| --- |
| layout: posts |
| title: Announcing simplified workspace creation |
| --- |
| |
| To create a new workspace, you can now simply create an empty `WORKSPACE` file |
| in a directory. |
| |
| Previously, you'd need to copy or symlink the `tools` directory into your |
| project, which was unpopular: |
| |
| |
| <img src="{{ site_root }}/assets/ctrl-w-tweet.png" alt="'move my-project/ to be a subdirectory of base_workspace/' Ok. Ctrl-W." class="img-responsive"> |
| |
| [Miguel Alcon](https://github.com/mikelalcon) came up with a great idea for |
| making this process simpler. Now the `compile.sh` script will create a |
| `.bazelrc` file in your home directory which tells Bazel where `compile.sh` was |
| run from and, thus, where it can find its tools when you build. |
| |
| To use this new functionality, get the latest version of the code from Github, |
| run `./compile.sh`, and then create a Bazel workspace by running |
| `touch WORKSPACE` in any directory. |
| |
| Some caveats to watch out for: |
| |
| * If you move the directory where Bazel was built you will need to |
| update your `~/.bazelrc` file. |
| * If you would like to use different tools than the ones `compile.sh` |
| finds/generates, you can create a `tools/` directory in your project and |
| Bazel will attempt to use that instead of the system-wide one. |
| |
| See the [getting started]({{ site_root }}/docs/getting-started.html) docs for more info about |
| setting up your workspace. |
| |
| Let us know if you have any questions or issues on the |
| [mailing list](https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/bazel-discuss) or |
| [GitHub](https://github.com/bazelbuild/bazel). |
