ENH: improve TRY_RUN() for crosscompiling: instead of just failing, it now

creates two cache variables, one for the RUN_RESULT, one for the RUN_OUTPUT
(if required), which can be set or preset by the user. It has now also two
new arguments: RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE and COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE (the old
OUTPUT_VARIABLE merges both), so if only COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE is used the
run time output of the TRY_RUN is unused and the user doesn't have to care
about the output when crosscompiling. This is now used in FindThreads.cmake,
CheckC/CXXSourceRuns.cmake and TestBigEndian.cmake, which used the output
only for the logfile (compile output is still there). Test/TryCompile/ now
also tests the behaviour of OUTPUT_VARIABLE, RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE and
COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE.

Alex

Modules/CheckCSourceRuns.cmake

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # CHECK_C_SOURCE_RUNS(SOURCE VAR)
 # - macro which checks if the source code runs
 #  SOURCE   - source code to try to compile
-#  VAR - variable to store size if the type exists.
+#  VAR      - variable to store the result, 1 for success, empty for failure
 #
 # The following variables may be set before calling this macro to
 # modify the way the check is run:
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ MACRO(CHECK_C_SOURCE_RUNS SOURCE VAR)
       CMAKE_FLAGS -DCOMPILE_DEFINITIONS:STRING=${MACRO_CHECK_FUNCTION_DEFINITIONS}
       "${CHECK_C_SOURCE_COMPILES_ADD_LIBRARIES}"
       "${CHECK_C_SOURCE_COMPILES_ADD_INCLUDES}"
-      OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT)
+      COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT)
     # if it did not compile make the return value fail code of 1
     IF(NOT ${VAR}_COMPILED)
       SET(${VAR} 1)

Modules/CheckCXXSourceRuns.cmake

@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 # CHECK_CXX_SOURCE_RUNS(SOURCE VAR)
 # - macro which checks if the source code compiles
 #  SOURCE - source code to try to compile
-#  VAR    - variable to store size if the type exists.
+#  VAR    - variable to store the result, 1 for success, empty for failure
 #
 # The following variables may be set before calling this macro to
 # modify the way the check is run:
@@ -39,7 +39,8 @@ MACRO(CHECK_CXX_SOURCE_RUNS SOURCE VAR)
       CMAKE_FLAGS -DCOMPILE_DEFINITIONS:STRING=${MACRO_CHECK_FUNCTION_DEFINITIONS}
       "${CHECK_CXX_SOURCE_COMPILES_ADD_LIBRARIES}"
       "${CHECK_CXX_SOURCE_COMPILES_ADD_INCLUDES}"
-      OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT)
+      COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT)
+
     # if it did not compile make the return value fail code of 1
     IF(NOT ${VAR}_COMPILED)
       SET(${VAR} 1)

Modules/FindThreads.cmake

@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ ELSE(CMAKE_HAVE_SPROC_H)
           ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}
           ${CMAKE_ROOT}/Modules/CheckForPthreads.c
           CMAKE_FLAGS -DLINK_LIBRARIES:STRING=-pthread
-          OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT)
+          COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT)
         IF(THREADS_HAVE_PTHREAD_ARG)
           IF(THREADS_PTHREAD_ARG MATCHES "^2$")
             MESSAGE(STATUS "Check if compiler accepts -pthread - yes")

Modules/TestBigEndian.cmake

@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ MACRO(TEST_BIG_ENDIAN VARIABLE)
     TRY_RUN(${VARIABLE} HAVE_${VARIABLE}
       ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}
       ${CMAKE_ROOT}/Modules/TestBigEndian.c
-      OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT)
+      COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE OUTPUT)
     IF("${VARIABLE}" STREQUAL "FAILED_TO_RUN")
       MESSAGE(SEND_ERROR "TestBigEndian Failed to run with output: ${OUTPUT}")
     ENDIF("${VARIABLE}" STREQUAL "FAILED_TO_RUN")

Source/cmTryRunCommand.cxx

@@ -25,17 +25,16 @@ bool cmTryRunCommand::InitialPass(std::vector<std::string> const& argv)
     {
     return false;
     }
-    
-  if (this->Makefile->IsOn("CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING"))
-    {
-    this->SetError("doesn't work when crosscompiling.");
-    cmSystemTools::SetFatalErrorOccured();
-    return false;
-    }
 
   // build an arg list for TryCompile and extract the runArgs
   std::vector<std::string> tryCompile;
-  std::string outputVariable;
+
+  this->CompileResultVariable = "";
+  this->RunResultVariable = "";
+  this->OutputVariable = "";
+  this->RunOutputVariable = "";
+  this->CompileOutputVariable = "";
+
   std::string runArgs;
   unsigned int i;
   for (i = 1; i < argv.size(); ++i)
@@ -57,19 +56,79 @@ bool cmTryRunCommand::InitialPass(std::vector<std::string> const& argv)
       } 
     else 
       {
-      tryCompile.push_back(argv[i]);
       if (argv[i] == "OUTPUT_VARIABLE")
-        {  
+        {
         if ( argv.size() <= (i+1) )
           {
           cmSystemTools::Error(
             "OUTPUT_VARIABLE specified but there is no variable");
           return false;
           }
-        outputVariable = argv[i+1];
+        i++;
+        this->OutputVariable = argv[i];
+        }
+      else if (argv[i] == "RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE")
+        {
+        if (argv.size() <= (i + 1))
+          {
+          cmSystemTools::Error(
+            "RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE specified but there is no variable");
+          return false;
+          }
+        i++;
+        this->RunOutputVariable = argv[i];
+        }
+      else if (argv[i] == "COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE")
+        {
+        if (argv.size() <= (i + 1))
+          {
+          cmSystemTools::Error(
+            "COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE specified but there is no variable");
+          return false;
+          }
+        i++;
+        this->CompileOutputVariable = argv[i];
+        }
+      else
+        {
+        tryCompile.push_back(argv[i]);
         }
       }
     }
+
+  // although they could be used together, don't allow it, because
+  // using OUTPUT_VARIABLE makes crosscompiling harder
+  if (this->OutputVariable.size() 
+      && ((this->RunOutputVariable.size()) 
+       || (this->CompileOutputVariable.size())))
+    {
+    cmSystemTools::Error(
+      "You cannot use OUTPUT_VARIABLE together with COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE "
+      "or RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE. Please use only COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE and/or "
+      "RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE.");
+    return false;
+    }
+
+  bool captureRunOutput = false;
+  if (this->OutputVariable.size())
+    {
+    captureRunOutput = true;
+    tryCompile.push_back("OUTPUT_VARIABLE");
+    tryCompile.push_back(this->OutputVariable);
+    }
+  if (this->CompileOutputVariable.size())
+    {
+    tryCompile.push_back("OUTPUT_VARIABLE");
+    tryCompile.push_back(this->CompileOutputVariable);
+    }
+  if (this->RunOutputVariable.size())
+    {
+    captureRunOutput = true;
+    }
+
+  this->RunResultVariable = argv[0];
+  this->CompileResultVariable = argv[1];
+
   // do the try compile
   int res = this->TryCompileCode(tryCompile);
 
@@ -82,46 +141,42 @@ bool cmTryRunCommand::InitialPass(std::vector<std::string> const& argv)
       }
     else
       {
-      int retVal = -1;
-      std::string output;
-      std::string finalCommand = cmSystemTools::ConvertToRunCommandPath(
-                                                     this->OutputFile.c_str());
-      if(runArgs.size())
+      // "run" it and capture the output
+      std::string runOutputContents;
+      if (this->Makefile->IsOn("CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING"))
+        {
+        this->DoNotRunExecutable(runArgs, 
+                                 argv[3], 
+                                 captureRunOutput ? &runOutputContents : 0);
+        }
+      else
         {
-        finalCommand += runArgs;
+        this->RunExecutable(runArgs, &runOutputContents);
         }
-      int timeout = 0;
-      bool worked = cmSystemTools::RunSingleCommand(finalCommand.c_str(),
-                                                    &output, &retVal,
-                                                    0, false, timeout);
-      if(outputVariable.size())
+
+      // now put the output into the variables
+      if(this->RunOutputVariable.size())
+        {
+        this->Makefile->AddDefinition(this->RunOutputVariable.c_str(), 
+                                      runOutputContents.c_str());
+        }
+
+      if(this->OutputVariable.size())
         {
         // if the TryCompileCore saved output in this outputVariable then
         // prepend that output to this output
         const char* compileOutput
-          = this->Makefile->GetDefinition(outputVariable.c_str());
-        if(compileOutput)
+                 = this->Makefile->GetDefinition(this->OutputVariable.c_str());
+        if (compileOutput)
           {
-          output = std::string(compileOutput) + output;
+          runOutputContents = std::string(compileOutput) + runOutputContents;
           }
-        this->Makefile->AddDefinition(outputVariable.c_str(), output.c_str());
-        }
-      // set the run var
-      char retChar[1000];
-      if(worked)
-        {
-        sprintf(retChar,"%i",retVal);
-        }
-      else
-        {
-        strcpy(retChar, "FAILED_TO_RUN");
+        this->Makefile->AddDefinition(this->OutputVariable.c_str(), 
+                                      runOutputContents.c_str());
         }
-      this->Makefile->AddCacheDefinition(argv[0].c_str(), retChar,
-                                      "Result of TRY_RUN",
-                                          cmCacheManager::INTERNAL);
       }
-  }
-    
+    }
+
   // if we created a directory etc, then cleanup after ourselves
   if(!this->Makefile->GetCMakeInstance()->GetDebugTryCompile())
     {
@@ -129,3 +184,149 @@ bool cmTryRunCommand::InitialPass(std::vector<std::string> const& argv)
     }
   return true;
 }
+
+void cmTryRunCommand::RunExecutable(const std::string& runArgs,
+                                    std::string* out)
+{
+  int retVal = -1;
+  std::string finalCommand = cmSystemTools::ConvertToRunCommandPath(
+                               this->OutputFile.c_str());
+  if (runArgs.size())
+    {
+    finalCommand += runArgs;
+    }
+  int timeout = 0;
+  bool worked = cmSystemTools::RunSingleCommand(finalCommand.c_str(),
+                out, &retVal,
+                0, false, timeout);
+  // set the run var
+  char retChar[1000];
+  if (worked)
+    {
+    sprintf(retChar, "%i", retVal);
+    }
+  else
+    {
+    strcpy(retChar, "FAILED_TO_RUN");
+    }
+  this->Makefile->AddCacheDefinition(this->RunResultVariable.c_str(), retChar,
+                                     "Result of TRY_RUN",
+                                     cmCacheManager::INTERNAL);
+}
+
+/* This is only used when cross compiling. Instead of running the
+ executable, two cache variables are created which will hold the results
+ the executable would have produced. 
+*/
+void cmTryRunCommand::DoNotRunExecutable(const std::string& runArgs, 
+                                    const std::string& srcFile,
+                                    std::string* out
+                                    )
+{
+
+  std::string internalRunOutputName = this->RunResultVariable+"__"
+                                +this->CompileResultVariable+"__TRYRUN_OUTPUT";
+  bool error = false;
+  std::string info = "Source file: ";
+  info += srcFile + "\n";
+  if (runArgs.size())
+    {
+    info += "Run arguments: ";
+    info += runArgs;
+    info += "\n";
+    }
+  info += "Current CMake stack: " + this->Makefile->GetListFileStack();
+
+  if (this->Makefile->GetDefinition(this->RunResultVariable.c_str()) == 0)
+    {
+    // if the variables doesn't exist, create it with a helpful error text
+    // and mark it as advanced
+    std::string comment;
+    comment += "Run result of TRY_RUN().\n"
+               "This variable should indicate whether the executable would "
+               "have been able to run if it was executed on its target "
+               "platform.\n"
+               "If it would have been able to run, enter the exit code here "
+               "(in many cases 0 for success). If not, enter "
+               "\"FAILED_TO_RUN\" here.";
+    if (out!=0)
+      {
+      comment += "If it was able to run, also check the variable ";
+      comment += internalRunOutputName;
+      comment += " and set it appropriately.";
+      }
+    comment += "\n";
+    comment += info;
+    this->Makefile->AddCacheDefinition(this->RunResultVariable.c_str(), 
+                                       "PLEASE_FILL_OUT-FAILED_TO_RUN",
+                                       comment.c_str(),
+                                       cmCacheManager::STRING);
+
+    cmCacheManager::CacheIterator it = this->Makefile->GetCacheManager()->
+                             GetCacheIterator(this->RunResultVariable.c_str());
+    if ( !it.IsAtEnd() )
+      {
+      it.SetProperty("ADVANCED", "1");
+      }
+
+    error = true;
+    }
+
+  if (out!=0)
+    {
+    if (this->Makefile->GetDefinition(internalRunOutputName.c_str()) == 0)
+      {
+      // if the variables doesn't exist, create it with a helpful error text
+      // and mark it as advanced
+      std::string comment;
+      comment += "Output of TRY_RUN().\n"
+                 "This variable should contain the text, which the executable "
+                 "run by TRY_RUN() would have printed on stdout and stderr, "
+                 "if it was executed on its target platform.\n"
+                 "The accompanying variable ";
+      comment += this->RunResultVariable;
+      comment += " indicates whether the executable would have been able to "
+                 "run and its exit code."
+                 "If the executable would not have been able to run, set ";
+      comment += internalRunOutputName;
+      comment += " empty. Otherwise check if the output is evaluated by the "
+                 "calling CMake code. If this is the case, check the source "
+                 "file what it would have printed if called with the given "
+                 "arguments.\n";
+      comment += info;
+
+      this->Makefile->AddCacheDefinition(internalRunOutputName.c_str(), 
+                                         "PLEASE_FILL_OUT-NOTFOUND",
+                                         comment.c_str(),
+                                         cmCacheManager::STRING);
+      cmCacheManager::CacheIterator it = this->Makefile->GetCacheManager()->
+                               GetCacheIterator(internalRunOutputName.c_str());
+      if ( !it.IsAtEnd() )
+        {
+        it.SetProperty("ADVANCED", "1");
+        }
+
+      error = true;
+      }
+    }
+
+  if (error)
+    {
+    std::string errorMessage = "TRY_RUN() invoked in cross-compiling mode, "
+                               "please set the following cache variables "
+                               "appropriatly:\n";
+    errorMessage += "   " + this->RunResultVariable + " (advanced)\n";
+    if (out!=0)
+      {
+      errorMessage += "   " + internalRunOutputName + " (advanced)\n";
+      }
+    errorMessage += info;
+    cmSystemTools::Error(errorMessage.c_str());
+    return;
+    }
+
+  if (out!=0)
+    {
+    (*out) = this->Makefile->GetDefinition(internalRunOutputName.c_str());
+    }
+}

Source/cmTryRunCommand.h

@@ -61,22 +61,55 @@ public:
     {
     return
       "  TRY_RUN(RUN_RESULT_VAR COMPILE_RESULT_VAR\n"
-      "          bindir srcfile <CMAKE_FLAGS <Flags>>\n"
-      "          <COMPILE_DEFINITIONS <flags>>\n"
-      "          <OUTPUT_VARIABLE var>\n"
-      "          <ARGS <arg1> <arg2>...>)\n"
-      "Try compiling a srcfile.  Return the success or failure in "
-      "COMPILE_RESULT_VAR.  Then if the compile succeeded, run the "
-      "executable and return the result in RUN_RESULT_VAR. "
-      "If the executable was built, but failed to run for some"
-      "reason, then RUN_RESULT_VAR will be set to FAILED_TO_RUN, and "
-      "the output will be in the COMPILE_RESULT_VAR. OUTPUT_VARIABLE "
-      "specifies the name of the variable to put all of the standard "
-      "output and standard error into.";
+      "          bindir srcfile [CMAKE_FLAGS <Flags>]\n"
+      "          [COMPILE_DEFINITIONS <flags>]\n"
+      "          [COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE comp]\n"
+      "          [RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE run]\n"
+      "          [OUTPUT_VARIABLE var]\n"
+      "          [ARGS <arg1> <arg2>...])\n"
+      "Try compiling a srcfile.  Return TRUE or FALSE for success or failure "
+      "in COMPILE_RESULT_VAR.  Then if the compile succeeded, run the "
+      "executable and return its exit code in RUN_RESULT_VAR. "
+      "If the executable was built, but failed to run, then RUN_RESULT_VAR "
+      "will be set to FAILED_TO_RUN. "
+      "COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE specifies the variable where the output from "
+      "the compile step goes. RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE specifies the variable "
+      "where the output from the running executable goes.\n"
+      "For compatibility reasons OUTPUT_VARIABLE is still supported, which "
+      "gives you the output from the compile and run step combined.\n\n"
+      "Cross compiling issues\n"
+      "When cross compiling, the executable compiled in the first step "
+      "usually cannot be run on the build host. TRY_RUN() checks the "
+      "CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING variable to detect whether CMake is in "
+      "crosscompiling mode. If that's the case, it will still try to compile "
+      "the executable, but it will not try to run the executable. Instead it "
+      "will create cache variables which must be filled by the user or by "
+      "presetting them in some CMake script file to the values the "
+      "executable would have produced if it would have been run on its actual "
+      "target platform. These variables are RUN_RESULT_VAR (explanation see "
+      "above) and if RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE (or OUTPUT_VARIABLE) was used, an "
+      "additional cache variable "
+      "RUN_RESULT_VAR__COMPILE_RESULT_VAR__TRYRUN_OUTPUT."
+      "This is intended to hold stdout and stderr from the executable.\n"
+      "In order to make cross compiling your project easier, use TRY_RUN "
+      "only if really required. If you use TRY_RUN, use RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE "
+      "(or OUTPUT_VARIABLE) only if really required. Using them will require "
+      "that when crosscompiling, the cache variables will have to be set "
+      "manually to the output of the executable. You can also \"guard\" the "
+      "calls to TRY_RUN with IF(CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING) and provide an "
+      "easy-to-preset alternative for this case.\n";
     }
-  
+
   cmTypeMacro(cmTryRunCommand, cmCoreTryCompile);
+private:
+  void RunExecutable(const std::string& runArgs, std::string* runOutputContents);
+  void DoNotRunExecutable(const std::string& runArgs, const std::string& srcFile, std::string* runOutputContents);
 
+  std::string CompileResultVariable;
+  std::string RunResultVariable;
+  std::string OutputVariable;
+  std::string RunOutputVariable;
+  std::string CompileOutputVariable;
 };
 
 

Tests/TryCompile/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -87,6 +87,8 @@ ADD_EXECUTABLE(TryCompile pass.c)
 # now two tests for TRY_RUN
 
 # try to run a file that should compile and run without error
+# also check that OUTPUT_VARIABLE contains both the compile output
+# and the run output
 TRY_RUN(SHOULD_RUN SHOULD_COMPILE
     ${TryCompile_BINARY_DIR}${CMAKE_FILES_DIRECTORY}/CMakeTmp  
     ${TryCompile_SOURCE_DIR}/exit_success.c
@@ -97,16 +99,39 @@ ENDIF(NOT SHOULD_COMPILE)
 IF(NOT "${SHOULD_RUN}" STREQUAL "0")
   MESSAGE(SEND_ERROR "exit_success failed running with exit code ${SHOULD_RUN}")
 ENDIF(NOT "${SHOULD_RUN}" STREQUAL "0")
+# check the compile output for the filename
+IF(NOT "${TRY_OUT}" MATCHES "exit_success")
+  MESSAGE(SEND_ERROR " TRY_OUT didn't contain \"exit_success\": \"${TRY_OUT}\"")
+ENDIF(NOT "${TRY_OUT}" MATCHES "exit_success")
+# check the run output
+IF(NOT "${TRY_OUT}" MATCHES "hello world")
+  MESSAGE(SEND_ERROR " TRY_OUT didn't contain \"hello world\": \"${TRY_OUT}\"")
+ENDIF(NOT "${TRY_OUT}" MATCHES "hello world")
+
 
 # try to run a file that should compile and run, but return an error
 TRY_RUN(SHOULD_EXIT_WITH_ERROR SHOULD_COMPILE
     ${TryCompile_BINARY_DIR}${CMAKE_FILES_DIRECTORY}/CMakeTmp  
     ${TryCompile_SOURCE_DIR}/exit_with_error.c
-    OUTPUT_VARIABLE TRY_OUT)
+    COMPILE_OUTPUT_VARIABLE COMPILE_OUTPUT
+    RUN_OUTPUT_VARIABLE RUN_OUTPUT)
+
 IF(NOT SHOULD_COMPILE)
-  MESSAGE(STATUS " exit_with_error failed compiling: ${TRY_OUT}")
+  MESSAGE(STATUS " exit_with_error failed compiling: ${COMPILE_OUTPUT}")
 ENDIF(NOT SHOULD_COMPILE)
 IF("${SHOULD_EXIT_WITH_ERROR}" STREQUAL "0")
   MESSAGE(SEND_ERROR " exit_with_error passed with exit code ${SHOULD_EXIT_WITH_ERROR}")
 ENDIF("${SHOULD_EXIT_WITH_ERROR}" STREQUAL "0")
 
+# check the compile output, it should contain the filename
+IF(NOT "${COMPILE_OUTPUT}" MATCHES "exit_with_error")
+  MESSAGE(SEND_ERROR " COMPILE_OUT didn't contain \"exit_with_error\": \"${COMPILE_OUTPUT}\"")
+ENDIF(NOT "${COMPILE_OUTPUT}" MATCHES "exit_with_error")
+#... but not the run time output
+IF("${COMPILE_OUTPUT}" MATCHES "hello world")
+  MESSAGE(SEND_ERROR " COMPILE_OUT contains the run output: \"${COMPILE_OUTPUT}\"")
+ENDIF("${COMPILE_OUTPUT}" MATCHES "hello world")
+# check the run output, it should stdout
+IF(NOT "${RUN_OUTPUT}" MATCHES "hello world")
+  MESSAGE(SEND_ERROR " RUN_OUTPUT didn't contain \"hello world\": \"${RUN_OUTPUT}\"")
+ENDIF(NOT "${RUN_OUTPUT}" MATCHES "hello world")

Tests/TryCompile/exit_success.c

@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+
 int main()
 {
+  printf("hello world\n");
   return 0;
 }

Tests/TryCompile/exit_with_error.c

@@ -1,4 +1,7 @@
+#include <stdio.h>
+
 int main()
 {
+  printf("hello world\n");
   return -1;
 }