (trunk) version: The SystemName
For different versions: The SystemName followed by '_' and the version number

Remember that GBS does not like spaces in directory and filenames and that they are case sensitive!
Yes, also on Win32!

Connect to an existing GBS System (--add)

Create the SystemId directory
Checkout the SCM workarea under that directory
cd to that directory (if you are not already there)
Enter swr --add and answer the questions.
Note that you can only --add a System if it was originally created with swr --new (below)

Create a new GBS-WA/System (--new)

You enter swr --new.
Creating a new GBS-WA is serious business.
You can find out how to do it in Create a GBS-WA/System
A good understanding of the concept and principles of GBS is needed.
Once done however, things get extremely simple, convenient and fast.

Commands

Use GBS to navigate through your directories

After you have once set them GBS 'remembers' the following 'currencies'

Current System (per User)
Current SubSystem (per System)
Current Component (per SubSystem)
Current Build (per System)
Current Audit (per System)
Current Tool (per System)

Displaying Currencies

To display your currencies just enter: gbs

Currency commands

swr Switch System: set/change the current System (and SubSystem (and Component))
sws Switch SubSystem: set/change the current SubSystem (and Component)
swc Switch Component: To set/change the current Component. This command ends with an explicit cdsrc
swb Switch Build: set/change the current Build

Basic commands

gbsedit Create/Edit a file (you can define your own editor with gbssettings )
gbsbuild Compile, Link, etc. one or more files
gbssysbuild Compile, Link, etc. the whole System (Runs in batch - with logfile)

Navigation commands

cdlog		cd to the log directory as specified by GBS_LOG_PATH (or $HOME)

cdsystem		cd to current System
cddoc		cd to the doc of the current System
cddev		cd to the dev of the current System
cdext		cd to the ext of the current System
cdres		cd to the res of the current System
cdsys		cd to the sys of the current System
cdsysbuild		cd to the sysbuild of the current System
cdsysaudit		cd to the sysaudit of the current System
cdsystool		cd to the systool of the current System
cdsilo		cd to the silo of the current System
cdtmp		cd to the tmp of the current System

cdsub		cd to the current SubSystem directory
cdbuild		cd to the build directory of the current SubSystem
cdaudit		cd to the audit directory of the current SubSystem
cdtool		cd to the tool directory of the current SubSystem
cdcomp		cd to the comp of the current SubSystem
cdimport		cd to the import of the current SubSystem
cdexport		cd to the export of the current SubSystem

cdapp		cd to the app directory of the current Non GBS SubSystem

cdsrc		cd to the src directory of the current Component
cdinc		cd to the inc directory of the current Component
cdloc		cd to the loc directory of the current Component
cdbld		cd to the bld directory of the current Component
cdbuild		cd to the bld/Build directory of the current Component / Build
cdaud		cd to the aud directory of the current Component
cdopt		cd to the opt directory of the current Component
cddat		cd to the dat directory of the current Component
cdsav		cd to the sav directory of the current Component

Other GBS commands

Note that all GBS-commands accept --h for short help and --help for long help

gbsbuild, gbssysbuild

Commands to compile, link, etc directly

gbsmake, gbssysmake

Commands to compile, link, etc using 'make'

gbsaudit, gbssysaudit

Commands to run Audit programs like QAC and QAC++

gbsmaint

This command enables you to select and execute a number of GBS maintenance functions.
Like:

Clear all 'bld' directories
Fix/Repair the SubSystem directory structure. (add missing directories)
Define compilers, builders
Define Audits (QAC, PCLINT, C++Test, etc)
Maintain Component 'owner's' file
More...

gbssettings

This command enables you to define your customizations. (Beeps on/off, Define Editor, etc.)

gbsscm

This command enables you to select and execute SCM-related functions in GBS.

There are a lot more command in GBS. They can be found at All Commands.

General notes on the GBS command-line environment

In a prompt, possible values are embedded in parenthesis
e.g.:

GBS: Are you sure? (y/n):

In a prompt, the default value is embedded in square brackets
e.g.:

GBS: Are you sure? (y/n)[y]:

Entering a single '!' will quit the script.
Entering a single '?' will give you some additional help (if available)

In general, options for GBS-commands start with -- (double hyphens).
This is to be able to discern options for GBS and options for applications (like QAC)
All GBS-commands accept --h for short help and --help for long help
More in The Command-line Interface

Generic Build Support (GBS) - User Manual - Quick Start

quickstart.html

Contents