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Build Glossary
==============
.. glossary::
:sorted:
object directory
A directory holding the output of the build system. The build
system attempts to isolate all file modifications to this
directory. By convention, object directories are commonly
directories under the source directory prefixed with **obj-**.
e.g. **obj-firefox**.
mozconfig
A shell script used to configure the build system.
configure
A generated shell script which detects the current system
environment, applies a requested set of build configuration
options, and writes out metadata to be consumed by the build
system.
config.status
An executable file produced by **configure** that takes the
generated build config and writes out files used to build the
tree. Traditionally, config.status writes out a bunch of
Makefiles.
install manifest
A file containing metadata describing file installation rules.
A large part of the build system consists of copying files
around to appropriate places. We write out special files
describing the set of required operations so we can process the
actions efficiently. These files are install manifests.
clobber build
A build performed with an initially empty object directory. All
build actions must be performed.
incremental build
A build performed with the result of a previous build in an
object directory. The build should not have to work as hard because
it will be able to reuse the work from previous builds.
mozinfo
An API for accessing a common and limited subset of the build and
run-time configuration. See :ref:`mozinfo`.