I'm using ocamlbuild to compile an OCaml library via a mylib.mllib file that lists the modules comprising the library. Afterwards I want to install the library files using ocamlfind. Unlike binary files built with ocamlbuild, all the library files are in the _build directory. Is the correct way to install them using something like
ocamlfind install META _build/a.cma _build/a.cmxa ...
or is there some better integration between ocamlbuild and ocamlfind? In particular, I noticed the -install-lib-dir flag of ocamlbuild but can't find documentation about its purpose.
I'm aware of oasis but right now would like to solve the problem within a Makefile and an install target. All of this is in the context of using the opam library manager but it should not matter for the discussion.
No, there is no specific integration. ocamlbuild is agnostic of pre-build (configuration) and post-build (installation) tools, and ocamlfind is similarly agnostic of build tools.
You are correct that ocamlbuild is not very good at reliably simlinking targets from _build/. This is a known glitch, but you should feel free to report specific cases where this is an issue to you. In any case, I think it is better to refer to the file in _build/ directly.
There is a feature request by Daniel Bünzli to have ocamlbuild help produce OPAM's .install files rather than writing them by hand (or makefile scripting). I personally haven't had time to work on such features, but I would warmly welcome any ocamlbuild contribution along this front.