linking boost libaries using cmake 2.8.8 - c++

Question

I am struggling with cmake-baed boost linking problem that I searched on stackoverflow, and on other forums but to no avail.
I am compiling a C++ program suite (depending on different libraries, in addition to Boost) on a cluster where Boost is already installed (and I know the full path). After getting weird linking errors for boost with cmake while compiling, I thought of first compiling a very simple boost-cmake example to solve the problem.
The code is given below.
#include <boost/program_options/options_description.hpp>
#include <boost/program_options/option.hpp>
using namespace std;
#include <iostream>
namespace po = boost::program_options;
int main(int argc, char** argv) {
po::options_description desc("Allowed options");
desc.add_options()
("help", "produce help message")
;
return 0;
}
I am using the following CMakeLists.txt file for building.
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)
set(Boost_INCLUDE_DIR /software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/include)
set(Boost_LIBRARY_DIR /software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/lib)
find_package(Boost COMPONENTS program_options REQUIRED)
include_directories(${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR})
link_directories(${Boost_LIBRARY_DIR})
message("Boost include dir is ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR}")
message("Boost library dir is ${Boost_LIBRARY_DIR}")
message("Boost libraries are at ${Boost_LIBRARIES}")
add_executable(main main.cpp)
target_link_libraries( main ${Boost_LIBRARIES} )
When I compile using cmake, I get the following output
x_ikrul#ikramu build]$ emacs ../CMakeLists.txt
Display localhost:39.0 unavailable, simulating -nw
[x_ikrul#triolith1 build]$ rm -rf *
[x_ikrul#triolith1 build]$ cmake ..
-- The C compiler identification is GNU 4.7.2
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 4.7.2
-- Check for working C compiler: /software/apps/comp_wrapper/gnu/gcc
-- Check for working C compiler: /software/apps/comp_wrapper/gnu/gcc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /software/apps/comp_wrapper/gnu/c++
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /software/apps/comp_wrapper/gnu/c++ -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
Boost found.
Found Boost components:
program_options
Boost include dir is /usr/include
Boost library dir is /software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/lib
Boost libraries are at optimized;boost_program_options-mt-shared;debug;boost_program_options-mt-shared-debug
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: /home/x_ikrul/Downloads/boost_example/build
THE PROBLEM comes when I "make" the code as given below.
x_ikrul#ikramu build]$make
Scanning dependencies of target main
[100%] Building CXX object CMakeFiles/main.dir/main.cpp.o
make[2]: *** No rule to make target `/usr/lib64/lib64/libboost_program_options-mt.so.5', needed by `main'. Stop.
make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles/main.dir/all] Error 2
make: *** [all] Error 2
As you may see, although CMake shows the lib directory for boost to be /software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/lib, strangely at linking time, it is referring to a different non-exising directory.
Anybody came across error like this? The cluster is running CentOS release 6.5, the boost (where I am pointing) is 1.55.0 and the cmake I am using is 2.8.8.

Answer 1

You're not setting the hint paths correctly.
From the FindBoost module docs:
This module reads hints about search locations from variables:
BOOST_ROOT - Preferred installation prefix
(or BOOSTROOT)
BOOST_INCLUDEDIR - Preferred include directory e.g. <prefix>/include
BOOST_LIBRARYDIR - Preferred library directory e.g. <prefix>/lib
Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS - Set to ON to disable searching in locations not
specified by these hint variables. Default is OFF.
...
and saves search results persistently in CMake cache entries:
Boost_INCLUDE_DIR - Directory containing Boost headers
Boost_LIBRARY_DIR - Directory containing Boost libraries
So, your lines:
set(Boost_INCLUDE_DIR /software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/include)
set(Boost_LIBRARY_DIR /software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/lib)
aren't actually setting hint variables - you want to be setting BOOST_INCLUDEDIR and BOOST_LIBRARYDIR; possibly also Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS.
This is best not hard-coded inside your CMakeLists.txt since that's not portable. Rather pass these on the command line when invoking CMake:
cmake . -DBOOST_INCLUDEDIR=/software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/include -DBOOST_LIBRARYDIR=/software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/lib -DBoost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS=ON
You can also get a much better idea of what's going on if you set Boost_DEBUG to ON.
As an aside, you shouldn't need the link_directories call since the full paths to the Boost libs are passed in the target_link_libraries call.

Answer 2

This stackoverflow answer suggests adding -DBoost_NO_BOOST_CMAKE=ON on the cmake command line.
It seems to be caused by the fact that some CMake versions do not work well with some Boost versions.
And I agree to what user Fraser said. These lines do not make sense
set(Boost_INCLUDE_DIR /software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/include)
set(Boost_LIBRARY_DIR /software/apps/boost/1.55.0/build06/lib)
as those variables are used by CMake to store the result from the Boost search. Read more about it in his answer.