patch from Tianchao Li to fix https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=136136

build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/make/core/MakeBuilder.java

@@ -140,9 +140,9 @@ public class MakeBuilder extends ACBuilder {
 				// remove all markers for this project
 				removeAllMarkers(currProject);
 
-				IPath workingDirectory = null;
+				IPath workingDirectory = info.getBuildLocation();
-				if (!info.getBuildLocation().isEmpty()) {
+				if (workingDirectory != null && !workingDirectory.isEmpty()) {
-					IResource res = currProject.getParent().findMember(info.getBuildLocation());
+					IResource res = currProject.getParent().findMember(workingDirectory);
 					if (res instanceof IContainer && res.exists()) {
 						workingDirectory = res.getLocation();
 					}

build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.core/src/org/eclipse/cdt/make/internal/core/scannerconfig2/DefaultRunSIProvider.java

@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ import org.eclipse.cdt.core.CommandLauncher;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.IMarkerGenerator;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.core.resources.IConsole;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.internal.core.ConsoleOutputSniffer;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.IMakeBuilderInfo;
+import org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.MakeBuilder;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.MakeCorePlugin;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.scannerconfig.IExternalScannerInfoProvider;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.make.core.scannerconfig.IScannerConfigBuilderInfo2;
@@ -30,8 +32,10 @@ import org.eclipse.cdt.make.internal.core.StreamMonitor;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.make.internal.core.scannerconfig.ScannerConfigUtil;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.make.internal.core.scannerconfig.ScannerInfoConsoleParserFactory;
 import org.eclipse.cdt.make.internal.core.scannerconfig.util.TraceUtil;
+import org.eclipse.core.resources.IContainer;
 import org.eclipse.core.resources.IProject;
 import org.eclipse.core.resources.IResource;
+import org.eclipse.core.runtime.CoreException;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IPath;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.IProgressMonitor;
 import org.eclipse.core.runtime.NullProgressMonitor;
@@ -157,7 +161,29 @@ public class DefaultRunSIProvider implements IExternalScannerInfoProvider {
      * @return boolean
      */
     protected boolean initialize() {
-        fWorkingDirectory = resource.getProject().getLocation();
+    	
+		IProject currProject = resource.getProject();
+		IMakeBuilderInfo info;
+		try {
+			info = MakeCorePlugin.createBuildInfo(resource.getProject(), MakeBuilder.BUILDER_ID);
+		} catch (CoreException e) {
+			// TODO Auto-generated catch block
+			e.printStackTrace();
+			throw new RuntimeException(e);
+		}
+		IPath workingDirectory = info.getBuildLocation();
+		if (workingDirectory != null && !workingDirectory.isEmpty()) {
+			IResource res = currProject.getParent().findMember(workingDirectory);
+			if (res instanceof IContainer && res.exists()) {
+				workingDirectory = res.getLocation();
+			}
+		}
+		if (workingDirectory == null) {
+			workingDirectory = currProject.getLocation();
+		}
+		
+        //fWorkingDirectory = resource.getProject().getLocation();
+		fWorkingDirectory = workingDirectory;
         fCompileCommand = new Path(buildInfo.getProviderRunCommand(providerId));
         fCompileArguments = ScannerConfigUtil.tokenizeStringWithQuotes(buildInfo.getProviderRunArguments(providerId), "\"");//$NON-NLS-1$
         return (fCompileCommand != null);

build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/make/internal/ui/MakeResources.properties

@@ -68,7 +68,8 @@ SettingsBlock.makeCmd.use_default=Use default
 SettingsBlock.makeCmd.label=Build command:
 SettingsBlock.makeDir.group_label=Build Directory
 SettingsBlock.makeDir.label=Build directory:
-SettingsBlock.makeDir.browse=Browse...
+SettingsBlock.makeDir.browseLocal=Local...
+SettingsBlock.makeDir.browseWorkspace=Workspace...
 SettingsBlock.makeWorkbench.group_label=Workbench Build Behavior
 SettingsBlock.makeWorkbench.type=Workbench build type:
 SettingsBlock.makeWorkbench.target=Make build target:

build/org.eclipse.cdt.make.ui/src/org/eclipse/cdt/make/ui/dialogs/SettingsBlock.java

@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ import org.eclipse.swt.layout.GridLayout;
 import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Button;
 import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Composite;
 import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Control;
+import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.DirectoryDialog;
 import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Event;
 import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Group;
 import org.eclipse.swt.widgets.Label;
@@ -72,8 +73,9 @@ public class SettingsBlock extends AbstractCOptionPage {
 	private static final String MAKE_WORKBENCH_BUILD_CLEAN = PREFIX + ".makeWorkbench.clean"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 
 	private static final String MAKE_BUILD_DIR_GROUP = PREFIX + ".makeDir.group_label"; //$NON-NLS-1$
-	private static final String MAKE_BUILD_DIR_LABEL = PREFIX + ".makeDir.label"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+	private static final String MAKE_BUILD_DIR_LABEL = PREFIX + ".makeDir.label"; //$NON-NLS-1$	
-	private static final String MAKE_BUILD_DIR_BROWSE = PREFIX + ".makeDir.browse"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+	private static final String MAKE_BUILD_DIR_BROWSE_LOCAL = PREFIX + ".makeDir.browseLocal"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+	private static final String MAKE_BUILD_DIR_BROWSE_WORKSPACE = PREFIX + ".makeDir.browseWorkspace"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 
 	private static final String MAKE_BUILD_AUTO_TARGET = PREFIX + ".makeWorkbench.autoBuildTarget"; //$NON-NLS-1$
 	private static final String MAKE_BUILD_INCREMENTAL_TARGET = PREFIX + ".makeWorkbench.incrementalBuildTarget"; //$NON-NLS-1$
@@ -314,7 +316,7 @@ public class SettingsBlock extends AbstractCOptionPage {
 	protected void createBuilderWorkingDirControls(Composite parent) {
 		Group group = ControlFactory.createGroup(parent, MakeUIPlugin.getResourceString(MAKE_BUILD_DIR_GROUP), 1);
 		GridLayout layout = new GridLayout();
-		layout.numColumns = 4;
+		layout.numColumns = 5;
 		layout.makeColumnsEqualWidth = false;
 		group.setLayout(layout);
 		group.setLayoutData(new GridData(GridData.FILL_HORIZONTAL));
@@ -330,9 +332,27 @@ public class SettingsBlock extends AbstractCOptionPage {
 				getContainer().updateContainer();
 			}
 		});
-		Button browse = new Button(group, SWT.NONE);
+
-		browse.setText(MakeUIPlugin.getResourceString(MAKE_BUILD_DIR_BROWSE));
+		Button browseLocal = new Button(group, SWT.NONE);
-		browse.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
+		browseLocal.setText(MakeUIPlugin.getResourceString(MAKE_BUILD_DIR_BROWSE_LOCAL));
+		browseLocal.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
+
+			public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
+				DirectoryDialog dialog = new DirectoryDialog(getShell(), SWT.NONE);
+				dialog.setText(MakeUIPlugin.getResourceString("SettingsBlock.title.selectLocationToBuildFrom"));
+				dialog.setFilterPath(getContainer().getProject().toString());
+				String directory = dialog.open();
+				if (directory != null) {
+					if (directory.trim().length() > 0) {
+						buildLocation.setText(directory);
+					}
+				}
+			}
+		});
+
+		Button browseWorkspace = new Button(group, SWT.NONE);
+		browseWorkspace.setText(MakeUIPlugin.getResourceString(MAKE_BUILD_DIR_BROWSE_WORKSPACE));
+		browseWorkspace.addSelectionListener(new SelectionAdapter() {
 
 			public void widgetSelected(SelectionEvent e) {
 				ContainerSelectionDialog dialog = new ContainerSelectionDialog(getShell(), getContainer().getProject(), true,