Building LAPKT {#build}

March 25, 2025 · View on GitHub

We use cmake to manage the build process. The build handles the compilation of core LAPKT libraries which are written in C++. It also compiles python bindings that allow us to expose the core C++ classes and methods to the python frontend.

The cmake build also restructures the compiled binary the a package that can be shipped as a pip installable.

The cmake script has been tested on standard os images available on Github Actions. The build-test workflow configuration lists all the build and test commands.

(user) can also use the Apptainer configuration to build a self contained package

Build prerequisites

The build requires development tools specific to the operating system that you are using.

Operating System	Tested Versions
Ubuntu	20.04/ 22.04/ 24.04
Windows	2019

Build steps

If you have a pre-existing build directory, then delete it if you are having compilation issues.
To build LAPKT, run the following command from the root of the lapkt source directory
```
 cmake -Bbuilds/build -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=Release -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DUSE_SUPERBUILD=ON

 cmake --build builds/build -j4 [--target clean](optional)
```
This would create a package, Release/lapkt_package, at the root of the source directory. Users can directly run/debug lapkt with the following command
```
 cd <source_dir>

 python3 Release/lapkt_package/lapkt.py -h
```
Install the built source code if you want to have system wide access (optional)
```
 cmake  --install builds/build
```
Same can be achieved with the pip install as well
```
 python3 -m pip install --user  Release/_package/
```
In Ubuntu, this installs the python script lapkt_cmd.py in local binary directory, typically at $HOME/.local/bin/lapkt_cmd.py, and lapkt library files into the python shared module directory, $HOME/.local/lib/python<version>/site-packages/lapkt/.

Test to check everything went correctly

 cd builds/build/ && ctest && cd ../.. \
 cd pytest && python3 -m pytest -W ignore::DeprecationWarning && cd ..

Custom build steps (advanced usage)

The build process involves three step, configure, build, and install. Each step can take additional parameter. We list some of the useful configuration parameters below.

Configuration step

    cmake -B<build_dir> -S<src_dir> -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=<install_dir> -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE={Release|Debug}

Parameter	Usage
build_dir	build output path
src_dir	source directory
`CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX`	installation path
`CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER`	specify a g++ version, tested with `g++-8`, `g++-9`, `g++-10`, `g++-11` `g++-12`
`CMAKE_C_COMPILER`	specify a gcc version, tested with `gcc-8`, `gcc-9`, `gcc-10`, `gcc-11` `gcc-12`
`CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX`	installation path
`CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE`	Release for production and Debug for debugging the source
`USE_SUPERBUILD`	builds all dependencies from source (makes the build independent of any pre-existing installation of dependencies), it is set to ON by default
`CMAKE_FD`	add fast-downward parser and grounder to the package, default ON
`CMAKE_TARSKI`	add tarski parser and grounder to the package, default ON
`GEN_DOXYGEN_DOCS`	automatically generate doxygen html docs from source and md files, default OFF
`CMAKE_STATIC_BOOST`	Static link boost, default ON
`BUILD_CPP_TESTS`	build ctest executables, default OFF
`CMAKE_FF`, `CMAKE_LEGACY_PLANNER`	build executables for planners that use the FF parser and grounder, only for testing, default OFF
`CMAKE_FF`, `CMAKE_LEGACY_PLANNER`	build executables for planners that use the FF parser and grounder, only for testing, default OFF
`BOOST_ROOT`	Path to Boost installtion (required if `USE_SUPERBUILD=OFF` is not used), default ""
`CATCH2_ROOT`	Path to Catch2 installtion (required if `USE_SUPERBUILD=OFF` is not used), default ""

Build step

    cmake --build <build_dir> -j<cpu_count>

Parameter	Usage
build_dir	build path, same as configuration step
cpu_count	maximum CPUs used in parallel

Installation step

    cmake  --install <build_dir>

Parameter	Usage
build_dir	build path, same as configuration step