CMake does not find Boost on Custom Location on Windows - c++

Question

I have downloaded and build Boost as described in the Getting Started on Windows Documentation.
Now i want to link a sample program to that Version of Boost via CMake.
This is my current Folder Structure:
cmake-boost
- boost_1_73_0/ (Boost folder)
- build/
- CMakeLists.txt
- cmake-boost.cpp
This is the content of my CMakeLists.txt File:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5 FATAL_ERROR)
project(cmake-boost LANGUAGES CXX)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 17)
set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
set(BOOST_ROOT "boost_1_73_0")
set(BOOST_LIBRARYDIR "boost_1_73_0/stage/lib")
find_package(Boost REQUIRED COMPONENTS regex)
if(Boost_FOUND)
message(STATUS "Success!")
endif()
add_executable(cmake-boost cmake-boost.cpp)
target_link_libraries(cmake-boost
PUBLIC
Boost::regex
)
If i run cmake .. from inside the build Folder all i get is the following Message saying it could not find the requested Library.
CMake Warning at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:896 (message):
New Boost version may have incorrect or missing dependencies and imported
targets
Call Stack (most recent call first):
C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1018 (_Boost_COMPONENT_DEPENDENCIES)
C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1694 (_Boost_MISSING_DEPENDENCIES)
CMakeLists.txt:12 (find_package)
CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2124 (message):
Unable to find the requested Boost libraries.
Boost version: 1.73.0
Boost include path:
C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0
Could not find the following Boost libraries:
boost_regex
No Boost libraries were found. You may need to set BOOST_LIBRARYDIR to the
directory containing Boost libraries or BOOST_ROOT to the location of
Boost.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
CMakeLists.txt:12 (find_package)
-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
What is wrong with my CMakeFile?
UPDATE:
Here is the output of cmake -DBoost_DEBUG=ON ..
-- Building for: Visual Studio 16 2019
-- Selecting Windows SDK version 10.0.18362.0 to target Windows 10.0.17763.
-- The CXX compiler identification is MSVC 19.26.28806.0
-- Check for working CXX compiler: C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.26.28801/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe
-- Check for working CXX compiler: C:/Program Files (x86)/Microsoft Visual Studio/2019/Professional/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.26.28801/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1181 ] _boost_TEST_VERSIONS = 1.70.0;1.70;1.69.0;1.69
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1183 ] Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED = TRUE
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1185 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS =
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1187 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME =
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1189 ] Boost_ADDITIONAL_VERSIONS =
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1191 ] Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS =
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1259 ] Declared as CMake or Environmental Variables:
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1261 ] BOOST_ROOT = boost_1_73_0
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1263 ] BOOST_INCLUDEDIR =
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1265 ] BOOST_LIBRARYDIR = boost_1_73_0/stage/lib
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1267 ] _boost_TEST_VERSIONS = 1.70.0;1.70;1.69.0;1.69
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1342 ] Include debugging info:
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1344 ] _boost_INCLUDE_SEARCH_DIRS = boost_1_73_0/include;boost_1_73_0;PATHS;C:/local/boost_1_70_0;PATHS;C:/local/boost_1_70;PATHS;C:/local/boost_1_69_0;PATHS;C:/local/boost_1_69;PATHS;C:/boost/include;C:/boost;/sw/local/include
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1346 ] _boost_PATH_SUFFIXES = boost-1_70_0;boost_1_70_0;boost/boost-1_70_0;boost/boost_1_70_0;boost-1_70;boost_1_70;boost/boost-1_70;boost/boost_1_70;boost-1_69_0;boost_1_69_0;boost/boost-1_69_0;boost/boost_1_69_0;boost-1_69;boost_1_69;boost/boost-1_69;boost/boost_1_69
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1366 ] location of version.hpp: C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/boost/version.hpp
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1391 ] version.hpp reveals boost 1.73.0
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1447 ] Boost_LIB_PREFIX =
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1449 ] Boost_NAMESPACE = boost
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1484 ] guessed _boost_COMPILER = -vc141;-vc140
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1494 ] _boost_MULTITHREADED = -mt
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1578 ] _boost_RELEASE_ABI_TAG = -
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1580 ] _boost_DEBUG_ABI_TAG = -gd
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1643 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_RELEASE = boost_1_73_0/stage/lib;boost_1_73_0/lib;boost_1_73_0/stage/lib;boost_1_73_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;boost_1_73_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/lib;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/../lib;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/stage/lib;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/../lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/../lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_70_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_70_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_70/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_70/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_69_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_69_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_69/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_69/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.0;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib_boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_DEBUG = boost_1_73_0/stage/lib;boost_1_73_0/lib;boost_1_73_0/stage/lib;boost_1_73_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;boost_1_73_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/lib;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/../lib;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/stage/lib;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/../lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/../lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_70_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_70_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_70/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_70/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_69_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_69_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_69/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_69/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.0;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib
CMake Warning at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:896 (message):
New Boost version may have incorrect or missing dependencies and imported
targets
Call Stack (most recent call first):
C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1018 (_Boost_COMPONENT_DEPENDENCIES)
C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1694 (_Boost_MISSING_DEPENDENCIES)
CMakeLists.txt:12 (find_package)
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1833 ] Searching for REGEX_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_regex-vc141-mt-x64-1_73;boost_regex-vc141-mt;boost_regex-vc140-mt-x64-1_73;boost_regex-vc140-mt;boost_regex-mt-x64-1_73;boost_regex-mt;boost_regex-mt;boost_regex
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1886 ] Searching for REGEX_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_regex-vc141-mt-gd-x64-1_73;boost_regex-vc141-mt-gd;boost_regex-vc140-mt-gd-x64-1_73;boost_regex-vc140-mt-gd;boost_regex-mt-gd-x64-1_73;boost_regex-mt-gd;boost_regex-mt;boost_regex
-- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1960 ] Boost_FOUND = 1
CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2124 (message):
Unable to find the requested Boost libraries.
Boost version: 1.73.0
Boost include path:
C:/Users/djc3ho/Documents/Programming/cpp/_Testing/cmake_boost/boost_1_73_0
Could not find the following Boost libraries:
boost_regex
No Boost libraries were found. You may need to set BOOST_LIBRARYDIR to the
directory containing Boost libraries or BOOST_ROOT to the location of
Boost.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
CMakeLists.txt:12 (find_package)
I have noticed two things which are possible wrong:
This line -- [ C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.14/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1484 ] guessed _boost_COMPILER = -vc141;-vc140 but if i look at the .lib Files generated during the build of boost, they have the -vc142 in their name
It seems that cmake searching the right folder but with the wrong name of the library file. It uses the name boost_regex-vc141-mt-x64-1_73 but the lib files from my boost build startet with lib like libboost_regex-vc142-mt-x64-1_73.lib
I solved the first issue by adding -DBoost_COMPILER=-v142 to the cmake command. But i could not set the Boost_LIB_PREFIX with -DBoost_LIB_PREFIX=lib

Answer 1

I have found a solution.
As mentioned in the last edit I made to my question, the first issue with the compiler could be fixed with the -DBoost_COMPILER=-vc142 option.
The second could be solved by using the -DBoost_USE_STATIC_LIBS=ON.
So the set block in the CMakeLists for boost is now:
set(BOOST_ROOT "boost_1_73_0")
set(Boost_COMPILER "-vc142")
set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS ON)
With these variables set, CMake runs without any problems.