add prefer_static built-in option

By default, meson will try to look for shared libraries first before
static ones. In the meson.build itself, one can use the static keyword
to control if a static library will be tried first but there's no simple
way for an end user performing a build to switch back and forth at will.
Let's cover this usecase by adding an option that allows a user to
specify if they want dependency lookups to try static or shared
libraries first. The writer of the meson.build can manually specify the
static keyword where appropriate which will override the value of this
option.

docs/markdown/Builtin-options.md

@@ -79,6 +79,7 @@ machine](#specifying-options-per-machine) section for details.
 | layout {mirror,flat}                 | mirror        | Build directory layout                                         | no             | no                |
 | optimization {0, g, 1, 2, 3, s}      | 0             | Optimization level                                             | no             | no                |
 | pkg_config_path {OS separated path}  | ''            | Additional paths for pkg-config to search before builtin paths | yes            | no                |
+| prefer_static                        | false         | Whether to try static linking before shared linking            | no             | no                |
 | cmake_prefix_path                    | []            | Additional prefixes for cmake to search before builtin paths   | yes            | no                |
 | stdsplit                             | true          | Split stdout and stderr in test logs                           | no             | no                |
 | strip                                | false         | Strip targets on install                                       | no             | no                |

docs/markdown/Configuring-a-build-directory.md

@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ a sample output for a simple project.
       install_umask   0022          [preserve, 0000-0777]                                      Default umask to apply on permissions of installed files
       layout          mirror        [mirror, flat]                                             Build directory layout
       optimization    3             [0, g, 1, 2, 3, s]                                         Optimization level
+      prefer_static   false         [true, false]                                              Whether to try static linking before shared linking
       strip           false         [true, false]                                              Strip targets on install
       unity           off           [on, off, subprojects]                                     Unity build
       warning_level   1             [0, 1, 2, 3]                                               Compiler warning level to use

docs/markdown/snippets/prefer_static.md

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+## New prefer_static built-in option
+
+Users can now set a boolean, `prefer_static`, that controls whether or not
+static linking should be tried before shared linking. This has the same
+effect as setting the `static` keyword in the `dependency` and `find_library`
+functions. Specifically setting `static` will override the project value of
+`prefer_static` for that specific `dependency` or `find_library` call.

mesonbuild/coredata.py

@@ -1210,6 +1210,7 @@ def add_to_argparse(self, name: str, parser: argparse.ArgumentParser, help_suffi
     (OptionKey('install_umask'),   BuiltinOption(UserUmaskOption, 'Default umask to apply on permissions of installed files', '022')),
     (OptionKey('layout'),          BuiltinOption(UserComboOption, 'Build directory layout', 'mirror', choices=['mirror', 'flat'])),
     (OptionKey('optimization'),    BuiltinOption(UserComboOption, 'Optimization level', '0', choices=['0', 'g', '1', '2', '3', 's'])),
+    (OptionKey('prefer_static'),   BuiltinOption(UserBooleanOption, 'Whether to try static linking before shared linking', False)),
     (OptionKey('stdsplit'),        BuiltinOption(UserBooleanOption, 'Split stdout and stderr in test logs', True)),
     (OptionKey('strip'),           BuiltinOption(UserBooleanOption, 'Strip targets on install', False)),
     (OptionKey('unity'),           BuiltinOption(UserComboOption, 'Unity build', 'off', choices=['on', 'off', 'subprojects'])),

mesonbuild/dependencies/__init__.py

@@ -140,8 +140,8 @@ def __init__(self, name: str, environment: 'Environment', kwargs: T.Dict[str, T.
 don't want to be reading random environment variables at this point. Those
 should actually be added to `envconfig.Properties` and read in
 `environment.Environment._set_default_properties_from_env` (see how
-`BOOST_ROOT` is handled). We can also handle the `static` keyword. So
-now that becomes:
+`BOOST_ROOT` is handled). We can also handle the `static` keyword and the
+`prefer_static` built-in option. So now that becomes:
 
 ```python
 class FooSystemDependency(ExternalDependency):
@@ -154,7 +154,9 @@ def __init__(self, name: str, environment: 'Environment', kwargs: T.Dict[str, T.
             self.is_found = False
             return
 
-        static = Mesonlib.LibType.STATIC if kwargs.get('static', False) else Mesonlib.LibType.SHARED
+        get_option = environment.coredata.get_option
+        static_opt = kwargs.get('static', get_option(Mesonlib.OptionKey('prefer_static'))
+        static = Mesonlib.LibType.STATIC if static_opt else Mesonlib.LibType.SHARED
         lib = self.clib_compiler.find_library(
             'foo', environment, [os.path.join(root, 'lib')], libtype=static)
         if lib is None:

mesonbuild/dependencies/base.py

@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 from .. import mlog
 from ..compilers import clib_langs
-from ..mesonlib import LibType, MachineChoice, MesonException, HoldableObject
+from ..mesonlib import LibType, MachineChoice, MesonException, HoldableObject, OptionKey
 from ..mesonlib import version_compare_many
 from ..interpreterbase import FeatureDeprecated
 
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@ def __init__(self, type_name: DependencyTypeName, environment: 'Environment', kw
             self.version_reqs = [self.version_reqs]
         self.required = kwargs.get('required', True)
         self.silent = kwargs.get('silent', False)
-        self.static = kwargs.get('static', False)
+        self.static = kwargs.get('static', self.env.coredata.get_option(OptionKey('prefer_static')))
         self.libtype = LibType.STATIC if self.static else LibType.PREFER_SHARED
         if not isinstance(self.static, bool):
             raise DependencyException('Static keyword must be boolean')

mesonbuild/dependencies/misc.py

@@ -537,7 +537,7 @@ def shaderc_factory(env: 'Environment',
         shared_libs = ['shaderc']
         static_libs = ['shaderc_combined', 'shaderc_static']
 
-        if kwargs.get('static', False):
+        if kwargs.get('static', env.coredata.get_option(mesonlib.OptionKey('prefer_static'))):
             c = [functools.partial(PkgConfigDependency, name, env, kwargs)
                  for name in static_libs + shared_libs]
         else:

mesonbuild/dependencies/scalapack.py

@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 import os
 import typing as T
 
+from ..mesonlib import OptionKey
 from .base import DependencyMethods
 from .base import DependencyException
 from .cmake import CMakeDependency
@@ -35,7 +36,8 @@ def scalapack_factory(env: 'Environment', for_machine: 'MachineChoice',
     candidates: T.List['DependencyGenerator'] = []
 
     if DependencyMethods.PKGCONFIG in methods:
-        mkl = 'mkl-static-lp64-iomp' if kwargs.get('static', False) else 'mkl-dynamic-lp64-iomp'
+        static_opt = kwargs.get('static', env.coredata.get_option(OptionKey('prefer_static')))
+        mkl = 'mkl-static-lp64-iomp' if static_opt else 'mkl-dynamic-lp64-iomp'
         candidates.append(functools.partial(
             MKLPkgConfigDependency, mkl, env, kwargs))
 

mesonbuild/mesonlib/universal.py

@@ -2005,6 +2005,7 @@ class OptionType(enum.IntEnum):
     'install_umask',
     'layout',
     'optimization',
+    'prefer_static',
     'stdsplit',
     'strip',
     'unity',