CMAKE-COMPILE-FEATURES(7) CMake CMAKE-COMPILE-FEATURES(7)NAMEcmake-compile-features - CMake Compile Features Reference
INTRODUCTION
Project source code may depend on, or be conditional on, the availabil‐
ity of certain features of the compiler. There are three use-cases
which arise: Compile Feature Requirements, Optional Compile Features
and Conditional Compilation Options.
While features are typically specified in programming language stan‐
dards, CMake provides a primary user interface based on granular han‐
dling of the features, not the language standard that introduced the
feature.
The CMAKE_C_KNOWN_FEATURES and CMAKE_CXX_KNOWN_FEATURES global proper‐
ties contain all the features known to CMake, regardless of compiler
support for the feature. The CMAKE_C_COMPILE_FEATURES and
CMAKE_CXX_COMPILE_FEATURES variables contain all features CMake knows
are known to the compiler, regardless of language standard or compile
flags needed to use them.
Features known to CMake are named mostly following the same convention
as the Clang feature test macros. The are some exceptions, such as
CMake using cxx_final and cxx_override instead of the single cxx_over‐
ride_control used by Clang.
COMPILE FEATURE REQUIREMENTS
Compile feature requirements may be specified with the target_com‐
pile_features() command. For example, if a target must be compiled
with compiler support for the cxx_constexpr feature:
add_library(mylib requires_constexpr.cpp)
target_compile_features(mylib PRIVATE cxx_constexpr)
In processing the requirement for the cxx_constexpr feature, cmake(1)
will ensure that the in-use C++ compiler is capable of the feature, and
will add any necessary flags such as -std=gnu++11 to the compile lines
of C++ files in the mylib target. A FATAL_ERROR is issued if the com‐
piler is not capable of the feature.
The exact compile flags and language standard are deliberately not part
of the user interface for this use-case. CMake will compute the appro‐
priate compile flags to use by considering the features specified for
each target.
Such compile flags are added even if the compiler supports the particu‐
lar feature without the flag. For example, the GNU compiler supports
variadic templates (with a warning) even if -std=gnu++98 is used.
CMake adds the -std=gnu++11 flag if cxx_variadic_templates is specified
as a requirement.
In the above example, mylib requires cxx_constexpr when it is built
itself, but consumers of mylib are not required to use a compiler which
supports cxx_constexpr. If the interface of mylib does require the
cxx_constexpr feature (or any other known feature), that may be speci‐
fied with the PUBLIC or INTERFACE signatures of target_compile_fea‐
tures():
add_library(mylib requires_constexpr.cpp)
# cxx_constexpr is a usage-requirement
target_compile_features(mylib PUBLIC cxx_constexpr)
# main.cpp will be compiled with -std=gnu++11 on GNU for cxx_constexpr.
add_executable(myexe main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(myexe mylib)
Feature requirements are evaluated transitively by consuming the link
implementation. See cmake-buildsystem(7) for more on transitive behav‐
ior of build properties and usage requirements.
Because the CXX_EXTENSIONS target property is ON by default, CMake uses
extended variants of language dialects by default, such as -std=gnu++11
instead of -std=c++11. That target property may be set to OFF to use
the non-extended variant of the dialect flag. Note that because most
compilers enable extensions by default, this could expose cross-plat‐
form bugs in user code or in the headers of third-party dependencies.
OPTIONAL COMPILE FEATURES
Compile features may be preferred if available, without creating a hard
requirement. For example, a library may provides alternative implemen‐
tations depending on whether the cxx_variadic_templates feature is
available:
#if Foo_COMPILER_CXX_VARIADIC_TEMPLATES
template<int I, int... Is>
struct Interface;
template<int I>
struct Interface<I>
{
static int accumulate()
{
return I;
}
};
template<int I, int... Is>
struct Interface
{
static int accumulate()
{
return I + Interface<Is...>::accumulate();
}
};
#else
template<int I1, int I2 = 0, int I3 = 0, int I4 = 0>
struct Interface
{
static int accumulate() { return I1 + I2 + I3 + I4; }
};
#endif
Such an interface depends on using the correct preprocessor defines for
the compiler features. CMake can generate a header file containing
such defines using the WriteCompilerDetectionHeader module. The module
contains the write_compiler_detection_header function which accepts
parameters to control the content of the generated header file:
write_compiler_detection_header(
FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/foo_compiler_detection.h"
PREFIX Foo
COMPILERS GNU
FEATURES
cxx_variadic_templates
)
Such a header file may be used internally in the source code of a
project, and it may be installed and used in the interface of library
code.
For each feature listed in FEATURES, a preprocessor definition is cre‐
ated in the header file, and defined to either 1 or 0.
Additionally, some features call for additional defines, such as the
cxx_final and cxx_override features. Rather than being used in #ifdef
code, the final keyword is abstracted by a symbol which is defined to
either final, a compiler-specific equivalent, or to empty. That way,
C++ code can be written to unconditionally use the symbol, and compiler
support determines what it is expanded to:
struct Interface {
virtual void Execute() = 0;
};
struct Concrete Foo_FINAL {
void Execute() Foo_OVERRIDE;
};
In this case, Foo_FINAL will expand to final if the compiler supports
the keyword, or to empty otherwise.
In this use-case, the CMake code will wish to enable a particular lan‐
guage standard if available from the compiler. The CXX_STANDARD target
property variable may be set to the desired language standard for a
particular target, and the CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD may be set to influence
all following targets:
write_compiler_detection_header(
FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/foo_compiler_detection.h"
PREFIX Foo
COMPILERS GNU
FEATURES
cxx_final cxx_override
)
# Includes foo_compiler_detection.h and uses the Foo_FINAL symbol
# which will expand to 'final' if the compiler supports the requested
# CXX_STANDARD.
add_library(foo foo.cpp)
set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 11)
# Includes foo_compiler_detection.h and uses the Foo_FINAL symbol
# which will expand to 'final' if the compiler supports the feature,
# even though CXX_STANDARD is not set explicitly. The requirement of
# cxx_constexpr causes CMake to set CXX_STANDARD internally, which
# affects the compile flags.
add_library(foo_impl foo_impl.cpp)
target_compile_features(foo_impl PRIVATE cxx_constexpr)
The write_compiler_detection_header function also creates compatibility
code for other features which have standard equivalents. For example,
the cxx_static_assert feature is emulated with a template and
abstracted via the <PREFIX>_STATIC_ASSERT and <PRE‐
FIX>_STATIC_ASSERT_MSG function-macros.
CONDITIONAL COMPILATION OPTIONS
Libraries may provide entirely different header files depending on
requested compiler features.
For example, a header at with_variadics/interface.h may contain:
template<int I, int... Is>
struct Interface;
template<int I>
struct Interface<I>
{
static int accumulate()
{
return I;
}
};
template<int I, int... Is>
struct Interface
{
static int accumulate()
{
return I + Interface<Is...>::accumulate();
}
};
while a header at no_variadics/interface.h may contain:
template<int I1, int I2 = 0, int I3 = 0, int I4 = 0>
struct Interface
{
static int accumulate() { return I1 + I2 + I3 + I4; }
};
It would be possible to write a abstraction interface.h header contain‐
ing something like:
#include "foo_compiler_detection.h"
#if Foo_COMPILER_CXX_VARIADIC_TEMPLATES
#include "with_variadics/interface.h"
#else
#include "no_variadics/interface.h"
#endif
However this could be unmaintainable if there are many files to
abstract. What is needed is to use alternative include directories
depending on the compiler capabilities.
CMake provides a COMPILE_FEATURES generator expression to implement
such conditions. This may be used with the build-property commands
such as target_include_directories() and target_link_libraries() to set
the appropriate buildsystem properties:
add_library(foo INTERFACE)
set(with_variadics ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/with_variadics)
set(no_variadics ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/no_variadics)
target_include_directories(foo
INTERFACE
"$<$<COMPILE_FEATURES:cxx_variadic_templates>:${with_variadics}>"
"$<$<NOT:$<COMPILE_FEATURES:cxx_variadic_templates>>:${no_variadics}>"
)
Consuming code then simply links to the foo target as usual and uses
the feature-appropriate include directory
add_executable(consumer_with consumer_with.cpp)
target_link_libraries(consumer_with foo)
set_property(TARGET consumer_with CXX_STANDARD 11)
add_executable(consumer_no consumer_no.cpp)
target_link_libraries(consumer_no foo)
SUPPORTED COMPILERS
CMake is currently aware of the language standards and compile features
available from the following compiler ids as of the versions specified
for each:
· AppleClang: Apple Clang for Xcode versions 4.4 though 6.2.
· Clang: Clang compiler versions 2.9 through 3.4.
· GNU: GNU compiler versions 4.4 through 5.0.
· MSVC: Microsoft Visual Studio versions 2010 through 2015.
· SunPro: Oracle SolarisStudio version 12.4.
COPYRIGHT
2000-2015 Kitware, Inc.
3.4.2 February 17, 2016 CMAKE-COMPILE-FEATURES(7)
