CODEWITHSUNDEEP
cmake
Jeff M
Jeff M

Reputation: 2583

Cmake project with dependency on cmake project

I have a cmake project that has a dependency on another library. That other library also uses cmake, but its build steps seem to work more like a standalone project rather than a library. So when my cmake tries to add_subdirectory() to the library cmake, I get errors such as "CPack.cmake has already been included!!" and "CPack readme resource file could not be found." So, unless there's some clever trick, I'm assuming that add_subdirectory() isn't a realistic option here? What's the best alternative to integrate the building of the library into the building of my project?

A couple ideas that crossed my mind are:

  1. Use custom commands to generate the library's cmake build files on the fly, then more custom commands to kick-off the build.

  2. Just build the library manually and store pre-built binaries with my project for the various os/arch/compiler combinations.

Thoughts?

Upvotes: 3

Views: 902

Answers (1)

Fraser
Fraser

Reputation: 78458

Probably your best bet is to make use of the ExternalProject module - specifically the ExternalProject_Add function.

This will let you do any or all of: download, update/patch, configure, build, install and test the dependent library. It works with any build system, but obviously is particularly suited to work with CMake projects.

If you are looking at doing your option 1 - it might be easier to just look at modifying the other library's CMakeLists.txt to allow it to be included in your own project via add_subdirectory.

Upvotes: 5

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