Creating custom Firefox extensions with the Mozilla build system - Archive of obsolete content
topsrcdir = @top_srcdir@ srcdir = @srcdir@ vpath = @srcdir@ include $(depth)/config/autoconf.mk module = myextension xpidl_module = myextension xpi_name = myextension exports = \ myheader.h \ $(null) xpidlsrcs = \ myifirstcomponent.idl \ myisecondcomponent.idl \ $(null) include $(topsrcdir)/config/rules.mk xpidl_module is the name of the generated xpt file that contains type information about your idl interfaces.
...xpidlsrcs are run through the idl processor, and the generated c++ headers are copied into the same include directory.

Installing headers using EXPORTS
for xpidl-generated headers, you should set xpidlsrcs to the list of idl files to export.
...here is an example <tt>makefile.in</tt> which has both c++ and idl headers: module = content xpidl_module = content_base exports = \ nsicontent.h \ nsidocument.h \ nsistylesheet.h \ $(null) xpidlsrcs = \ nsicontentpolicy.idl \ nsiselectioncontroller.idl \ $(null) include $(topsrcdir)/config/rules.mk ...

Setting up the Gecko SDK
gecko_sdk_path ?= $(home)/tmp/xr xpidl ?= $(gecko_sdk_path)/bin/xpidl cxx ?= c++ xpidlsrcs = \ interfacea.idl \ interfaceb.idl \ $(null) cppsrcs = \ sourcea.cpp \ sourceb.cpp \ $(null) cppflags += -fno-rtti \ -fno-exceptions \ -fshort-wchar \ -fpic \ $(null) # gcc only define which allows us to not have to #include mozilla-config # in every .cpp file.
...o_sdk_path)/bin \ -l$(gecko_sdk_path)/lib \ -lxpcomglue_s \ -lnspr4 \ -lplds4 \ -lxul \ -shared \ $(null) %.h: %.idl $(xpidl) -m header $(gecko_includes) $< %.xpt: %.idl $(xpidl) -m typelib $(gecko_includes) $< %.o: %.cpp makefile $(cxx) -c $(cppflags) $(cxxflags) $(gecko_config_include) $(gecko_defines) $(gecko_includes) $< $(module).so: $(xpidlsrcs:%.idl=%.h) $(xpidlsrcs:%.idl=%.xpt) $(cppsrcs:%.cpp=%.o) $(cxx) -o $@ -wl,-soname=$(module).so $(cppsrcs:%.cpp=%.o) $(gecko_ldflags) chmod +x $@ build: $(module).so clean: rm $(module).so « previousnext » copyright (c) 2003 by doug turner and ian oeschger.

Makefile - variables
xpidlsrcs internal: a list of .idl files to generate exported headers from.

How Mozilla's build system works
makefile examples standard makefile header installing headers using exports compiling interfaces using xpidlsrcs installing a javascript component building a component dll building a static library building a dynamic library makefiles - best practices and suggestions makefile - targets makefile - variables, values makefile - *.mk files & user config building libraries there are three main types of libraries that are built in mozilla: components are shared libraries (except in static builds), w...

How to build an XPCOM component in JavaScript
psrcdir = @top_srcdir@ srcdir = @srcdir@ vpath = @srcdir@ include $(depth)/config/autoconf.mk # module specifies where header files from this makefile are installed # use dom if your component implements a dom api module = dom # name of the typelib xpidl_module = dom_apps # set to 1 if the module should be part of the gecko runtime common to all applications gre_module = 1 # the idl sources xpidlsrcs = \ helloworld.idl \ $(null) include $(topsrcdir)/config/rules.mk xpidl_flags += \ -i$(topsrcdir)/dom/interfaces/base \ -i$(topsrcdir)/dom/interfaces/events \ $(null) creating the component using xpcomutils in firefox 3 and later you can use import xpcomutils.jsm using components.utils.import to simplify the process of writing your component slightly.

xpidl
using xpidl to add an idl file to the build, use the xpidlsrcs makefile variable.