Re: difference between DB and DB_INSTALLS

["Johnson, Andrew N. via Tech-talk" <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov>]

IIRC the original build rules for DB_INSTALLS allow the source path to point into a support module or other external directory, whereas the DB rules were designed for generating and copying files from the local application only. Thus you can use DB_INSTALLS += $(ASYN)/db/asynRecord.db to copy that file from your Asyn module into the IOC's $(TOP)/db directory.

 

The DB rules might have changed more recently, but there are other variables like BIN_INSTALLS and LIB_INSTALLS which still follow the original design, for example I use BIN_INSTALLS to copy the binary for the CA Gateway into an application that runs on a host which can't see our support module directories.

 

- Andrew

 

 

On 5/13/24, 10:24 AM, "Tech-talk" <tech-talk-bounces at aps.anl.gov> wrote:

 

On Mon, 13 May 2024 at 15:59, William Kirstaedter via Tech-talk <tech-talk at aps.anl.gov> wrote:

short question regarding EPICS' build system ...:
whats the difference between DB += myfile.db and DB_INSTALLS += myfile.db ?

 

Generally:

    generate *.db using a large and complex set of rules

vs.

    just install a file

 

DB_INSTALLS is typically used to install Stream protocol files or Access configuration files or ...

anything where applying the *.db generation rules would create havoc.

 

https://docs.epics-controls.org/en/latest/build-system/specifications.html#database-files

 

Cheers,
~Ralph