cmake add_library, followed by install library destination - cmake

I am trying to run cmake to generate makefiles. In the minimum working example, I have three files and 1 build directory.
File 1 is CMakeLists.txt, containing exactly:
add_library (MathFunctions SHARED mysqrt.cxx)
install (TARGETS MathFunctions LIBRARY DESTINATION lib)
File 2 is MathFunctions.h containing the function prototype, function relates to mysqrt.cxx.
File 3 is mysqrt.cxx containing include statement and a function definition.
When I create a build sub-directory and run "cmake ..", I am getting
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:2 (install):
install Library TARGETS given no DESTINATION!
Isn't my add_library, then install statement grammar correct? If I remove both SHARED and LIBRARY, cmake builds without errors.
Thanks for your help.

The problem is likely down to you running this on what CMake calls a "DLL platform" and how CMake classifies a shared library on such a platform.
From the docs for install:
For DLL platforms the DLL part of a shared library is treated as a RUNTIME target and the corresponding import library is treated as an ARCHIVE target. All Windows-based systems including Cygwin are DLL platforms.
So, try changing your command to something like:
install (TARGETS MathFunctions
ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib
LIBRARY DESTINATION lib
RUNTIME DESTINATION bin)

Related

How to correctly link static library build and installed previously

There is a static library called revolta which is being built and then installed into a sysroot:
set( CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX <path to sysroot> )
# ReVolta c++ library name
set( TARGET_LIBREVOLTA "revolta" )
add_library( ${TARGET_LIBREVOLTA} STATIC )
target_include_directories( ${TARGET_LIBREVOLTA}
PUBLIC
# Once the librevolta targets are being exported, this include directory in which the lib is installed is used
$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/include>
PRIVATE
# Include directory used privately just to build the library itself
$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}>
)
target_sources( ${TARGET_LIBREVOLTA}
PUBLIC
...
)
Later then once the librevolta is built, it is installed into the sys root using:
# Install all the revolta headers into include directory and copy the built library
install( TARGETS ${TARGET_LIBREVOLTA} EXPORT ${TARGET_LIBREVOLTA}
FILE_SET HEADERS DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/include"
ARCHIVE DESTINATION "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib"
)
and the connected custom command:
# Once the librevolta is built, install it to the sysroot as specified by 'install()' commands
add_custom_command( TARGET ${TARGET_LIBREVOLTA} POST_BUILD COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} ARGS --install . )
So far so good. This works as intended, once CMake builds the "revolta" target, it is built and installed into the sysroot as installed using the ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}.
My problem is once I try to add the target as the linked one in other lib/executable, it includes somehow automatically the librevolta source path into includes and links the library using the relative path in the build directory rather than the one installed into sysroot as performed in the step right after the librevolta build.
Some other lib/executable:
target_link_libraries( ${APP_EXECUTABLE}
PRIVATE
revolta
)
Once being built, the include path -I/home/martin/git/revolta/source/librevolta is added (the source location) even though it is stated as PRIVATE in the snipped above:
PRIVATE
# Include directory used privately just to build the library itself
$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}>
and only the ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/include is made public...
Additionally, the library is taken from the build tree rather than from the location where it is installed:
../../librevolta/librevolta.a
instead of
/home/martin/git/revolta/sysroot/lib/librevolta.a
Could you please advice me how to correctly set the revolta target the way it correctly uses its sources for building itself but once used elsewhere it provides the sysroot installed headers and built library from the same location (respecting the standard locations)?
HINT: I also tried to remove the revolta target from the app completely, specifying only to use the sys root (gcc option --sysroot=/home/martin/git/revolta/sysroot), it works fine correct headers and lib is used BUT once the librevolta is not built and installed, the target is not run prior to app build as the dependency is not defined then...
TL;DR: You need to do what's done here:
How to create a ProjectConfig.cmake file
I see a few issues with these CMakeLists.txt files but they aren't related to your problem, because if I understand correctly what you are trying to do here, then there is no problem and it is used as intended.
Let me clarify:
You have a library project that has it's own CMakeLists.txt, where you define the target revolta
You have an executable project that has it's own CMakeLists.txt, where you define your executable target and then you add the revolta target via add_subdirectory() and target_link_libraries(my_executable revolta)
If that's the case then this is just bad:
# Once the librevolta is built, install it to the sysroot as specified by 'install()' commands
add_custom_command( TARGET ${TARGET_LIBREVOLTA} POST_BUILD COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} ARGS --install . )
Forcing your build to automatically install this library is not the way to go, ever (you for example, need elevated privileges to build it in the first place, because of this command and that poses a security risk).
That being said what is happening is perfectly fine, because from the perspective of the my_executable's CMakeLists.txt you are still building i.e. you use the BUILD_INTERFACE. It is however something you do not want to do.
What instead you want to do is:
Create generator files for a revoltaConfig.cmake file. For that I will refer you to this tutorial:
How to create a ProjectConfig.cmake file
After you create such file, i.e. after building and installing revolta. You will (in the process) also create a revoltaConfig.cmake file. Which helps you populate the my_executable project via find_package(revolta).
The above is probably what you are interested in.
The generator expressions that you use to distinguish BUILD_INTERFACE and INSTALL_INTERFACE are mainly for header file locations (or other linked libraries). Because when you build the library the header files can have a different structure then when you install it (as you already know). And as such work perfectly fine in your CMakeLists.txt, because when you think about it:
You don't want to copy changes to your library files (into the install directory) just to test ongoing development (features/bugfixes) in your executable.
And during the build of the executable if your building another target then IT IS NOT INSTALLED but rather BEING BUILT. And you are most likely adding it as a built target.
So to sum up what would most likely happen here (using your old CMakeLists.txt) is that
The moment you start building the executable which adds the target library as a dependency via add_subdirectory you are implicitly using BUILD_INTERFACE because you are building.
If you were to then install both the executable and the library it would again use the correct install paths, i.e. you would then implicitly start using INSTALL_INTERFACE.
You could hack it without the projectConfig file using the same generator expressions by mixing them up, but I don't recommend it, because then the CMakeLists.txt wouldn't work without doing some weird steps beforehand.

Cmake GNUInstallDirs variables empty

When trying to compile my project using cmake ., variable CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR is empty and I have no idea why.
I'm trying to issue the following (on line 40):
install(TARGETS fpthread
EXPORT fpthread_config
LIBRARY DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR}
ARCHIVE DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
I get the following error message:
CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:40 (install):
install TARGETS given no LIBRARY DESTINATION for shared library target
"fpthread".
Issuing the following results in an empty string:
MESSAGE(STATUS ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
I've tried both Cmake 3.5 (installed through package manager) and Cmake 3.11 (latest release, compiled from source).
Reformulating my previous comment as answer:
To access variables from the GNUInstallDirs module you need to add
include(GNUInstallDirs)
to your CMakeLists.txt file. The module is not included by default.

How to use CMake to find and link to a library using install-export and find_package?

You have a CMake-enabled library project. You need to use it in another library or executable. How to use CMake to find and link to the library? You may have the following preferences:
write the least possible amount of boiler-plate code
decouple the internal details of the linked library from the consuming target
Ideally, the usage of the library should look like this:
add_executable(myexe ...)
target_link_libraries(myexe mylib::mylib)
Let me demonstrate a possible solution on a concrete example:
The myapp project
We have an executable target myapp. We're linking it with mylib, which is built in its own build tree. In the CMakeLists.txt of myapp we find and specify mylib as a dependency of myexe:
find_package(mylib REQUIRED)
...
add_executable(myexe ...)
target_link_libraries(myexe mylib::mylib)
Let's see how to set up mylib and the build of myexe to make this work.
The mylib project
The directory layout of mylib:
mylib
- CMakeLists.txt
- mylib.c
+ include
- mylib.h # single public header
In the CMakeLists.txt of mylib we need to create the target and specify its source files:
add_library(mylib mylib.c include/mylib.h)
The public header mylib.h will be included as #include "mylib.h" both by mylib and the clients of mylib:
mylib itself and other targets built in mylib's CMake project (for example tests) need to find include/mylib.h from the mylib source tree
clients of mylib built in their own projects (like myexe) need to find include/mylib.h at its installed location
CMake allows us to specify both include paths for mylib:
target_include_directories(mylib PUBLIC
$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>)
We're using the PUBLIC option here since this header is needed on the public interface of mylib. Use PRIVATE for include paths internal to mylib.
The INSTALL_INTERFACE specifies a path relative to the install root, that is, CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX. To actually install the public header:
set_target_properties(mylib PROPERTIES PUBLIC_HEADER include/mylib.h")
We also need to install the library itself and the so-called config-module and related files. The config-module is the file which will be used by consuming projects, like myapp to find mylib and get all the parameters needed to link with it. It is similar to the pkg-config's .pc files.
We need two, related install commands. The first one:
install(TARGETS mylib
EXPORT mylib-targets
PUBLIC_HEADER DESTINATION include
ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib
LIBRARY DESTINATION lib
RUNTIME DESTINATION bin)
The list of destinations needed to cover all the standard install locations of static libraries, dll's and so's. If you're sure your library will be built exclusively as a static lib, a single DESTINATION lib would make it.
The interesting part is the EXPORT option. It assigns the list of targets (currently, it's only mylib) to the identifier mylib-targets. This identifier will be used in the next command to generate and install some special files which make find_package(mylib) work in the consuming projects:
install(EXPORT mylib-targets
NAMESPACE mylib::
FILE mylib-config.cmake
DESTINATION lib/cmake/mylib)
This command generates multiple files:
one file for each build configuration (Debug, Release, etc..) which describes the library file and configuration-dependent parameters
a file which describes the configuration-agnostic parameters and also includes all the config-dependent files. Since this file can also be used as a config-module on its own we simply rename it as mylib-config.cmake
The files will be installed into ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib/cmake/mylib which is one of the many standard locations the find_package(mylib) command will search for mylib-config.cmake.
Building mylib
We need to specify an install location in the variable CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$PWD/../out ../mylib
and build and install the library:
cmake --build . --target install
Building myexe
myexe needs to know where to look for mylib. The variable CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH can be a list of paths. We need to specify the previous install location:
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$PWD/../out ../myexe
cmake --build .
A note on building multiple configurations
Usually we need to build multiple configurations (Debug, Release). A critical issue is to specify configuration-dependent filenames or install locations. For example, you can set the default value of the DEBUG_POSTFIX property for the library project:
set(CMAKE_DEBUG_POSTFIX d)
The debug version of the mylib library file will be named libmylibd.lib (or mylibd.lib on Windows). The generated EXPORT files will contain the modified filenames.
If you're using makefile-style CMake generators you can control the build configuration by setting the CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE variable:
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$PWD/../out ../mylib
cmake --build . --target install
You may need seperate build directories for each configuration or you can re-use the same build dir. In that case, to play it safe it's best to explicitly clean before build:
cmake --build . --target install --clean-first
If you're using a multiconfig IDE generator, like Xcode or Visual Studio, you need to specify the configuration in build time:
cmake -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=$PWD/../out ../mylib
cmake --build . --target install --config Release
References
You can clone and build this repository which contains the mylib and myexe projects (tested on Windows and Linux).
Check out the CMake documentation. The most important related commands are:
add_library
target_link_libraries
find_package
install
target_include_directories
target_compile_definitions
and two detailed articles:
Build System
Packages

CMAKE RPATH not working - could not find shared object file

I am trying to get rid of setting LD_LIBRARY_PATH everytime time I run my program. After adding in the library and targeting my executable to the library, when I run it tells me it can not open shared object library, no such file or directory.
In my CMakeLists.txt I have:
add_library(heart SHARED ${HEART_FILES})
add_executable(run ${RUN_FILES})
target_link_libraries(run heart)
set(CMAKE_SKIP_BUILD_PATH FALSE)
set(CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH FALSE)
set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "~/person/target/usr/local/lib")
set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH TRUE)
I set an absolute link to my library folder to test out whether this would create an rpath to my library and it seems like there isn't. I have checked and made sure that the shared library is indeed in lib. libheart.so is the file that is being linked. What else am I missing?
It is because you build heart and run from the same cmake project:
CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH is an interesting and very useful option. When building a target with RPATH, CMake determines the RPATH by using the directories of all libraries to which this target links. Some of these libraries may be located in the same build tree, e.g. libbar.so, these directories are also added to the RPATH.
If this option is enabled, all these directories except those which are also in the build tree will be added to the install RPATH automatically. The only directories which may then still be missing from the RPATH are the directories where the libraries from the same project (i.e. libbar.so) are installed to. If the install directory for the libraries is not one of the systems default library directories, you have to add this directory yourself to the install RPATH by setting CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH accordingly
You can try this:
SET(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib")
More documentation here cmake rpath handling
EDIT:
Only this should work:
set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE ON)
set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/lib")
set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH TRUE)
add_library(heart SHARED ${HEART_FILES})
add_executable(run ${RUN_FILES})
target_link_libraries(run heart)
install(
TARGETS heart run
RUNTIME DESTINATION bin
LIBRARY DESTINATION lib
)
Clean your build directory and then:
cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/home/person/target/usr/local ..
make install
At the end of the g++ line Linking CXX executable run you should see like -Wl,-rpath,/home/person/target/usr/local/lib
If you want a fully relocatable package:
set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH "$ORIGIN/../lib")
PS: are you sur that it is libheart.so that is not found ?
In your CMake file, set the RPATH before defining the targets. The CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH must be defined before calling add_executable(), otherwise it has no effect.
I had a similar issue as the original post. I created executables which linked to external shared libraries. This approach compiled and executed fine from the build directory. However, the executable that was installed to a separate directory could not find a shared library at runtime:
error while loading shared libraries: libxxxx.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory
To solve, I
1) upgraded to CMake 3.17
2) used Craig Scott's recommended:
set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH $ORIGIN)
as explained in his talk
3) set(CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH TRUE) as directly mentioned to solve this error in the second common question in Kitware's documention
4) Put all this before adding the targets as mentioned in this post
5) Used the "$ORIGIN/../lib" syntax instead of Craig's Scott's mentioned $ORIGIN as mentioned by #explo91
In summary, and to my suprise, only the "$ORIGIN/../lib" before the target definition was necessary from above (I tested the other combinations which did not fix the cannot open shared object file runtime issue).
Anyway the solution I finally applied, which may be of better, fine-grained CMake style or at least may be helpful to others on their RPATH journey is:
set_target_properties(target_defined_above PROPERTIES INSTALL_RPATH "$ORIGIN/../lib")

cmake "exporting" shared library on windows

I'm writing a small library.
I'd like to build it as shared library and generate "MyLibraryConfig.cmake" file which then can be used by my other projects to find my library.
The only problem I have is to figure out the name/path to file which is used for linking under Windows - there are two files being generated: mylibrary.dll and mylibrary.dll.a.
So I'd like to generate MyLibraryConfig.cmake file with something like:
"set(MYLIBRARY_LIBRARIES /blah/blah/mylibrary.dll.a)"
so then MYLIBRARY_LIBRARIES can be used with target_link_libraries for my other projects.
How can I get name for this linkable file? I'd be nice if the solution was platform independed (returning .so wile on Linux and .dll.a on Windows)
thanks in advance
If you're planning on making your library available to your other projects without installing it then you want the CMake command export. For example:
export(TARGETS MyLib FILE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/MyLibraryConfig.cmake)
This creates the file MyLibraryConfig.cmake in the same directory as your top-level CMakeLists.txt, and can just be included in other CMake projects.
If you're planning on installing your library, then you want to make use of install(EXPORT ...) instead:
install(TARGETS MyLib EXPORT MyLibraryConfig
RUNTIME DESTINATION bin
LIBRARY DESTINATION lib
ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib/static)
install(EXPORT MyLibraryConfig DESTINATION cmake)
This will install the file MyLibraryConfig.cmake to <install path>/cmake, and can then be included by other projects.