Added ability to pass arguments to backend in `meson compile`

4 files changed, 96 insertions, 11 deletions

diff --git a/docs/markdown/Commands.md b/docs/markdown/Commands.md
index dbcfee4..4d3de55 100644
--- a/docs/markdown/Commands.md
+++ b/docs/markdown/Commands.md
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ meson configure builddir -Doption=new_value
 
 ```
 $ meson compile [-h] [-j JOBS] [-l LOAD_AVERAGE] [--clean] [-C BUILDDIR]
-                [--verbose]
+                [--verbose] [--ninja-args NINJA_ARGS] [--vs-args VS_ARGS]
 ```
 
 Builds a default or a specified target of a configured meson project.
@@ -155,6 +155,30 @@ optional arguments:
   -C BUILDDIR                           The directory containing build files to
                                         be built.
   --verbose                             Show more verbose output.
+  --ninja-args NINJA_ARGS               Arguments to pass to `ninja` (applied
+                                        only on `ninja` backend).
+  --vs-args VS_ARGS                     Arguments to pass to `msbuild` (applied
+                                        only on `vs` backend).
+```
+
+#### Backend specific arguments
+
+*(since 0.55.0)*
+
+`BACKEND-args` use the following syntax:
+
+If you only pass a single string, then it is considered to have all values separated by commas. Thus invoking the following command:
+
+```
+$ meson compile --ninja-args=-n,-d,explain
+```
+
+would add `-n`, `-d` and `explain` arguments to ninja invocation.
+
+If you need to have commas or spaces in your string values, then you need to pass the value with proper shell quoting like this:
+
+```
+$ meson compile "--ninja-args=['a,b', 'c d']"
 ```
 
 #### Examples:
@@ -164,6 +188,11 @@ Build the project:
 meson compile -C builddir
 ```
 
+Execute a dry run on ninja backend with additional debug info:
+```
+meson compile --ninja-args=-n,-d,explain
+```
+
 ### dist
 
 *(since 0.52.0)*
diff --git a/docs/markdown/snippets/add_compile_backend_arg.md b/docs/markdown/snippets/add_compile_backend_arg.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..76e2abb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/markdown/snippets/add_compile_backend_arg.md
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+## Added ability to specify backend arguments in `meson compile`
+
+It's now possible to specify backend specific arguments in `meson compile`.
+
+Usage: `meson compile [--vs-args=args] [--ninja-args=args]`
+
+```
+  --ninja-args NINJA_ARGS    Arguments to pass to `ninja` (applied only on `ninja` backend).
+  --vs-args VS_ARGS          Arguments to pass to `msbuild` (applied only on `vs` backend).
+```
+
+These arguments use the following syntax:
+
+If you only pass a single string, then it is considered to have all values separated by commas. Thus invoking the following command:
+
+```
+$ meson compile --ninja-args=-n,-d,explain
+```
+
+would add `-n`, `-d` and `explain` arguments to ninja invocation.
+
+If you need to have commas or spaces in your string values, then you need to pass the value with proper shell quoting like this:
+
+```
+$ meson compile "--ninja-args=['a,b', 'c d']"
+```
diff --git a/mesonbuild/mcompile.py b/mesonbuild/mcompile.py
index 0bcb56e..3799ce3 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/mcompile.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/mcompile.py
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 
 """Entrypoint script for backend agnostic compile."""
 
+import argparse
 import sys
 import typing as T
 from pathlib import Path
@@ -23,10 +24,11 @@ from . import mesonlib
 from . import coredata
 from .mesonlib import MesonException
 from mesonbuild.environment import detect_ninja
+from mesonbuild.coredata import UserArrayOption
+
+def array_arg(value: str) -> T.List[str]:
+    return UserArrayOption(None, value, allow_dups=True, user_input=True).value
 
-if T.TYPE_CHECKING:
-    import argparse
-    
 def validate_builddir(builddir: Path):
     if not (builddir / 'meson-private' / 'coredata.dat' ).is_file():
         raise MesonException('Current directory is not a meson build directory: `{}`.\n'
@@ -58,31 +60,31 @@ def get_parsed_args_ninja(options: 'argparse.Namespace', builddir: Path):
         cmd.append('-v')
     if options.clean:
         cmd.append('clean')
-    
+
     return cmd
 
 def get_parsed_args_vs(options: 'argparse.Namespace', builddir: Path):
     slns = list(builddir.glob('*.sln'))
     assert len(slns) == 1, 'More than one solution in a project?'
-    
+
     sln = slns[0]
     cmd = ['msbuild', str(sln.resolve())]
-    
+
     # In msbuild `-m` with no number means "detect cpus", the default is `-m1`
     if options.jobs > 0:
         cmd.append('-m{}'.format(options.jobs))
     else:
         cmd.append('-m')
-    
+
     if options.load_average:
         mlog.warning('Msbuild does not have a load-average switch, ignoring.')
     if not options.verbose:
         cmd.append('/v:minimal')
     if options.clean:
         cmd.append('/t:Clean')
-    
+
     return cmd
-    
+
 def add_arguments(parser: 'argparse.ArgumentParser') -> None:
     """Add compile specific arguments."""
     parser.add_argument(
@@ -117,7 +119,18 @@ def add_arguments(parser: 'argparse.ArgumentParser') -> None:
         action='store_true',
         help='Show more verbose output.'
     )
-
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--ninja-args',
+        type=array_arg,
+        default=[],
+        help='Arguments to pass to `ninja` (applied only on `ninja` backend).'
+    )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        '--vs-args',
+        type=array_arg,
+        default=[],
+        help='Arguments to pass to `msbuild` (applied only on `vs` backend).'
+    )
 
 def run(options: 'argparse.Namespace') -> int:
     bdir = options.builddir  # type: Path
@@ -128,8 +141,10 @@ def run(options: 'argparse.Namespace') -> int:
     backend = get_backend_from_coredata(bdir)
     if backend == 'ninja':
         cmd = get_parsed_args_ninja(options, bdir)
+        cmd += options.ninja_args
     elif backend.startswith('vs'):
         cmd = get_parsed_args_vs(options, bdir)
+        cmd += options.vs_args
     else:
         # TODO: xcode?
         raise MesonException(
diff --git a/run_unittests.py b/run_unittests.py
index 9e8aa50..1af0d8b 100755
--- a/run_unittests.py
+++ b/run_unittests.py
@@ -4636,6 +4636,7 @@ recommended as it is not supported on some platforms''')
 
         testdir = os.path.join(self.common_test_dir, '1 trivial')
         self.init(testdir)
+
         self._run([*self.meson_command, 'compile', '-C', self.builddir])
         # If compile worked then we should get a program
         self.assertPathExists(os.path.join(self.builddir, prog))
@@ -4643,6 +4644,20 @@ recommended as it is not supported on some platforms''')
         self._run([*self.meson_command, 'compile', '-C', self.builddir, '--clean'])
         self.assertPathDoesNotExist(os.path.join(self.builddir, prog))
 
+        # `--$BACKEND-args`
+
+        if self.backend is Backend.ninja:
+            self.init(testdir, extra_args=['--wipe'])
+            # Dry run - should not create a program
+            self._run([*self.meson_command, 'compile', '-C', self.builddir, '--ninja-args=-n'])
+            self.assertPathDoesNotExist(os.path.join(self.builddir, prog))
+        elif self.backend is Backend.vs:
+            self.init(testdir, extra_args=['--wipe'])
+            self._run([*self.meson_command, 'compile', '-C', self.builddir])
+            # Explicitly clean the target through msbuild interface
+            self._run([*self.meson_command, 'compile', '-C', self.builddir, '--vs-args=-t:{}:Clean'.format(re.sub(r'[\%\$\@\;\.\(\)\']', '_', prog))])
+            self.assertPathDoesNotExist(os.path.join(self.builddir, prog))
+
     def test_spurious_reconfigure_built_dep_file(self):
         testdir = os.path.join(self.unit_test_dir, '75 dep files')