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Short version: What's the simplest way to use MacPorts' gcc with CreateLibrary?

Long version:

CreateLibrary uses /usr/bin/gcc by default on OS X. I can get it to use clang by using the option "CompilerName" -> "clang++" or "CompilerName" -> "c++" (I'm using C++).

However, I would like to use MacPorts' gcc because it boosts the performance significantly for this particular program I need to compile. It also supports OpenMP; the system compiler doesn't. "CompilerName" -> "g++-mp-5" tells me that

CreateLibrary::instl: The compiler installation directive "CompilerInstallation" -> "/usr/bin" does not indicate a usable installation of "GCC"

So I tried "CompilerInstallation" -> "/opt/local/bin", which is the location of g++-mp-5. This results in the same error:

CreateLibrary::instl: The compiler installation directive "CompilerInstallation" -> "/opt/local/bin" does not indicate a usable installation of "GCC"

Is there a simpler solution than using GenericCCompiler?

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  • $\begingroup$ Check the source code for the CCompilerDriver` package. You might be surprised at how simplistic the checks are for whether a compiler is "usable" or not. No doubt one could arrive at some fairly simple modifications to the package to make it work properly. $\endgroup$ – Oleksandr R. Sep 5 '13 at 21:04
  • $\begingroup$ I get the impression that a driver has to be created to fully use a particular compiler. As already suggested, look at the other drivers in that directory. Now the next question is, once created, how does one integrate the driver into the system? $\endgroup$ – rcollyer Sep 5 '13 at 21:09
  • $\begingroup$ @rcollyer a "driver" just provides the right command line arguments and link libraries. Writing a new one does not seem to be that difficult, although strictly speaking since CCompilerDriver` package is not "supplied as an example" (or so one would suppose), modifying it would contravene the Mathematica licence. $\endgroup$ – Oleksandr R. Sep 5 '13 at 21:53
  • $\begingroup$ @OleksandrR. yes, and more specifically, it tells CCompilerDriver` how to interface with the compiler. So, while there isn't an "example" of how to do it, you could learn how by looking at the packages supplied. $\endgroup$ – rcollyer Sep 5 '13 at 23:00
  • $\begingroup$ Here's a guess: set "Compiler" -> CCompilerDriver`GCCCompiler`GCCCompiler, in addition to "CompilerInstallation" and "CompilerName". $\endgroup$ – rcollyer Sep 6 '13 at 3:09
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I ended up using the GenericCCompiler driver, as follows:

$CCompiler = {
 "Compiler" -> CCompilerDriver`GenericCCompiler`GenericCCompiler, 
 "CompilerInstallation" -> "/opt/local/bin", 
 "CompilerName" -> "g++-mp-5", 
 "SystemCompileOptions" -> "-O2 -m64 -fPIC -framework Foundation -framework mathlink"
};

The compiler definition should use "SystemCompileOptions" instead of "CompileOptions" so that the user can set their own custom "CompileOptions" when desired.

CreateLibrary[{"mylib.cpp"}, "mylib", 
 "IncludeDirectories" -> "/opt/local/include", 
 "ShellOutputFunction" -> Print, "ShellCommandFunction" -> Print, 
 "Language" -> "C++"]

It is good to note that the "Libraries" and "SystemLibraries" options are not usable on OS X because this driver auto-appends .lib to any library name, which is incorrect on OS X.

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