Cmake and generated files from custom commands can be quite difficult to get right.
I have had problems with this before and found this to be a great help in solving the problem:
https://samthursfield.wordpress.com/2015/11/21/cmake-dependencies-between-targets-and-files-and-custom-commands/

-Joakim

From: Kevin Peng <Kevin.Peng@arm.com>
Sent: torsdag 27. april 2023 04:58
To: Bohdan.Hunko@infineon.com; Andersson, Joakim <Joakim.Andersson@nordicsemi.no>; Anton Komlev <Anton.Komlev@arm.com>; tf-m@lists.trustedfirmware.org
Subject: RE: Dependency on generated files is broken

Caution: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Hi Bohdan,

The commit you mentioned was to remove the duplication of generating files – the manifest tool was running twice.

It might also accidently remove the dependency.

However, I reverted the commit and dependency still doesn’t work.

I guess it might haven’t worked reliably in the past.

Anyway, we could try to work it out again.

For the time being, you need to do a clean build to get correct results after changing any templates or any other files the manifest tool consumes.

Thanks,

Kevin

From: Bohdan.Hunko--- via TF-M <tf-m@lists.trustedfirmware.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2023 4:23 AM
To: Joakim.Andersson@nordicsemi.no; Anton Komlev <Anton.Komlev@arm.com>; tf-m@lists.trustedfirmware.org
Subject: [TF-M] Re: Dependency on generated files is broken

@Andersson, Joakim: Which .template files?

I am talking about .template files in tfm repo (e.g.: tools/templates/manifestfilename.template)

@Anton.Komlev@arm.com: I afraid that dependencies on templates were missed all the time and shall be added manually.

Hmm, I seem to remember that it worked for me. Also there is a code in tools/CMakeLists.txt that collects a list of generated files into ${TEMPLATE_FILES} variable and then sets (DEPENDS ${TEMPLATE_FILES}), but 1ce59292a47b1316e5d8b4d28bcaf9d8e2bdc0a5 removed the code that does DEPENDS part, so now list is collected but never used.

@Anton.Komlev@arm.com: Let’s wait for Kevin and David opinion.

Yeah, sure, this problem is not stopping us in any way 😊

Regards,

Bohdan Hunko

Cypress Semiconductor Ukraine

Engineer

CSUKR CSS ICW SW FW

Mobile: +38099 50 19 714
Bohdan.Hunko@infineon.com

From: Andersson, Joakim <Joakim.Andersson@nordicsemi.no>
Sent: 26 April 2023 18:45
To: Anton Komlev <Anton.Komlev@arm.com>; Hunko Bohdan (CSUKR CSS ICW SW FW 3) <Bohdan.Hunko@infineon.com>; tf-m@lists.trustedfirmware.org
Subject: RE: Dependency on generated files is broken

Caution: This e-mail originated outside Infineon Technologies. Do not click on links or open attachments unless you validate it is safe.

Which .template files?
There are also .template files in the psa-arch-tests repository.
And as I’ve figured out when reporting this issue: https://github.com/ARM-software/psa-arch-tests/issues/344 there is not a BUILD_ALWAYS on external projects.
Which means that all of psa-arch-tests would not get rebuilt on edit AFAICT.

-Joakim

From: Anton Komlev via TF-M <tf-m@lists.trustedfirmware.org>
Sent: onsdag 26. april 2023 17:06
To: Bohdan.Hunko@infineon.com; tf-m@lists.trustedfirmware.org
Subject: [TF-M] Re: Dependency on generated files is broken

Caution: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.

Hi,

Thanks, Bohdan for finding that.

You may be right but I afraid that dependencies on templates were missed all the time and shall be added manually.

Let’s wait for Kevin and David opinion.

Cheers,

Anton

From: Bohdan.Hunko--- via TF-M <tf-m@lists.trustedfirmware.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 26, 2023 3:20 PM
To: tf-m@lists.trustedfirmware.org
Subject: [TF-M] Dependency on generated files is broken

Hi all,

Seems like dependency on generated files is broken.

Steps to reproduce:

Build any platform at any mode
Change any .template file

Expected result:

New file is generated from the updated .template file

Actual result:

Generated files step is skipped.