.xmake directory always appears next to xmake.lua

[LostTime76]

Xmake Version

2.9.4

Operating System Version and Architecture

Windows 10

Describe Bug

No matter what I seem to do, an .xmake directory always appears next to the xmake.lua file, regardless of the current working directory.

Expected Behavior

cd target_dir
xmake -P ../build

I am expecting all outputs generated by xmake to be within target_dir. It places a .xmake directory inside of target_dir AND inside of ../build directory where xmake.lua is. I do not want the scripts directory polluted in this example.

This seems to do with AppData/temp/xmake directory. This directory seems to store invocation dates for a particular xmake execution on the specified folder. After the first run, if you delete .xmake within ../build, .xmake directory will not appear again within ../build. However, if you delete the generated data within AppData/temp/xmake directory, the next xmake invocation generates .xmake within ../build.

I do not want any outputs generated within ../build (this example)

Project Configuration

toolchain("myclang")
set_toolset("cc", "clang")
set_toolset("ld", "clang")
toolchain_end()

set_config("plat", "cross")
set_toolchains("myclang")
target("test")
set_kind("binary")
add_files("../src/*.c")

Additional Information and Error Logs

[waruqi]

see #3342

External working directory mode (new)

$ cd target_dir
$ xmake f -P ../build
$ xmake

[LostTime76]

I have already tried that. It does not work. .xmake still appears next to xmake.lua in ../build

[waruqi]

It works for me.

ruki:test ruki$ tree .
.
├── build
│   └── xmake.lua
├── out
└── src
    └── main.cpp

3 directories, 2 files
ruki:test ruki$ ls -a ./build/
.		..		xmake.lua
ruki:test ruki$ ls -a ./
.		..		.gitignore	build		out		src
ruki:test ruki$ cd out/
ruki:out ruki$ xmake f -P ../build/
checking for platform ... macosx
checking for architecture ... x86_64
checking for Xcode directory ... /Applications/Xcode.app
checking for SDK version of Xcode for macosx (x86_64) ... 14.0
checking for Minimal target version of Xcode for macosx (x86_64) ... 14.0
ruki:out ruki$ xmake
[ 50%]: cache compiling.release ../src/main.cpp
[ 75%]: linking.release test
[100%]: build ok, spent 1.283s
ruki:out ruki$ ls -a ../build/
.		..		xmake.lua
ruki:out ruki$ ls -a ../
.		..		.gitignore	build		out		src
ruki:out ruki$ ls -a .
.	..	.xmake	build

[LostTime76]

Are you running on mac? My system is windows. I don't think I understand the justification "it works for me" when the example you gave would be on a different OS.

It does not work on windows. It is generating the erroneous .xmake next to xmake.lua

[waruqi]

It still works for me on windows.

PS C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst> dir .


    目录: C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d-----          2024/8/7     12:12                build
d-----          2024/8/7     12:21                out
d-----          2024/8/7     12:08                src
-a----         2024/3/25      9:42             64 .gitignore


PS C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst> dir .\build


    目录: C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst\build


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----          2024/8/7     12:09           1964 xmake.lua


PS C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst> dir .\out
PS C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst> cd out
PS C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst\out> xmake f -P ..\build
checking for platform ... windows
checking for architecture ... x64
checking for Microsoft Visual Studio (x64) version ... 2022
checking for Microsoft C/C++ Compiler (x64) version ... 19.41.33923
PS C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst\out> xmake
[ 50%]: compiling.release ..\src\main.cpp
[ 75%]: linking.release tst.exe
[100%]: build ok, spent 1.125s
PS C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst\out> dir ..\build


    目录: C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst\build


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
-a----          2024/8/7     12:09           1964 xmake.lua


PS C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst\out> dir .


    目录: C:\Users\wangrunqing\Downloads\tst\out


Mode                 LastWriteTime         Length Name
----                 -------------         ------ ----
d-----          2024/8/7     12:21                .xmake
d-----          2024/8/7     12:21                build