5.1. Command Line Usage

kdesrc-build is designed to be run as follows:

kdesrc-build [--options] [modules to build...]

If no modules to build are specified on the command line, then kdesrc-build will build all modules defined in its configuration file, in the order listed in that file (although this can be modified by various configuration file options).

5.1.1. Specifying modules to build

In general, specifying modules to build is as simple as passing their module name as you defined it in the configuration file. You can also pass modules that are part of a module set, either as named on use-modules, or the name of the entire module set itself, if you have given it a name.

In the specific case of module sets based against the KDE project database, kdesrc-build will expand module name components to determine the exact module you want. For example, kdesrc-build's KDE project entry locates the project in extragear/utils/kdesrc-build. You could specify any of the following to build kdesrc-build:

% kdesrc-build +extragear/utils/kdesrc-build
% kdesrc-build +utils/kdesrc-build
% kdesrc-build +kdesrc-build

Note

The commands in the previous example preceded the module-name with a +. This forces the module name to be interpreted as a module from the KDE project database, even if that module hasn't been defined in your configuration file.

Be careful about specifying very generic projects (e.g. extragear/utils by itself), as this can lead to a large amount of modules being built. You should use the --pretend option before building a new module set to ensure it is only building the modules you want.

5.1.2. Commonly used command line options

--pretend (or -p)
This option causes kdesrc-build to indicate what actions it would take, without actually really implementing them. This can be useful to make sure that the modules you think you are building will actually get built.

--no-src
This option skips the source update process. You might use it if you have very recently updated the source code (perhaps you did it manually or recently ran kdesrc-build) but still want to rebuild some modules.

--no-include-dependencies (or -D)
Only process the selected modules, skipping their dependencies. Useful when you have changed only selected modules, and you are sure you do not need to rebuild the others.

--refresh-build (or -r)
This option forces kdesrc-build to build the given modules from an absolutely fresh start point. Any existing build directory for that module is removed and it is rebuilt. This option is useful if you have errors building a module, and sometimes is required when Qt or KDE libraries change.

--resume-from module
Skips modules until just before the given module, then operates as normal. Useful when the previous build failed on specific module, you fixed it, and then you want to continue the with building the rest of initial set of modules.

--run module
Launch the built application.

The full list of command line options is given in the section called Supported command-line parameters.