CMake C++ compile command - c++

Question

I'm currently learning CMake, which I understand to be a build file generator, and I wanted to see the exact command that CMake was running to compile and link my C++ files. For example, if I'm working with a single file main.cpp and I were to compile it with gcc, I would run gcc -o main main.cpp. How would I see the C++ command that CMake is running? I tried make VERBOSE=1 but that only reveals CMake-related commands instead of C++ compiler commands.
// main.cpp
#include <iostream>
int main()
{
std::cout << "Hello world" << std::endl;
}
//CMakeLists.txt
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.2)
project(example LANGUAGES CXX)
add_executable(main main.cpp)
This creates a Makefile with the following contents:
# CMAKE generated file: DO NOT EDIT!
# Generated by "Unix Makefiles" Generator, CMake Version 3.14
# Default target executed when no arguments are given to make.
default_target: all
.PHONY : default_target
# Allow only one "make -f Makefile2" at a time, but pass parallelism.
.NOTPARALLEL:
#=============================================================================
# Special targets provided by cmake.
# Disable implicit rules so canonical targets will work.
.SUFFIXES:
# Remove some rules from gmake that .SUFFIXES does not remove.
SUFFIXES =
.SUFFIXES: .hpux_make_needs_suffix_list
# Suppress display of executed commands.
$(VERBOSE).SILENT:
# A target that is always out of date.
cmake_force:
.PHONY : cmake_force
#=============================================================================
# Set environment variables for the build.
# The shell in which to execute make rules.
SHELL = /bin/sh
# The CMake executable.
CMAKE_COMMAND = /usr/local/Cellar/cmake/3.14.5/bin/cmake
# The command to remove a file.
RM = /usr/local/Cellar/cmake/3.14.5/bin/cmake -E remove -f
# Escaping for special characters.
EQUALS = =
# The top-level source directory on which CMake was run.
CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR = /Users/.../Desktop/cpp
# The top-level build directory on which CMake was run.
CMAKE_BINARY_DIR = /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build
#=============================================================================
# Targets provided globally by CMake.
# Special rule for the target rebuild_cache
rebuild_cache:
#$(CMAKE_COMMAND) -E cmake_echo_color --switch=$(COLOR) --cyan "Running CMake to regenerate build system..."
/usr/local/Cellar/cmake/3.14.5/bin/cmake -S$(CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR) -B$(CMAKE_BINARY_DIR)
.PHONY : rebuild_cache
# Special rule for the target rebuild_cache
rebuild_cache/fast: rebuild_cache
.PHONY : rebuild_cache/fast
# Special rule for the target edit_cache
edit_cache:
#$(CMAKE_COMMAND) -E cmake_echo_color --switch=$(COLOR) --cyan "Running CMake cache editor..."
/usr/local/Cellar/cmake/3.14.5/bin/ccmake -S$(CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR) -B$(CMAKE_BINARY_DIR)
.PHONY : edit_cache
# Special rule for the target edit_cache
edit_cache/fast: edit_cache
.PHONY : edit_cache/fast
# The main all target
all: cmake_check_build_system
$(CMAKE_COMMAND) -E cmake_progress_start /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles/progress.marks
$(MAKE) -f CMakeFiles/Makefile2 all
$(CMAKE_COMMAND) -E cmake_progress_start /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles 0
.PHONY : all
# The main clean target
clean:
$(MAKE) -f CMakeFiles/Makefile2 clean
.PHONY : clean
# The main clean target
clean/fast: clean
.PHONY : clean/fast
# Prepare targets for installation.
preinstall: all
$(MAKE) -f CMakeFiles/Makefile2 preinstall
.PHONY : preinstall
# Prepare targets for installation.
preinstall/fast:
$(MAKE) -f CMakeFiles/Makefile2 preinstall
.PHONY : preinstall/fast
# clear depends
depend:
$(CMAKE_COMMAND) -S$(CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR) -B$(CMAKE_BINARY_DIR) --check-build-system CMakeFiles/Makefile.cmake 1
.PHONY : depend
#=============================================================================
# Target rules for targets named main
# Build rule for target.
main: cmake_check_build_system
$(MAKE) -f CMakeFiles/Makefile2 main
.PHONY : main
# fast build rule for target.
main/fast:
$(MAKE) -f CMakeFiles/main.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/main.dir/build
.PHONY : main/fast
main.o: main.cpp.o
.PHONY : main.o
# target to build an object file
main.cpp.o:
$(MAKE) -f CMakeFiles/main.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/main.dir/main.cpp.o
.PHONY : main.cpp.o
main.i: main.cpp.i
.PHONY : main.i
# target to preprocess a source file
main.cpp.i:
$(MAKE) -f CMakeFiles/main.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/main.dir/main.cpp.i
.PHONY : main.cpp.i
main.s: main.cpp.s
.PHONY : main.s
# target to generate assembly for a file
main.cpp.s:
$(MAKE) -f CMakeFiles/main.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/main.dir/main.cpp.s
.PHONY : main.cpp.s
# Help Target
help:
#echo "The following are some of the valid targets for this Makefile:"
#echo "... all (the default if no target is provided)"
#echo "... clean"
#echo "... depend"
#echo "... rebuild_cache"
#echo "... edit_cache"
#echo "... main"
#echo "... main.o"
#echo "... main.i"
#echo "... main.s"
.PHONY : help
#=============================================================================
# Special targets to cleanup operation of make.
# Special rule to run CMake to check the build system integrity.
# No rule that depends on this can have commands that come from listfiles
# because they might be regenerated.
cmake_check_build_system:
$(CMAKE_COMMAND) -S$(CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR) -B$(CMAKE_BINARY_DIR) --check-build-system CMakeFiles/Makefile.cmake 0
.PHONY : cmake_check_build_system
make VERBOSE=1 returns:
/usr/local/Cellar/cmake/3.14.5/bin/cmake -S/Users/.../Desktop/cpp -B/Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build --check-build-system CMakeFiles/Makefile.cmake 0
/usr/local/Cellar/cmake/3.14.5/bin/cmake -E cmake_progress_start /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles/progress.marks
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/make -f CMakeFiles/Makefile2 all
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/make -f CMakeFiles/main.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/main.dir/depend
cd /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build && /usr/local/Cellar/cmake/3.14.5/bin/cmake -E cmake_depends "Unix Makefiles" /Users/.../Desktop/cpp /Users/.../Desktop/cpp /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles/main.dir/DependInfo.cmake --color=
Dependee "/Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles/main.dir/DependInfo.cmake" is newer than depender "/Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles/main.dir/depend.internal".
Dependee "/Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles/CMakeDirectoryInformation.cmake" is newer than depender "/Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles/main.dir/depend.internal".
Scanning dependencies of target main
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/make -f CMakeFiles/main.dir/build.make CMakeFiles/main.dir/build
[ 50%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/main.dir/main.cpp.o
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/c++ -isysroot /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.14.sdk -o CMakeFiles/main.dir/main.cpp.o -c /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/main.cpp
[100%] Linking CXX executable main
/usr/local/Cellar/cmake/3.14.5/bin/cmake -E cmake_link_script CMakeFiles/main.dir/link.txt --verbose=1
/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Toolchains/XcodeDefault.xctoolchain/usr/bin/c++ -isysroot /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.14.sdk -Wl,-search_paths_first -Wl,-headerpad_max_install_names CMakeFiles/main.dir/main.cpp.o -o main
[100%] Built target main
/usr/local/Cellar/cmake/3.14.5/bin/cmake -E cmake_progress_start /Users/.../Desktop/cpp/build/CMakeFiles 0