How to print the interface library in cmake. Actually i want to do this for a debugging purpose.
so want to know how to print what are all the include directories in that interface library
I have a interface library A which is linked to 2 interface libraries B and C(i.e A includes B and C).
Now i want to know whether A contains all the paths are not..how to check that?
Related
Using Cmake I would like to know how to create a wrapper library and let the users link their application with this library only. Users don't need to specify the original library in their linker flags.
For instance, I create a wrapper library for libwebsockets, named libcustomws.
add_library(customws main.c)
target_link_libraries(customws websockets)
I would like user (with no libwebsockets installed) to be able to do:
add_executable(user_app user_app.c)
target_link_libraries(user_app customws pthread)
Wrapper libraries without any additional code from within your project can best be implemented with small INTERFACE library targets with the IMPORTED tag. Example for your scenario:
add_library(customws INTERFACE IMPORTED)
target_include_directories(customws
INTERFACE
/some/include/path)
target_link_libraries(customws
INTERFACE
websockets)
This way, targets that use this library can just
add_executable(user_app user_app.c)
target_link_libraries(user_app customws pthread)
and get the usage requirements from the target customws, in this case an include directory and a linked library (websockets) are propagated through customws. This can be a good thing, as it might encapsulate implementation details of the dependency (different flags for different platforms etc.).
If you like to automatically link to compiled code (that is part of your project), this can be easily done by adding a small intermediate OBJECT library, e.g.
add_libraray(customwsenhanced
OBJECT
someCode.c)
target_link_library(customwsenhanced
PUBLIC
customws)
Depending on whether someCode.c depends on the usage requirements of customws, the target_link_library for customwsenhanced could also use INTERFACE propagation. Now, a client application can go with
add_executable(user_app user_app.c)
target_link_libraries(user_app customwsenhanced pthread)
and will get both the compiled object code of someCode.c as well as flags etc. from customws.
A somewhat similar question was asked here, Transitive target_include_directories on OBJECT libraries, but there was no real solution.
If I have a project b that depends on a project a I can build them as follows
add_library(a OBJECT ${a_srcs})
add_library(b OBJECT ${b_srcs})
When I want to build an excutable using I them I can write
add_executable(p ${p_srcs} $<TARGET_OBJECTS:b> $<TARGET_OBJECTS:a>)
Is there any way to not have to specify $<TARGET_OBJECTS:a>? I assume this means telling CMake in some way that there is a dependency. If I was building SHARED libraries rather than OBJECT ones the b project would contain
target_link_libraries(b a)
which creates this dependency, but I can't find some equivalent way for OBJECT libraries.
Insofar as I understand it, in the current setup, no. The add_executable for target p can either
Link against some library (shared or static), or
Merge object sources into itself.
You have chosen (2). The only other option I see here is create a third library c that merges in a and b into a full-blown library (see Usage section at the bottom, which is likely where you were already looking).
When you do that, you could then target_link_libraries(c). The compiled OBJECTs cannot be linked against on their own. You have to merge the sources into either an executable or a library for them to be used.
Your add_executable call could be thought of basically doing add_executable(p ${p_srcs} ${a_srcs} ${b_srcs}), only instead of compiling a_srcs and b_srcs (which has been done previously), just copy in the compiled objects instead of redoing the work. That's a really simple / bad explanation, but that's the general idea.
The best way I have found to do this is to wrap the OBJECT library in an INTERFACE library.
add_library(a-objects OBJECT ${a_srcs})
add_library(b-objects OBJECT ${b_srcs})
add_library(a INTERFACE)
add_library(b INTERFACE)
target_link_libraries(a INTERFACE a-objects)
target_link_libraries(b INTERFACE b-objects)
target_sources(a INTERFACE $<TARGET_OBJECTS:a-objects>)
target_sources(b INTERFACE $<TARGET_OBJECTS:b-objects>)
My rule is to use the OBJECT library to set requirements, but only ever link against the INTERFACE library.
target_link_libraries(b-objects INTERFACE a)
Setting it up this way should allow you to link against both libraries like this:
add_executable(p ${p_srcs})
target_link_libraries(p PRIVATE b)
Suppose I create an iOS application. I include a static library. I create an object of a class that is defined and implemented in static library. This object doesn't use other classes defined in the library. Will all of the static library be present in the application I build? The idea is that much of the static library contains unused code and wouldn't need to be present.
I believe there a flags that help determine the behavior -- if someone can spell out how this works, I sure would appreciate it.
A static library is an archive of object files. If you link against a static library libfoo.a then
the linker by default will link into your final executable all and only those object files in libfoo.a
that are required to provide definitions for the public symbols that are referenced by the program.
More specifically, if the linker finds the library requested (via the option -lfoo) at a given
point in the commandline sequence of object files and libraries to be linked, then it will
extract from the archive and link into the executable each object file in the archive that provides
a definition for any symbol that remains undefined up to that point in the linkage.
In so doing, definitions of unused public symbols may be redundantly linked into
your program, but only if they are found in an object file (whether free-standing or a member of
a library) that is not completely redundant.
If you do not want to tolerate even those potential redundancies, then a combination of
compiler and linker options can eliminate them: see this answer
I am new to CMake and a bit confused with the PUBLIC, PRIVATE and INTERFACE keywords related to target_link_libraries(). Documentation mentions that they can be used to specify both the link dependencies and the link interface in one command.
What does link dependencies and link interface actually mean?
If you are creating a shared library and your source cpp files #include the headers of another library (Say, QtNetwork for example), but your header files don't include QtNetwork headers, then QtNetwork is a PRIVATE dependency.
If your source files and your headers include the headers of another library, then it is a PUBLIC dependency.
If your header files other than your source files include the headers of another library, then it is an INTERFACE dependency.
Other build properties of PUBLIC and INTERFACE dependencies are propagated to consuming libraries. http://www.cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-buildsystem.7.html#transitive-usage-requirements
#steveire accepted answer is great. I just wanted to add a table to quickly see the difference:
.-----------.------------------.----------------.
| | Linked by target | Link interface |
:-----------+------------------+----------------:
| PUBLIC | X | X |
:-----------+------------------+----------------:
| PRIVATE | X | |
:-----------+------------------+----------------:
| INTERFACE | | X |
'-----------'------------------'----------------'
Linked by target: libraries included in target sources (not a dependency for projects linking the library).
Link interface: libraries included in target public headers (dependencies for projects linking the library).
Not my brainchild but this extremely useful explanation helped me understand the situation. The most important part is quoted below for reference:
When A links B as PRIVATE, it is saying that A uses B in its implementation, but B is not used in any part of A's public API. Any
code that makes calls into A would not need to refer directly to
anything from B. An example of this could be a networking library A
which can be built to use one of a number of different SSL
libraries internally (which B represents). A presents a unified
interface for client code which does not reference any of the
internal SSL data structures or functions. Client code would have
no idea what SSL implementation (B) is being used by A, nor does
that client code need to care.
When A links B as INTERFACE, it is saying that A does not use B in its implementation, but B is used in A's public API. Code
that calls into A may need to refer to things from B in order to
make such calls. One example of this is an interface library which
simply forwards calls along to another library but doesn't actually
reference the objects on the way through other than by a pointer or
reference. Another example is where A is defined in CMake as an
interface library, meaning it has no actual implementation itself,
it is effectively just a collection of other libraries (I'm
probably over-simplifying here, but you get the picture).
When A links B as PUBLIC, it is essentially a combination of PRIVATE and INTERFACE. It says that A uses B in its implementation and
B is also used in A's public API.
Consider first what this means for include search paths. If something
links against A, it will also need any include search paths from B if
B is in A's public API. Thus, if A links B either as PUBLIC or
INTERFACE, then any header search paths defined for target B will also
apply to anything that links to A. Any PRIVATE header search path for
B will NOT be carried through to anything that links only to A. The
target_include_directories() command handles this. The situation with
compile flags is analogously handled with target_compile_definitions()
and target_compile_options().
Now consider the situation for the actual libraries involved. If A is
a shared library, then A will have encoded into it a dependency on B.
This information can be inspected with tools like ldd on Linux, otool
on Mac and something like Dependency Walker (a.k.a. depends.exe) on
Windows. If other code links directly to A, then it also will have
encoded into it a dependency on A. It will not, however, have a
dependency on B unless A links B either as PUBLIC or INTERFACE. So far, so
good. If, however, A is a static library, the situation changes.
Static libraries do not carry information about other libraries they
depend on. For this reason, when A links B as PRIVATE and another
target C links A, CMake will still add B to the list of libraries
to be linked for C because parts of B are needed by A, but A itself
doesn't have that dependency encoded into it. So even though B is an
internal implementation detail of A, C still needs B added to the
linker command, which CMake conveniently handles for you.
If you were paying careful attention, you would have noticed that when
A links B as PRIVATE, the include directories of B never propagate
to something linking to A, but if A is a static library, then the
linking of B behaves as though the relationship was PUBLIC. This PRIVATE-becomes-PUBLIC behaviour for static libraries only applies to
the
linking, not to the other dependencies (compiler options/flags and include search paths). The upshot of all this is that if you select
PRIVATE, PUBLIC or INTERFACE based on the explanations in the dot
points above, then CMake will ensure dependencies propagate through to
where they are required, regardless of whether libraries are static or
shared. This does, of course, rely on you the developer not missing
any dependencies or specifying the wrong PRIVATE/PUBLIC/INTERFACE
relationship.
Some answers only said when to use PRIVATE/PUBLIC/INTERFACE, but the affects are ignored. Refer:CMake-Public-Private-Interface
PUBLIC
All the objects following PUBLIC will be used for linking to the current target and providing the interface to the other targets that have dependencies on the current target.
PRIVATE
All the objects following PRIVATE will only be used for linking to the current target.
INTERFACE
All the objects following INTERFACE will only be used for providing the interface to the other targets that have dependencies on the current target.
Other posts already answered what the meaning of PUBLIC/PRIVATE/INTERFACE keywords. I want to add one more to clarify the terms "link dependencies" and "link interface."
Link dependencies :
the list of libraries to be linked by the target.
The target property LINK_LIBRARIES holds this information.
Link interface : the list of libraries to be linked by the target's dependents. The target property INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES holds this information.
Probably the term "link interface" came from the old CMake wording used around LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES properties, which is deprecated in favor of INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES.
See the description of CMP0022, which also uses the term "link interface."
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/policy/CMP0022.html
INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES defines the link interface.
Is it possible to use distinct libraries A, B, C in the same project in Visual Studio, where A is a static library, B is multi-threaded and C is a multi-threaded DLL? Or do they all have to be the same type for a single .exe output?
Edit: Sorry, A is a single-threaded static library. B is a multi-threaded static library, C is a multi-threaded DLL. (I guess A and B are the same from the linker's point of view?)
You can freely mix static and dynamic libraries, so long as they all use the same run-time libs.
In Properties -> General -> Configuration Type -> set this to Static Library or Dynamic Library for the libraries A and B you want to static or dynamic.
In Properties -> C/C++ -> Code Generation -> Runtime Library -> Every library which will be linked together must use the same run-time library, for example Multi-Threaded Debug DLL.
Thus you could do:
A - Config Type: Static Library. Runtime Lib: Multi-threaded Debug DLL. (yes this is ok)
B - Config Type: Dynamic Library. Runtime Lib: Multi-threaded Debug DLL
These two libs could be linked into the same exe.
Not sure what B is but the general idea is yes.
A will get compiled directly into the exe
B Not sure about what this one is
C Yes, functions within this library will be linked at runtime.
Are you talking about libraries compiler with different CRT linking type(static, dll)?
If yes, then it's impossible.