Fake Compilation

WARNING

This feature is planned but not yet implemented.

Concept

Instead of forwarding compilation to the real compiler, catter generates fake placeholder .o files. This lets the build system complete its full run -- including link steps -- without actual compilation.

The result:

• A complete CDB in a fraction of the time. No real compilation work is performed, so the build finishes as fast as the build system can schedule it.
• Full linker command capture. Because placeholder object files exist on disk, linker invocations proceed normally and can be intercepted.

Smart Dependency Analysis

Not all commands can be faked. Code generators -- such as LLVM TableGen -- must still be built genuinely, because they produce headers that other compilations depend on.

Catter will analyze dependencies to distinguish between:

• Regular compilation -- Can be faked. The output .o file is only consumed by the linker.
• Code generators -- Must be built. Their output (generated headers, source files) is needed as input by other compilation steps.

This achieves a "minimal build": only build what is strictly necessary for correct CDB generation and header production, and fake everything else.