cmakeprops(1)cmakeprops(1)NAMEcmakeprops - Reference of CMake properties.
PROPERTIES
CMake Properties - Properties supported by CMake, the Cross-Platform Makefile Generator.
This is the documentation for the properties supported by CMake. Prop‐
erties can have different scopes. They can either be assigned to a
source file, a directory, a target or globally to CMake. By modifying
the values of properties the behaviour of the build system can be cus‐
tomized.
PROPERTIES OF GLOBAL SCOPE
ALLOW_DUPLICATE_CUSTOM_TARGETS
Allow duplicate custom targets to be created.
Normally CMake requires that all targets built in a project have
globally unique logical names (see policy CMP0002). This is
necessary to generate meaningful project file names in Xcode and
VS IDE generators. It also allows the target names to be refer‐
enced unambiguously.
Makefile generators are capable of supporting duplicate custom
target names. For projects that care only about Makefile gener‐
ators and do not wish to support Xcode or VS IDE generators, one
may set this property to true to allow duplicate custom targets.
The property allows multiple add_custom_target command calls in
different directories to specify the same target name. However,
setting this property will cause non-Makefile generators to pro‐
duce an error and refuse to generate the project.
DEBUG_CONFIGURATIONS
Specify which configurations are for debugging.
The value must be a semi-colon separated list of configuration
names. Currently this property is used only by the tar‐
get_link_libraries command (see its documentation for details).
Additional uses may be defined in the future.
This property must be set at the top level of the project and
before the first target_link_libraries command invocation. If
any entry in the list does not match a valid configuration for
the project the behavior is undefined.
DISABLED_FEATURES
List of features which are disabled during the CMake run.
List of features which are disabled during the CMake run. By
default it contains the names of all packages which were not
found. This is determined using the <NAME>_FOUND variables.
Packages which are searched QUIET are not listed. A project can
add its own features to this list. This property is used by the
macros in FeatureSummary.cmake.
ENABLED_FEATURES
List of features which are enabled during the CMake run.
List of features which are enabled during the CMake run. By
default it contains the names of all packages which were found.
This is determined using the <NAME>_FOUND variables. Packages
which are searched QUIET are not listed. A project can add its
own features to this list. This property is used by the macros
in FeatureSummary.cmake.
ENABLED_LANGUAGES
Read-only property that contains the list of currently enabled
languages
Set to list of currently enabled languages.
FIND_LIBRARY_USE_LIB64_PATHS
Whether FIND_LIBRARY should automatically search lib64 directo‐
ries.
FIND_LIBRARY_USE_LIB64_PATHS is a boolean specifying whether the
FIND_LIBRARY command should automatically search the lib64 vari‐
ant of directories called lib in the search path when building
64-bit binaries.
FIND_LIBRARY_USE_OPENBSD_VERSIONING
Whether FIND_LIBRARY should find OpenBSD-style shared libraries.
This property is a boolean specifying whether the FIND_LIBRARY
command should find shared libraries with OpenBSD-style ver‐
sioned extension: ".so.<major>.<minor>". The property is set to
true on OpenBSD and false on other platforms.
GLOBAL_DEPENDS_DEBUG_MODE
Enable global target dependency graph debug mode.
CMake automatically analyzes the global inter-target dependency
graph at the beginning of native build system generation. This
property causes it to display details of its analysis to stderr.
GLOBAL_DEPENDS_NO_CYCLES
Disallow global target dependency graph cycles.
CMake automatically analyzes the global inter-target dependency
graph at the beginning of native build system generation. It
reports an error if the dependency graph contains a cycle that
does not consist of all STATIC library targets. This property
tells CMake to disallow all cycles completely, even among static
libraries.
IN_TRY_COMPILE
Read-only property that is true during a try-compile configura‐
tion.
True when building a project inside a TRY_COMPILE or TRY_RUN
command.
PACKAGES_FOUND
List of packages which were found during the CMake run.
List of packages which were found during the CMake run. Whether
a package has been found is determined using the <NAME>_FOUND
variables.
PACKAGES_NOT_FOUND
List of packages which were not found during the CMake run.
List of packages which were not found during the CMake run.
Whether a package has been found is determined using the
<NAME>_FOUND variables.
PREDEFINED_TARGETS_FOLDER
Name of FOLDER for targets that are added automatically by
CMake.
If not set, CMake uses "CMakePredefinedTargets" as a default
value for this property. Targets such as INSTALL, PACKAGE and
RUN_TESTS will be organized into this FOLDER. See also the docu‐
mentation for the FOLDER target property.
REPORT_UNDEFINED_PROPERTIES
If set, report any undefined properties to this file.
If this property is set to a filename then when CMake runs it
will report any properties or variables that were accessed but
not defined into the filename specified in this property.
RULE_LAUNCH_COMPILE
Specify a launcher for compile rules.
Makefile generators prefix compiler commands with the given
launcher command line. This is intended to allow launchers to
intercept build problems with high granularity. Non-Makefile
generators currently ignore this property.
RULE_LAUNCH_CUSTOM
Specify a launcher for custom rules.
Makefile generators prefix custom commands with the given
launcher command line. This is intended to allow launchers to
intercept build problems with high granularity. Non-Makefile
generators currently ignore this property.
RULE_LAUNCH_LINK
Specify a launcher for link rules.
Makefile generators prefix link and archive commands with the
given launcher command line. This is intended to allow launch‐
ers to intercept build problems with high granularity.
Non-Makefile generators currently ignore this property.
RULE_MESSAGES
Specify whether to report a message for each make rule.
This property specifies whether Makefile generators should add a
progress message describing what each build rule does. If the
property is not set the default is ON. Set the property to OFF
to disable granular messages and report only as each target com‐
pletes. This is intended to allow scripted builds to avoid the
build time cost of detailed reports. If a CMAKE_RULE_MESSAGES
cache entry exists its value initializes the value of this prop‐
erty. Non-Makefile generators currently ignore this property.
TARGET_ARCHIVES_MAY_BE_SHARED_LIBS
Set if shared libraries may be named like archives.
On AIX shared libraries may be named "lib<name>.a". This prop‐
erty is set to true on such platforms.
TARGET_SUPPORTS_SHARED_LIBS
Does the target platform support shared libraries.
TARGET_SUPPORTS_SHARED_LIBS is a boolean specifying whether the
target platform supports shared libraries. Basically all current
general general purpose OS do so, the exception are usually
embedded systems with no or special OSs.
USE_FOLDERS
Use the FOLDER target property to organize targets into folders.
If not set, CMake treats this property as OFF by default. CMake
generators that are capable of organizing into a hierarchy of
folders use the values of the FOLDER target property to name
those folders. See also the documentation for the FOLDER target
property.
__CMAKE_DELETE_CACHE_CHANGE_VARS_
Internal property
Used to detect compiler changes, Do not set.
PROPERTIES ON DIRECTORIES
ADDITIONAL_MAKE_CLEAN_FILES
Additional files to clean during the make clean stage.
A list of files that will be cleaned as a part of the "make
clean" stage.
CACHE_VARIABLES
List of cache variables available in the current directory.
This read-only property specifies the list of CMake cache vari‐
ables currently defined. It is intended for debugging purposes.
CLEAN_NO_CUSTOM
Should the output of custom commands be left.
If this is true then the outputs of custom commands for this
directory will not be removed during the "make clean" stage.
COMPILE_DEFINITIONS
Preprocessor definitions for compiling a directory's sources.
The COMPILE_DEFINITIONS property may be set to a semicolon-sepa‐
rated list of preprocessor definitions using the syntax VAR or
VAR=value. Function-style definitions are not supported. CMake
will automatically escape the value correctly for the native
build system (note that CMake language syntax may require
escapes to specify some values). This property may be set on a
per-configuration basis using the name COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CON‐
FIG> where <CONFIG> is an upper-case name (ex. "COMPILE_DEFINI‐
TIONS_DEBUG"). This property will be initialized in each direc‐
tory by its value in the directory's parent.
CMake will automatically drop some definitions that are not sup‐
ported by the native build tool. The VS6 IDE does not support
definition values with spaces (but NMake does).
Disclaimer: Most native build tools have poor support for escap‐
ing certain values. CMake has work-arounds for many cases but
some values may just not be possible to pass correctly. If a
value does not seem to be escaped correctly, do not attempt to
work-around the problem by adding escape sequences to the value.
Your work-around may break in a future version of CMake that has
improved escape support. Instead consider defining the macro in
a (configured) header file. Then report the limitation. Known
limitations include:
# - broken almost everywhere
; - broken in VS IDE and Borland Makefiles
, - broken in VS IDE
% - broken in some cases in NMake
& | - broken in some cases on MinGW
^ < > \" - broken in most Make tools on Windows
CMake does not reject these values outright because they do work
in some cases. Use with caution.
COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration preprocessor definitions in a directory.
This is the configuration-specific version of COMPILE_DEFINI‐
TIONS. This property will be initialized in each directory by
its value in the directory's parent.
DEFINITIONS
For CMake 2.4 compatibility only. Use COMPILE_DEFINITIONS
instead.
This read-only property specifies the list of flags given so far
to the add_definitions command. It is intended for debugging
purposes. Use the COMPILE_DEFINITIONS instead.
EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
Exclude the directory from the all target of its parent.
A property on a directory that indicates if its targets are
excluded from the default build target. If it is not, then with
a Makefile for example typing make will cause the targets to be
built. The same concept applies to the default build of other
generators.
IMPLICIT_DEPENDS_INCLUDE_TRANSFORM
Specify #include line transforms for dependencies in a direc‐
tory.
This property specifies rules to transform macro-like #include
lines during implicit dependency scanning of C and C++ source
files. The list of rules must be semicolon-separated with each
entry of the form "A_MACRO(%)=value-with-%" (the % must be lit‐
eral). During dependency scanning occurrences of A_MACRO(...)
on #include lines will be replaced by the value given with the
macro argument substituted for '%'. For example, the entry
MYDIR(%)=<mydir/%>
will convert lines of the form
#include MYDIR(myheader.h)
to
#include <mydir/myheader.h>
allowing the dependency to be followed.
This property applies to sources in all targets within a direc‐
tory. The property value is initialized in each directory by
its value in the directory's parent.
INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
List of preprocessor include file search directories.
This property specifies the list of directories given so far to
the include_directories command. This property exists on direc‐
tories and targets. In addition to accepting values from the
include_directories command, values may be set directly on any
directory or any target using the set_property command. A target
gets its initial value for this property from the value of the
directory property. A directory gets its initial value from its
parent directory if it has one. Both directory and target prop‐
erty values are adjusted by calls to the include_directories
command.
The target property values are used by the generators to set the
include paths for the compiler. See also the include_directories
command.
INCLUDE_REGULAR_EXPRESSION
Include file scanning regular expression.
This read-only property specifies the regular expression used
during dependency scanning to match include files that should be
followed. See the include_regular_expression command.
INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION
Enable interprocedural optimization for targets in a directory.
If set to true, enables interprocedural optimizations if they
are known to be supported by the compiler.
INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration interprocedural optimization for a directory.
This is a per-configuration version of INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZA‐
TION. If set, this property overrides the generic property for
the named configuration.
LINK_DIRECTORIES
List of linker search directories.
This read-only property specifies the list of directories given
so far to the link_directories command. It is intended for
debugging purposes.
LISTFILE_STACK
The current stack of listfiles being processed.
This property is mainly useful when trying to debug errors in
your CMake scripts. It returns a list of what list files are
currently being processed, in order. So if one listfile does an
INCLUDE command then that is effectively pushing the included
listfile onto the stack.
MACROS List of macro commands available in the current directory.
This read-only property specifies the list of CMake macros cur‐
rently defined. It is intended for debugging purposes. See the
macro command.
PARENT_DIRECTORY
Source directory that added current subdirectory.
This read-only property specifies the source directory that
added the current source directory as a subdirectory of the
build. In the top-level directory the value is the
empty-string.
RULE_LAUNCH_COMPILE
Specify a launcher for compile rules.
See the global property of the same name for details. This
overrides the global property for a directory.
RULE_LAUNCH_CUSTOM
Specify a launcher for custom rules.
See the global property of the same name for details. This
overrides the global property for a directory.
RULE_LAUNCH_LINK
Specify a launcher for link rules.
See the global property of the same name for details. This
overrides the global property for a directory.
TEST_INCLUDE_FILE
A cmake file that will be included when ctest is run.
If you specify TEST_INCLUDE_FILE, that file will be included and
processed when ctest is run on the directory.
VARIABLES
List of variables defined in the current directory.
This read-only property specifies the list of CMake variables
currently defined. It is intended for debugging purposes.
PROPERTIES ON TARGETS
<CONFIG>_OUTPUT_NAME
Old per-configuration target file base name.
This is a configuration-specific version of OUTPUT_NAME. Use
OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> instead.
<CONFIG>_POSTFIX
Postfix to append to the target file name for configuration
<CONFIG>.
When building with configuration <CONFIG> the value of this
property is appended to the target file name built on disk. For
non-executable targets, this property is initialized by the
value of the variable CMAKE_<CONFIG>_POSTFIX if it is set when a
target is created. This property is ignored on the Mac for
Frameworks and App Bundles.
ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY
Output directory in which to build ARCHIVE target files.
This property specifies the directory into which archive target
files should be built. Multi-configuration generators (VS,
Xcode) append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified
directory. There are three kinds of target files that may be
built: archive, library, and runtime. Executables are always
treated as runtime targets. Static libraries are always treated
as archive targets. Module libraries are always treated as
library targets. For non-DLL platforms shared libraries are
treated as library targets. For DLL platforms the DLL part of a
shared library is treated as a runtime target and the corre‐
sponding import library is treated as an archive target. All
Windows-based systems including Cygwin are DLL platforms. This
property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_AR‐
CHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY if it is set when a target is created.
ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration output directory for ARCHIVE target files.
This is a per-configuration version of ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY,
but multi-configuration generators (VS, Xcode) do NOT append a
per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory. This
property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_AR‐
CHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> if it is set when a target is
created.
ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_NAME
Output name for ARCHIVE target files.
This property specifies the base name for archive target files.
It overrides OUTPUT_NAME and OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> properties.
There are three kinds of target files that may be built: ar‐
chive, library, and runtime. Executables are always treated as
runtime targets. Static libraries are always treated as archive
targets. Module libraries are always treated as library targets.
For non-DLL platforms shared libraries are treated as library
targets. 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.
ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration output name for ARCHIVE target files.
This is the configuration-specific version of ARCHIVE_OUT‐
PUT_NAME.
AUTOMOC
Should the target be processed with automoc (for Qt projects).
AUTOMOC is a boolean specifying whether CMake will handle the Qt
moc preprocessor automatically, i.e. without having to use the
QT4_WRAP_CPP() macro. Currently Qt4 is supported. When this
property is set to TRUE, CMake will scan the source files at
build time and invoke moc accordingly. If an #include statement
like #include "moc_foo.cpp" is found, the Q_OBJECT class decla‐
ration is expected in the header, and moc is run on the header
file. If an #include statement like #include "foo.moc" is found,
then a Q_OBJECT is expected in the current source file and moc
is run on the file itself. Additionally, all header files are
parsed for Q_OBJECT macros, and if found, moc is also executed
on those files. The resulting moc files, which are not included
as shown above in any of the source files are included in a gen‐
erated <targetname>_automoc.cpp file, which is compiled as part
of the target.This property is initialized by the value of the
variable CMAKE_AUTOMOC if it is set when a target is created.
Additional command line options for moc can be set via the AUTO‐
MOC_MOC_OPTIONS property.
By setting the CMAKE_AUTOMOC_RELAXED_MODE variable to TRUE the
rules for searching the files which will be processed by moc can
be relaxed. See the documentation for this variable for more
details.
AUTOMOC_MOC_OPTIONS
Additional options for moc when using automoc (see the AUTOMOC
property)
This property is only used if the AUTOMOC property is set to
TRUE for this target. In this case, it holds additional command
line options which will be used when moc is executed during the
build, i.e. it is equivalent to the optional OPTIONS argument of
the qt4_wrap_cpp() macro.
By default it is empty.
BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH
Should build tree targets have install tree rpaths.
BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH is a boolean specifying whether to link
the target in the build tree with the INSTALL_RPATH. This takes
precedence over SKIP_BUILD_RPATH and avoids the need for relink‐
ing before installation. This property is initialized by the
value of the variable CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH if it is
set when a target is created.
BUNDLE This target is a CFBundle on the Mac.
If a module library target has this property set to true it will
be built as a CFBundle when built on the mac. It will have the
directory structure required for a CFBundle and will be suitable
to be used for creating Browser Plugins or other application
resources.
BUNDLE_EXTENSION
The file extension used to name a BUNDLE target on the Mac.
The default value is "bundle" - you can also use "plugin" or
whatever file extension is required by the host app for your
bundle.
COMPILE_DEFINITIONS
Preprocessor definitions for compiling a target's sources.
The COMPILE_DEFINITIONS property may be set to a semicolon-sepa‐
rated list of preprocessor definitions using the syntax VAR or
VAR=value. Function-style definitions are not supported. CMake
will automatically escape the value correctly for the native
build system (note that CMake language syntax may require
escapes to specify some values). This property may be set on a
per-configuration basis using the name COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CON‐
FIG> where <CONFIG> is an upper-case name (ex. "COMPILE_DEFINI‐
TIONS_DEBUG").
CMake will automatically drop some definitions that are not sup‐
ported by the native build tool. The VS6 IDE does not support
definition values with spaces (but NMake does).
Disclaimer: Most native build tools have poor support for escap‐
ing certain values. CMake has work-arounds for many cases but
some values may just not be possible to pass correctly. If a
value does not seem to be escaped correctly, do not attempt to
work-around the problem by adding escape sequences to the value.
Your work-around may break in a future version of CMake that has
improved escape support. Instead consider defining the macro in
a (configured) header file. Then report the limitation. Known
limitations include:
# - broken almost everywhere
; - broken in VS IDE and Borland Makefiles
, - broken in VS IDE
% - broken in some cases in NMake
& | - broken in some cases on MinGW
^ < > \" - broken in most Make tools on Windows
CMake does not reject these values outright because they do work
in some cases. Use with caution.
COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration preprocessor definitions on a target.
This is the configuration-specific version of COMPILE_DEFINI‐
TIONS.
COMPILE_FLAGS
Additional flags to use when compiling this target's sources.
The COMPILE_FLAGS property sets additional compiler flags used
to build sources within the target. Use COMPILE_DEFINITIONS to
pass additional preprocessor definitions.
DEBUG_POSTFIX
See target property <CONFIG>_POSTFIX.
This property is a special case of the more-general <CON‐
FIG>_POSTFIX property for the DEBUG configuration.
DEFINE_SYMBOL
Define a symbol when compiling this target's sources.
DEFINE_SYMBOL sets the name of the preprocessor symbol defined
when compiling sources in a shared library. If not set here then
it is set to target_EXPORTS by default (with some substitutions
if the target is not a valid C identifier). This is useful for
headers to know whether they are being included from inside
their library our outside to properly setup dllexport/dllimport
decorations.
ENABLE_EXPORTS
Specify whether an executable exports symbols for loadable mod‐
ules.
Normally an executable does not export any symbols because it is
the final program. It is possible for an executable to export
symbols to be used by loadable modules. When this property is
set to true CMake will allow other targets to "link" to the exe‐
cutable with the TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES command. On all plat‐
forms a target-level dependency on the executable is created for
targets that link to it. For DLL platforms an import library
will be created for the exported symbols and then used for link‐
ing. All Windows-based systems including Cygwin are DLL plat‐
forms. For non-DLL platforms that require all symbols to be
resolved at link time, such as Mac OS X, the module will "link"
to the executable using a flag like "-bundle_loader". For other
non-DLL platforms the link rule is simply ignored since the
dynamic loader will automatically bind symbols when the module
is loaded.
EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
Exclude the target from the all target.
A property on a target that indicates if the target is excluded
from the default build target. If it is not, then with a Make‐
file for example typing make will cause this target to be built.
The same concept applies to the default build of other genera‐
tors. Installing a target with EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL set to true has
undefined behavior.
EchoString
A message to be displayed when the target is built.
A message to display on some generators (such as makefiles) when
the target is built.
FOLDER Set the folder name. Use to organize targets in an IDE.
Targets with no FOLDER property will appear as top level enti‐
ties in IDEs like Visual Studio. Targets with the same FOLDER
property value will appear next to each other in a folder of
that name. To nest folders, use FOLDER values such as
'GUI/Dialogs' with '/' characters separating folder levels.
FRAMEWORK
This target is a framework on the Mac.
If a shared library target has this property set to true it will
be built as a framework when built on the mac. It will have the
directory structure required for a framework and will be suit‐
able to be used with the -framework option
Fortran_FORMAT
Set to FIXED or FREE to indicate the Fortran source layout.
This property tells CMake whether the Fortran source files in a
target use fixed-format or free-format. CMake will pass the
corresponding format flag to the compiler. Use the source-spe‐
cific Fortran_FORMAT property to change the format of a specific
source file. If the variable CMAKE_Fortran_FORMAT is set when a
target is created its value is used to initialize this property.
Fortran_MODULE_DIRECTORY
Specify output directory for Fortran modules provided by the
target.
If the target contains Fortran source files that provide modules
and the compiler supports a module output directory this speci‐
fies the directory in which the modules will be placed. When
this property is not set the modules will be placed in the build
directory corresponding to the target's source directory. If
the variable CMAKE_Fortran_MODULE_DIRECTORY is set when a target
is created its value is used to initialize this property.
Note that some compilers will automatically search the module
output directory for modules USEd during compilation but others
will not. If your sources USE modules their location must be
specified by INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES regardless of this property.
GENERATOR_FILE_NAME
Generator's file for this target.
An internal property used by some generators to record the name
of project or dsp file associated with this target.
GNUtoMS
Convert GNU import library (.dll.a) to MS format (.lib).
When linking a shared library or executable that exports symbols
using GNU tools on Windows (MinGW/MSYS) with Visual Studio
installed convert the import library (.dll.a) from GNU to MS
format (.lib). Both import libraries will be installed by
install(TARGETS) and exported by install(EXPORT) and export() to
be linked by applications with either GNU- or MS-compatible
tools.
If the variable CMAKE_GNUtoMS is set when a target is created
its value is used to initialize this property. The variable
must be set prior to the first command that enables a language
such as project() or enable_language(). CMake provides the
variable as an option to the user automatically when configuring
on Windows with GNU tools.
HAS_CXX
Link the target using the C++ linker tool (obsolete).
This is equivalent to setting the LINKER_LANGUAGE property to
CXX. See that property's documentation for details.
IMPLICIT_DEPENDS_INCLUDE_TRANSFORM
Specify #include line transforms for dependencies in a target.
This property specifies rules to transform macro-like #include
lines during implicit dependency scanning of C and C++ source
files. The list of rules must be semicolon-separated with each
entry of the form "A_MACRO(%)=value-with-%" (the % must be lit‐
eral). During dependency scanning occurrences of A_MACRO(...)
on #include lines will be replaced by the value given with the
macro argument substituted for '%'. For example, the entry
MYDIR(%)=<mydir/%>
will convert lines of the form
#include MYDIR(myheader.h)
to
#include <mydir/myheader.h>
allowing the dependency to be followed.
This property applies to sources in the target on which it is
set.
IMPORTED
Read-only indication of whether a target is IMPORTED.
The boolean value of this property is true for targets created
with the IMPORTED option to add_executable or add_library. It
is false for targets built within the project.
IMPORTED_CONFIGURATIONS
Configurations provided for an IMPORTED target.
Set this to the list of configuration names available for an
IMPORTED target. The names correspond to configurations defined
in the project from which the target is imported. If the
importing project uses a different set of configurations the
names may be mapped using the MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG> prop‐
erty. Ignored for non-imported targets.
IMPORTED_IMPLIB
Full path to the import library for an IMPORTED target.
Set this to the location of the ".lib" part of a windows DLL.
Ignored for non-imported targets.
IMPORTED_IMPLIB_<CONFIG>
<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_IMPLIB property.
Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project
from which the target is imported.
IMPORTED_LINK_DEPENDENT_LIBRARIES
Dependent shared libraries of an imported shared library.
Shared libraries may be linked to other shared libraries as part
of their implementation. On some platforms the linker searches
for the dependent libraries of shared libraries they are includ‐
ing in the link. Set this property to the list of dependent
shared libraries of an imported library. The list should be
disjoint from the list of interface libraries in the
IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES property. On platforms
requiring dependent shared libraries to be found at link time
CMake uses this list to add appropriate files or paths to the
link command line. Ignored for non-imported targets.
IMPORTED_LINK_DEPENDENT_LIBRARIES_<CONFIG>
<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LINK_DEPENDENT_LIBRARIES.
Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project
from which the target is imported. If set, this property com‐
pletely overrides the generic property for the named configura‐
tion.
IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LANGUAGES
Languages compiled into an IMPORTED static library.
Set this to the list of languages of source files compiled to
produce a STATIC IMPORTED library (such as "C" or "CXX"). CMake
accounts for these languages when computing how to link a target
to the imported library. For example, when a C executable links
to an imported C++ static library CMake chooses the C++ linker
to satisfy language runtime dependencies of the static library.
This property is ignored for targets that are not STATIC
libraries. This property is ignored for non-imported targets.
IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LANGUAGES_<CONFIG>
<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LANGUAGES.
Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project
from which the target is imported. If set, this property com‐
pletely overrides the generic property for the named configura‐
tion.
IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES
Transitive link interface of an IMPORTED target.
Set this to the list of libraries whose interface is included
when an IMPORTED library target is linked to another target.
The libraries will be included on the link line for the target.
Unlike the LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES property, this property
applies to all imported target types, including STATIC
libraries. This property is ignored for non-imported targets.
IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_<CONFIG>
<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES.
Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project
from which the target is imported. If set, this property com‐
pletely overrides the generic property for the named configura‐
tion.
IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY
Repetition count for cycles of IMPORTED static libraries.
This is LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY for IMPORTED targets.
IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY_<CONFIG>
<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLIC‐
ITY.
If set, this property completely overrides the generic property
for the named configuration.
IMPORTED_LOCATION
Full path to the main file on disk for an IMPORTED target.
Set this to the location of an IMPORTED target file on disk.
For executables this is the location of the executable file.
For bundles on OS X this is the location of the executable file
inside Contents/MacOS under the application bundle folder. For
static libraries and modules this is the location of the library
or module. For shared libraries on non-DLL platforms this is
the location of the shared library. For frameworks on OS X this
is the location of the library file symlink just inside the
framework folder. For DLLs this is the location of the ".dll"
part of the library. For UNKNOWN libraries this is the location
of the file to be linked. Ignored for non-imported targets.
Projects may skip IMPORTED_LOCATION if the configuration-spe‐
cific property IMPORTED_LOCATION_<CONFIG> is set. To get the
location of an imported target read one of the LOCATION or LOCA‐
TION_<CONFIG> properties.
IMPORTED_LOCATION_<CONFIG>
<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LOCATION property.
Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project
from which the target is imported.
IMPORTED_NO_SONAME
Specifies that an IMPORTED shared library target has no "son‐
ame".
Set this property to true for an imported shared library file
that has no "soname" field. CMake may adjust generated link
commands for some platforms to prevent the linker from using the
path to the library in place of its missing soname. Ignored for
non-imported targets.
IMPORTED_NO_SONAME_<CONFIG>
<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_NO_SONAME property.
Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project
from which the target is imported.
IMPORTED_SONAME
The "soname" of an IMPORTED target of shared library type.
Set this to the "soname" embedded in an imported shared library.
This is meaningful only on platforms supporting the feature.
Ignored for non-imported targets.
IMPORTED_SONAME_<CONFIG>
<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_SONAME property.
Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project
from which the target is imported.
IMPORT_PREFIX
What comes before the import library name.
Similar to the target property PREFIX, but used for import
libraries (typically corresponding to a DLL) instead of regular
libraries. A target property that can be set to override the
prefix (such as "lib") on an import library name.
IMPORT_SUFFIX
What comes after the import library name.
Similar to the target property SUFFIX, but used for import
libraries (typically corresponding to a DLL) instead of regular
libraries. A target property that can be set to override the
suffix (such as ".lib") on an import library name.
INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
List of preprocessor include file search directories.
This property specifies the list of directories given so far to
the include_directories command. This property exists on direc‐
tories and targets. In addition to accepting values from the
include_directories command, values may be set directly on any
directory or any target using the set_property command. A target
gets its initial value for this property from the value of the
directory property. A directory gets its initial value from its
parent directory if it has one. Both directory and target prop‐
erty values are adjusted by calls to the include_directories
command.
The target property values are used by the generators to set the
include paths for the compiler. See also the include_directories
command.
INSTALL_NAME_DIR
Mac OSX directory name for installed targets.
INSTALL_NAME_DIR is a string specifying the directory portion of
the "install_name" field of shared libraries on Mac OSX to use
in the installed targets.
INSTALL_RPATH
The rpath to use for installed targets.
A semicolon-separated list specifying the rpath to use in
installed targets (for platforms that support it). This prop‐
erty is initialized by the value of the variable
CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH if it is set when a target is created.
INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH
Add paths to linker search and installed rpath.
INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH is a boolean that if set to true
will append directories in the linker search path and outside
the project to the INSTALL_RPATH. This property is initialized
by the value of the variable CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH
if it is set when a target is created.
INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION
Enable interprocedural optimization for a target.
If set to true, enables interprocedural optimizations if they
are known to be supported by the compiler.
INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration interprocedural optimization for a target.
This is a per-configuration version of INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZA‐
TION. If set, this property overrides the generic property for
the named configuration.
LABELS Specify a list of text labels associated with a target.
Target label semantics are currently unspecified.
LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY
Output directory in which to build LIBRARY target files.
This property specifies the directory into which library target
files should be built. Multi-configuration generators (VS,
Xcode) append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified
directory. There are three kinds of target files that may be
built: archive, library, and runtime. Executables are always
treated as runtime targets. Static libraries are always treated
as archive targets. Module libraries are always treated as
library targets. For non-DLL platforms shared libraries are
treated as library targets. For DLL platforms the DLL part of a
shared library is treated as a runtime target and the corre‐
sponding import library is treated as an archive target. All
Windows-based systems including Cygwin are DLL platforms. This
property is initialized by the value of the variable
CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY if it is set when a target is
created.
LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration output directory for LIBRARY target files.
This is a per-configuration version of LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY,
but multi-configuration generators (VS, Xcode) do NOT append a
per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory. This
property is initialized by the value of the variable
CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> if it is set when a tar‐
get is created.
LIBRARY_OUTPUT_NAME
Output name for LIBRARY target files.
This property specifies the base name for library target files.
It overrides OUTPUT_NAME and OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> properties.
There are three kinds of target files that may be built: ar‐
chive, library, and runtime. Executables are always treated as
runtime targets. Static libraries are always treated as archive
targets. Module libraries are always treated as library targets.
For non-DLL platforms shared libraries are treated as library
targets. 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.
LIBRARY_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration output name for LIBRARY target files.
This is the configuration-specific version of LIBRARY_OUT‐
PUT_NAME.
LINKER_LANGUAGE
Specifies language whose compiler will invoke the linker.
For executables, shared libraries, and modules, this sets the
language whose compiler is used to link the target (such as "C"
or "CXX"). A typical value for an executable is the language of
the source file providing the program entry point (main). If
not set, the language with the highest linker preference value
is the default. See documentation of CMAKE_<LANG>_LINKER_PREF‐
ERENCE variables.
LINK_DEPENDS
Additional files on which a target binary depends for linking.
Specifies a semicolon-separated list of full-paths to files on
which the link rule for this target depends. The target binary
will be linked if any of the named files is newer than it.
This property is ignored by non-Makefile generators. It is
intended to specify dependencies on "linker scripts" for custom
Makefile link rules.
LINK_FLAGS
Additional flags to use when linking this target.
The LINK_FLAGS property can be used to add extra flags to the
link step of a target. LINK_FLAGS_<CONFIG> will add to the con‐
figuration <CONFIG>, for example, DEBUG, RELEASE, MINSIZEREL,
RELWITHDEBINFO.
LINK_FLAGS_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration linker flags for a target.
This is the configuration-specific version of LINK_FLAGS.
LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES
List public interface libraries for a shared library or exe‐
cutable.
By default linking to a shared library target transitively links
to targets with which the library itself was linked. For an
executable with exports (see the ENABLE_EXPORTS property) no
default transitive link dependencies are used. This property
replaces the default transitive link dependencies with an
explicit list. When the target is linked into another target
the libraries listed (and recursively their link interface
libraries) will be provided to the other target also. If the
list is empty then no transitive link dependencies will be
incorporated when this target is linked into another target even
if the default set is non-empty. This property is initialized
by the value of the variable CMAKE_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES if
it is set when a target is created. This property is ignored
for STATIC libraries.
LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration list of public interface libraries for a tar‐
get.
This is the configuration-specific version of LINK_INTER‐
FACE_LIBRARIES. If set, this property completely overrides the
generic property for the named configuration.
LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY
Repetition count for STATIC libraries with cyclic dependencies.
When linking to a STATIC library target with cyclic dependencies
the linker may need to scan more than once through the archives
in the strongly connected component of the dependency graph.
CMake by default constructs the link line so that the linker
will scan through the component at least twice. This property
specifies the minimum number of scans if it is larger than the
default. CMake uses the largest value specified by any target
in a component.
LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration repetition count for cycles of STATIC
libraries.
This is the configuration-specific version of LINK_INTER‐
FACE_MULTIPLICITY. If set, this property completely overrides
the generic property for the named configuration.
LINK_SEARCH_END_STATIC
End a link line such that static system libraries are used.
Some linkers support switches such as -Bstatic and -Bdynamic to
determine whether to use static or shared libraries for -lXXX
options. CMake uses these options to set the link type for
libraries whose full paths are not known or (in some cases) are
in implicit link directories for the platform. By default CMake
adds an option at the end of the library list (if necessary) to
set the linker search type back to its starting type. This
property switches the final linker search type to -Bstatic
regardless of how it started. See also
LINK_SEARCH_START_STATIC.
LINK_SEARCH_START_STATIC
Assume the linker looks for static libraries by default.
Some linkers support switches such as -Bstatic and -Bdynamic to
determine whether to use static or shared libraries for -lXXX
options. CMake uses these options to set the link type for
libraries whose full paths are not known or (in some cases) are
in implicit link directories for the platform. By default the
linker search type is assumed to be -Bdynamic at the beginning
of the library list. This property switches the assumption to
-Bstatic. It is intended for use when linking an executable
statically (e.g. with the GNU -static option). See also
LINK_SEARCH_END_STATIC.
LOCATION
Read-only location of a target on disk.
For an imported target, this read-only property returns the
value of the LOCATION_<CONFIG> property for an unspecified con‐
figuration <CONFIG> provided by the target.
For a non-imported target, this property is provided for compat‐
ibility with CMake 2.4 and below. It was meant to get the loca‐
tion of an executable target's output file for use in add_cus‐
tom_command. The path may contain a build-system-specific por‐
tion that is replaced at build time with the configuration get‐
ting built (such as "$(ConfigurationName)" in VS). In CMake 2.6
and above add_custom_command automatically recognizes a target
name in its COMMAND and DEPENDS options and computes the target
location. In CMake 2.8.4 and above add_custom_command recog‐
nizes generator expressions to refer to target locations any‐
where in the command. Therefore this property is not needed for
creating custom commands.
Do not set properties that affect the location of a target after
reading this property. These include properties whose names
match "(RUNTIME|LIBRARY|ARCHIVE)_OUTPUT_(NAME|DIRECTORY)(_<CON‐
FIG>)?" or "(IMPLIB_)?(PREFIX|SUFFIX)". Failure to follow this
rule is not diagnosed and leaves the location of the target
undefined.
LOCATION_<CONFIG>
Read-only property providing a target location on disk.
A read-only property that indicates where a target's main file
is located on disk for the configuration <CONFIG>. The property
is defined only for library and executable targets. An imported
target may provide a set of configurations different from that
of the importing project. By default CMake looks for an
exact-match but otherwise uses an arbitrary available configura‐
tion. Use the MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG> property to map
imported configurations explicitly.
Do not set properties that affect the location of a target after
reading this property. These include properties whose names
match "(RUNTIME|LIBRARY|ARCHIVE)_OUTPUT_(NAME|DIRECTORY)(_<CON‐
FIG>)?" or "(IMPLIB_)?(PREFIX|SUFFIX)". Failure to follow this
rule is not diagnosed and leaves the location of the target
undefined.
MACOSX_BUNDLE
Build an executable as an application bundle on Mac OS X.
When this property is set to true the executable when built on
Mac OS X will be created as an application bundle. This makes
it a GUI executable that can be launched from the Finder. See
the MACOSX_BUNDLE_INFO_PLIST target property for information
about creation of the Info.plist file for the application bun‐
dle. This property is initialized by the value of the variable
CMAKE_MACOSX_BUNDLE if it is set when a target is created.
MACOSX_BUNDLE_INFO_PLIST
Specify a custom Info.plist template for a Mac OS X App Bundle.
An executable target with MACOSX_BUNDLE enabled will be built as
an application bundle on Mac OS X. By default its Info.plist
file is created by configuring a template called MacOSXBundle‐
Info.plist.in located in the CMAKE_MODULE_PATH. This property
specifies an alternative template file name which may be a full
path.
The following target properties may be set to specify content to
be configured into the file:
MACOSX_BUNDLE_INFO_STRING
MACOSX_BUNDLE_ICON_FILE
MACOSX_BUNDLE_GUI_IDENTIFIER
MACOSX_BUNDLE_LONG_VERSION_STRING
MACOSX_BUNDLE_BUNDLE_NAME
MACOSX_BUNDLE_SHORT_VERSION_STRING
MACOSX_BUNDLE_BUNDLE_VERSION
MACOSX_BUNDLE_COPYRIGHT
CMake variables of the same name may be set to affect all tar‐
gets in a directory that do not have each specific property set.
If a custom Info.plist is specified by this property it may of
course hard-code all the settings instead of using the target
properties.
MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_INFO_PLIST
Specify a custom Info.plist template for a Mac OS X Framework.
An library target with FRAMEWORK enabled will be built as a
framework on Mac OS X. By default its Info.plist file is cre‐
ated by configuring a template called MacOSXFramework‐
Info.plist.in located in the CMAKE_MODULE_PATH. This property
specifies an alternative template file name which may be a full
path.
The following target properties may be set to specify content to
be configured into the file:
MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_ICON_FILE
MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_IDENTIFIER
MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_SHORT_VERSION_STRING
MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_BUNDLE_VERSION
CMake variables of the same name may be set to affect all tar‐
gets in a directory that do not have each specific property set.
If a custom Info.plist is specified by this property it may of
course hard-code all the settings instead of using the target
properties.
MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG>
Map from project configuration to IMPORTED target's configura‐
tion.
Set this to the list of configurations of an imported target
that may be used for the current project's <CONFIG> configura‐
tion. Targets imported from another project may not provide the
same set of configuration names available in the current
project. Setting this property tells CMake what imported con‐
figurations are suitable for use when building the <CONFIG> con‐
figuration. The first configuration in the list found to be
provided by the imported target is selected. If this property
is set and no matching configurations are available, then the
imported target is considered to be not found. This property is
ignored for non-imported targets.
NO_SONAME
Whether to set "soname" when linking a shared library or module.
Enable this boolean property if a generated shared library or
module should not have "soname" set. Default is to set "soname"
on all shared libraries and modules as long as the platform sup‐
ports it. Generally, use this property only for leaf private
libraries or plugins. If you use it on normal shared libraries
which other targets link against, on some platforms a linker
will insert a full path to the library (as specified at link
time) into the dynamic section of the dependent binary. There‐
fore, once installed, dynamic loader may eventually fail to
locate the library for the binary.
OSX_ARCHITECTURES
Target specific architectures for OS X.
The OSX_ARCHITECTURES property sets the target binary architec‐
ture for targets on OS X. This property is initialized by the
value of the variable CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES if it is set when
a target is created. Use OSX_ARCHITECTURES_<CONFIG> to set the
binary architectures on a per-configuration basis. <CONFIG> is
an upper-case name (ex: "OSX_ARCHITECTURES_DEBUG").
OSX_ARCHITECTURES_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration OS X binary architectures for a target.
This property is the configuration-specific version of
OSX_ARCHITECTURES.
OUTPUT_NAME
Output name for target files.
This sets the base name for output files created for an exe‐
cutable or library target. If not set, the logical target name
is used by default.
OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration target file base name.
This is the configuration-specific version of OUTPUT_NAME.
POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE
Whether to create a position-independent target
The POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE property determines whether posi‐
tion independent executables or shared libraries will be cre‐
ated. This property is true by default for SHARED and MODULE
library targets and false otherwise.
POST_INSTALL_SCRIPT
Deprecated install support.
The PRE_INSTALL_SCRIPT and POST_INSTALL_SCRIPT properties are
the old way to specify CMake scripts to run before and after
installing a target. They are used only when the old
INSTALL_TARGETS command is used to install the target. Use the
INSTALL command instead.
PREFIX What comes before the library name.
A target property that can be set to override the prefix (such
as "lib") on a library name.
PRE_INSTALL_SCRIPT
Deprecated install support.
The PRE_INSTALL_SCRIPT and POST_INSTALL_SCRIPT properties are
the old way to specify CMake scripts to run before and after
installing a target. They are used only when the old
INSTALL_TARGETS command is used to install the target. Use the
INSTALL command instead.
PRIVATE_HEADER
Specify private header files in a FRAMEWORK shared library tar‐
get.
Shared library targets marked with the FRAMEWORK property gener‐
ate frameworks on OS X and normal shared libraries on other
platforms. This property may be set to a list of header files
to be placed in the PrivateHeaders directory inside the frame‐
work folder. On non-Apple platforms these headers may be
installed using the PRIVATE_HEADER option to the install(TAR‐
GETS) command.
PROJECT_LABEL
Change the name of a target in an IDE.
Can be used to change the name of the target in an IDE like Vis‐
ual Studio.
PUBLIC_HEADER
Specify public header files in a FRAMEWORK shared library tar‐
get.
Shared library targets marked with the FRAMEWORK property gener‐
ate frameworks on OS X and normal shared libraries on other
platforms. This property may be set to a list of header files
to be placed in the Headers directory inside the framework
folder. On non-Apple platforms these headers may be installed
using the PUBLIC_HEADER option to the install(TARGETS) command.
RESOURCE
Specify resource files in a FRAMEWORK shared library target.
Shared library targets marked with the FRAMEWORK property gener‐
ate frameworks on OS X and normal shared libraries on other
platforms. This property may be set to a list of files to be
placed in the Resources directory inside the framework folder.
On non-Apple platforms these files may be installed using the
RESOURCE option to the install(TARGETS) command.
RULE_LAUNCH_COMPILE
Specify a launcher for compile rules.
See the global property of the same name for details. This
overrides the global and directory property for a target.
RULE_LAUNCH_CUSTOM
Specify a launcher for custom rules.
See the global property of the same name for details. This
overrides the global and directory property for a target.
RULE_LAUNCH_LINK
Specify a launcher for link rules.
See the global property of the same name for details. This
overrides the global and directory property for a target.
RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY
Output directory in which to build RUNTIME target files.
This property specifies the directory into which runtime target
files should be built. Multi-configuration generators (VS,
Xcode) append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified
directory. There are three kinds of target files that may be
built: archive, library, and runtime. Executables are always
treated as runtime targets. Static libraries are always treated
as archive targets. Module libraries are always treated as
library targets. For non-DLL platforms shared libraries are
treated as library targets. For DLL platforms the DLL part of a
shared library is treated as a runtime target and the corre‐
sponding import library is treated as an archive target. All
Windows-based systems including Cygwin are DLL platforms. This
property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_RUN‐
TIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY if it is set when a target is created.
RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration output directory for RUNTIME target files.
This is a per-configuration version of RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY,
but multi-configuration generators (VS, Xcode) do NOT append a
per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory. This
property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_RUN‐
TIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> if it is set when a target is
created.
RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME
Output name for RUNTIME target files.
This property specifies the base name for runtime target files.
It overrides OUTPUT_NAME and OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> properties.
There are three kinds of target files that may be built: ar‐
chive, library, and runtime. Executables are always treated as
runtime targets. Static libraries are always treated as archive
targets. Module libraries are always treated as library targets.
For non-DLL platforms shared libraries are treated as library
targets. 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.
RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration output name for RUNTIME target files.
This is the configuration-specific version of RUNTIME_OUT‐
PUT_NAME.
SKIP_BUILD_RPATH
Should rpaths be used for the build tree.
SKIP_BUILD_RPATH is a boolean specifying whether to skip auto‐
matic generation of an rpath allowing the target to run from the
build tree. This property is initialized by the value of the
variable CMAKE_SKIP_BUILD_RPATH if it is set when a target is
created.
SOURCES
Source names specified for a target.
Read-only list of sources specified for a target. The names
returned are suitable for passing to the set_source_files_prop‐
erties command.
SOVERSION
What version number is this target.
For shared libraries VERSION and SOVERSION can be used to spec‐
ify the build version and api version respectively. When build‐
ing or installing appropriate symlinks are created if the plat‐
form supports symlinks and the linker supports so-names. If only
one of both is specified the missing is assumed to have the same
version number. SOVERSION is ignored if NO_SONAME property is
set. For shared libraries and executables on Windows the VERSION
attribute is parsed to extract a "major.minor" version number.
These numbers are used as the image version of the binary.
STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS
Extra flags to use when linking static libraries.
Extra flags to use when linking a static library.
STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration flags for creating a static library.
This is the configuration-specific version of
STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS.
SUFFIX What comes after the target name.
A target property that can be set to override the suffix (such
as ".so" or ".exe") on the name of a library, module or exe‐
cutable.
TYPE The type of the target.
This read-only property can be used to test the type of the
given target. It will be one of STATIC_LIBRARY, MODULE_LIBRARY,
SHARED_LIBRARY, EXECUTABLE or one of the internal target types.
VERSION
What version number is this target.
For shared libraries VERSION and SOVERSION can be used to spec‐
ify the build version and api version respectively. When build‐
ing or installing appropriate symlinks are created if the plat‐
form supports symlinks and the linker supports so-names. If only
one of both is specified the missing is assumed to have the same
version number. For executables VERSION can be used to specify
the build version. When building or installing appropriate sym‐
links are created if the platform supports symlinks. For shared
libraries and executables on Windows the VERSION attribute is
parsed to extract a "major.minor" version number. These numbers
are used as the image version of the binary.
VS_DOTNET_REFERENCES
Visual Studio managed project .NET references
Adds one or more semicolon-delimited .NET references to a gener‐
ated Visual Studio project. For example, "System;System.Win‐
dows.Forms".
VS_GLOBAL_<variable>
Visual Studio project-specific global variable.
Tell the Visual Studio generator to set the global variable
'<variable>' to a given value in the generated Visual Studio
project. Ignored on other generators. Qt integration works bet‐
ter if VS_GLOBAL_QtVersion is set to the version FindQt4.cmake
found. For example, "4.7.3"
VS_GLOBAL_KEYWORD
Visual Studio project keyword.
Sets the "keyword" attribute for a generated Visual Studio
project. Defaults to "Win32Proj". You may wish to override this
value with "ManagedCProj", for example, in a Visual Studio man‐
aged C++ unit test project.
VS_GLOBAL_PROJECT_TYPES
Visual Studio project type(s).
Can be set to one or more UUIDs recognized by Visual Studio to
indicate the type of project. This value is copied verbatim into
the generated project file. Example for a managed C++ unit test‐
ing project:
{3AC096D0-A1C2-E12C-1390-A8335801FDAB};{8BC9CEB8-8B4A-11D0-8D11-00A0C91BC942}
UUIDs are semicolon-delimited.
VS_KEYWORD
Visual Studio project keyword.
Can be set to change the visual studio keyword, for example QT
integration works better if this is set to Qt4VSv1.0.
VS_SCC_AUXPATH
Visual Studio Source Code Control Aux Path.
Can be set to change the visual studio source code control aux‐
path property.
VS_SCC_LOCALPATH
Visual Studio Source Code Control Local Path.
Can be set to change the visual studio source code control local
path property.
VS_SCC_PROJECTNAME
Visual Studio Source Code Control Project.
Can be set to change the visual studio source code control
project name property.
VS_SCC_PROVIDER
Visual Studio Source Code Control Provider.
Can be set to change the visual studio source code control
provider property.
VS_WINRT_EXTENSIONS
Visual Studio project C++/CX language extensions for Windows
Runtime
Can be set to enable C++/CX language extensions.
VS_WINRT_REFERENCES
Visual Studio project Windows Runtime Metadata references
Adds one or more semicolon-delimited WinRT references to a gen‐
erated Visual Studio project. For example, "Windows;Win‐
dows.UI.Core".
WIN32_EXECUTABLE
Build an executable with a WinMain entry point on windows.
When this property is set to true the executable when linked on
Windows will be created with a WinMain() entry point instead of
of just main().This makes it a GUI executable instead of a con‐
sole application. See the CMAKE_MFC_FLAG variable documentation
to configure use of MFC for WinMain executables. This property
is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_WIN32_EXE‐
CUTABLE if it is set when a target is created.
XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_<an-attribute>
Set Xcode target attributes directly.
Tell the Xcode generator to set '<an-attribute>' to a given
value in the generated Xcode project. Ignored on other genera‐
tors.
PROPERTIES ON TESTS
ATTACHED_FILES
Attach a list of files to a dashboard submission.
Set this property to a list of files that will be encoded and
submitted to the dashboard as an addition to the test result.
ATTACHED_FILES_ON_FAIL
Attach a list of files to a dashboard submission if the test
fails.
Same as ATTACHED_FILES, but these files will only be included if
the test does not pass.
COST Set this to a floating point value. Tests in a test set will be
run in descending order of cost.
This property describes the cost of a test. You can explicitly
set this value; tests with higher COST values will run first.
DEPENDS
Specifies that this test should only be run after the specified
list of tests.
Set this to a list of tests that must finish before this test is
run.
ENVIRONMENT
Specify environment variables that should be defined for running
a test.
If set to a list of environment variables and values of the form
MYVAR=value those environment variables will be defined while
running the test. The environment is restored to its previous
state after the test is done.
FAIL_REGULAR_EXPRESSION
If the output matches this regular expression the test will
fail.
If set, if the output matches one of specified regular expres‐
sions, the test will fail.For example: PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION
"[^a-z]Error;ERROR;Failed"
LABELS Specify a list of text labels associated with a test.
The list is reported in dashboard submissions.
MEASUREMENT
Specify a CDASH measurement and value to be reported for a test.
If set to a name then that name will be reported to CDASH as a
named measurement with a value of 1. You may also specify a
value by setting MEASUREMENT to "measurement=value".
PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION
The output must match this regular expression for the test to
pass.
If set, the test output will be checked against the specified
regular expressions and at least one of the regular expressions
has to match, otherwise the test will fail.
PROCESSORS
How many process slots this test requires
Denotes the number of processors that this test will require.
This is typically used for MPI tests, and should be used in con‐
junction with the ctest_test PARALLEL_LEVEL option.
REQUIRED_FILES
List of files required to run the test.
If set to a list of files, the test will not be run unless all
of the files exist.
RESOURCE_LOCK
Specify a list of resources that are locked by this test.
If multiple tests specify the same resource lock, they are guar‐
anteed not to run concurrently.
RUN_SERIAL
Do not run this test in parallel with any other test.
Use this option in conjunction with the ctest_test PARAL‐
LEL_LEVEL option to specify that this test should not be run in
parallel with any other tests.
TIMEOUT
How many seconds to allow for this test.
This property if set will limit a test to not take more than the
specified number of seconds to run. If it exceeds that the test
process will be killed and ctest will move to the next test.
This setting takes precedence over CTEST_TESTING_TIMEOUT.
WILL_FAIL
If set to true, this will invert the pass/fail flag of the test.
This property can be used for tests that are expected to fail
and return a non zero return code.
WORKING_DIRECTORY
The directory from which the test executable will be called.
If this is not set it is called from the directory the test exe‐
cutable is located in.
PROPERTIES ON SOURCE FILES
ABSTRACT
Is this source file an abstract class.
A property on a source file that indicates if the source file
represents a class that is abstract. This only makes sense for
languages that have a notion of an abstract class and it is only
used by some tools that wrap classes into other languages.
COMPILE_DEFINITIONS
Preprocessor definitions for compiling a source file.
The COMPILE_DEFINITIONS property may be set to a semicolon-sepa‐
rated list of preprocessor definitions using the syntax VAR or
VAR=value. Function-style definitions are not supported. CMake
will automatically escape the value correctly for the native
build system (note that CMake language syntax may require
escapes to specify some values). This property may be set on a
per-configuration basis using the name COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CON‐
FIG> where <CONFIG> is an upper-case name (ex. "COMPILE_DEFINI‐
TIONS_DEBUG").
CMake will automatically drop some definitions that are not sup‐
ported by the native build tool. The VS6 IDE does not support
definition values with spaces (but NMake does). Xcode does not
support per-configuration definitions on source files.
Disclaimer: Most native build tools have poor support for escap‐
ing certain values. CMake has work-arounds for many cases but
some values may just not be possible to pass correctly. If a
value does not seem to be escaped correctly, do not attempt to
work-around the problem by adding escape sequences to the value.
Your work-around may break in a future version of CMake that has
improved escape support. Instead consider defining the macro in
a (configured) header file. Then report the limitation. Known
limitations include:
# - broken almost everywhere
; - broken in VS IDE and Borland Makefiles
, - broken in VS IDE
% - broken in some cases in NMake
& | - broken in some cases on MinGW
^ < > \" - broken in most Make tools on Windows
CMake does not reject these values outright because they do work
in some cases. Use with caution.
COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG>
Per-configuration preprocessor definitions on a source file.
This is the configuration-specific version of COMPILE_DEFINI‐
TIONS. Note that Xcode does not support per-configuration
source file flags so this property will be ignored by the Xcode
generator.
COMPILE_FLAGS
Additional flags to be added when compiling this source file.
These flags will be added to the list of compile flags when this
source file builds. Use COMPILE_DEFINITIONS to pass additional
preprocessor definitions.
EXTERNAL_OBJECT
If set to true then this is an object file.
If this property is set to true then the source file is really
an object file and should not be compiled. It will still be
linked into the target though.
Fortran_FORMAT
Set to FIXED or FREE to indicate the Fortran source layout.
This property tells CMake whether a given Fortran source file
uses fixed-format or free-format. CMake will pass the corre‐
sponding format flag to the compiler. Consider using the tar‐
get-wide Fortran_FORMAT property if all source files in a target
share the same format.
GENERATED
Is this source file generated as part of the build process.
If a source file is generated by the build process CMake will
handle it differently in terms of dependency checking etc. Oth‐
erwise having a non-existent source file could create problems.
HEADER_FILE_ONLY
Is this source file only a header file.
A property on a source file that indicates if the source file is
a header file with no associated implementation. This is set
automatically based on the file extension and is used by CMake
to determine is certain dependency information should be com‐
puted.
KEEP_EXTENSION
Make the output file have the same extension as the source file.
If this property is set then the file extension of the output
file will be the same as that of the source file. Normally the
output file extension is computed based on the language of the
source file, for example .cxx will go to a .o extension.
LABELS Specify a list of text labels associated with a source file.
This property has meaning only when the source file is listed in
a target whose LABELS property is also set. No other semantics
are currently specified.
LANGUAGE
What programming language is the file.
A property that can be set to indicate what programming language
the source file is. If it is not set the language is determined
based on the file extension. Typical values are CXX C etc. Set‐
ting this property for a file means this file will be compiled.
Do not set this for header or files that should not be compiled.
LOCATION
The full path to a source file.
A read only property on a SOURCE FILE that contains the full
path to the source file.
MACOSX_PACKAGE_LOCATION
Place a source file inside a Mac OS X bundle, CFBundle, or
framework.
Executable targets with the MACOSX_BUNDLE property set are built
as Mac OS X application bundles on Apple platforms. Shared
library targets with the FRAMEWORK property set are built as Mac
OS X frameworks on Apple platforms. Module library targets with
the BUNDLE property set are built as Mac OS X CFBundle bundles
on Apple platforms. Source files listed in the target with this
property set will be copied to a directory inside the bundle or
framework content folder specified by the property value. For
bundles the content folder is "<name>.app/Contents". For frame‐
works the content folder is "<name>.framework/Versions/<ver‐
sion>". For cfbundles the content folder is "<name>.bundle/Con‐
tents" (unless the extension is changed). See the PUB‐
LIC_HEADER, PRIVATE_HEADER, and RESOURCE target properties for
specifying files meant for Headers, PrivateHeaders, or Resources
directories.
OBJECT_DEPENDS
Additional files on which a compiled object file depends.
Specifies a semicolon-separated list of full-paths to files on
which any object files compiled from this source file depend.
An object file will be recompiled if any of the named files is
newer than it.
This property need not be used to specify the dependency of a
source file on a generated header file that it includes.
Although the property was originally introduced for this pur‐
pose, it is no longer necessary. If the generated header file
is created by a custom command in the same target as the source
file, the automatic dependency scanning process will recognize
the dependency. If the generated header file is created by
another target, an inter-target dependency should be created
with the add_dependencies command (if one does not already exist
due to linking relationships).
OBJECT_OUTPUTS
Additional outputs for a Makefile rule.
Additional outputs created by compilation of this source file.
If any of these outputs is missing the object will be recom‐
piled. This is supported only on Makefile generators and will be
ignored on other generators.
SYMBOLIC
Is this just a name for a rule.
If SYMBOLIC (boolean) is set to true the build system will be
informed that the source file is not actually created on disk
but instead used as a symbolic name for a build rule.
WRAP_EXCLUDE
Exclude this source file from any code wrapping techniques.
Some packages can wrap source files into alternate languages to
provide additional functionality. For example, C++ code can be
wrapped into Java or Python etc using SWIG etc. If WRAP_EXCLUDE
is set to true (1 etc) that indicates then this source file
should not be wrapped.
PROPERTIES ON CACHE ENTRIES
ADVANCED
True if entry should be hidden by default in GUIs.
This is a boolean value indicating whether the entry is consid‐
ered interesting only for advanced configuration. The
mark_as_advanced() command modifies this property.
HELPSTRING
Help associated with entry in GUIs.
This string summarizes the purpose of an entry to help users set
it through a CMake GUI.
MODIFIED
Internal management property. Do not set or get.
This is an internal cache entry property managed by CMake to
track interactive user modification of entries. Ignore it.
STRINGS
Enumerate possible STRING entry values for GUI selection.
For cache entries with type STRING, this enumerates a set of
values. CMake GUIs may use this to provide a selection widget
instead of a generic string entry field. This is for conve‐
nience only. CMake does not enforce that the value matches one
of those listed.
TYPE Widget type for entry in GUIs.
Cache entry values are always strings, but CMake GUIs present
widgets to help users set values. The GUIs use this property as
a hint to determine the widget type. Valid TYPE values are:
BOOL = Boolean ON/OFF value.
PATH = Path to a directory.
FILEPATH = Path to a file.
STRING = Generic string value.
INTERNAL = Do not present in GUI at all.
STATIC = Value managed by CMake, do not change.
UNINITIALIZED = Type not yet specified.
Generally the TYPE of a cache entry should be set by the command
which creates it (set, option, find_library, etc.).
VALUE Value of a cache entry.
This property maps to the actual value of a cache entry. Set‐
ting this property always sets the value without checking, so
use with care.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 2000-2009 Kitware, Inc., Insight Software Consortium. All
rights reserved.
Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without mod‐
ification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
met:
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
Neither the names of Kitware, Inc., the Insight Software Consortium,
nor the names of their contributors may be used to endorse or promote
products derived from this software without specific prior written per‐
mission.
THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS
IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED
TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTIC‐
ULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR
CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL,
EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO,
PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR
PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING
NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
SEE ALSO
The following resources are available to get help using CMake:
Home Page
http://www.cmake.org
The primary starting point for learning about CMake.
Frequently Asked Questions
http://www.cmake.org/Wiki/CMake_FAQ
A Wiki is provided containing answers to frequently asked ques‐
tions.
Online Documentation
http://www.cmake.org/HTML/Documentation.html
Links to available documentation may be found on this web page.
Mailing List
http://www.cmake.org/HTML/MailingLists.html
For help and discussion about using cmake, a mailing list is
provided at cmake@cmake.org. The list is member-post-only but
one may sign up on the CMake web page. Please first read the
full documentation at http://www.cmake.org before posting ques‐
tions to the list.
Summary of helpful links:
Home: http://www.cmake.org
Docs: http://www.cmake.org/HTML/Documentation.html
Mail: http://www.cmake.org/HTML/MailingLists.html
FAQ: http://www.cmake.org/Wiki/CMake_FAQ
cmake 2.8.9 October 02, 2012 cmakeprops(1)