CMake: How to build multiple projects exported for find_package() via add_subdirectory() - cmake

Question

I have a Library Project that is exported so consumers can use it like so:
find_package(myLibrary)
target_link_libraries(theirLibrary PUBLIC myNamespace::myLibrary)
MyLibrary is the main product but it lives alongside two other projects in our repository, and the layout looks like this:
MyRepository/
MyLibrary/
CMakeLists.txt
include/ //public headers
MyLibrary/ //sources and private headers
MyDependentLibrary/ //another library project
CMakeLists.txt
etc..
MyExample //executable project
CMakeLists.txt
etc..
The dependencies for each project are like so:
MyLibrary: None
MyDependentLibrary: MyLibrary
MyExample: MyLibrary, MyDependentLibrary
MyLibrary and MyDependentLibrary are both set up with install and build directory exports to be compatible with the find_package() command. So to build everthing you:
configure/build MyLibrary
configure MyDependantLibrary setting MyLibrary_DIR when prompted, then build it
configure MyExample setting MyLibrary_DIR and MyDependentLibrary_DIR when prompted, then build it
This workflow is great, most of the time we only want to package MyLibrary without the other projects when we send to customers, but occasionally we want to give them the source for all 3 projects so they have more examples to look at.
For that reason I would love to add a top level CMakeLists.txt file that would I imagine look something like this:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10 FATAL_ERROR)
project(MyCombinedProject VERSION 1.0.0 LANGUAGES CXX)
add_subdirectory(MyLibrary)
add_subdirectory(MyDependentLibrary)
add_subdirectory(MyExample)
However this doesn't work. When configuring the "combined" project, MyDependentLibrary is unable to find MyLibrary_DIR, which makes sense, as MyLibrary hasn't been built yet.
Is there a way to add an export to each of the libraries so they can be found when added in this manner in addition to the find_package()? I really don't want to move any CMake code required to build MyLibrary into the top level CMakeLists.txt, as 90% of the time it will be delivered on its own.

Answer 1

You may ship the sources of your library (MyLibrary) with a pseudo config file, which just provides myNamespace::myLibrary target as alias for myLibrary.
MyLibrary/CMakeLists.txt:
# Assuming you create a library
add_library(mylibrary ...)
# Install and export it
install(TARGETS mylibrary EXPORT mylibraryTargets ...)
# and install the file which describes this installation
install(EXPORT mylibraryTargets NAMESPACE myNamespace ...)
# Then you install config file for your library:
install(FILES myLibrary.cmake ...)
# Then just set `MyLibrary_DIR` variable to point into in-source version of config file.
set(MyLibrary_DIR CACHE INTERNAL "A directory with the in-source config file"
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake
)
And write that in-source config file as follows:
MyLibrary/cmake/MyLibraryConfig.cmake:
add_library(myNamespace::mylibrary ALIAS mylibrary)
That way, find_package(MyLibrary) will work if it is issued after configuring sources of your library (add_subdirectory(MyLibrary)).