## Builtin rules

This section contains the list of all rules that can be used in Jamfile—both rules that define new targets and auxiliary rules.

`exe`

  Creates an executable file. See the section called “Programs”.

`lib`

  Creates an library file. See the section called “Libraries”.

`install`

  Installs built targets and other files. See the section called “Installing”.

`alias`

  Creates an alias for other targets. See the section called “Alias”.

`unit-test`

  Creates an executable that will be automatically run. See the section called “Testing”.

`compile`, `compile-fail`, `link`, `link-fail`, `run`, `run-fail`

  Specialized rules for testing. See the section called “Testing”.

`obj`

  Creates an object file. Useful when a single source file must be compiled with special properties.

`glob`

  The `glob` rule takes a list shell pattern and returns the list of files in the project's source directory that match the pattern. For example:

      lib tools : [ glob *.cpp ] ;

  It is possible to also pass a second argument—the list of exclude patterns. The result will then include the list of files patching any of include patterns, and not matching any of the exclude patterns. For example:

      lib tools : [ glob *.cpp : file_to_exclude.cpp bad*.cpp ] ;

`glob-tree`

  The `glob-tree` is similar to the `glob` except that it operates recursively from the directory of the containing Jamfile. For example:

      ECHO [ glob-tree *.cpp : .svn ] ;

  will print the names of all C++ files in your project. The `.svn` exclude pattern prevents the `glob-tree` rule from entering administrative directories of the Subverion version control system.

`project`

  Declares project id and attributes, including project requirements. See the section called “Projects”.

`use-project`

  Assigns a symbolic project ID to a project at a given path. This rule must be better documented!

`explicit`

  The `explicit` rule takes a single parameter—a list of target names. The named targets will be marked explicit, and will be built only if they are explicitly requested on the command line, or if their dependents are built. Compare this to ordinary targets, that are built implicitly when their containing project is built.

`constant`

  Sets project-wide constant. Takes two parameters: variable name and a value and makes the specified variable name accessible in this Jamfile and any child Jamfiles. For example:

      constant VERSION : 1.34.0 ;

`path-constant`

  Same as `constant` except that the value is treated as path relative to Jamfile location. For example, if bjam is invoked in the current directory, and Jamfile in `helper` subdirectory has:

      path-constant DATA : data/a.txt ;

  then the variable `DATA` will be set to `helper/data/a.txt`, and if bjam is invoked from the `helper` directory, then the variable `DATA` will be set to `data/a.txt`.

`build-project`

  Cause some other project to be built. This rule takes a single parameter—a directory name relative to the containing Jamfile. When the containing Jamfile is built, the project located at that directory will be built as well. At the moment, the parameter to this rule should be a directory name. Project ID or general target references are not allowed.

`test-suite`

  This rule is deprecated and equivalent to `alias`.