= RAKE -- Ruby Make 

This package contains Rake, a simple ruby build program with
capabilities similar to make.

Rake has the following features:

* Rakefiles (rake's version of Makefiles) are completely defined in
  standard Ruby syntax.  No XML files to edit.  No quirky Makefile
  syntax to worry about (is that a tab or a space?)

* Users can specify tasks with prerequisites.

* Rake supports rule patterns to sythesize implicit tasks.

* Rake is lightweight.  It can be distributed with other projects as a
  single file.  Projects that depend upon rake do not require that
  rake be installed on target systems.

== Download

The latest version of rake can be found at

* http://rubyforge.org/project/showfiles.php?group_id=50

Documentation can be found at 

* http://rake.rubyforge.org

== Installation

=== Normal Installation

You can install rake with the following command.

  % ruby install.rb

from its distribution directory.

=== GEM Installation

Download the GEM file and install it with ..

   gem -i rake-VERSION.gem

Use the correct version number for VERSION (e.g. 0.3.1).  You may need
root privileges to install.  After the gem is installed, you still
need to copy the rake command to the an appropriate location in your
path.  First find the location of you gem directory by running:

  ruby -rrubygems -e 'puts Gem.dir'

Now run the gem_install_bin.rb script in the rake gem.  Something like
this ...

  ruby GEMDIR/rake-VERSION/gem_install_bin.rb

Where GEMDIR is the directory defined by Gem.dir (see command above)
and VERSION is the appropriate version.

== Roadmap

* If you want to see how to invoke rake to build your projects, read on.
* If you want to see the format of a Rakefile, see
  doc/rakefile.rdoc[http://rake.rubyforge.org/files/doc/rakefile_rdoc.html].
* If you want to see the original announcement of rake, see
  doc/rational.rdoc[http://rake.rubyforge.org/files/doc/rational_rdoc.html].
* If you want to see a glossary of terms, see
  doc/glossary.rdoc[http://rake.rubyforge.org/files/doc/glossary_rdoc.html].


== Simple Example

Once installed, you can run rake as follows ...

  % rake [options]  [tasks...]

Type "rake --help" for an up-to-date option summary.

Invoking <tt>rake</tt> without any options or targets causes rake to
look for a rakefile and invoke the default task in that rakefile.

For example, given a simple rakefile like this ...

  task :default => [:test]

  task :test do
    Sys.run %{ruby test/unittest.rb}
  end

The command 

  $ rake

will invoke the +default+ task.  As +default+ satisfies its
prerequisites, the +test+ task will run the unit tests for the
package.

== Other Make Reinvisionings ...

Rake is a late entry in the make replacement field.  Here are links to
other projects with similar (and not so similar) goals.

* http://www.a-a-p.org/ -- Make in Python
* http://www.aromatic.com/tools/jam.txt -- JAM, Java Automated Make
* http://ant.apache.org -- The Ant project
* http://www.perl.com/language/ppt/src/make/index.html -- Make from
  the Perl Power Tools implementation.

== Credits

[<b>Ryan Dlugosz</b>] For the initial conversation that sparked Rake.

[<b>nobu.nokada@softhome.net</b>] For the initial patch for rule support.

== License

Rake is available under an MIT-style license.

:include: MIT-LICENSE

== Support

The Rake homepage is http://rake.rubyforge.org.  You can find the Rake
RubyForge page at http://rubyforge.org/projects/rake.

Feel free to submit commits or feature requests.  If you send a patch,
remember to update the corresponding unit tests.  If fact, I prefer
new feature to be submitted in the form of new unit tests.

For other information, feel free to ask on the ruby-talk mailing list
(which is mirrored to comp.lang.ruby) or contact
mailto:jweirich@one.net.

----

= Usage

Rake is invoked from the command line using:

   % rake <options> [targets...]

Options are:

[<tt>--dry-run</tt> (-n)]
    Do a dry run.  Print the tasks invoked and executed, but do not
    actually execute any of the actions.

[<tt>--help</tt>  (-H)]
    Display some help text and exit.

[<tt>--libdir</tt> _directory_  (-I)]
    Add _directory_ to the list of directories searched for require.

[<tt>--nosearch</tt>  (-N)]
    Do not search for a Rakefile in parent directories.

[<tt>--prereqs</tt>  (-P)]
    Display a list of all tasks and their immediate prerequisites.

[<tt>--quiet</tt> (-q)]
    Do not echo Sys commands.

[<tt>--rakefile</tt> _filename_ (-f)]
    Use _filename_ as the name of the rakefile.  The default rakefile
    names are +rakefile+ and +Rakefile+ (with +rakefile+ taking
    precedence).  If the rakefile is not found in the current
    directory, +rake+ will search parent directories for a match.  The
    directory where the Rakefile is found will become the current
    directory for the actions executed in the Rakefile.

[<tt>--require</tt> _name_ (-r)]
    Require _name_ before executing the Rakefile.

[<tt>--tasks</tt> (-T)]
    Display a list of the major tasks and their comments.  Comments
    are defined using the "desc" command.

[<tt>--trace</tt> (-t)]
    Turn on invoke/execute tracing.

[<tt>--usage</tt> (-h)]
    Display a usage message and exit.

[<tt>--verbose</tt> (-v)]
    Echo the Sys commands to standard output.

[<tt>--version</tt> (-V)]
    Display the program version and exit.

---

= Rakefile Format

See doc/rakefile.rdoc[http://rake.rubyforge.org/files/doc/rakefile_rdoc.html]
for details on the Rakefile format.

---

= Other stuff

Author::   Jim Weirich <jweirich@one.net>
Requires:: Ruby 1.6.7 or later
License::  Copyright 2003 by Jim Weirich.
           Released under an MIT-style license.  See the LICENSE file
           included in the distribution.

== Warranty

This software is provided "as is" and without any express or
implied warranties, including, without limitation, the implied
warranties of merchantibility and fitness for a particular
purpose.
