A few methods are provided from MXP itself.
nop
This method does nothing. It takes no parameters.
One of the usages of this method is for target that exists only to ensure that multiple targets that it depends on are built successfully.
link
This method copies files from all required targets to the directory of target being built, recursively. If a file already exists in the target directory, it is not copied. If there are multiple required targets, they are processed in the order of Makefile statement.
“Copying” actually means creating hard link or (if this is possible) or symbolic link. (Note: it is not possible to create hard link to the file located on another file system or to the file owned by another user.)
import
Like link method, but directories/files to copy are taken from environmental variable IMPORT_DIRS. The analysis pipeline should specify Makefile statement for importing and provide parameter file that sets this variable.
Usually this method is used to import input files into pipeline. The Makefile statement that uses this method usually has no required targets.
export
Like link method, but copies files from required targets to the directory specified by environmental variable EXPORT_DIR. The $EXPORT_DIR directory may be anywhere in the file system.
This method usually is used to export result files to some location where they can be further examined by a human.
