Preprocess multiple files into single file

Question

I'm trying to simplify a distribution and build process that uses boost::shared_ptr (Android and STLport does not include shared_ptr). I used Boost's bcp to copy out shared_ptr and its dependencies. That resulted in 340 dependencies spread across numerous directories:

$ mkdir boost-shared_ptr
$ cd boost-1.54.0
$ ./dist/bin/bcp shared_ptr ../boost-shared_ptr
...
$ cd ../boost-shared_ptr
$ find . -type f | wc -l
340

Is there a way to pre-process boost::shared_ptr into a single file, and then place that single file (shared_ptr.hpp) into my deps/ directory?

Answer 1

This is bad idea. Numerous cons with very little pros. Always use boost files "as-is". In the majority of cases they are carefully engineered.

I can bet your users will benefit if you will give them your library that include original boost files. They will be able to download it themselves and/or upgrade the version.