Sublime Forum

Add Variant to existing build system

#1

I’d like to use an existing build system, the one for Make, but it only has two variants: default, and “Clean”. I’d like to add a “Test”. Is there a way to do that without creating an entirely new build system?

0 Likes
#2

Indeed there is, you can create an override of the file that’s contained in the default Makefile/Make.sublime-build file that ships with Sublime, which will cause Sublime to use your override in place of the shipped file so that transparently the existing build system will contain the new variants you want to include.

The easiest way to do that is by using PackageResourceViewer. Once you have it installed:

  1. Select PackageResourceViewer: Open Resource from the Command Palette
  2. Select Makefile in the list of packages
  3. Select Make.sublime-build from the list of package files
  4. Make modifications to the file and save it

When you save, a new Makefile folder will be created in your Packages folder (Preferences > Browse Packages in the menu to see where that is) which contains this single file. Since the name of the folder has the same name as the package and the Make.sublime-build file is contained in the package, Sublime will use your edited copy instead of the one that’s shipped in the package.

Note that once you do this, your version of the file will be used forever with no warning issued if the version that ships with Sublime is ever updated (this is true of all override files). In the case of a build system that’s probably not the end of the world, but the package OverrideAudit has the ability to warn you if that happens, amongst other things.

0 Likes
#3

you may also want to consider creating a PR at https://github.com/sublimehq/Packages/blob/48ecc4a3bf38609397be9e5ad91ee5aa71e0a18e/Makefile/Make.sublime-build if others could also benefit from your changes

0 Likes