One may want to use external libraries that Bazel does not manage when using Bazel.
cc_binary(
name = "hello-world",
srcs = ["main.cpp"],
deps = [
# external libraries that are not managed by bazel
],
)
To use local files in Bazel, one can use new_local_repository. 1
new_local_repository is a function that can be used in WORKSPACE files, which adds a BUILD file virtually and make a local directory Bazel project. One can specify the BUILD file by the option build_file orbuild_file_content. For example, if one wants to use OpenSSL in its local storage, a sample code with build_file is the following:
# WORKSPACE.bazel
new_local_repository(
name = "openssl",
path = "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/openssl@3/3.0.5",
build_file = "openssl.BUILD",
)
# openssl.BUILD
cc_library(
name = "lib",
hdrs = glob(["include/**/*.h"]),
srcs = glob(["lib/*.dylib"]),
strip_include_prefix = "include",
visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
)
A sample code with build_file_content is the following:
# WORKSPACE.bazel
new_local_repository(
name = "openssl",
path = "/opt/homebrew/Cellar/openssl@3/3.0.5",
build_file_content = """
cc_library(
name = "lib",
hdrs = glob(["include/**/*.h"]),
srcs = glob(["lib/*.dylib"]),
strip_include_prefix = "include",
visibility = ["//visibility:public"],
)""",
)
In the latter case, one needs to set proper indents, or it will not be recognized as a correct BUILD file.