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  1. CMake Tutorial
  2. **************
  3. .. only:: html
  4. .. contents::
  5. The CMake tutorial provides a step-by-step guide that covers common build
  6. system issues that CMake helps address. Seeing how various topics all
  7. work together in an example project can be very helpful. The tutorial
  8. documentation and source code for examples can be found in the
  9. ``Help/guide/tutorial`` directory of the CMake source code tree. Each step has
  10. its own subdirectory containing code that may be used as a starting point. The
  11. tutorial examples are progressive so that each step provides the complete
  12. solution for the previous step.
  13. A Basic Starting Point (Step 1)
  14. ===============================
  15. The most basic project is an executable built from source code files.
  16. For simple projects, a three line CMakeLists file is all that is required.
  17. This will be the starting point for our tutorial. Create a ``CMakeLists.txt``
  18. file in the ``Step1`` directory that looks like:
  19. .. code-block:: cmake
  20. cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
  21. # set the project name
  22. project(Tutorial)
  23. # add the executable
  24. add_executable(Tutorial tutorial.cxx)
  25. Note that this example uses lower case commands in the CMakeLists file.
  26. Upper, lower, and mixed case commands are supported by CMake. The source
  27. code for ``tutorial.cxx`` is provided in the ``Step1`` directory and can be
  28. used to compute the square root of a number.
  29. Adding a Version Number and Configured Header File
  30. --------------------------------------------------
  31. The first feature we will add is to provide our executable and project with a
  32. version number. While we could do this exclusively in the source code, using
  33. CMakeLists provides more flexibility.
  34. First, modify the CMakeLists file to set the version number.
  35. .. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
  36. :language: cmake
  37. :end-before: # specify the C++ standard
  38. Then, configure a header file to pass the version number to the source
  39. code:
  40. .. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
  41. :language: cmake
  42. :start-after: # to the source code
  43. :end-before: # add the executable
  44. Since the configured file will be written into the binary tree, we
  45. must add that directory to the list of paths to search for include
  46. files. Add the following lines to the end of the CMakeLists file:
  47. .. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
  48. :language: cmake
  49. :start-after: # so that we will find TutorialConfig.h
  50. Using your favorite editor, create ``TutorialConfig.h.in`` in the source
  51. directory with the following contents:
  52. .. literalinclude:: Step2/TutorialConfig.h.in
  53. :language: cmake
  54. When CMake configures this header file the values for
  55. ``@Tutorial_VERSION_MAJOR@`` and ``@Tutorial_VERSION_MINOR@`` will be
  56. replaced.
  57. Next modify ``tutorial.cxx`` to include the configured header file,
  58. ``TutorialConfig.h``.
  59. Finally, let's print out the version number by updating ``tutorial.cxx`` as
  60. follows:
  61. .. literalinclude:: Step2/tutorial.cxx
  62. :language: c++
  63. :start-after: {
  64. :end-before: // convert input to double
  65. Specify the C++ Standard
  66. -------------------------
  67. Next let's add some C++11 features to our project by replacing ``atof`` with
  68. ``std::stod`` in ``tutorial.cxx``. At the same time, remove
  69. ``#include <cstdlib>``.
  70. .. literalinclude:: Step2/tutorial.cxx
  71. :language: c++
  72. :start-after: // convert input to double
  73. :end-before: // calculate square root
  74. We will need to explicitly state in the CMake code that it should use the
  75. correct flags. The easiest way to enable support for a specific C++ standard
  76. in CMake is by using the ``CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD`` variable. For this tutorial,
  77. set the ``CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD`` variable in the CMakeLists file to 11 and
  78. ``CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED`` to True:
  79. .. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
  80. :language: cmake
  81. :end-before: # configure a header file to pass some of the CMake settings
  82. Build and Test
  83. --------------
  84. Run **cmake** or **cmake-gui** to configure the project and then build it
  85. with your chosen build tool.
  86. For example, from the command line we could navigate to the
  87. ``Help/guide/tutorial`` directory of the CMake source code tree and run the
  88. following commands:
  89. .. code-block:: console
  90. mkdir Step1_build
  91. cd Step1_build
  92. cmake ../Step1
  93. cmake --build .
  94. Navigate to the directory where Tutorial was built (likely the make directory
  95. or a Debug or Release build configuration subdirectory) and run these commands:
  96. .. code-block:: console
  97. Tutorial 4294967296
  98. Tutorial 10
  99. Tutorial
  100. Adding a Library (Step 2)
  101. =========================
  102. Now we will add a library to our project. This library will contain our own
  103. implementation for computing the square root of a number. The executable can
  104. then use this library instead of the standard square root function provided by
  105. the compiler.
  106. For this tutorial we will put the library into a subdirectory
  107. called MathFunctions. This directory already contains a header file,
  108. ``MathFunctions.h``, and a source file ``mysqrt.cxx``. The source file has one
  109. function called ``mysqrt`` that provides similar functionality to the
  110. compiler's ``sqrt`` function.
  111. Add the following one line ``CMakeLists.txt`` file to the MathFunctions
  112. directory:
  113. .. literalinclude:: Step3/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  114. :language: cmake
  115. To make use of the new library we will add an ``add_subdirectory`` call in the
  116. top-level CMakeLists file so that the library will get built. We add the new
  117. library to the executable, and add MathFunctions as an include directory so
  118. that the ``mqsqrt.h`` header file can be found. The last few lines of the
  119. top-level CMakeLists file should now look like:
  120. .. code-block:: cmake
  121. # add the MathFunctions library
  122. add_subdirectory(MathFunctions)
  123. # add the executable
  124. add_executable(Tutorial tutorial.cxx)
  125. target_link_libraries(Tutorial PUBLIC MathFunctions)
  126. # add the binary tree to the search path for include files
  127. # so that we will find TutorialConfig.h
  128. target_include_directories(Tutorial PUBLIC
  129. "${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}"
  130. "${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/MathFunctions"
  131. )
  132. Now let us make the MathFunctions library optional. While for the tutorial
  133. there really isn’t any need to do so, for larger projects this is a common
  134. occurrence. The first step is to add an option to the top-level CMakeLists
  135. file.
  136. .. literalinclude:: Step3/CMakeLists.txt
  137. :language: cmake
  138. :start-after: # should we use our own math functions
  139. :end-before: # add the MathFunctions library
  140. This option will be displayed in the CMake GUI and ccmake with a default
  141. value of ON that can be changed by the user. This setting will be stored in
  142. the cache so that the user does not need to set the value each time they run
  143. CMake on a build directory.
  144. The next change is to make building and linking the MathFunctions library
  145. conditional. To do this we change the end of the top-level CMakeLists file to
  146. look like the following:
  147. .. literalinclude:: Step3/CMakeLists.txt
  148. :language: cmake
  149. :start-after: # add the MathFunctions library
  150. Note the use of the variable ``EXTRA_LIBS`` to collect up any optional
  151. libraries to later be linked into the executable. The variable
  152. ``EXTRA_INCLUDES`` is used similarly for optional header files. This is a
  153. classic approach when dealing with many optional components, we will cover
  154. the modern approach in the next step.
  155. The corresponding changes to the source code are fairly straightforward. First,
  156. in ``tutorial.cxx``, include the MathFunctions header if we need it:
  157. .. literalinclude:: Step3/tutorial.cxx
  158. :language: c++
  159. :start-after: // should we include the MathFunctions header
  160. :end-before: int main
  161. Then, in the same file, make which square root function is used dependent on
  162. ``USE_MYMATH``:
  163. .. literalinclude:: Step3/tutorial.cxx
  164. :language: c++
  165. :start-after: // which square root function should we use?
  166. :end-before: std::cout << "The square root of
  167. Since the source code now requires ``USE_MYMATH`` we can add it to
  168. ``TutorialConfig.h.in`` with the following line:
  169. .. literalinclude:: Step3/TutorialConfig.h.in
  170. :language: c
  171. :lines: 4
  172. **Exercise**: Why is it important that we configure ``TutorialConfig.h.in``
  173. after the option for ``USE_MYMATH``? What would happen if we inverted the two?
  174. Run **cmake** or **cmake-gui** to configure the project and then build it
  175. with your chosen build tool. Then run the built Tutorial executable.
  176. Use ccmake or the CMake GUI to update the value of ``USE_MYMATH``. Rebuild and
  177. run the tutorial again. Which function gives better results, sqrt or mysqrt?
  178. Adding Usage Requirements for Library (Step 3)
  179. ==============================================
  180. Usage requirements allow for far better control over a library or executable's
  181. link and include line while also giving more control over the transitive
  182. property of targets inside CMake. The primary commands that leverage usage
  183. requirements are:
  184. - ``target_compile_definitions``
  185. - ``target_compile_options``
  186. - ``target_include_directories``
  187. - ``target_link_libraries``
  188. Let's refactor our code from `Adding a Library (Step 2)`_ to use the modern
  189. CMake approach of usage requirements. We first state that anybody linking to
  190. MathFunctions needs to include the current source directory, while
  191. MathFunctions itself doesn't. So this can become an ``INTERFACE`` usage
  192. requirement.
  193. Remember ``INTERFACE`` means things that consumers require but the producer
  194. doesn't. Add the following lines to the end of ``MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt``:
  195. .. literalinclude:: Step4/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  196. :language: cmake
  197. :start-after: # to find MathFunctions.h
  198. Now that we've specified usage requirements for MathFunctions we can safely
  199. remove our uses of the ``EXTRA_INCLUDES`` variable from the top-level
  200. CMakeLists, here:
  201. .. literalinclude:: Step4/CMakeLists.txt
  202. :language: cmake
  203. :start-after: # add the MathFunctions library
  204. :end-before: # add the executable
  205. And here:
  206. .. literalinclude:: Step4/CMakeLists.txt
  207. :language: cmake
  208. :start-after: # so that we will find TutorialConfig.h
  209. Once this is done, run **cmake** or **cmake-gui** to configure the project
  210. and then build it with your chosen build tool or by using ``cmake --build .``
  211. from the build directory.
  212. Installing and Testing (Step 4)
  213. ===============================
  214. Now we can start adding install rules and testing support to our project.
  215. Install Rules
  216. -------------
  217. The install rules are fairly simple for MathFunctions we want to install the
  218. library and header file and for the application we want to install the
  219. executable and configured header.
  220. So to ``MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt`` we add:
  221. .. literalinclude:: Step5/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  222. :language: cmake
  223. :start-after: # install rules
  224. And the to top-level ``CMakeLists.txt`` we add:
  225. .. literalinclude:: Step5/CMakeLists.txt
  226. :language: cmake
  227. :start-after: # add the install targets
  228. :end-before: # enable testing
  229. That is all that is needed to create a basic local install of the tutorial.
  230. Run **cmake** or **cmake-gui** to configure the project and then build it
  231. with your chosen build tool. Run the install step by typing
  232. ``cmake --install .`` or from the command line, or build the ``INSTALL``
  233. target from an IDE. This will install the appropriate header files, libraries,
  234. and executables.
  235. Verify that the installed Tutorial runs. Note: The CMake variable
  236. ``CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX`` is used to determine the root of where the files will
  237. be installed. If using ``cmake --install`` a custom installation directory can
  238. be given via ``--prefix`` argument.
  239. Testing Support
  240. ---------------
  241. Next let's test our application. At the end of the top-level CMakeLists file we
  242. can add a number of basic tests to verify that the application is
  243. working correctly.
  244. .. literalinclude:: Step5/CMakeLists.txt
  245. :language: cmake
  246. :start-after: # enable testing
  247. The first test simply verifies that the application runs, does not segfault or
  248. otherwise crash, and has a zero return value. This is the basic form of a CTest
  249. test.
  250. The next test makes use of the ``PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION`` test property to
  251. verify that the output of the test contains certain strings, in this case:
  252. verifying that the the usage message is printed when an incorrect number of
  253. arguments are provided.
  254. Lastly, we have a function called ``do_test`` that runs the application and
  255. verifies that the computed square root is correct for given input. For each
  256. invocation of ``do_test``, another test is added to the project with a name,
  257. input, and expected results based on the passed arguments.
  258. Rebuild the application and then cd to the binary directory and run
  259. ``ctest -N`` and ``ctest -VV``.
  260. Adding System Introspection (Step 5)
  261. ====================================
  262. Let us consider adding some code to our project that depends on features the
  263. target platform may not have. For this example, we will add some code that
  264. depends on whether or not the target platform has the ``log`` and ``exp``
  265. functions. Of course almost every platform has these functions but for this
  266. tutorial assume that they are not common.
  267. If the platform has ``log`` and ``exp`` then we will use them to compute the
  268. square root in the ``mysqrt`` function. We first test for the availability of
  269. these functions using the ``CheckSymbolExists.cmake`` macro in the top-level
  270. CMakeLists file as follows:
  271. .. literalinclude:: Step6/CMakeLists.txt
  272. :language: cmake
  273. :start-after: # does this system provide the log and exp functions?
  274. :end-before: # configure a header file to pass some of the CMake settings
  275. Now let's add these defines to ``TutorialConfig.h.in`` so that we can use them
  276. from ``mysqrt.cxx``:
  277. .. literalinclude:: Step6/TutorialConfig.h.in
  278. :language: c
  279. :start-after: // does the platform provide exp and log functions?
  280. Finally, in the ``mysqrt`` function we can provide an alternate implementation
  281. based on ``log`` and ``exp`` if they are available on the system using the
  282. following code:
  283. .. literalinclude:: Step6/MathFunctions/mysqrt.cxx
  284. :language: c++
  285. :start-after: // if we have both log and exp then use them
  286. :end-before: #else
  287. Run **cmake** or **cmake-gui** to configure the project and then build it
  288. with your chosen build tool.
  289. You will notice that even though ``HAVE_LOG`` and ``HAVE_EXP`` are both
  290. defined ``mysqrt`` isn't using them. We should realize quickly that we have
  291. forgotten to include ``TutorialConfig.h`` in ``mysqrt.cxx``.
  292. After making this update, go ahead and build the project again.
  293. Run the built Tutorial executable. Which function gives better results now,
  294. Step1’s sqrt or Step5’s mysqrt?
  295. **Exercise**: Is there a better place for us to save the ``HAVE_LOG`` and
  296. ``HAVE_EXP`` values other than in ``TutorialConfig.h``?
  297. Adding a Custom Command and Generated File (Step 6)
  298. ===================================================
  299. In this section, we will add a generated source file into the build process
  300. of an application. For this example, we will create a table of precomputed
  301. square roots as part of the build process, and then compile that
  302. table into our application.
  303. To accomplish this, we first need a program that will generate the table. In
  304. the MathFunctions subdirectory a new source file named ``MakeTable.cxx`` will
  305. do just that.
  306. .. literalinclude:: Step7/MathFunctions/MakeTable.cxx
  307. :language: c++
  308. Note that the table is produced as valid C++ code and that the output filename
  309. is passed in as an argument.
  310. The next step is to add the appropriate commands to MathFunctions' CMakeLists
  311. file to build the MakeTable executable and then run it as part of the build
  312. process. A few commands are needed to accomplish this.
  313. First, the executable for ``MakeTable`` is added as any other executable would
  314. be added.
  315. .. literalinclude:: Step7/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  316. :language: cmake
  317. :start-after: # first we add the executable that generates the table
  318. :end-before: # add the command to generate the source code
  319. Then we add a custom command that specifies how to produce ``Table.h``
  320. by running MakeTable.
  321. .. literalinclude:: Step7/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  322. :language: cmake
  323. :start-after: # add the command to generate the source code
  324. :end-before: # add the main library
  325. Next we have to let CMake know that ``mysqrt.cxx`` depends on the generated
  326. file ``Table.h``. This is done by adding the generated ``Table.h`` to the list
  327. of sources for the library MathFunctions.
  328. .. literalinclude:: Step7/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  329. :language: cmake
  330. :start-after: # add the main library
  331. :end-before: # state that anybody linking
  332. We also have to add the current binary directory to the list of include
  333. directories so that ``Table.h`` can be found and included by ``mysqrt.cxx``.
  334. .. literalinclude:: Step7/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  335. :start-after: # state that we depend on our bin
  336. :end-before: # install rules
  337. Now let's use the generated table. First, modify ``mysqrt.cxx`` to include
  338. ``Table.h``. Next, we can rewrite the mysqrt function to use the table:
  339. .. literalinclude:: Step7/MathFunctions/mysqrt.cxx
  340. :language: c++
  341. :start-after: // a hack square root calculation using simple operations
  342. Run **cmake** or **cmake-gui** to configure the project and then build it
  343. with your chosen build tool. When this project is built it will first build
  344. the ``MakeTable`` executable. It will then run ``MakeTable`` to produce
  345. ``Table.h``. Finally, it will compile ``mysqrt.cxx`` which includes
  346. ``Table.h`` to produce the MathFunctions library.
  347. Building an Installer (Step 7)
  348. ==============================
  349. Next suppose that we want to distribute our project to other people so that
  350. they can use it. We want to provide both binary and source distributions on a
  351. variety of platforms. This is a little different from the install we did
  352. previously in `Installing and Testing (Step 4)`_ , where we were
  353. installing the binaries that we had built from the source code. In this
  354. example we will be building installation packages that support binary
  355. installations and package management features. To accomplish this we will use
  356. CPack to create platform specific installers. Specifically we need to add
  357. a few lines to the bottom of our top-level ``CMakeLists.txt`` file.
  358. .. literalinclude:: Step8/CMakeLists.txt
  359. :language: cmake
  360. :start-after: # setup installer
  361. That is all there is to it. We start by including
  362. ``InstallRequiredSystemLibraries``. This module will include any runtime
  363. libraries that are needed by the project for the current platform. Next we
  364. set some CPack variables to where we have stored the license and version
  365. information for this project. The version information makes use of the
  366. variables we set earlier in this tutorial. Finally we include the CPack
  367. module which will use these variables and some other properties of the system
  368. you are on to setup an installer.
  369. The next step is to build the project in the usual manner and then run
  370. CPack on it. To build a binary distribution you would run:
  371. .. code-block:: console
  372. cpack
  373. To create a source distribution you would type:
  374. .. code-block:: console
  375. cpack -C CPackSourceConfig.cmake
  376. Alternatively, run ``make package`` or right click the ``Package`` target and
  377. ``Build Project`` from an IDE.
  378. Run the installer executable found in the binary directory. Then run the
  379. installed executable and verify that it works.
  380. Adding Support for a Dashboard (Step 8)
  381. =======================================
  382. Adding support for submitting our test results to a dashboard is very easy. We
  383. already defined a number of tests for our project in the earlier steps of this
  384. tutorial. We just have to run those tests and submit them to a dashboard. To
  385. include support for dashboards we include the CTest module in our top-level
  386. ``CMakeLists.txt``.
  387. Replace:
  388. .. code-block:: cmake
  389. # enable testing
  390. enable_testing()
  391. With:
  392. .. code-block:: cmake
  393. # enable dashboard scripting
  394. include(CTest)
  395. The CTest module will automatically call ``enable_testing()``, so
  396. we can remove it from our CMake files.
  397. We will also need to create a ``CTestConfig.cmake`` file where we can specify
  398. the name of the project and where to submit the dashboard.
  399. .. literalinclude:: Step9/CTestConfig.cmake
  400. :language: cmake
  401. CTest will read in this file when it runs. To create a simple dashboard you can
  402. run **cmake** or **cmake-gui** to configure the project, but do not build it
  403. yet. Instead, change directory to the binary tree, and then run:
  404. .. code-block:: console
  405. 'ctest [-VV] –D Experimental'
  406. On Windows, build the EXPERIMENTAL target.
  407. Ctest will build and test the project and submit the results to the Kitware
  408. public dashboard. The results of your dashboard will be uploaded to Kitware's
  409. public dashboard here: https://my.cdash.org/index.php?project=CMakeTutorial.
  410. Mixing Static and Shared (Step 9)
  411. =================================
  412. In this section we will show how by using the ``BUILD_SHARED_LIBS`` variable
  413. we can control the default behavior of ``add_library``, and allow control
  414. over how libraries without an explicit type (STATIC/SHARED/MODULE/OBJECT) are
  415. built.
  416. To accomplish this we need to add ``BUILD_SHARED_LIBS`` to the top-level
  417. ``CMakeLists.txt``. We use the ``option`` command as it allows users to
  418. optionally select if the value should be On or Off.
  419. Next we are going to refactor MathFunctions to become a real library that
  420. encapsulates using ``mysqrt`` or ``sqrt``, instead of requiring the calling
  421. code to do this logic. This will also mean that ``USE_MYMATH`` will not control
  422. building MathFuctions, but instead will control the behavior of this library.
  423. The first step is to update the starting section of the top-level
  424. ``CMakeLists.txt`` to look like:
  425. .. literalinclude:: Step10/CMakeLists.txt
  426. :language: cmake
  427. :start-after: set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
  428. :end-before: # add the binary tree
  429. Now that we have made MathFunctions always be used, we will need to update
  430. the logic of that library. So, in ``MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt`` we need to
  431. create a SqrtLibrary that will conditionally be built when ``USE_MYMATH`` is
  432. enabled. Now, since this is a tutorial, we are going to explicitly require
  433. that SqrtLibrary is built statically.
  434. The end result is that ``MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt`` should look like:
  435. .. literalinclude:: Step10/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  436. :language: cmake
  437. :lines: 1-40,46-
  438. Next, update ``MathFunctions/mysqrt.cxx`` to use the ``mathfunctions`` and
  439. ``detail`` namespaces:
  440. .. literalinclude:: Step10/MathFunctions/mysqrt.cxx
  441. :language: c++
  442. We also need to make some changes in ``tutorial.cxx``, so that it no longer
  443. uses ``USE_MYMATH``:
  444. #. Always include ``MathFunctions.h``
  445. #. Always use ``mathfunctions::sqrt``
  446. Finally, update ``MathFunctions/MathFunctions.h`` to use dll export defines:
  447. .. literalinclude:: Step10/MathFunctions/MathFunctions.h
  448. :language: c++
  449. At this point, if you build everything, you will notice that linking fails
  450. as we are combining a static library without position enabled code with a
  451. library that has position enabled code. The solution to this is to explicitly
  452. set the ``POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE`` target property of SqrtLibrary to be
  453. True no matter the build type.
  454. **Exercise**: We modified ``MathFunctions.h`` to use dll export defines.
  455. Using CMake documentation can you find a helper module to simplify this?
  456. Adding Generator Expressions (Step 10)
  457. ======================================
  458. Generator expressions are evaluated during build system generation to produce
  459. information specific to each build configuration.
  460. Generator expressions are allowed in the context of many target properties,
  461. such as ``LINK_LIBRARIES``, ``INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES``, ``COMPILE_DEFINITIONS``
  462. and others. They may also be used when using commands to populate those
  463. properties, such as ``target_link_libraries()``,
  464. ``target_include_directories()``,
  465. ``target_compile_definitions()`` and others.
  466. Generator expressions may be used to enable conditional linking, conditional
  467. definitions used when compiling, conditional include directories and more.
  468. The conditions may be based on the build configuration, target properties,
  469. platform information or any other queryable information.
  470. There are different types of generator expressions including Logical,
  471. Informational, and Output expressions.
  472. Logical expressions are used to create conditional output. The basic
  473. expressions are the 0 and 1 expressions. A ``$<0:...>`` results in the empty
  474. string, and ``<1:...>`` results in the content of "...". They can also be
  475. nested.
  476. A common usage of generator expressions is to conditionally add compiler
  477. flags, such as those as language levels or warnings. A nice pattern is
  478. to associate this information to an ``INTERFACE`` target allowing this
  479. information to propagate. Lets start by constructing an ``INTERFACE``
  480. target and specifying the required C++ standard level of ``11`` instead
  481. of using ``CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD``.
  482. So the following code:
  483. .. literalinclude:: Step10/CMakeLists.txt
  484. :language: cmake
  485. :start-after: project(Tutorial VERSION 1.0)
  486. :end-before: # control where the static and shared libraries are built so that on windows
  487. Would be replaced with:
  488. .. literalinclude:: Step11/CMakeLists.txt
  489. :language: cmake
  490. :start-after: project(Tutorial VERSION 1.0)
  491. :end-before: # add compiler warning flags just when building this project via
  492. Next we add the desired compiler warning flags that we want for our
  493. project. As warning flags vary based on the compiler we use
  494. the ``COMPILE_LANG_AND_ID`` generator expression to control which
  495. flags to apply given a language and a set of compiler ids as seen
  496. below:
  497. .. literalinclude:: Step11/CMakeLists.txt
  498. :language: cmake
  499. :start-after: # the BUILD_INTERFACE genex
  500. :end-before: # control where the static and shared libraries are built so that on windows
  501. Looking at this we see that the warning flags are encapsulated inside a
  502. ``BUILD_INTERFACE`` condition. This is done so that consumers of our installed
  503. project will not inherit our warning flags.
  504. **Exercise**: Modify ``MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt`` so that
  505. all targets have a ``target_link_libraries()`` call to ``tutorial_compiler_flags``.
  506. Adding Export Configuration (Step 11)
  507. =====================================
  508. During `Installing and Testing (Step 4)`_ of the tutorial we added the ability
  509. for CMake to install the library and headers of the project. During
  510. `Building an Installer (Step 7)`_ we added the ability to package up this
  511. information so it could be distributed to other people.
  512. The next step is to add the necessary information so that other CMake projects
  513. can use our project, be it from a build directory, a local install or when
  514. packaged.
  515. The first step is to update our ``install(TARGETS)`` commands to not only
  516. specify a ``DESTINATION`` but also an ``EXPORT``. The ``EXPORT`` keyword
  517. generates and installs a CMake file containing code to import all targets
  518. listed in the install command from the installation tree. So let's go ahead
  519. and explicitly ``EXPORT`` the MathFunctions library by updating the
  520. ``install`` command in ``MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt`` to look like:
  521. .. literalinclude:: Complete/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  522. :language: cmake
  523. :start-after: # install rules
  524. Now that we have MathFunctions being exported, we also need to explicitly
  525. install the generated ``MathFunctionsTargets.cmake`` file. This is done by
  526. adding the following to the bottom of the top-level ``CMakeLists.txt``:
  527. .. literalinclude:: Complete/CMakeLists.txt
  528. :language: cmake
  529. :start-after: # install the configuration targets
  530. :end-before: include(CMakePackageConfigHelpers)
  531. At this point you should try and run CMake. If everything is setup properly
  532. you will see that CMake will generate an error that looks like:
  533. .. code-block:: console
  534. Target "MathFunctions" INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES property contains
  535. path:
  536. "/Users/robert/Documents/CMakeClass/Tutorial/Step11/MathFunctions"
  537. which is prefixed in the source directory.
  538. What CMake is trying to say is that during generating the export information
  539. it will export a path that is intrinsically tied to the current machine and
  540. will not be valid on other machines. The solution to this is to update the
  541. MathFunctions ``target_include_directories`` to understand that it needs
  542. different ``INTERFACE`` locations when being used from within the build
  543. directory and from an install / package. This means converting the
  544. ``target_include_directories`` call for MathFunctions to look like:
  545. .. literalinclude:: Complete/MathFunctions/CMakeLists.txt
  546. :language: cmake
  547. :start-after: # to find MathFunctions.h, while we don't.
  548. :end-before: # should we use our own math functions
  549. Once this has been updated, we can re-run CMake and see verify that it doesn't
  550. warn anymore.
  551. At this point, we have CMake properly packaging the target information that is
  552. required but we will still need to generate a ``MathFunctionsConfig.cmake`` so
  553. that the CMake ``find_package command`` can find our project. So let's go
  554. ahead and add a new file to the top-level of the project called
  555. ``Config.cmake.in`` with the following contents:
  556. .. literalinclude:: Complete/Config.cmake.in
  557. Then, to properly configure and install that file, add the following to the
  558. bottom of the top-level CMakeLists:
  559. .. literalinclude:: Complete/CMakeLists.txt
  560. :language: cmake
  561. :start-after: # install the configuration targets
  562. :end-before: # generate the export
  563. At this point, we have generated a relocatable CMake Configuration for our
  564. project that can be used after the project has been installed or packaged. If
  565. we want our project to also be used from a build directory we only have to add
  566. the following to the bottom of the top level CMakeLists:
  567. .. literalinclude:: Complete/CMakeLists.txt
  568. :language: cmake
  569. :start-after: # needs to be after the install(TARGETS ) command
  570. With this export call we now generate a ``Targets.cmake``, allowing the
  571. configured ``MathFunctionsConfig.cmake`` in the build directory to be used by
  572. other projects, without needing it to be installed.
  573. Import a CMake Project (Consumer)
  574. =================================
  575. This examples shows how a project can find other CMake packages that
  576. generate ``Config.cmake`` files.
  577. It also shows how to state a project's external dependencies when generating
  578. a ``Config.cmake``.
  579. Packaging Debug and Release (MultiPackage)
  580. ==========================================
  581. By default CMake is model is that a build directory only contains a single
  582. configuration, be it Debug, Release, MinSizeRel, or RelWithDebInfo.
  583. But it is possible to setup CPack to bundle multiple build directories at the
  584. same time to build a package that contains multiple configurations of the
  585. same project.
  586. First we need to ahead and construct a directory called ``multi_config`` this
  587. will contain all the builds that we want to package together.
  588. Second create a ``debug`` and ``release`` directory underneath
  589. ``multi_config``. At the end you should have a layout that looks like:
  590. ─ multi_config
  591. ├── debug
  592. └── release
  593. Now we need to setup debug and release builds, which would roughly entail
  594. the following:
  595. .. code-block:: console
  596. cd debug
  597. cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ../../MultiPackage/
  598. cmake --build .
  599. cd ../release
  600. cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ../../MultiPackage/
  601. cmake --build .
  602. cd ..
  603. Now that both the debug and release builds are complete we can now use
  604. the custom MultiCPackConfig to package both builds into a single release.
  605. .. code-block:: console
  606. cpack --config ../../MultiPackage/MultiCPackConfig.cmake