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162 lines
6.8 KiB
162 lines
6.8 KiB
IDE Integration Guide
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*********************
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.. only:: html
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.. contents::
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Introduction
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============
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Integrated development environments (IDEs) may want to integrate with CMake to
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improve the development experience for CMake users. This document lays out the
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recommended best practices for such integration.
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Bundling
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========
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Many IDE vendors will want to bundle a copy of CMake with their IDE. IDEs that
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bundle CMake should present the user with the option of using an external CMake
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installation instead of the bundled one, in case the bundled copy becomes
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outdated and the user wants to use a newer version.
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While IDE vendors may be tempted to bundle different versions of CMake with
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their application, such practice is not recommended. CMake has strong
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guarantees of backwards compatibility, and there is no reason not to use a
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newer version of CMake than what a project requires, or indeed, the very latest
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version. Therefore, it is recommended that IDE vendors that bundle CMake with
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their application always include the very latest patch version of CMake
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available at the time of release.
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As a suggestion, IDEs may also ship a copy of the Ninja buildsystem alongside
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CMake. Ninja is highly performant and well-supported on all platforms that
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support CMake. IDEs that bundle Ninja should use Ninja 1.10 or later, which
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contains features needed to support Fortran builds.
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Presets
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=======
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CMake supports a file format called ``CMakePresets.json``, and its
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user-specific counterpart, ``CMakeUserPresets.json``. This file contains
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information on the various configure presets that a user may want. Each preset
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may have a different compiler, build flags, etc. The details of this format are
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explained in the :manual:`cmake(1)` manual.
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IDE vendors are encouraged to read and evaluate this file the same way CMake
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does, and present the user with the presets listed in the file. Users should be
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able to see (and possibly edit) the CMake cache variables, environment
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variables, and command line options that are defined for a given preset. The
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IDE should then construct the list of appropriate :manual:`cmake(1)` command
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line arguments based on these settings, rather than using the
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:option:`--preset= <cmake --preset>` option directly. The
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:option:`--preset= <cmake --preset>` option is intended only as a convenient
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frontend for command line users, and should not be used by the IDE.
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For example, if a preset named ``ninja`` specifies ``Ninja`` as the generator
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and ``${sourceDir}/build`` as the build directory, instead of running:
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.. code-block:: console
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cmake -S /path/to/source --preset=ninja
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the IDE should instead calculate the settings of the ``ninja`` preset, and then
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run:
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.. code-block:: console
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cmake -S /path/to/source -B /path/to/source/build -G Ninja
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In cases where a preset contains lots of cache variables, and passing all of
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them as :option:`-D <cmake -D>` flags would cause the command line length limit
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of the platform to be exceeded, the IDE should instead construct a temporary
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cache script and pass it with the :option:`-C <cmake -C>` flag.
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While reading, parsing, and evaluating the contents of ``CMakePresets.json`` is
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straightforward, it is not trivial. In addition to the documentation, IDE
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vendors may also wish to refer to the CMake source code and test cases for a
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better understanding of how to implement the format.
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:download:`This file <../../manual/presets/schema.json>` provides a
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machine-readable JSON schema for the ``CMakePresets.json`` format that IDE
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vendors may find useful for validation and providing editing assistance.
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Configuring
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===========
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IDEs that invoke :manual:`cmake(1)` to run the configure step may wish to
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receive information about the artifacts that the build will produce, as well
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as the include directories, compile definitions, etc. used to build the
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artifacts. Such information can be obtained by using the
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:manual:`File API <cmake-file-api(7)>`. The manual page for the File API
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contains more information about the API and how to invoke it.
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:manual:`Server mode <cmake-server(7)>` was removed as of CMake 3.20 and
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should not be used on CMake 3.14 or later.
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IDEs should avoid creating more build trees than necessary, and only create
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multiple build trees if the user wishes to switch to a different compiler,
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use different compile flags, etc. In particular, IDEs should NOT create
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multiple single-config build trees which all have the same properties except
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for a differing :variable:`CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE`, effectively creating a
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multi-config environment. Instead, the :generator:`Ninja Multi-Config`
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generator, in conjunction with the :manual:`File API <cmake-file-api(7)>` to
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get the list of build configurations, should be used for this purpose.
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IDEs should not use the "extra generators" with Makefile or Ninja generators,
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which generate IDE project files in addition to the Makefile or Ninja files.
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Instead the :manual:`File API <cmake-file-api(7)>` should be used to get the
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list of build artifacts.
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Building
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========
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If a Makefile or Ninja generator is used to generate the build tree, it is not
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recommended to invoke ``make`` or ``ninja`` directly. Instead, it is
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recommended that the IDE invoke :manual:`cmake(1)` with the
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:option:`--build <cmake --build>` argument, which will in turn invoke the
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appropriate build tool.
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If an IDE project generator is used, such as :generator:`Xcode` or one of the
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Visual Studio generators, and the IDE understands the project format used, the
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IDE should read the project file and build it the same way it would otherwise.
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The :manual:`File API <cmake-file-api(7)>` can be used to obtain a list of
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build configurations from the build tree, and the IDE should present this list
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to the user to select a build configuration.
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Testing
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=======
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:manual:`ctest(1)` supports outputting a JSON format with information about the
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available tests and test configurations. IDEs which want to run CTest should
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obtain this information and use it to present the user with a list of tests.
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IDEs should not invoke the ``test`` target of the generated buildsystem.
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Instead, they should invoke :manual:`ctest(1)` directly.
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IDEs with CMake integration
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===========================
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The following IDEs support CMake natively:
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* `CLion`_
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* `KDevelop`_
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* `QtCreator`_
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* `Vim`_ (via a plugin)
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* `Visual Studio`_
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* `VSCode`_ (via a plugin)
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.. _CLion: https://www.jetbrains.com/clion/
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.. _KDevelop: https://www.kdevelop.org/
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.. _QtCreator: https://www.qt.io/product/development-tools
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.. _Vim: https://www.vim.org/
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.. _Visual Studio: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/
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.. _VSCode: https://code.visualstudio.com/
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Additionally, CMake has builtin support for some IDEs:
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* :ref:`IDE Build Tool Generators`:
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Generate IDE native build systems such as Visual Studio or Xcode.
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* :ref:`Extra Generators`:
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Extend :ref:`Command-Line Build Tool Generators` to generate IDE
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project files that hook into the command-line build system.
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Superseded by the :manual:`File API <cmake-file-api(7)>`.
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