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461 lines
13 KiB
461 lines
13 KiB
Step 1: A Basic Starting Point
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==============================
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Where do I start with CMake? This step will provide an introduction to some of
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CMake's basic syntax, commands, and variables. As these concepts are
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introduced, we will work through three exercises and create a simple CMake
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project.
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Each exercise in this step will start with some background information. Then, a
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goal and list of helpful resources are provided. Each file in the
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``Files to Edit`` section is in the ``Step1`` directory and contains one or
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more ``TODO`` comments. Each ``TODO`` represents a line or two of code to
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change or add. The ``TODO`` s are intended to be completed in numerical order,
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first complete ``TODO 1`` then ``TODO 2``, etc. The ``Getting Started``
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section will give some helpful hints and guide you through the exercise. Then
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the ``Build and Run`` section will walk step-by-step through how to build and
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test the exercise. Finally, at the end of each exercise the intended solution
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is discussed.
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Also note that each step in the tutorial builds on the next. So, for example,
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the starting code for ``Step2`` is the complete solution to ``Step1``.
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Exercise 1 - Building a Basic Project
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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The most basic CMake project is an executable built from a single source code
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file. For simple projects like this, a ``CMakeLists.txt`` file with three
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commands is all that is required.
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**Note:** Although upper, lower and mixed case commands are supported by CMake,
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lower case commands are preferred and will be used throughout the tutorial.
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Any project's top most CMakeLists.txt must start by specifying a minimum CMake
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version using the :command:`cmake_minimum_required` command. This establishes
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policy settings and ensures that the following CMake functions are run with a
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compatible version of CMake.
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To start a project, we use the :command:`project` command to set the project
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name. This call is required with every project and should be called soon after
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:command:`cmake_minimum_required`. As we will see later, this command can
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also be used to specify other project level information such as the language
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or version number.
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Finally, the :command:`add_executable` command tells CMake to create an
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executable using the specified source code files.
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Goal
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----
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Understand how to create a simple CMake project.
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Helpful Resources
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-----------------
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* :command:`add_executable`
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* :command:`cmake_minimum_required`
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* :command:`project`
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Files to Edit
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-------------
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* ``CMakeLists.txt``
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Getting Started
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----------------
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The source code for ``tutorial.cxx`` is provided in the
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``Help/guide/tutorial/Step1`` directory and can be used to compute the square
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root of a number. This file does not need to be edited in this step.
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In the same directory is a ``CMakeLists.txt`` file which you will complete.
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Start with ``TODO 1`` and work through ``TODO 3``.
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Build and Run
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-------------
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Once ``TODO 1`` through ``TODO 3`` have been completed, we are ready to build
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and run our project! First, run the :manual:`cmake <cmake(1)>` executable or the
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:manual:`cmake-gui <cmake-gui(1)>` to configure the project and then build it
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with your chosen build tool.
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For example, from the command line we could navigate to the
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``Help/guide/tutorial`` directory of the CMake source code tree and create a
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build directory:
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.. code-block:: console
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mkdir Step1_build
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Next, navigate to that build directory and run
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:manual:`cmake <cmake(1)>` to configure the project and generate a native build
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system:
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.. code-block:: console
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cd Step1_build
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cmake ../Step1
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Then call that build system to actually compile/link the project:
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.. code-block:: console
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cmake --build .
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Finally, try to use the newly built ``Tutorial`` with these commands:
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.. code-block:: console
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Tutorial 4294967296
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Tutorial 10
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Tutorial
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Solution
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--------
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As mentioned above, a three line ``CMakeLists.txt`` is all that we need to get
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up and running. The first line is to use :command:`cmake_minimum_required` to
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set the CMake version as follows:
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 1: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
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:caption: TODO 1: CMakeLists.txt
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:name: CMakeLists.txt-cmake_minimum_required
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:language: cmake
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:end-before: # set the project name and version
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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The next step to make a basic project is to use the :command:`project`
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command as follows to set the project name:
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 2: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. code-block:: cmake
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:caption: TODO 2: CMakeLists.txt
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:name: CMakeLists.txt-project
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project(Tutorial)
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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The last command to call for a basic project is
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:command:`add_executable`. We call it as follows:
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 3: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
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:caption: TODO 3: CMakeLists.txt
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:name: CMakeLists.txt-add_executable
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:language: cmake
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:start-after: # add the executable
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:end-before: # TODO 3:
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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Exercise 2 - Specifying the C++ Standard
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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CMake has some special variables that are either created behind the scenes or
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have meaning to CMake when set by project code. Many of these variables start
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with ``CMAKE_``. Avoid this naming convention when creating variables for your
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projects. Two of these special user settable variables are
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:variable:`CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD` and :variable:`CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED`.
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These may be used together to specify the C++ standard needed to build the
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project.
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Goal
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----
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Add a feature that requires C++11.
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Helpful Resources
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-----------------
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* :variable:`CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD`
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* :variable:`CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED`
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* :command:`set`
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Files to Edit
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-------------
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* ``CMakeLists.txt``
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* ``tutorial.cxx``
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Getting Started
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---------------
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Continue editing files in the ``Step1`` directory. Start with ``TODO 4`` and
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complete through ``TODO 6``.
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First, edit ``tutorial.cxx`` by adding a feature that requires C++11. Then
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update ``CMakeLists.txt`` to require C++11.
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Build and Run
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-------------
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Let's build our project again. Since we already created a build directory and
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ran CMake for Exercise 1, we can skip to the build step:
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.. code-block:: console
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cd Step1_build
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cmake --build .
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Now we can try to use the newly built ``Tutorial`` with same commands as
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before:
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.. code-block:: console
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Tutorial 4294967296
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Tutorial 10
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Tutorial
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Solution
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--------
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We start by adding some C++11 features to our project by replacing
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``atof`` with ``std::stod`` in ``tutorial.cxx``. This looks like
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the following:
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 4: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. literalinclude:: Step2/tutorial.cxx
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:caption: TODO 4: tutorial.cxx
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:name: tutorial.cxx-cxx11
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:language: c++
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:start-after: // convert input to double
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:end-before: // TODO 6:
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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To complete ``TODO 5``, simply remove ``#include <cstdlib>``.
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We will need to explicitly state in the CMake code that it should use the
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correct flags. One way to enable support for a specific C++ standard in CMake
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is by using the :variable:`CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD` variable. For this tutorial, set
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the :variable:`CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD` variable in the ``CMakeLists.txt`` file to
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``11`` and :variable:`CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED` to ``True``. Make sure to
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add the :variable:`CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD` declarations above the call to
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:command:`add_executable`.
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 6: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
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:caption: TODO 6: CMakeLists.txt
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:name: CMakeLists.txt-CXX_STANDARD
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:language: cmake
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:start-after: # specify the C++ standard
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:end-before: # configure a header file
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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Exercise 3 - Adding a Version Number and Configured Header File
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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Sometimes it may be useful to have a variable that is defined in your
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``CMakelists.txt`` file also be available in your source code. In this case, we
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would like to print the project version.
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One way to accomplish this is by using a configured header file. We create an
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input file with one or more variables to replace. These variables have special
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syntax which looks like ``@VAR@``.
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Then, we use the :command:`configure_file` command to copy the input file to a
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given output file and replace these variables with the current value of ``VAR``
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in the ``CMakelists.txt`` file.
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While we could edit the version directly in the source code, using this
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feature is preferred since it creates a single source of truth and avoids
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duplication.
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Goal
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----
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Define and report the project's version number.
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Helpful Resources
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-----------------
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* :variable:`<PROJECT-NAME>_VERSION_MAJOR`
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* :variable:`<PROJECT-NAME>_VERSION_MINOR`
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* :command:`configure_file`
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* :command:`target_include_directories`
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Files to Edit
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-------------
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* ``CMakeLists.txt``
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* ``tutorial.cxx``
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Getting Started
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---------------
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Continue to edit files from ``Step1``. Start on ``TODO 7`` and complete through
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``TODO 12``. In this exercise, we start by adding a project version number in
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``CMakeLists.txt``. In that same file, use :command:`configure_file` to copy a
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given input file to an output file and substitute some variable values in the
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input file content.
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Next, create an input header file ``TutorialConfig.h.in`` defining version
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numbers which will accept variables passed from :command:`configure_file`.
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Finally, update ``tutorial.cxx`` to print out its version number.
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Build and Run
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-------------
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Let's build our project again. As before, we already created a build directory
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and ran CMake so we can skip to the build step:
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.. code-block:: console
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cd Step1_build
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cmake --build .
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Verify that the version number is now reported when running the executable
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without any arguments.
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Solution
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--------
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In this exercise, we improve our executable by printing a version number.
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While we could do this exclusively in the source code, using ``CMakeLists.txt``
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lets us maintain a single source of data for the version number.
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First, we modify the ``CMakeLists.txt`` file to use the
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:command:`project` command to set both the project name and version number.
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When the :command:`project` command is called, CMake defines
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``Tutorial_VERSION_MAJOR`` and ``Tutorial_VERSION_MINOR`` behind the scenes.
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 7: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
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:caption: TODO 7: CMakeLists.txt
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:name: CMakeLists.txt-project-VERSION
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:language: cmake
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:start-after: # set the project name and version
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:end-before: # specify the C++ standard
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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Then we used :command:`configure_file` to copy the input file with the
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specified CMake variables replaced:
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 8: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
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:caption: TODO 8: CMakeLists.txt
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:name: CMakeLists.txt-configure_file
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:language: cmake
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:start-after: # to the source code
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:end-before: # TODO 2:
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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Since the configured file will be written into the project binary
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directory, we must add that directory to the list of paths to search for
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include files.
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**Note:** Throughout this tutorial, we will refer to the project build and
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the project binary directory interchangeably. These are the same and are not
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meant to refer to a `bin/` directory.
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We used :command:`target_include_directories` to specify
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where the executable target should look for include files.
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 9: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. literalinclude:: Step2/CMakeLists.txt
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:caption: TODO 9: CMakeLists.txt
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:name: CMakeLists.txt-target_include_directories
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:language: cmake
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:start-after: # so that we will find TutorialConfig.h
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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``TutorialConfig.h.in`` is the input header file to be configured.
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When :command:`configure_file` is called from our ``CMakeLists.txt``, the
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values for ``@Tutorial_VERSION_MAJOR@`` and ``@Tutorial_VERSION_MINOR@`` will
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be replaced with the corresponding version numbers from the project in
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``TutorialConfig.h``.
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 10: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. literalinclude:: Step2/TutorialConfig.h.in
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:caption: TODO 10: TutorialConfig.h.in
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:name: TutorialConfig.h.in
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:language: c++
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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Next, we need to modify ``tutorial.cxx`` to include the configured header file,
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``TutorialConfig.h``.
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 11: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. code-block:: c++
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:caption: TODO 11: tutorial.cxx
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#include "TutorialConfig.h"
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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Finally, we print out the executable name and version number by updating
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``tutorial.cxx`` as follows:
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.. raw:: html
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<details><summary>TODO 12: Click to show/hide answer</summary>
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.. literalinclude:: Step2/tutorial.cxx
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:caption: TODO 12 : tutorial.cxx
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:name: tutorial.cxx-print-version
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:language: c++
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:start-after: {
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:end-before: // convert input to double
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.. raw:: html
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</details>
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