singleston 1.0.1

A powerful source file amalgamator for C/C++ projects

🔗 Singleston

A powerful source file amalgamator that converts multi-file projects into a single, self-contained source file. Currently supports C and C++ projects, using compiler-generated dependency files to intelligently resolve includes and create properly ordered, unified source code.

Perfect for creating single-header libraries, distributing code, simplifying builds, or reducing compilation complexity.

✨ Features

• 🔍 Smart Dependency Resolution: Uses compiler-generated .d files for accurate dependency tracking
• 📁 C/C++ Support: Handles both C and C++ files with any header extension (.h, .hh, .hpp, etc.)
• 🔄 Intelligent Include Processing:
  • Preserves system includes (#include <system>)
  • Removes local includes for files being amalgamated
  • Deduplicates includes while preserving order of first appearance
• 🛡️ Include Guard Removal: Automatically detects and removes both #pragma once and traditional include guards
• 📊 Topological Sorting: Ensures proper file processing order based on dependency relationships
• 🎯 First Appearance Priority: Processes files in order of first appearance across dependency files

🎁 Advanced Features

• 🔧 Flexible Output Options: Write to file (-o) or stdout by default
• 📝 File Boundary Markers: Optional separators (--add-separators) for debugging
• 🔍 Verbose Mode: Detailed processing information (-v, --verbose) for troubleshooting
• 🔗 Symlink Support: Optional symlink following (--follow-symlinks) for complex project structures
• 🚨 Comprehensive Error Handling: Colored error messages with detailed diagnostics
• ⚡ High Performance: Efficient processing even for large codebases

🛠️ Build Integration

• 🔌 Makefile Integration: Works seamlessly with existing build systems
• 📦 Batch Processing: Handle multiple dependency files in a single command
• 🔄 Automated Workflow: Integrate into CI/CD pipelines for automated amalgamation
• 🎯 Zero Configuration: Works out of the box with standard gcc/clang -MMD output

📦 Prerequisites

• Python 3.8+: Required for running the amalgamator
• C/C++ Compiler: clang or gcc with -MMD flag support for dependency generation
• Make: For using the provided build system (optional)

🚀 Quick Start

1. Generate Dependency Files

First, compile your project with dependency generation enabled:

# Using the example project
cd examples/simple_plugins
make

# Or manually with clang/gcc
clang++ -MMD -c src/main.cpp -o src/main.o
clang++ -MMD -c src/utils.cpp -o src/utils.o

2. Run Singleston

# Using the installed console command
singleston examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d -o amalgamated.cpp

# Or using the script directly
./scripts/singleston.py examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d -o amalgamated.cpp

# With verbose output and file separators
singleston examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d -o amalgamated.cpp --verbose --add-separators

3. Compile the Result

# Compile the amalgamated file
clang++ -O2 amalgamated.cpp -o final_executable

🚀 Installation

From PyPI

pip install singleston

From Source

git clone https://github.com/ChuOkupai/singleston
cd singleston
pip install -e .

🔧 Development

Setup Development Environment

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ChuOkupai/singleston
cd singleston

# Create virtual environment
python -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate  # On Windows: .venv\Scripts\activate

# Install development dependencies
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

Building and Publishing

# Build distribution packages
make build
# or
python -m build

# Upload to TestPyPI (for testing)
make upload-test

# Upload to PyPI (for release)
make upload

🛠️ Usage

Synopsis

singleston [-o OUTPUT_FILE] [-v|--verbose] [--add-separators] [--follow-symlinks] DEPS_FILE [DEPS_FILE...]

Options

• -o OUTPUT_FILE: Output file path (default: stdout)
• -v, --verbose: Enable verbose output for debugging
• -h, --help: Show help message and exit
• --add-separators: Add file boundary markers in output
• --follow-symlinks: Follow symbolic links in include paths

Arguments

• DEPS_FILE: One or more compiler-generated dependency files (.d format from gcc/clang -MMD)

Examples

# Basic usage with the console command
singleston examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d -o export.cpp

# Using the script directly
./scripts/singleston.py examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d -o export.cpp

# Complex project with verbose output
singleston src/*.d lib/*.d -o amalgamated.cpp --verbose

# Debug mode with file separators
singleston examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d --add-separators --verbose

# Handle symlinked includes
singleston examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d -o output.cpp --follow-symlinks

🎯 Example Project

The repository includes a complete example project in examples/simple_plugins/:

# Build the example project
cd examples/simple_plugins
make

# Amalgamate the project (using console command)
cd ../..
singleston examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d -o example_export.cpp --verbose

# Or from within the project directory
cd examples/simple_plugins
singleston srcs/*.d -o example_export.cpp --verbose

# Verify the amalgamated file compiles
clang++ -O2 example_export.cpp -o example_executable
./example_executable

🎯 Use Cases

📚 Single-Header Libraries

Convert multi-file C++ libraries into single-header distributions

🚀 Performance Optimization

Reduce compilation times by eliminating include overhead

📦 Code Distribution

Package entire projects into single files for easy sharing

🛠️ Build System Integration

Integrate into existing build systems and CI/CD pipelines

🧪 Testing

The project includes a comprehensive test suite:

# Run all tests
python -m unittest discover tests/

# Run with coverage
make coverage

🐛 Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Issue: error: dependency file not found

# Solution: Ensure you've compiled with -MMD first
cd examples/simple_plugins && make

Issue: error: cannot read dependency file (permission denied)

# Solution: Check file permissions
chmod 644 examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d

Issue: Missing system includes in output

# Solution: Use verbose mode to debug include processing
./scripts/singleston.py examples/simple_plugins/srcs/*.d --verbose

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! We're especially interested in:

• Language support: Help add support for Python, Java, Rust, Go, and other languages
• Feature improvements: Better dependency analysis, optimization features
• Bug fixes: Help improve reliability and edge case handling

Development Notes

• Code Style: This project uses .editorconfig for consistent formatting
• AI Generated: Much of the codebase contains AI-generated code - feel free to improve and refactor
• Testing: Please include tests for new features

Development Setup

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/ChuOkupai/singleston
cd singleston

# Install development dependencies
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt

# Run tests
make test

# Check code quality
make lint

🌍 Community & Contributing

More languages needed! While singleston currently supports C and C++ projects, we encourage the community to contribute support for additional programming languages. Whether it's Python, Java, Rust, or any other language - your contributions are welcome!

⚖️ License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.