libretro / libretro/RetroArch

removing the Makefile working directory (-I) from the include path

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Dominant language
C
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Description

In the course of refactoring the input driver code, I came upon a situation where griffin/MSVC builds would error due to not finding config.h even though the same code builds fine in msys2.

This is caused by the Makefile including its current working directory in the include path, while that path is not included for platforms that don't use ./configure. My first step was to propose to standardize the way the file is included in our existing code with this PR: https://github.com/libretro/RetroArch/pull/12821

The other half of the question is: should the Makefile also be changed to not include its working folder? In other words, should -I. be removed? There are several developer opinions about this on discord, so I have created this issue because the full ramifications are beyond my skill and experience with this codebase.

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing the Makefile's -I. include-path setting and the proposed include changes in PR #12821. Compare the griffin/MSVC and msys2 build paths described in the issue. Done means determining whether removing -I. preserves config.h discovery across the affected builds.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
c
Domain
build-system
Issue type
Refactor
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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