add_target

A CMake function to bundle all the calls to add_library, target_link_libraries, etc. into one command, hence reducing name duplication in CMake scripts.

Example

include(add_target.cmake)

add_target(foo
	STATIC
		bar.cpp
		bar.h
		/implementation//
		detail/impl.cpp:header
	INCLUDES
		PUBLIC .
		PRIVATE detail
	BOOST_TEST
		test/test1.cpp
	DEPENDENCIES
		PUBLIC Boost::boost
)

The above call to add_target behaves as if the following script was executed.

add_library(foo
	STATIC
		bar.cpp
		bar.h
		detail/impl.cpp
)
target_include_directories(foo
	PUBLIC .
	PRIVATE detail
)
target_link_libraries(foo
	PUBLIC Boost::boost
)

source_group(NAME implementation FILES detail/impl.cpp)
set_source_files_properties(detail/impl.cpp
	PROPERTIES HEADER_FILE_ONLY ON
)

find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS unit_test_framework QUIET)
add_executable(boost-test-foo test/test1.cpp)
target_link_libraries(boost-test-foo
	PRIVATE foo Boost::unit_test_framework
)

if(BUILD_TESTING)
	add_test(
		NAME boost-test-foo
		COMMAND boost-test-foo --catch_system_error=yes --detect_memory_leaks --logger=JUNIT,all,junit_${test_name}.xml
		WORKING_DIRECTORY $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:boost-test-foo>
	)
endif()

References

add_target(<name>
	STATIC|SHARED|HEADER_ONLY|EXECUTABLE <source> …
	[INCLUDES <folder> … ]
	[DEPENDENCIES <target> <lib> … ]
	[OPTIONS <flag> … ]
	[DEFINITIONS <define> … ]
	[FEATURES <features> … ]
	[BOOST_TEST <source> … ]
	[GOOGLE_TEST <source> … ]
)

Target Type

The target <name> is created as if the following commands were called.

• add_library(<name> STATIC <source> …) for STATIC,
• add_library(<name> SHARED <source> …) for SHARED,
• add_library(<name> INTERFACE <source> …) for HEADER_ONLY,
• add_executable(<name> <source> …) for EXECUTABLE.

Target Configuration

The target <name> may be configured with:

• include directories after the INCLUDES keyword,
• target and/or libraries dependencies after the DEPENDENCIES keyword,
• compile options after the OPTIONS keyword,
• and compile definitions after the DEFINITIONS keyword.

The arguments listed after each of these keywords are forwarded as is to the corresponding native CMake command. As a result, you may use the same syntax as you would if you were calling them directly.

• INCLUDES translates to target_include_directories(),
• DEPENDENCIES translates to target_link_libraries(),
• OPTIONS translates to target_compile_options(),
• DEFINITIONS translates to target_compile_definitions(),
• and FEATURES translates to target_compile_features().

Boost and Google Tests

The BOOST_TESTand GOOGLE_TEST keywords each create an additional executable target named boost-test-<name> andgoogle-test-<name> respectively. Each executable depends on target <name> and Boost::unit_test_framework or GTest::Main. The Boost component unit_test_framework or the GTest package are required. They are looked for by the following find_package calls:

find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS unit_test_framework QUIET)
find_package(GTest REQUIRED QUIET)

If testing is enabled in your CMake project (see here), tests are added to CTest using add_test for Boost and gtest_discover_tests for GTest. The way these tests are configured is not yet specified.

Sources Options and Groups

Everywhere source files are expected, you may use the following syntax to specify dedicated compile options or assign them source groups.

Options

The syntax to apply options on a source file is to append a colon to the filename followed by one of the following keywords:

• header to disable compilation,
• cpp to force compilation with a c++ compiler.

For example, test.c:cpp will use the c++ compiler on test.c as in the following call:

set_source_files_properties(test.c PROPERTIES LANGUAGE CXX)

and impl.cpp:header will treat impl.cpp as a header file, as in the following call:

set_source_files_properties(impl.cpp PROPERTIES HEADER_FILE_ONLY ON)

Source Groups

If a file name ends with "//", it is considered the name of a source group. Every subsequent filename will be assign this source group with a call to:

source_group(NAME "<group>" FILES "<source>")

If a group name is absolute, ie. starts with "/", then it completely replaces the previous source group. If it is relative, then, the new source group is computed from the previous one with the same rules as file paths on Linux systems.

For example, the following source list assigns the group foo to the file test1.cpp and test2.cpp, the group foo/bar to test3.cpp and the group fizz/buzz to test4.cpp.

/foo// test1.cpp test2.cpp bar// test3.cpp /fizz/buzz// test4.cpp