Make headers appear like they are in a different folder - c++

So I have a fancy-organized project that references headers from other projects like this:
#include <GeographicLib/Geocentric.hpp>
The thing is:
there is no GeographicLib folder
the project does compile with make
when I try to import it in CLion, it doesn't compile as it complains about missing headers
Is there a way to include a folder with CMakeLists.txt (the standard used by CLion) to make that .hpp file reference-able like it is in that GeographicLib folder without having to move files around or change the actual code?
Edit : (.hpp file is in a folder like ../other_proj/src/geolib)

One possible approach would be as follows: create a dummy target library (grouped_includes below) and link it to all your other targets (using target_link_libraries(target grouped_includes))
execute_process(
COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E create_symlink
"${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/other_proj/src/geolib"
"${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/GeographicLib")
add_library(grouped_includes INTERFACE)
target_include_directories(grouped_includes INTERFACE
$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}>)

Related

RTOS SDK including custom library with Make

I am working on a project where I have to include my library into an ESP8266 project. The library is build with CMake and works great on an ESP32. The RTOS SDK uses Make to compile and link the project. Therefore, I have to add Makefiles to the project to make it work.
I followed the manual where they explained that in the Makefile I include the following line:
EXTRA_COMPONENT_DIRS := AMI_SP_LIB (Name of my custom library)
Then it will look in this directory (including one layer deeper) for components (components.mk)
In a components.mk file I have to include the src directory and the inc directory. My file will look like this:
COMPONENT_ADD_INCLUDEDIRS += ./inc
COMPONENT_SRCDIRS := ./src
My (partial) folder structure looks like this:
The error I am getting is that it can't find the include I did in a header file from a different subfolder. The error:
fatal error: Nanopb/inc/pb.h: No such file or directory
#include <Nanopb/inc/pb.h>
This is strange to me since I include the include path for the component. Which I think means that it should be able to find it with: #include <> In addition, the CMake is able to find the components with this type of include.
Any clue on how I should alter the makefiles to make it work?

CMake target_include_directories does not affect header files

My project is roughly structured like this:
├CMakeLists.txt
|
├───ExampleApp
| ├───CMakeLists.txt
| ├───header.hpp
| └───main.cpp
|
└───ExampleLibrary
├───CMakeLists.txt
├───mylib.hpp
└───mylib.cpp
In the root CMakeLists.txt I call
add_subdirectory(ExampleLibrary)
add_subdirectory(ExampleApp)
To build the library I call:
add_library(ExampleLibrary
mylib.hpp mylib.cpp
)
And finally, in the executable, I try to do:
add_executable(ExampleApp
header.hpp main.cpp
)
target_include_directories(ExampleApp
PRIVATE ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/ExampleLibrary
)
target_link_libraries(ExampleApp
Path/To/The/Binary/Directory
)
Now the build files generate just fine, and the project also builds with no errors. However, when I now try to include mylib.hpp in header.hpp, I get build errors because it can't find the file mylib.hpp. But I actually can include mylib.hpp in main.cpp and the project builds and compiles.
Am I missing something? I thought target_include_directories() works for both .cpp and .hpp files.
It seems like you may not have added the correct directory as an include directory for the ExampleApp. The PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR variable evaluates to the directory in which the last project() call was made in your CMake project. You have not shown where this is, but you could use the root directory of the CMake project to be sure it is correct; try using ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/ExampleLibrary in the target_include_directories call instead:
target_include_directories(ExampleApp
PRIVATE ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/ExampleLibrary
)
A couple more notes:
If you aren't using an IDE such as Visual Studio for compilation, there is no need to add header files to calls like add_library() and add_executable(). Doing this only ensures they are shown in an IDE.
Instead, specify directories within which the headers can be found, using target_include_directories(). In your case, it sounds like you should have both directories listed here.
To link the ExampleLibrary target to the executable, you can simply use the target name in target_link_libraries(). There is no need to list out the binary directory (unless you are linking other libraries from there).
So with this in mind, the ExampleApp CMake file could look something like this:
add_executable(ExampleApp
main.cpp
)
target_include_directories(ExampleApp PRIVATE
${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/ExampleLibrary
${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}
)
target_link_libraries(ExampleApp PRIVATE
ExampleLibrary
)

CMake: copy header file to output directory

I have a directory with c++ source and header files. I want to create a CMakeLists.txt to build this as a library for use in other CMake projects that include it as a sub directory.
Structure:
example/
foo.h
foo.cpp
CMakeLists.txt
The problem I run into is CMake doesn't seem to put foo.h anywhere, so getting the parent CMake to know how to find the header file is beguiling me.
Here's my current CMakeLists.txt:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.8.2)
project(example)
set (CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
# add library target foo
add_library(foo STATIC foo.cpp)
# tell cmake where to find headers for it
target_include_directories(foo PUBLIC .)
# sad attempt to get it to output the header
set_target_properties(foo PROPERTIES PUBLIC_HEADER foo.h)
I DON'T want to have to do install. The idea here is that the library would be used by other CMake projects, not by the entire system.
Ideally, the foo.h would show up next to libfoo.a in the build directory.
I've tried calling it a "FRAMEWORK", no luck; that only makes is a macOs framework.
I believe I can jury rig this, but methinks there's a best practice out there.
Open to an answer that says "here's a better way", too...
UPDATE
It might help to clarify how I think I want to pull this project into another. I've seen other projects use something like this:
add_subdirectory(<path_to_foo>/foo foo_build)
which causes the foo build to happen in a subdirectory. This allows me to refer to the library using 'foo_build', which is nice and clean. However, I still have to point at the original include directory to get the .h file, which makes me feel like I'm missing something.
It seems like cmake would have a clean solution for this.
I am fairly new to CMake but what I think you want is a 'add_custom_command'.
add_custom_command(TARGET foo.a POST_BUILD COMMAND copy foo.h ${CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY})
That might work.
What you are looking for is the following structure:
example/
- CMakeLists.txt
- src/
- main.c
- sub/
- foo/
- CMakeLists.txt
- src/
- foo/
- foo.c
- foo.h
Your CMakeLists will look like the following
example/CMakeLists.txt
# use modern target-based cmake features
cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 3.0)
# projectname
project (ff1_selfcheck)
add_subdirectory (sub/foo)
# executable to create
add_executable(${PROJECT_NAME}
src/main.c
)
# link libraries
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}
PRIVATE
foo # imported target
)
example/sub/foo/CMakeLists.txt
# use modern target-based cmake features
cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 3.0)
# projectname
project (foo)
# executable to create
add_library(${PROJECT_NAME}
src/foo.c
)
# directories where to search for header files
target_include_directories(${PROJECT_NAME}
PUBLIC
source # the headerfiles in source are the includes
)
By using the project name foo in target_link_libraries(...) you refer to the foo library target
Furthermore, by using the PUBLIC keyword in the foo library, your headers (your include directory) is automatically propagated to every CMake project that adds this library via add_subdirectory(...).
Therefore you don't need to copy your headers! CMake >= 2.8.12 is beautiful, isn't it?
If you really want to copy files via CMake, the following would work:
file(COPY srcDir
DESTINATION dstDir
FILES_MATCHING
PATTERN .h
)
Take a look here: https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.2/command/file.html
As a general rule for CMake, sources are kept in the source directory and binaries and other generated files are within the build directory. So you wish is not very CMake-ish.
CMake would put headers and libraries according to your wishes when you install the project. Then you can specify what to copy where.
As you don't want to install this module, the best way is to create a package by providing a CMake config file for your project. This means that your project Foo would generate a file FooConfig.cmake which contains the paths to includes and libraries. The other CMake project would use find_package(Foo) to look for the file. By adding a hint to Foo_DIR you can make CMake find your project in a non-standard directory.
Further reading:
CMake documentation about packages
About how to use your library
Note, that configure_file is unrelated to what you wish, the confusing name has historic reasons. You can use this command, but per se it is unrelated.
UPDATE: after the update, I think that you want to use an external project. Behaves like an internal library, but pretty separated. See https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/ExternalProject.html
you should use generator expression for your "foo" include directory:
target_include_directories(foo PUBLIC
$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR})
And since you don't want install rules not need to also add a $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>...
BTW you should don't care to copy the include file in the build directory (supposing you are building out of the source).
ps: if you also generate headers files simply add $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}>

CMake Difference between include_directories and add_subdirectory?

I'm learning CMake for building C++ code, and struggling with the following concept. On my root level directory I have some cpp files and a CMakeLists.txt that succesfully generates some thrift code in a gen-cpp directory. My root level CMakeLists.txt contains :
include_directories("path-to-root"/gen-cpp). (along with the relevant thrift auto-generating and includes.
Everything compiles ok but I get run time dynamic library linked errors for undefined symbol referencing a class defined in the gen-cpp directory. When I move the files in the directory to the root level, it runs fine. what am I missing? (I had also adjusted the #include in the root level cpp directorie s to point to "path-to-root"/gen-cpp).
Is this a misunderstanding of using include_directory, where I should be using add_subdirectory. If the latter, would the code in gen-cpp needs its own CMakeLists.txt? Why is this additional file not needed, when the contents of said directory are root level?
add_subdirectory(source_dir): Used to add a subdirectory to the build. There is also a CMakeLists.txt file in the source_dir. This CMakeLists.txt file in the specified source directory will be processed immediately by CMake before processing in the current input file continues beyond this command.
include_directories(dir): Add the given directories to those the compiler uses to search for include files. These directories are added to the directory property INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES for the current CMakeLists file.
The include_directories() is used for adding headers search paths (-I flag) and add_subdirectory() will make no difference in this case.
I suppose, you need to list *.cpp files from gen-cpp folder in add_executable() or add_library() calls, in which you wish these symbols to be.
Alternatively, you can compile all thrift sources into the library and link it with your code.

The right way to structure my c++ project with cmake?

I have been struggling with this for quite a while, and my adventures with cmake have only resulted in hackish solutions that I am pretty sure are not correct.
I created a library that consists of several files, as follows:
-libfolder
-codepart1folder
-CMakeLists.txt
-codepart1.cpp
-codepart1.hpp
-codepart2folder
-codepart3folder
-lib.cpp
-lib.hpp
-CMakeLists.txt
I wrote a CMakeLists file to compile the library (after some experimentation), and I can generate a lib.a file. Now I would like to include this code as a library in other projects, and access it through the interface in lib.hpp. What is the best way to do this, in terms of directory structure, and what I need to put into CMakeLists.txt in my root project?
My current attempt has been to add -libfolder as a subfolder to my current project, and add the commands:
include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/libfolder)
link_directories(${PROJECT_BINARY_DIR}/libfolder)
add_subdirectory(libfolder)
target_link_libraries(project lib)
When I run make, the library compiles fine, but when project.cpp compiles, it complains that it cannot find codepart1.hpp (which is included in lib.hpp, included from project.cpp).
I suspect that this is the wrong way about doing this, but I cannot wade through the CMake documentation and find a good tutorial on setting up projects like this. Please help, CMake gurus!
The clean way to import one CMake project into another is via the find_package command. The package declaration is done by using the export command. An advantage of using find_package is that it eliminates the need to hard-code paths to the package's files.
Regarding the missing hpp file, you didn't include codepart1folder, so it's not on the include path.
Ok, so after consulting a coworker of mine who is a CMake guru, it seems CMake does not have support for what I am trying to do, leaving one with 3 options:
Add all of the dependencies to the parent projects CMakeLists.txt - not very clean, but it will get the thing to work. You'll have to do this for every project you add the code to, and go back and fix things if your library changes.
clean up your library headers. This is done through some compiler hackery. The idea is to forward-declare every class, and use only pointers or boost::shared_ptr, and then include the dependencies only in the cpp file. That way you can build the cpp file using all the findpackage stuff, and you get the bonus of being able to use the lib by only including the header and linking to the library.
Look into build systems. Having portable code and fast code compilation with complex dependencies is not a solved problem! From my investigations it turned out to be quite complicated. I ended up adopting my coworkers build system which he created himself in cmake, using things he picked up from Google.
Looking at your post you don't seem to add 'codepart1folder' to the includes anywhere. How are you including codepart1.hpp as:
#include <codepart1.hpp>
#include "codepart1folder/codepart1.hpp"
I don't think there is a standard accepted way to structure cmake projects. I've looked at a bunch of cmake repos and they tend to have differences. Personally I do the following:
-project
CMakeLists.txt
-build
-cmake
OptionalCmakeModule.cmake
-src
-Main
Main.cpp
Main.hpp
-DataStructs
SomeTree.hpp
SomeObject.hpp
-Debug
Debug.hpp
-UI
Window.hpp
Window.cpp
Basically that dumps all the source code into 1 directory, then you perform an out of source build with: 'mkdir build && cd build && cmake .. && make' in the projects root folder.
If you have separate libs as part of your project, then you might want a separate libs directory with another subfolder for your specific lib.
I have some of my repos on: https://github.com/dcbishop/ if you want to look at the CMakeLists.txt files.
The main problems with my project structure are that I use the FILE_GLOB which is apparently the 'wrong' way to do things (if you add files after running 'cmake ..' then they won't be picked up hen you do a 'make'). I haven't figured out what the 'right' way to do it is (from what I can see it involves keeping a separate list of files) I also only use 1 CMakeLists.txt file.
Some projects also choose to separate their cpp and hpp files into separate directories. So you would have an include and src folders (at least for the hpp files that are intended to be used externally). I think that would mainly be for projects that are mainly large libraries. Would also make installing header files much easier.
You are probably missing
include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/libfolder/codepart1folder)
In such a case you might want to set( CMAKE_INCLUDE_CURRENT_DIR on) to add all folders to the include directory path variable.
Check cmake's output on the command line whether the correct include folders are set or not. Additionally you can always use message() as "print debugging" for cmake variables.
In case of include directories however you need to read the directory property to see what is actually in the include directories.
get_property(inc_dirs DIRECTORY PROPERTY INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES)
message("inc_dirs = ${inc_dirs}")
I hope this helps you figuring out what is missing.
Edit
I just saw your comment about added codepart1folder in the libfolder. It is only available in the libfolder's include_directory path and not propagated to the root folder.
Since the include codepart1.hpp is present in the lib.hpp however you need to have it also available in the project path otherwise you will get missing declaration errors when you build your project.