Bazel target to create C++ library headers

[hillegass]

Thanks to the //tensorflow:libtensorflow.so target, I can now build a shared library that I can use in my C++ programs. I want to install that library in /usr/local/lib and put the headers for it in /usr/local/include, but there is no target to build and install those headers. In particular, building the library doesn't build the headers from the proto files, so I have error_codes.proto, but not error_codes.pb.h, so I can't even use the source directory for the headers.

[michaelisard]

@martinwicke is this addressed in any planned build system changes?

[martinwicke]

No

[keveman]

Is the target //tensorflow/core:framework_headers_lib not sufficient?

[hillegass]

The .proto files are not compiled to .pb.h files when I build the //tensorflow/core:framework_headers_lib target

$ **bazel build //tensorflow/core:framework_headers_lib**
..
WARNING: /private/var/tmp/_bazel_aaron/cd1b...c/external/protobuf/WORKSPACE:1: Workspace name in /private/var/tmp/_bazel_aaron/cd1b...c/external/protobuf/WORKSPACE (@__main__) does not match the name given in the repository's definition (@protobuf); this will cause a build error in future versions.
WARNING: /private/var/tmp/_bazel_aaron/cd1b...c/external/re2/WORKSPACE:1: Workspace name in /private/var/tmp/_bazel_aaron/cd1b...c/external/re2/WORKSPACE (@__main__) does not match the name given in the repository's definition (@re2); this will cause a build error in future versions.
WARNING: /private/var/tmp/_bazel_aaron/cd1b...c/external/highwayhash/WORKSPACE:1: Workspace name in /private/var/tmp/_bazel_aaron/cd1b...c/external/highwayhash/WORKSPACE (@__main__) does not match the name given in the repository's definition (@highwayhash); this will cause a build error in future versions.
INFO: Found 1 target...
Target //tensorflow/core:framework_headers_lib up-to-date (nothing to build)
INFO: Elapsed time: 5.460s, Critical Path: 0.01s

[keveman]

@hillegass Sorry, I misunderstood your requirement. //tensorflow/core:framework_headers_lib is meant for use within a BUILD file, when building with bazel. If you want to use libtensorflow.so in a different build system, and just want the header files, we package them up in the pip packages. For example, here is the python2 pip package. The header files go in <install path>/tensorflow/includem where <install path> is platform dependent. It usually is something like /usr/local/lib/python2.7/site-packages. Feel free to close the issue once you verify that it works for you.

[hillegass]

My fault. The headers were, indeed, in the python directory. (For other lost people, on a Mac the include directory is /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/tensorflow/include/ . Thank you!

[hillegass]

Quick follow up note for others: A couple of the important headers (especially those related to sessions) are not in that include directory, so you will need to copy them from the source tree:

$ cd tensorflow/tensorflow/core/public
$ sudo cp session.h session_options.h tensor_c_api.h /Library/Python/2.7/site-packages/tensorflow/include/tensorflow/core/public/

[ftokarev]

Heads-up: there is a dedicated //tensorflow:install_headers target now