CMAKE-PROPERTIES(7)

NAME
cmake-properties - CMake Properties Reference

PROPERTIES OF GLOBAL SCOPE

  ALLOW_DUPLICATE_CUSTOM_TARGETS

Allow duplicate custom targets to be created.

Normally CMake requires that all targets built in a project have globally unique logical names (see policy CMP0002). This is necessary to generate meaningful project file names in Xcode and Visual Studio Generators IDE generators. It also allows the target names to be referenced unambiguously.

Makefile generators are capable of supporting duplicate add_custom_target() names. For projects that care only about Makefile Generators and do not wish to support Xcode or Visual Studio Generators IDE generators, one may set this property to True to allow duplicate custom targets. The property allows multiple add_custom_target() command calls in different directories to specify the same target name. However, setting this property will cause non-Makefile generators to produce an error and refuse to generate the project.

  AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP

New in version 3.9.

Name of the source_group() for AUTOMOC, AUTORCC and AUTOUIC generated files.

Files generated by AUTOMOC, AUTORCC and AUTOUIC are not always known at configure time and therefore can't be passed to source_group(). AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP can be used instead to generate or select a source group for AUTOMOC, AUTORCC and AUTOUIC generated files.

For AUTOMOC, AUTORCC and AUTOUIC specific overrides see AUTOMOC_SOURCE_GROUP, AUTORCC_SOURCE_GROUP and AUTOUIC_SOURCE_GROUP respectively.

  AUTOGEN_TARGETS_FOLDER

Name of FOLDER for *_autogen targets that are added automatically by CMake for targets for which AUTOMOC is enabled.

If not set, CMake uses the FOLDER property of the parent target as a default value for this property. See also the documentation for the FOLDER target property and the AUTOMOC target property.

  AUTOMOC_SOURCE_GROUP

New in version 3.9.

Name of the source_group() for AUTOMOC generated files.

When set this is used instead of AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP for files generated by AUTOMOC.

  AUTOMOC_TARGETS_FOLDER

Name of FOLDER for *_autogen targets that are added automatically by CMake for targets for which AUTOMOC is enabled.

This property is obsolete. Use AUTOGEN_TARGETS_FOLDER instead.

If not set, CMake uses the FOLDER property of the parent target as a default value for this property. See also the documentation for the FOLDER target property and the AUTOMOC target property.

  AUTORCC_SOURCE_GROUP

New in version 3.9.

Name of the source_group() for AUTORCC generated files.

When set this is used instead of AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP for files generated by AUTORCC.

  AUTOUIC_SOURCE_GROUP

New in version 3.21.

Name of the source_group() for AUTOUIC generated files.

When set this is used instead of AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP for files generated by AUTOUIC.

  CMAKE_C_KNOWN_FEATURES

New in version 3.1.

List of C features known to this version of CMake.

The features listed in this global property may be known to be available to the C compiler. If the feature is available with the C compiler, it will be listed in the CMAKE_C_COMPILE_FEATURES variable.

The features listed here may be used with the target_compile_features() command. See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

The features known to this version of CMake are listed below.

  High level meta features indicating C standard support

New in version 3.8.

c_std_90
    Compiler mode is at least C 90.

c_std_99
    Compiler mode is at least C 99.

c_std_11
    Compiler mode is at least C 11.

c_std_17
    New in version 3.21.

    Compiler mode is at least C 17.

c_std_23
    New in version 3.21.

    Compiler mode is at least C 23.

    NOTE: If the compiler's default standard level is at least that of the requested feature, CMake may omit the -std= flag. The flag may still be added if the compiler's default extensions mode does not match the <LANG>_EXTENSIONS target property, or if the <LANG>_STANDARD target property is set.

  Low level individual compile features

c_function_prototypes
    Function prototypes, as defined in ISO/IEC 9899:1990.

c_restrict
    restrict keyword, as defined in ISO/IEC 9899:1999.

c_static_assert
    Static assert, as defined in ISO/IEC 9899:2011.

c_variadic_macros
    Variadic macros, as defined in ISO/IEC 9899:1999.

  CMAKE_CUDA_KNOWN_FEATURES

New in version 3.17.

List of CUDA features known to this version of CMake.

The features listed in this global property may be known to be available to the CUDA compiler. If the feature is available with the C++ compiler, it will be listed in the CMAKE_CUDA_COMPILE_FEATURES variable.

The features listed here may be used with the target_compile_features() command. See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

The features known to this version of CMake are:

cuda_std_03
    Compiler mode is at least CUDA/C++ 03.

cuda_std_11
    Compiler mode is at least CUDA/C++ 11.

cuda_std_14
    Compiler mode is at least CUDA/C++ 14.

cuda_std_17
    Compiler mode is at least CUDA/C++ 17.

cuda_std_20
    Compiler mode is at least CUDA/C++ 20.

cuda_std_23
    New in version 3.20.

    Compiler mode is at least CUDA/C++ 23.

cuda_std_26
    New in version 3.25.

    Compiler mode is at least CUDA/C++ 26.

    NOTE: If the compiler's default standard level is at least that of the requested feature, CMake may omit the -std= flag. The flag may still be added if the compiler's default extensions mode does not match the <LANG>_EXTENSIONS target property, or if the <LANG>_STANDARD target property is set.

  CMAKE_CXX_KNOWN_FEATURES

New in version 3.1.

List of C++ features known to this version of CMake.

The features listed in this global property may be known to be available to the C++ compiler. If the feature is available with the C++ compiler, it will be listed in the CMAKE_CXX_COMPILE_FEATURES variable.

The features listed here may be used with the target_compile_features() command. See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

The features known to this version of CMake are listed below.

  High level meta features indicating C++ standard support

New in version 3.8.

The following meta features indicate general support for the associated language standard. It reflects the language support claimed by the compiler, but it does not necessarily imply complete conformance to that standard.

cxx_std_98
    Compiler mode is at least C++ 98.

cxx_std_11
    Compiler mode is at least C++ 11.

cxx_std_14
    Compiler mode is at least C++ 14.

cxx_std_17
    Compiler mode is at least C++ 17.

cxx_std_20
    New in version 3.12.

    Compiler mode is at least C++ 20.

cxx_std_23
    New in version 3.20.

    Compiler mode is at least C++ 23.

cxx_std_26
    New in version 3.25.

    Compiler mode is at least C++ 26.

    NOTE: If the compiler's default standard level is at least that of the requested feature, CMake may omit the -std= flag. The flag may still be added if the compiler's default extensions mode does not match the <LANG>_EXTENSIONS target property, or if the <LANG>_STANDARD target property is set.

  Low level individual compile features

For C++ 11 and C++ 14, compilers were sometimes slow to implement certain language features. CMake provided some individual compile features to help projects determine whether specific features were available. These individual features are now less relevant and projects should generally prefer to use the high level meta features instead. Individual compile features are not provided for C++ 17 or later.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for further discussion of the use of individual compile features.

  Individual features from C++ 98

cxx_template_template_parameters
    Template template parameters, as defined in ISO/IEC 14882:1998.

  Individual features from C++ 11

cxx_alias_templates
    Template aliases, as defined in N2258.

cxx_alignas
    Alignment control alignas, as defined in N2341.

cxx_alignof
    Alignment control alignof, as defined in N2341.

cxx_attributes
    Generic attributes, as defined in N2761.

cxx_auto_type
    Automatic type deduction, as defined in N1984.

cxx_constexpr
    Constant expressions, as defined in N2235.

cxx_decltype_incomplete_return_types
    Decltype on incomplete return types, as defined in N3276.

cxx_decltype
    Decltype, as defined in N2343.

cxx_default_function_template_args
    Default template arguments for function templates, as defined in DR226

cxx_defaulted_functions
    Defaulted functions, as defined in N2346.

cxx_defaulted_move_initializers
    Defaulted move initializers, as defined in N3053.

cxx_delegating_constructors
    Delegating constructors, as defined in N1986.

cxx_deleted_functions
    Deleted functions, as defined in N2346.

cxx_enum_forward_declarations
    Enum forward declarations, as defined in N2764.

cxx_explicit_conversions
    Explicit conversion operators, as defined in N2437.

cxx_extended_friend_declarations
    Extended friend declarations, as defined in N1791.

cxx_extern_templates
    Extern templates, as defined in N1987.

cxx_final
    Override control final keyword, as defined in N2928, N3206 and N3272.

cxx_func_identifier
    Predefined __func__ identifier, as defined in N2340.

cxx_generalized_initializers
    Initializer lists, as defined in N2672.

cxx_inheriting_constructors
    Inheriting constructors, as defined in N2540.

cxx_inline_namespaces
    Inline namespaces, as defined in N2535.

cxx_lambdas
    Lambda functions, as defined in N2927.

cxx_local_type_template_args
    Local and unnamed types as template arguments, as defined in N2657.

cxx_long_long_type
    long long type, as defined in N1811.

cxx_noexcept
    Exception specifications, as defined in N3050.

cxx_nonstatic_member_init
    Non-static data member initialization, as defined in N2756.

cxx_nullptr
    Null pointer, as defined in N2431.

cxx_override
    Override control override keyword, as defined in N2928, N3206 and N3272.

cxx_range_for
    Range-based for, as defined in N2930.

cxx_raw_string_literals
    Raw string literals, as defined in N2442.

cxx_reference_qualified_functions
    Reference qualified functions, as defined in N2439.

cxx_right_angle_brackets
    Right angle bracket parsing, as defined in N1757.

cxx_rvalue_references
    R-value references, as defined in N2118.

cxx_sizeof_member
    Size of non-static data members, as defined in N2253.

cxx_static_assert
    Static assert, as defined in N1720.

cxx_strong_enums
    Strongly typed enums, as defined in N2347.

cxx_thread_local
    Thread-local variables, as defined in N2659.

cxx_trailing_return_types
    Automatic function return type, as defined in N2541.

cxx_unicode_literals
    Unicode string literals, as defined in N2442.

cxx_uniform_initialization
    Uniform initialization, as defined in N2640.

cxx_unrestricted_unions
    Unrestricted unions, as defined in N2544.

cxx_user_literals
    User-defined literals, as defined in N2765.

cxx_variadic_macros
    Variadic macros, as defined in N1653.

cxx_variadic_templates
    Variadic templates, as defined in N2242.

  Individual features from C++ 14

cxx_aggregate_default_initializers
    Aggregate default initializers, as defined in N3605.

cxx_attribute_deprecated
    [[deprecated]] attribute, as defined in N3760.

cxx_binary_literals
    Binary literals, as defined in N3472.

cxx_contextual_conversions
    Contextual conversions, as defined in N3323.

cxx_decltype_auto
    decltype(auto) semantics, as defined in N3638.

cxx_digit_separators
    Digit separators, as defined in N3781.

cxx_generic_lambdas
    Generic lambdas, as defined in N3649.

cxx_lambda_init_captures
    Initialized lambda captures, as defined in N3648.

cxx_relaxed_constexpr
    Relaxed constexpr, as defined in N3652.

cxx_return_type_deduction
    Return type deduction on normal functions, as defined in N3386.

cxx_variable_templates
    Variable templates, as defined in N3651.

  CMAKE_ROLE

New in version 3.14.

Tells what mode the current running script is in. Could be one of several values:

PROJECT
    Running in project mode (processing a CMakeLists.txt file).

SCRIPT
    Running in -P script mode.

FIND_PACKAGE
    Running in --find-package mode.

CTEST
    Running in CTest script mode.

CPACK
    Running in CPack.

  DEBUG_CONFIGURATIONS

Specify which configurations are for debugging.

The value must be a semi-colon separated list of configuration names. Currently this property is used only by the target_link_libraries() command. Additional uses may be defined in the future.

This property must be set at the top level of the project and before the first target_link_libraries() command invocation. If any entry in the list does not match a valid configuration for the project the behavior is undefined.

  DISABLED_FEATURES

List of features which are disabled during the CMake run.

List of features which are disabled during the CMake run. By default it contains the names of all packages which were not found. This is determined using the <NAME>_FOUND variables. Packages which are searched QUIET are not listed. A project can add its own features to this list. This property is used by the macros in FeatureSummary.cmake.

  ECLIPSE_EXTRA_CPROJECT_CONTENTS

New in version 3.12.

Additional contents to be inserted into the generated Eclipse cproject file.

The cproject file defines the CDT specific information. Some third party IDE's are based on Eclipse with the addition of other information specific to that IDE. Through this property, it is possible to add this additional contents to the generated project. It is expected to contain valid XML.

Also see the ECLIPSE_EXTRA_NATURES property.

  ECLIPSE_EXTRA_NATURES

List of natures to add to the generated Eclipse project file.

Eclipse projects specify language plugins by using natures. This property should be set to the unique identifier for a nature (which looks like a Java package name).

Also see the ECLIPSE_EXTRA_CPROJECT_CONTENTS property.

  ENABLED_FEATURES

List of features which are enabled during the CMake run.

List of features which are enabled during the CMake run. By default it contains the names of all packages which were found. This is determined using the <NAME>_FOUND variables. Packages which are searched QUIET are not listed. A project can add its own features to this list. This property is used by the macros in FeatureSummary.cmake.

  ENABLED_LANGUAGES

Read-only property that contains the list of currently enabled languages

Set to list of currently enabled languages.

  FIND_LIBRARY_USE_LIB32_PATHS

New in version 3.7.

Whether the find_library() command should automatically search lib32 directories.

FIND_LIBRARY_USE_LIB32_PATHS is a boolean specifying whether the find_library() command should automatically search the lib32 variant of directories called lib in the search path when building 32-bit binaries.

See also the CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_CUSTOM_LIB_SUFFIX variable.

  FIND_LIBRARY_USE_LIB64_PATHS

Whether find_library() should automatically search lib64 directories.

FIND_LIBRARY_USE_LIB64_PATHS is a boolean specifying whether the find_library() command should automatically search the lib64 variant of directories called lib in the search path when building 64-bit binaries.

See also the CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_CUSTOM_LIB_SUFFIX variable.

  FIND_LIBRARY_USE_LIBX32_PATHS

New in version 3.9.

Whether the find_library() command should automatically search libx32 directories.

FIND_LIBRARY_USE_LIBX32_PATHS is a boolean specifying whether the find_library() command should automatically search the libx32 variant of directories called lib in the search path when building x32-abi binaries.

See also the CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_CUSTOM_LIB_SUFFIX variable.

  FIND_LIBRARY_USE_OPENBSD_VERSIONING

Whether find_library() should find OpenBSD-style shared libraries.

This property is a boolean specifying whether the find_library() command should find shared libraries with OpenBSD-style versioned extension: ".so.<major>.<minor>". The property is set to true on OpenBSD and false on other platforms.

  GENERATOR_IS_MULTI_CONFIG

New in version 3.9.

Read-only property that is true on multi-configuration generators.

True when using a multi-configuration generator such as:

•   Ninja Multi-Config

•   Visual Studio Generators

•   Xcode

    Multi-config generators use CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES as the set of configurations and ignore CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE.

  GLOBAL_DEPENDS_DEBUG_MODE

Enable global target dependency graph debug mode.

CMake automatically analyzes the global inter-target dependency graph at the beginning of native build system generation. This property causes it to display details of its analysis to stderr.

  GLOBAL_DEPENDS_NO_CYCLES

Disallow global target dependency graph cycles.

CMake automatically analyzes the global inter-target dependency graph at the beginning of native build system generation. It reports an error if the dependency graph contains a cycle that does not consist of all STATIC library targets. This property tells CMake to disallow all cycles completely, even among static libraries.

  IN_TRY_COMPILE

Read-only property that is true during a try-compile configuration.

True when building a project inside a try_compile() or try_run() command.

  JOB_POOLS

Ninja only: List of available pools.

A pool is a named integer property and defines the maximum number of concurrent jobs which can be started by a rule assigned to the pool. The JOB_POOLS property is a semicolon-separated list of pairs using the syntax NAME=integer (without a space after the equality sign).

For instance:

set_property(GLOBAL PROPERTY JOB_POOLS two_jobs=2 ten_jobs=10)

Defined pools could be used globally by setting CMAKE_JOB_POOL_COMPILE and CMAKE_JOB_POOL_LINK or per target by setting the target properties JOB_POOL_COMPILE and JOB_POOL_LINK. Custom commands and custom targets can specify pools using the option JOB_POOL. Using a pool that is not defined by JOB_POOLS causes an error by ninja at build time.

If not set, this property uses the value of the CMAKE_JOB_POOLS variable.

Build targets provided by CMake that are meant for individual interactive use, such as install, are placed in the console pool automatically.

  PACKAGES_FOUND

List of packages which were found during the CMake run.

List of packages which were found during the CMake run. Whether a package has been found is determined using the <NAME>_FOUND variables.

  PACKAGES_NOT_FOUND

List of packages which were not found during the CMake run.

List of packages which were not found during the CMake run. Whether a package has been found is determined using the <NAME>_FOUND variables.

  PREDEFINED_TARGETS_FOLDER

Name of FOLDER for targets that are added automatically by CMake.

If not set, CMake uses "CMakePredefinedTargets" as a default value for this property. Targets such as INSTALL, PACKAGE and RUN_TESTS will be organized into this FOLDER. See also the documentation for the FOLDER target property.

  REPORT_UNDEFINED_PROPERTIES

If set, report any undefined properties to this file.

If this property is set to a filename then when CMake runs it will report any properties or variables that were accessed but not defined into the filename specified in this property.

  RULE_LAUNCH_COMPILE

Specify a launcher for compile rules.

NOTE: This property is intended for internal use by ctest(1). Projects and developers should use the <LANG>_COMPILER_LAUNCHER target properties or the associated CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_LAUNCHER variables instead.

Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator prefix compiler commands with the given launcher command line. This is intended to allow launchers to intercept build problems with high granularity. Other generators ignore this property because their underlying build systems provide no hook to wrap individual commands with a launcher.

  RULE_LAUNCH_CUSTOM

Specify a launcher for custom rules.

Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator prefix custom commands with the given launcher command line. This is intended to allow launchers to intercept build problems with high granularity. Other generators ignore this property because their underlying build systems provide no hook to wrap individual commands with a launcher.

  RULE_LAUNCH_LINK

Specify a launcher for link rules.

NOTE: This property is intended for internal use by ctest(1). Projects and developers should use the <LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER target properties or the associated CMAKE_<LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER variables instead.

Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator prefix link and archive commands with the given launcher command line. This is intended to allow launchers to intercept build problems with high granularity. Other generators ignore this property because their underlying build systems provide no hook to wrap individual commands with a launcher.

  RULE_MESSAGES

Specify whether to report a message for each make rule.

This property specifies whether Makefile generators should add a progress message describing what each build rule does. If the property is not set the default is ON. Set the property to OFF to disable granular messages and report only as each target completes. This is intended to allow scripted builds to avoid the build time cost of detailed reports. If a CMAKE_RULE_MESSAGES cache entry exists its value initializes the value of this property. Non-Makefile generators currently ignore this property.

  TARGET_ARCHIVES_MAY_BE_SHARED_LIBS

Set if shared libraries may be named like archives.

On AIX shared libraries may be named "lib<name>.a". This property is set to true on such platforms.

  TARGET_MESSAGES

New in version 3.4.

Specify whether to report the completion of each target.

This property specifies whether Makefile Generators should add a progress message describing that each target has been completed. If the property is not set the default is ON. Set the property to OFF to disable target completion messages.

This option is intended to reduce build output when little or no work needs to be done to bring the build tree up to date.

If a CMAKE_TARGET_MESSAGES cache entry exists its value initializes the value of this property.

Non-Makefile generators currently ignore this property.

See the counterpart property RULE_MESSAGES to disable everything except for target completion messages.

  TARGET_SUPPORTS_SHARED_LIBS

Does the target platform support shared libraries.

TARGET_SUPPORTS_SHARED_LIBS is a boolean specifying whether the target platform supports shared libraries. Basically all current general general purpose OS do so, the exception are usually embedded systems with no or special OSs.

  USE_FOLDERS

Controls whether to use the FOLDER target property to organize targets into folders. The value of USE_FOLDERS at the end of the top level CMakeLists.txt file is what determines the behavior.

Changed in version 3.26: CMake treats this property as ON by default. See policy CMP0143.

Not all CMake generators support recording folder details for targets. The Xcode and Visual Studio generators are examples of generators that do. Similarly, not all IDEs support presenting targets using folder hierarchies, even if the CMake generator used provides the necessary information.

  XCODE_EMIT_EFFECTIVE_PLATFORM_NAME

New in version 3.8.

Control emission of EFFECTIVE_PLATFORM_NAME by the Xcode generator.

It is required for building the same target with multiple SDKs. A common use case is the parallel use of iphoneos and iphonesimulator SDKs.

Three different states possible that control when the Xcode generator emits the EFFECTIVE_PLATFORM_NAME variable:

•   If set to ON it will always be emitted

•   If set to OFF it will never be emitted

•   If unset (the default) it will only be emitted when the project was configured for an embedded Xcode SDK like iOS, tvOS, visionOS, watchOS or any of the simulators.

    NOTE: When this behavior is enable for generated Xcode projects, the EFFECTIVE_PLATFORM_NAME variable will leak into Generator expressions like TARGET_FILE and will render those mostly unusable.

PROPERTIES ON DIRECTORIES

  ADDITIONAL_CLEAN_FILES

New in version 3.15.

A ;-list of files or directories that will be removed as a part of the global clean target. It is useful for specifying generated files or directories that are used by multiple targets or by CMake itself, or that are generated in ways which cannot be captured as outputs or byproducts of custom commands.

If an additional clean file is specific to a single target only, then the ADDITIONAL_CLEAN_FILES target property would usually be a better choice than this directory property.

Relative paths are allowed and are interpreted relative to the current binary directory.

Contents of ADDITIONAL_CLEAN_FILES may use generator expressions.

This property only works for the Ninja and the Makefile generators. It is ignored by other generators.

  BINARY_DIR

New in version 3.7.

This read-only directory property reports absolute path to the binary directory corresponding to the source on which it is read.

  BUILDSYSTEM_TARGETS

New in version 3.7.

This read-only directory property contains a semicolon-separated list of buildsystem targets added in the directory by calls to the add_library(), add_executable(), and add_custom_target() commands. The list does not include any Imported Targets or Alias Targets, but does include Interface Libraries. Each entry in the list is the logical name of a target, suitable to pass to the get_property() command TARGET option.

See also the IMPORTED_TARGETS directory property.

  CACHE_VARIABLES

List of cache variables available in the current directory.

This read-only property specifies the list of CMake cache variables currently defined. It is intended for debugging purposes.

  CLEAN_NO_CUSTOM

Set to true to tell Makefile Generators not to remove the outputs of custom commands for this directory during the make clean operation. This is ignored on other generators because it is not possible to implement.

  CMAKE_CONFIGURE_DEPENDS

Tell CMake about additional input files to the configuration process. If any named file is modified the build system will re-run CMake to re-configure the file and generate the build system again.

Specify files as a semicolon-separated list of paths. Relative paths are interpreted as relative to the current source directory.

  COMPILE_DEFINITIONS

Preprocessor definitions for compiling a directory's sources.

This property specifies the list of options given so far to the add_compile_definitions() (or add_definitions()) command.

The COMPILE_DEFINITIONS property may be set to a semicolon-separated list of preprocessor definitions using the syntax VAR or VAR=value. Function-style definitions are not supported. CMake will automatically escape the value correctly for the native build system (note that CMake language syntax may require escapes to specify some values).

This property will be initialized in each directory by its value in the directory's parent.

CMake will automatically drop some definitions that are not supported by the native build tool.

New in version 3.26: Any leading -D on an item will be removed.

Disclaimer: Most native build tools have poor support for escaping certain values. CMake has work-arounds for many cases but some values may just not be possible to pass correctly. If a value does not seem to be escaped correctly, do not attempt to work-around the problem by adding escape sequences to the value. Your work-around may break in a future version of CMake that has improved escape support. Instead consider defining the macro in a (configured) header file. Then report the limitation. Known limitations include:

#          - broken almost everywhere
;          - broken in VS IDE 7.0 and Borland Makefiles
,          - broken in VS IDE
%          - broken in some cases in NMake
& |        - broken in some cases on MinGW
^ < > \"   - broken in most Make tools on Windows

CMake does not reject these values outright because they do work in some cases. Use with caution.

Contents of COMPILE_DEFINITIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

The corresponding COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG> property may be set to specify per-configuration definitions. Generator expressions should be preferred instead of setting the alternative property.

  COMPILE_OPTIONS

List of options to pass to the compiler.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of options given so far to the add_compile_options() command.

This property is used to initialize the COMPILE_OPTIONS target property when a target is created, which is used by the generators to set the options for the compiler.

Contents of COMPILE_OPTIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  DEFINITIONS

For CMake 2.4 compatibility only. Use COMPILE_DEFINITIONS instead.

This read-only property specifies the list of flags given so far to the add_definitions() command. It is intended for debugging purposes. Use the COMPILE_DEFINITIONS directory property instead.

This built-in read-only property does not exist if policy CMP0059 is set to NEW.

  EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL

Set this directory property to a true value on a subdirectory to exclude its targets from the "all" target of its ancestors. If excluded, running e.g. make in the parent directory will not build targets the subdirectory by default. This does not affect the "all" target of the subdirectory itself. Running e.g. make inside the subdirectory will still build its targets.

If the EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL target property is set on a target then its value determines whether the target is included in the "all" target of this directory and its ancestors.

  IMPLICIT_DEPENDS_INCLUDE_TRANSFORM

Specify #include line transforms for dependencies in a directory.

This property specifies rules to transform macro-like #include lines during implicit dependency scanning of C and C++ source files. The list of rules must be semicolon-separated with each entry of the form A_MACRO(%)=value-with-% (the % must be literal). During dependency scanning occurrences of A_MACRO(...) on #include lines will be replaced by the value given with the macro argument substituted for %. For example, the entry

MYDIR(%)=<mydir/%>

will convert lines of the form

#include MYDIR(myheader.h)

to

#include <mydir/myheader.h>

allowing the dependency to be followed.

This property applies to sources in all targets within a directory. The property value is initialized in each directory by its value in the directory's parent.

  IMPORTED_TARGETS

New in version 3.21.

This read-only directory property contains a semicolon-separated list of Imported Targets added in the directory by calls to the add_library() and add_executable() commands. Each entry in the list is the logical name of a target, suitable to pass to the get_property() command TARGET option when called in the same directory.

See also the BUILDSYSTEM_TARGETS directory property.

  INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES

List of preprocessor include file search directories.

This property specifies the list of directories given so far to the include_directories() command.

This property is used to populate the INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES target property, which is used by the generators to set the include directories for the compiler.

In addition to accepting values from that command, values may be set directly on any directory using the set_property() command, and can be set on the current directory using the set_directory_properties() command. A directory gets its initial value from its parent directory if it has one. The initial value of the INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES target property comes from the value of this property. Both directory and target property values are adjusted by calls to the include_directories() command. Calls to set_property() or set_directory_properties(), however, will update the directory property value without updating target property values. Therefore direct property updates must be made before calls to add_executable() or add_library() for targets they are meant to affect.

The target property values are used by the generators to set the include paths for the compiler.

Contents of INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INCLUDE_REGULAR_EXPRESSION

Include file scanning regular expression.

This property specifies the regular expression used during dependency scanning to match include files that should be followed. See the include_regular_expression() command for a high-level interface to set this property.

  LABELS

New in version 3.10.

Specify a list of text labels associated with a directory and all of its subdirectories. This is equivalent to setting the LABELS target property and the LABELS test property on all targets and tests in the current directory and subdirectories. Note: Launchers must enabled to propagate labels to targets.

The CMAKE_DIRECTORY_LABELS variable can be used to initialize this property.

The list is reported in dashboard submissions.

  LINK_DIRECTORIES

List of linker search directories.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of directories and is typically populated using the link_directories() command. It gets its initial value from its parent directory, if it has one.

The directory property is used to initialize the LINK_DIRECTORIES target property when a target is created. That target property is used by the generators to set the library search directories for the linker.

Contents of LINK_DIRECTORIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  LINK_OPTIONS

New in version 3.13.

List of options to use for the link step of shared library, module and executable targets as well as the device link step.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of options given so far to the add_link_options() command.

This property is used to initialize the LINK_OPTIONS target property when a target is created, which is used by the generators to set the options for the compiler.

Contents of LINK_OPTIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  LISTFILE_STACK

The current stack of listfiles being processed.

This property is mainly useful when trying to debug errors in your CMake scripts. It returns a list of what list files are currently being processed, in order. So if one listfile does an include() command then that is effectively pushing the included listfile onto the stack.

  MACROS

List of macro commands available in the current directory.

This read-only property specifies the list of CMake macros currently defined. It is intended for debugging purposes. See the macro() command.

  PARENT_DIRECTORY

Source directory that added current subdirectory.

This read-only property specifies the source directory that added the current source directory as a subdirectory of the build. In the top-level directory the value is the empty-string.

  RULE_LAUNCH_COMPILE

Specify a launcher for compile rules.

NOTE: This property is intended for internal use by ctest(1). Projects and developers should use the <LANG>_COMPILER_LAUNCHER target properties or the associated CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_LAUNCHER variables instead.

See the global property of the same name for details. This overrides the global property for a directory.

  RULE_LAUNCH_CUSTOM

Specify a launcher for custom rules.

See the global property of the same name for details. This overrides the global property for a directory.

  RULE_LAUNCH_LINK

Specify a launcher for link rules.

NOTE: This property is intended for internal use by ctest(1). Projects and developers should use the <LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER target properties or the associated CMAKE_<LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER variables instead.

See the global property of the same name for details. This overrides the global property for a directory.

  SOURCE_DIR

New in version 3.7.

This read-only directory property reports absolute path to the source directory on which it is read.

  SUBDIRECTORIES

New in version 3.7.

This read-only directory property contains a semicolon-separated list of subdirectories processed so far by the add_subdirectory() or subdirs() commands. Each entry is the absolute path to the source directory (containing the CMakeLists.txt file). This is suitable to pass to the get_property() command DIRECTORY option.

NOTE: The subdirs() command does not process its arguments until after the calling directory is fully processed. Therefore looking up this property in the current directory will not see them.

  SYSTEM

New in version 3.25.

This directory property is used to initialize the SYSTEM target property for non-imported targets created in that directory. It is set to true by add_subdirectory() and FetchContent_Declare() when the SYSTEM option is given as an argument to those commands.

  TESTS

New in version 3.12.

List of tests.

This read-only property holds a semicolon-separated list of tests defined so far, in the current directory, by the add_test() command.

  TEST_INCLUDE_FILES

New in version 3.10.

A list of cmake files that will be included when ctest is run.

If you specify TEST_INCLUDE_FILES, those files will be included and processed when ctest is run on the directory.

  VARIABLES

List of variables defined in the current directory.

This read-only property specifies the list of CMake variables currently defined. It is intended for debugging purposes.

  VS_GLOBAL_SECTION_POST_<section>

Specify a postSolution global section in Visual Studio.

Setting a property like this generates an entry of the following form in the solution file:

GlobalSection(<section>) = postSolution
  <contents based on property value>
EndGlobalSection

The property must be set to a semicolon-separated list of key=value pairs. Each such pair will be transformed into an entry in the solution global section. Whitespace around key and value is ignored. List elements which do not contain an equal sign are skipped.

This property only works for Visual Studio 9 and above; it is ignored on other generators. The property only applies when set on a directory whose CMakeLists.txt contains a project() command.

Note that CMake generates postSolution sections ExtensibilityGlobals and ExtensibilityAddIns by default. If you set the corresponding property, it will override the default section. For example, setting VS_GLOBAL_SECTION_POST_ExtensibilityGlobals will override the default contents of the ExtensibilityGlobals section, while keeping ExtensibilityAddIns on its default. However, CMake will always add a SolutionGuid to the ExtensibilityGlobals section if it is not specified explicitly.

  VS_GLOBAL_SECTION_PRE_<section>

Specify a preSolution global section in Visual Studio.

Setting a property like this generates an entry of the following form in the solution file:

GlobalSection(<section>) = preSolution
  <contents based on property value>
EndGlobalSection

The property must be set to a semicolon-separated list of key=value pairs. Each such pair will be transformed into an entry in the solution global section. Whitespace around key and value is ignored. List elements which do not contain an equal sign are skipped.

This property only works for Visual Studio 9 and above; it is ignored on other generators. The property only applies when set on a directory whose CMakeLists.txt contains a project() command.

  VS_STARTUP_PROJECT

New in version 3.6.

Specify the default startup project in a Visual Studio solution.

The Visual Studio Generators create a .sln file for each directory whose CMakeLists.txt file calls the project() command. Set this property in the same directory as a project() command call (e.g. in the top-level CMakeLists.txt file) to specify the default startup project for the corresponding solution file.

The property must be set to the name of an existing target. This will cause that project to be listed first in the generated solution file causing Visual Studio to make it the startup project if the solution has never been opened before.

If this property is not specified, then the ALL_BUILD project will be the default.

PROPERTIES ON TARGETS

  ADDITIONAL_CLEAN_FILES

New in version 3.15.

A ;-list of files or directories that will be removed as a part of the global clean target. It can be used to specify files and directories that are generated as part of building the target or that are directly associated with the target in some way (e.g. created as a result of running the target).

For custom targets, if such files can be captured as outputs or byproducts instead, then that should be preferred over adding them to this property. If an additional clean file is used by multiple targets or isn't target-specific, then the ADDITIONAL_CLEAN_FILES directory property may be the more appropriate property to use.

Relative paths are allowed and are interpreted relative to the current binary directory.

Contents of ADDITIONAL_CLEAN_FILES may use generator expressions.

This property only works for the Ninja and the Makefile generators. It is ignored by other generators.

  AIX_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS

New in version 3.17.

On AIX, CMake automatically exports all symbols from shared libraries, and from executables with the ENABLE_EXPORTS target property set. Explicitly disable this boolean property to suppress the behavior and export no symbols by default. In this case it is expected that the project will use other means to export some symbols.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_AIX_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ALIAS_GLOBAL

New in version 3.18.

Read-only property indicating of whether an ALIAS target is globally visible.

The boolean value of this property is TRUE for aliases to IMPORTED targets created with the GLOBAL options to add_executable() or add_library(), FALSE otherwise. It is undefined for targets built within the project.

NOTE: Promoting an IMPORTED target from LOCAL to GLOBAL scope by changing the value or IMPORTED_GLOBAL target property do not change the scope of local aliases.

  ALIASED_TARGET

Name of target aliased by this target.

If this is an Alias Target, this property contains the name of the target aliased.

  ANDROID_ANT_ADDITIONAL_OPTIONS

New in version 3.4.

Set the additional options for Android Ant build system. This is a string value containing all command line options for the Ant build. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_ANT_ADDITIONAL_OPTIONS variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_API

New in version 3.1.

When Cross Compiling for Android with NVIDIA Nsight Tegra Visual Studio Edition, this property sets the Android target API version (e.g. 15). The version number must be a positive decimal integer. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_API variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_API_MIN

New in version 3.2.

Set the Android MIN API version (e.g. 9). The version number must be a positive decimal integer. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_API_MIN variable if it is set when a target is created. Native code builds using this API version.

  ANDROID_ARCH

New in version 3.4.

When Cross Compiling for Android with NVIDIA Nsight Tegra Visual Studio Edition, this property sets the Android target architecture.

This is a string property that could be set to the one of the following values:

•   armv7-a: "ARMv7-A (armv7-a)"

•   armv7-a-hard: "ARMv7-A, hard-float ABI (armv7-a)"

•   arm64-v8a: "ARMv8-A, 64bit (arm64-v8a)"

•   x86: "x86 (x86)"

•   x86_64: "x86_64 (x86_64)"

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_ARCH variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_ASSETS_DIRECTORIES

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android assets directories to copy into the main assets folder before build. This a string property that contains the directory paths separated by semicolon. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_ASSETS_DIRECTORIES variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_GUI

New in version 3.1.

When Cross Compiling for Android with NVIDIA Nsight Tegra Visual Studio Edition, this property specifies whether to build an executable as an application package on Android.

When this property is set to true the executable when built for Android will be created as an application package. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_GUI variable if it is set when a target is created.

Add the AndroidManifest.xml source file explicitly to the target add_executable() command invocation to specify the root directory of the application package source.

  ANDROID_JAR_DEPENDENCIES

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android property that specifies JAR dependencies. This is a string value property. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_JAR_DEPENDENCIES variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_JAR_DIRECTORIES

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android property that specifies directories to search for the JAR libraries.

This a string property that contains the directory paths separated by semicolons. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_JAR_DIRECTORIES variable if it is set when a target is created.

Contents of ANDROID_JAR_DIRECTORIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

  ANDROID_JAVA_SOURCE_DIR

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android property that defines the Java source code root directories. This a string property that contains the directory paths separated by semicolon. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_JAVA_SOURCE_DIR variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_NATIVE_LIB_DEPENDENCIES

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android property that specifies the .so dependencies. This is a string property.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_NATIVE_LIB_DEPENDENCIES variable if it is set when a target is created.

Contents of ANDROID_NATIVE_LIB_DEPENDENCIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

  ANDROID_NATIVE_LIB_DIRECTORIES

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android property that specifies directories to search for the .so libraries.

This a string property that contains the directory paths separated by semicolons.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_NATIVE_LIB_DIRECTORIES variable if it is set when a target is created.

Contents of ANDROID_NATIVE_LIB_DIRECTORIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

  ANDROID_PROCESS_MAX

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android property that defines the maximum number of a parallel Android NDK compiler processes (e.g. 4). This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_PROCESS_MAX variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_PROGUARD

New in version 3.4.

When this property is set to true that enables the ProGuard tool to shrink, optimize, and obfuscate the code by removing unused code and renaming classes, fields, and methods with semantically obscure names. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_PROGUARD variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_PROGUARD_CONFIG_PATH

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android property that specifies the location of the ProGuard config file. Leave empty to use the default one. This a string property that contains the path to ProGuard config file. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_PROGUARD_CONFIG_PATH variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_SECURE_PROPS_PATH

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android property that states the location of the secure properties file. This is a string property that contains the file path. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_SECURE_PROPS_PATH variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_SKIP_ANT_STEP

New in version 3.4.

Set the Android property that defines whether or not to skip the Ant build step. This is a boolean property initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_SKIP_ANT_STEP variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ANDROID_STL_TYPE

New in version 3.4.

When Cross Compiling for Android with NVIDIA Nsight Tegra Visual Studio Edition, this property specifies the type of STL support for the project. This is a string property that could set to the one of the following values:

none
    No C++ Support

system
    Minimal C++ without STL

gabi++_static
    GAbi++ Static

gabi++_shared
    GAbi++ Shared

gnustl_static
    GNU libstdc++ Static

gnustl_shared
    GNU libstdc++ Shared

stlport_static
    STLport Static

stlport_shared
    STLport Shared

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ANDROID_STL_TYPE variable if it is set when a target is created.

  ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY

Output directory in which to build ARCHIVE target files.

This property specifies the directory into which archive target files should be built. The property value may use generator expressions. Multi-configuration generators (Visual Studio, Xcode, Ninja Multi-Config) append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory unless a generator expression is used.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY variable if it is set when a target is created.

NOTE: On macOS, this property will be ignored for the linker import files (e.g. .tbd files, see ENABLE_EXPORTS property for details) when:

•   The FRAMEWORK is set, because the framework layout cannot be changed.

•   The Xcode generator is used, due to the limitations and constraints of the Xcode tool.

    In both cases, the linker import files will be generated in the same directory as the shared library.

    See also the ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> target property.

  ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration output directory for ARCHIVE target files.

This is a per-configuration version of the ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY target property, but multi-configuration generators (VS, Xcode) do NOT append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> variable if it is set when a target is created.

Contents of ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> may use generator expressions.

  ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_NAME

Output name for ARCHIVE target files.

This property specifies the base name for archive target files. It overrides OUTPUT_NAME and OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> properties.

NOTE: On macOS, this property will be ignored for the linker import files (e.g. .tbd files, see ENABLE_EXPORTS property for details) when:

•   The FRAMEWORK is set, because the framework layout cannot be changed.

•   The Xcode generator is used, due to the limitations and constraints of the Xcode tool.

    In both cases, the linker import files will be generated with the same name as the shared library.

    See also the ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> target property.

  ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration output name for ARCHIVE target files.

This is the configuration-specific version of the ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_NAME target property.

  AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR

New in version 3.9.

Directory where AUTOMOC, AUTOUIC and AUTORCC generate files for the target.

The directory is created on demand and automatically added to the ADDITIONAL_CLEAN_FILES target property.

When unset or empty the directory <dir>/<target-name>_autogen is used where <dir> is CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR and <target-name> is NAME.

By default AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR is unset.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  AUTOGEN_ORIGIN_DEPENDS

New in version 3.14.

Switch for forwarding origin target dependencies to the corresponding _autogen target.

Targets which have their AUTOMOC or AUTOUIC property ON have a corresponding _autogen target which generates moc and uic files. As this _autogen target is created at generate-time, it is not possible to define dependencies of it using e.g. add_dependencies(). Instead the AUTOGEN_ORIGIN_DEPENDS target property decides whether the origin target dependencies should be forwarded to the _autogen target or not.

By default AUTOGEN_ORIGIN_DEPENDS is initialized from CMAKE_AUTOGEN_ORIGIN_DEPENDS which is ON by default.

In total the dependencies of the _autogen target are composed from

•   forwarded origin target dependencies (enabled by default via AUTOGEN_ORIGIN_DEPENDS)

•   additional user defined dependencies from AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS

    See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  Note

Disabling AUTOGEN_ORIGIN_DEPENDS is useful to avoid building of origin target dependencies when building the _autogen target only. This is especially interesting when a global autogen target is enabled.

When the _autogen target doesn't require all the origin target's dependencies, and AUTOGEN_ORIGIN_DEPENDS is disabled, it might be necessary to extend AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS to add missing dependencies.

  AUTOGEN_PARALLEL

New in version 3.11.

Number of parallel moc or uic processes to start when using AUTOMOC and AUTOUIC.

The custom <origin>_autogen target starts a number of threads of which each one parses a source file and on demand starts a moc or uic process. AUTOGEN_PARALLEL controls how many parallel threads (and therefore moc or uic processes) are started.

•   An empty (or unset) value or the string AUTO sets the number of threads/processes to the number of physical CPUs on the host system.

•   A positive non zero integer value sets the exact thread/process count.

•   Otherwise a single thread/process is started.

    By default AUTOGEN_PARALLEL is initialized from CMAKE_AUTOGEN_PARALLEL.

    See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS

Additional target dependencies of the corresponding _autogen target.

Targets which have their AUTOMOC or AUTOUIC property ON have a corresponding _autogen target which generates moc and uic files. As this _autogen target is created at generate-time, it is not possible to define dependencies of it using e.g. add_dependencies(). Instead the AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS target property can be set to a ;-list of additional dependencies for the _autogen target. Dependencies can be target names or file names.

In total the dependencies of the _autogen target are composed from

•   forwarded origin target dependencies (enabled by default via AUTOGEN_ORIGIN_DEPENDS)

•   additional user defined dependencies from AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS

    See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  Use cases

If AUTOMOC or AUTOUIC depends on a file that is either

•   a GENERATED non C++ file (e.g. a GENERATED .json or .ui file) or

•   a GENERATED C++ file that isn't recognized by AUTOMOC and AUTOUIC because it's skipped by SKIP_AUTOMOC, SKIP_AUTOUIC, SKIP_AUTOGEN or CMP0071 or

•   a file that isn't in the origin target's sources

    it must be added to AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS.

  AUTOGEN_USE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE

New in version 3.27.

AUTOGEN_USE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE is a boolean property that can be set on a target to indicate that the autogen target include directory should be added as a system include directory or normal include directory to the target.

If this property is not set, the autogen target include directory is added as a system include directory by default. See policy CMP0151.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

This property is initialized by the CMAKE_AUTOGEN_USE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE variable if it is set when a target is created.

  AUTOMOC

Should the target be processed with auto-moc (for Qt projects).

AUTOMOC is a boolean specifying whether CMake will handle the Qt moc preprocessor automatically, i.e. without having to use commands like QT4_WRAP_CPP(), QT5_WRAP_CPP(), etc. Currently, Qt versions 4 to 6 are supported.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_AUTOMOC variable if it is set when a target is created.

When this property is set ON, CMake will scan the header and source files at build time and invoke moc accordingly.

  Header file processing

At configuration time, a list of header files that should be scanned by AUTOMOC is computed from the target's sources.

•   All header files in the target's sources are added to the scan list.

•   For all C++ source files <source_base>.<source_extension> in the target's sources, CMake searches for

•   a regular header with the same base name (<source_base>.<header_extention>) and

•   a private header with the same base name and a _p suffix (<source_base>_p.<header_extention>)

    and adds these to the scan list.

    At build time, CMake scans each unknown or modified header file from the list and searches for

•   a Qt macro from AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES,

•   additional file dependencies from the FILE argument of a Q_PLUGIN_METADATA macro and

•   additional file dependencies detected by filters defined in AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS.

    If a Qt macro is found, then the header will be compiled by the moc to the output file moc_<base_name>.cpp. The complete output file path is described in the section Output file location.

    The header will be moc compiled again if a file from the additional file dependencies changes.

    Header moc output files moc_<base_name>.cpp can be included in source files. In the section Including header moc files in sources there is more information on that topic.

  Source file processing

At build time, CMake scans each unknown or modified C++ source file from the target's sources for

•   a Qt macro from AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES,

•   includes of header moc files (see Including header moc files in sources),

•   additional file dependencies from the FILE argument of a Q_PLUGIN_METADATA macro and

•   additional file dependencies detected by filters defined in AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS.

    If a Qt macro is found, then the C++ source file <base>.<source_extension> is expected to as well contain an include statement

    #include <<base>.moc> // or
    #include "<base>.moc"

    The source file then will be compiled by the moc to the output file <base>.moc. A description of the complete output file path is in section Output file location.

    The source will be moc compiled again if a file from the additional file dependencies changes.

  Including header moc files in sources

A source file can include the moc output file of a header <header_base>.<header_extension> by using an include statement of the form

#include <moc_<header_base>.cpp> // or
#include "moc_<header_base>.cpp"

If the moc output file of a header is included by a source, it will be generated in a different location than if it was not included. This is described in the section Output file location.

  Output file location

  Included moc output files

moc output files that are included by a source file will be generated in

•   <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR>/include for single configuration generators or in

•   <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR>/include_<CONFIG> for multi configuration generators.

    Where <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR> is the value of the target property AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR.

    The include directory is automatically added to the target's INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.

  Not included moc output files

moc output files that are not included in a source file will be generated in

•   <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR>/<SOURCE_DIR_CHECKSUM> for single configuration generators or in,

•   <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR>/include_<CONFIG>/<SOURCE_DIR_CHECKSUM> for multi configuration generators.

    Where <SOURCE_DIR_CHECKSUM> is a checksum computed from the relative parent directory path of the moc input file. This scheme allows to have moc input files with the same name in different directories.

    All not included moc output files will be included automatically by the CMake generated file

•   <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR>/mocs_compilation.cpp, or

•   <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR>/mocs_compilation_$<CONFIG>.cpp,

    which is added to the target's sources.

  Qt version detection

AUTOMOC enabled targets need to know the Qt major and minor version they're working with. The major version usually is provided by the INTERFACE_QT_MAJOR_VERSION property of the Qt[456]Core library, that the target links to. To find the minor version, CMake builds a list of available Qt versions from

•   Qt6Core_VERSION_MAJOR and Qt6Core_VERSION_MINOR variables (usually set by find_package(Qt6...))

•   Qt6Core_VERSION_MAJOR and Qt6Core_VERSION_MINOR directory properties

•   Qt5Core_VERSION_MAJOR and Qt5Core_VERSION_MINOR variables (usually set by find_package(Qt5...))

•   Qt5Core_VERSION_MAJOR and Qt5Core_VERSION_MINOR directory properties

•   QT_VERSION_MAJOR and QT_VERSION_MINOR variables (usually set by find_package(Qt4...))

•   QT_VERSION_MAJOR and QT_VERSION_MINOR directory properties

    in the context of the add_executable() or add_library() call.

    Assumed INTERFACE_QT_MAJOR_VERSION is a valid number, the first entry in the list with a matching major version is taken. If no matching major version was found, an error is generated. If INTERFACE_QT_MAJOR_VERSION is not a valid number, the first entry in the list is taken.

    A find_package(Qt[456]...) call sets the QT/Qt[56]Core_VERSION_MAJOR/MINOR variables. If the call is in a different context than the add_executable() or add_library() call, e.g. in a function, then the version variables might not be available to the AUTOMOC enabled target. In that case the version variables can be forwarded from the find_package(Qt[456]...) calling context to the add_executable() or add_library() calling context as directory properties. The following Qt5 example demonstrates the procedure.

    function (add_qt5_client)
      find_package(Qt5 REQUIRED QUIET COMPONENTS Core Widgets)
      ...
      set_property(DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}"
        PROPERTY Qt5Core_VERSION_MAJOR "${Qt5Core_VERSION_MAJOR}")
      set_property(DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}"
        PROPERTY Qt5Core_VERSION_MINOR "${Qt5Core_VERSION_MAJOR}")
      ...
    endfunction ()
    ...
    add_qt5_client()
    add_executable(myTarget main.cpp)
    target_link_libraries(myTarget Qt5::QtWidgets)
    set_property(TARGET myTarget PROPERTY AUTOMOC ON)

  Modifiers

AUTOMOC_EXECUTABLE: The moc executable will be detected automatically, but can be forced to a certain binary using this target property.

AUTOMOC_MOC_OPTIONS: Additional command line options for moc can be set in this target property.

AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES: This list of Qt macro names can be extended to search for additional macros in headers and sources.

AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS: moc dependency file names can be extracted from headers or sources by defining file name filters in this target property.

AUTOMOC_COMPILER_PREDEFINES: Compiler pre definitions for moc are written to the moc_predefs.h file. The generation of this file can be enabled or disabled in this target property.

SKIP_AUTOMOC: Sources and headers can be excluded from AUTOMOC processing by setting this source file property.

SKIP_AUTOGEN: Source files can be excluded from AUTOMOC, AUTOUIC and AUTORCC processing by setting this source file property.

AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP: This global property can be used to group files generated by AUTOMOC or AUTORCC together in an IDE, e.g. in MSVS.

AUTOGEN_TARGETS_FOLDER: This global property can be used to group AUTOMOC, AUTOUIC and AUTORCC targets together in an IDE, e.g. in MSVS.

CMAKE_GLOBAL_AUTOGEN_TARGET: A global autogen target, that depends on all AUTOMOC or AUTOUIC generated <ORIGIN>_autogen targets in the project, will be generated when this variable is ON.

AUTOGEN_PARALLEL: This target property controls the number of moc or uic processes to start in parallel during builds.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  AUTOMOC_COMPILER_PREDEFINES

New in version 3.10.

Boolean value used by AUTOMOC to determine if the compiler pre definitions file moc_predefs.h should be generated.

CMake generates a moc_predefs.h file with compiler pre definitions from the output of the command defined in CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_PREDEFINES_COMMAND when

•   AUTOMOC is enabled,

•   AUTOMOC_COMPILER_PREDEFINES is enabled,

•   CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_PREDEFINES_COMMAND isn't empty and

•   the Qt version is greater or equal 5.8.

    The moc_predefs.h file, which is generated in AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR, is passed to moc as the argument to the --include option.

    By default AUTOMOC_COMPILER_PREDEFINES is initialized from CMAKE_AUTOMOC_COMPILER_PREDEFINES, which is ON by default.

    See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS

New in version 3.9.

Filter definitions used by AUTOMOC to extract file names from a source file that are registered as additional dependencies for the moc file of the source file.

Filters are defined as KEYWORD;REGULAR_EXPRESSION pairs. First the file content is searched for KEYWORD. If it is found at least once, then file names are extracted by successively searching for REGULAR_EXPRESSION and taking the first match group.

The file name found in the first match group is searched for

•   first in the vicinity of the source file

•   and afterwards in the target's INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.

    If any of the extracted files changes, then the moc file for the source file gets rebuilt even when the source file itself doesn't change.

    If any of the extracted files is GENERATED or if it is not in the target's sources, then it might be necessary to add it to the _autogen target dependencies. See AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS for reference.

    By default AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS is initialized from CMAKE_AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS, which is empty by default.

    From Qt 5.15.0 on this variable is ignored as moc is able to output the correct dependencies.

    See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  Example 1

A header file my_class.hpp uses a custom macro JSON_FILE_MACRO which is defined in an other header macros.hpp. We want the moc file of my_class.hpp to depend on the file name argument of JSON_FILE_MACRO:

// my_class.hpp
class My_Class : public QObject
{
  Q_OBJECT
  JSON_FILE_MACRO ( "info.json" )
...
};

In CMakeLists.txt we add a filter to CMAKE_AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS like this:

list( APPEND CMAKE_AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS
  "JSON_FILE_MACRO"
  "[\n][ \t]*JSON_FILE_MACRO[ \t]*\\([ \t]*\"([^\"]+)\""
)

We assume info.json is a plain (not GENERATED) file that is listed in the target's source. Therefore we do not need to add it to AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS.

  Example 2

In the target my_target a header file complex_class.hpp uses a custom macro JSON_BASED_CLASS which is defined in an other header macros.hpp:

// macros.hpp
...
#define JSON_BASED_CLASS(name, json) \
class name : public QObject \
{ \
  Q_OBJECT \
  Q_PLUGIN_METADATA(IID "demo" FILE json) \
  name() {} \
};
...

// complex_class.hpp
#pragma once
JSON_BASED_CLASS(Complex_Class, "meta.json")
// end of file

Since complex_class.hpp doesn't contain a Q_OBJECT macro it would be ignored by AUTOMOC. We change this by adding JSON_BASED_CLASS to CMAKE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES:

list(APPEND CMAKE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES "JSON_BASED_CLASS")

We want the moc file of complex_class.hpp to depend on meta.json. So we add a filter to CMAKE_AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS:

list(APPEND CMAKE_AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS
  "JSON_BASED_CLASS"
  "[\n^][ \t]*JSON_BASED_CLASS[ \t]*\\([^,]*,[ \t]*\"([^\"]+)\""
)

Additionally we assume meta.json is GENERATED which is why we have to add it to AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS:

set_property(TARGET my_target APPEND PROPERTY AUTOGEN_TARGET_DEPENDS "meta.json")

  AUTOMOC_EXECUTABLE

New in version 3.14.

AUTOMOC_EXECUTABLE is file path pointing to the moc executable to use for AUTOMOC enabled files. Setting this property will make CMake skip the automatic detection of the moc binary as well as the sanity-tests normally run to ensure that the binary is available and working as expected.

Usually this property does not need to be set. Only consider this property if auto-detection of moc can not work -- e.g. because you are building the moc binary as part of your project.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES

New in version 3.10.

A semicolon-separated list of macro names used by AUTOMOC to determine if a C++ file needs to be processed by moc.

This property is only used if the AUTOMOC property is ON for this target.

When running AUTOMOC, CMake searches for the strings listed in AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES in C++ source and header files. If any of the strings is found

•   as the first non space string on a new line or

•   as the first non space string after a { on a new line,

    then the file will be processed by moc.

    By default AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES is initialized from CMAKE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES.

    See also the INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES target property.

    See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  Example

In this case the Q_OBJECT macro is hidden inside another macro called CUSTOM_MACRO. To let CMake know that source files that contain CUSTOM_MACRO need to be moc processed, we call:

set_property(TARGET tgt APPEND PROPERTY AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES "CUSTOM_MACRO")

  AUTOMOC_MOC_OPTIONS

Additional options for moc when using AUTOMOC

This property is only used if the AUTOMOC property is ON for this target. In this case, it holds additional command line options which will be used when moc is executed during the build, i.e. it is equivalent to the optional OPTIONS argument of the qt4_wrap_cpp() macro.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_AUTOMOC_MOC_OPTIONS variable if it is set when a target is created, or an empty string otherwise.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  EXAMPLE

In this example, the moc tool is invoked with the -D_EXTRA_DEFINE option when generating the moc file for object.cpp.

CMakeLists.txt

    add_executable(mocOptions object.cpp main.cpp)
    set_property(TARGET mocOptions PROPERTY AUTOMOC ON)
    target_compile_options(mocOptions PRIVATE "-D_EXTRA_DEFINE")
    set_property(TARGET mocOptions PROPERTY AUTOMOC_MOC_OPTIONS "-D_EXTRA_DEFINE")
    target_link_libraries(mocOptions Qt6::Core)

object.hpp

    #ifndef Object_HPP
    #define Object_HPP
    #include <QObject>
    #ifdef _EXTRA_DEFINE
    class Object : public QObject
    {
    Q_OBJECT
    public:
      Object();
    };
    #endif
    #endif

  AUTOMOC_PATH_PREFIX

New in version 3.16.

When this property is ON, CMake will generate the -p path prefix option for moc on AUTOMOC enabled Qt targets.

To generate the path prefix, CMake tests if the header compiled by moc is in any of the target include directories. If so, CMake will compute the relative path accordingly. If the header is not in the include directories, CMake will omit the -p path prefix option. moc usually generates a relative include path in that case.

AUTOMOC_PATH_PREFIX is initialized from the variable CMAKE_AUTOMOC_PATH_PREFIX, which is OFF by default.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  Reproducible builds

For reproducible builds it is recommended to keep headers that are moc compiled in one of the target include directories and set AUTOMOC_PATH_PREFIX to ON. This ensures that:

•   moc output files are identical on different build setups,

•   moc output files will compile correctly when the source and/or build directory is a symbolic link.

  AUTORCC

Should the target be processed with auto-rcc (for Qt projects).

AUTORCC is a boolean specifying whether CMake will handle the Qt rcc code generator automatically, i.e. without having to use commands like QT4_ADD_RESOURCES(), QT5_ADD_RESOURCES(), etc. Currently, Qt versions 4 to 6 are supported.

When this property is ON, CMake will handle .qrc files added as target sources at build time and invoke rcc accordingly. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_AUTORCC variable if it is set when a target is created.

By default AUTORCC is processed by a custom command. If the .qrc file is GENERATED, a custom target is used instead.

When there are multiple .qrc files with the same name, CMake will generate unspecified unique output file names for rcc. Therefore, if Q_INIT_RESOURCE() or Q_CLEANUP_RESOURCE() need to be used, the .qrc file name must be unique.

  Modifiers

AUTORCC_EXECUTABLE: The rcc executable will be detected automatically, but can be forced to a certain binary by setting this target property.

AUTORCC_OPTIONS: Additional command line options for rcc can be set via this target property. The corresponding AUTORCC_OPTIONS source file property can be used to specify options to be applied only to a specific .qrc file.

SKIP_AUTORCC: .qrc files can be excluded from AUTORCC processing by setting this source file property.

SKIP_AUTOGEN: Source files can be excluded from AUTOMOC, AUTOUIC and AUTORCC processing by setting this source file property.

AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP: This global property can be used to group files generated by AUTOMOC or AUTORCC together in an IDE, e.g. in MSVS.

AUTOGEN_TARGETS_FOLDER: This global property can be used to group AUTOMOC, AUTOUIC and AUTORCC targets together in an IDE, e.g. in MSVS.

CMAKE_GLOBAL_AUTORCC_TARGET: A global autorcc target that depends on all AUTORCC targets in the project will be generated when this variable is ON.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  AUTORCC_EXECUTABLE

New in version 3.14.

AUTORCC_EXECUTABLE is file path pointing to the rcc executable to use for AUTORCC enabled files. Setting this property will make CMake skip the automatic detection of the rcc binary as well as the sanity-tests normally run to ensure that the binary is available and working as expected.

Usually this property does not need to be set. Only consider this property if auto-detection of rcc can not work -- e.g. because you are building the rcc binary as part of your project.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  AUTORCC_OPTIONS

Additional options for rcc when using AUTORCC

This property holds additional command line options which will be used when rcc is executed during the build via AUTORCC, i.e. it is equivalent to the optional OPTIONS argument of the qt4_add_resources() macro.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_AUTORCC_OPTIONS variable if it is set when a target is created, or an empty string otherwise.

The options set on the target may be overridden by AUTORCC_OPTIONS set on the .qrc source file.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  EXAMPLE

# ...
set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY AUTORCC_OPTIONS "--compress;9")
# ...

  AUTOUIC

Should the target be processed with auto-uic (for Qt projects).

AUTOUIC is a boolean specifying whether CMake will handle the Qt uic code generator automatically, i.e. without having to use commands like QT4_WRAP_UI(), QT5_WRAP_UI(), etc. Currently, Qt versions 4 to 6 are supported.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_AUTOUIC variable if it is set when a target is created.

When this property is ON, CMake will scan the header and source files at build time and invoke uic accordingly.

  Header and source file processing

At build time, CMake scans each header and source file from the target's sources for include statements of the form

#include "ui_<ui_base>.h"

Once such an include statement is found in a file, CMake searches for the uic input file <ui_base>.ui

•   in the vicinity of the file and

•   in the AUTOUIC_SEARCH_PATHS of the target.

    If the <ui_base>.ui file was found, uic is called on it to generate ui_<ui_base>.h in the directory

•   <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR>/include for single configuration generators or in

•   <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR>/include_<CONFIG> for multi configuration generators.

    Where <AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR> is the value of the target property AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR.

    The include directory is automatically added to the target's INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.

  Modifiers

AUTOUIC_EXECUTABLE: The uic executable will be detected automatically, but can be forced to a certain binary using this target property.

AUTOUIC_OPTIONS: Additional command line options for uic can be set via this target property. The corresponding AUTOUIC_OPTIONS source file property can be used to specify options to be applied only to a specific <base_name>.ui file.

SKIP_AUTOUIC: Source files can be excluded from AUTOUIC processing by setting this source file property.

SKIP_AUTOGEN: Source files can be excluded from AUTOMOC, AUTOUIC and AUTORCC processing by setting this source file property.

AUTOGEN_TARGETS_FOLDER: This global property can be used to group AUTOMOC, AUTOUIC and AUTORCC targets together in an IDE, e.g. in MSVS.

CMAKE_GLOBAL_AUTOGEN_TARGET: A global autogen target, that depends on all AUTOMOC or AUTOUIC generated <ORIGIN>_autogen targets in the project, will be generated when this variable is ON.

AUTOGEN_PARALLEL: This target property controls the number of moc or uic processes to start in parallel during builds.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  AUTOUIC_EXECUTABLE

New in version 3.14.

AUTOUIC_EXECUTABLE is file path pointing to the uic executable to use for AUTOUIC enabled files. Setting this property will make CMake skip the automatic detection of the uic binary as well as the sanity-tests normally run to ensure that the binary is available and working as expected.

Usually this property does not need to be set. Only consider this property if auto-detection of uic can not work -- e.g. because you are building the uic binary as part of your project.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  AUTOUIC_OPTIONS

Additional options for uic when using AUTOUIC

This property holds additional command line options which will be used when uic is executed during the build via AUTOUIC, i.e. it is equivalent to the optional OPTIONS argument of the qt4_wrap_ui() macro.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_AUTOUIC_OPTIONS variable if it is set when a target is created, or an empty string otherwise.

The options set on the target may be overridden by AUTOUIC_OPTIONS set on the .ui source file.

This property may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  EXAMPLE

# ...
set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY AUTOUIC_OPTIONS "--no-protection")
# ...

  AUTOUIC_SEARCH_PATHS

New in version 3.9.

Search path list used by AUTOUIC to find included .ui files.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_AUTOUIC_SEARCH_PATHS variable if it is set when a target is created. Otherwise it is empty.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  BINARY_DIR

New in version 3.4.

This read-only property reports the value of the CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR variable in the directory in which the target was defined.

  BUILD_RPATH

New in version 3.8.

A semicolon-separated list specifying runtime path (RPATH) entries to add to binaries linked in the build tree (for platforms that support it). By default, CMake sets the runtime path of binaries in the build tree to contain search paths it knows are needed to find the shared libraries they link. Projects may set BUILD_RPATH to specify additional search paths.

The build-tree runtime path will not be used for binaries in the install tree. It will be replaced with the install-tree runtime path during the installation step. See also the INSTALL_RPATH target property.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_BUILD_RPATH if it is set when a target is created.

This property supports generator expressions.

Other settings that affect the build-tree runtime path include:

•   The CMAKE_SKIP_RPATH variable completely disables runtime paths in both the build tree and install tree.

•   The SKIP_BUILD_RPATH target property disables setting any runtime path in the build tree.

•   The BUILD_RPATH_USE_ORIGIN target property causes the automatically-generated runtime path to use entries relative to $ORIGIN.

•   The BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH target property causes binaries in the build tree to be built with the install-tree runtime path.

  BUILD_RPATH_USE_ORIGIN

New in version 3.14.

Whether to use relative paths for the build RPATH.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_BUILD_RPATH_USE_ORIGIN.

On platforms that support runtime paths (RPATH) with the $ORIGIN token, setting this property to TRUE enables relative paths in the build RPATH for executables and shared libraries that point to shared libraries in the same build tree.

Normally the build RPATH of a binary contains absolute paths to the directory of each shared library it links to. The RPATH entries for directories contained within the build tree can be made relative to enable relocatable builds and to help achieve reproducible builds by omitting the build directory from the build environment.

This property has no effect on platforms that do not support the $ORIGIN token in RPATH, or when the CMAKE_SKIP_RPATH variable is set. The runtime path set through the BUILD_RPATH target property is also unaffected by this property.

  BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME_DIR

New in version 3.9.

BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME_DIR is a boolean specifying whether the macOS install_name of a target in the build tree uses the directory given by INSTALL_NAME_DIR. This setting only applies to targets on macOS.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME_DIR if it is set when a target is created.

If this property is not set and policy CMP0068 is not NEW, the value of BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH is used in its place.

  BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH

BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH is a boolean specifying whether to link the target in the build tree with the INSTALL_RPATH. This takes precedence over SKIP_BUILD_RPATH and avoids the need for relinking before installation.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH variable if it is set when a target is created.

If policy CMP0068 is not NEW, this property also controls use of INSTALL_NAME_DIR in the build tree on macOS. Either way, the BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME_DIR target property takes precedence.

  BUNDLE

This target is a CFBundle on the macOS.

If a module library target has this property set to true it will be built as a CFBundle when built on the mac. It will have the directory structure required for a CFBundle and will be suitable to be used for creating Browser Plugins or other application resources.

  BUNDLE_EXTENSION

The file extension used to name a BUNDLE, a FRAMEWORK, or a MACOSX_BUNDLE target on the macOS and iOS.

The default value is bundle, framework, or app for the respective target types.

  C_EXTENSIONS

New in version 3.1.

Boolean specifying whether compiler specific extensions are requested.

This property specifies whether compiler specific extensions should be used. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu11 instead of -std=c11 to the compile line. This property is ON by default. The basic C standard level is controlled by the C_STANDARD target property.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_C_EXTENSIONS variable if set when a target is created and otherwise by the value of CMAKE_C_EXTENSIONS_DEFAULT (see CMP0128).

  C_STANDARD

New in version 3.1.

The C standard whose features are requested to build this target.

This property specifies the C standard whose features are requested to build this target. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu11 to the compile line. For compilers that have no notion of a C standard level, such as Microsoft Visual C++ before VS 16.7, this property has no effect.

Supported values are:

90  C89/C90

99  C99

11  C11

17  New in version 3.21.

    C17

23  New in version 3.21.

    C23

    If the value requested does not result in a compile flag being added for the compiler in use, a previous standard flag will be added instead. This means that using:

    set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY C_STANDARD 11)

    with a compiler which does not support -std=gnu11 or an equivalent flag will not result in an error or warning, but will instead add the -std=gnu99 or -std=gnu90 flag if supported. This "decay" behavior may be controlled with the C_STANDARD_REQUIRED target property. Additionally, the C_EXTENSIONS target property may be used to control whether compiler-specific extensions are enabled on a per-target basis.

    See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_C_STANDARD variable if it is set when a target is created.

  C_STANDARD_REQUIRED

New in version 3.1.

Boolean describing whether the value of C_STANDARD is a requirement.

If this property is set to ON, then the value of the C_STANDARD target property is treated as a requirement. If this property is OFF or unset, the C_STANDARD target property is treated as optional and may "decay" to a previous standard if the requested is not available. For compilers that have no notion of a C standard level, such as Microsoft Visual C++ before VS 16.7, this property has no effect.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_C_STANDARD_REQUIRED variable if it is set when a target is created.

  COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME

New in version 3.12.

By setting this target property, the target is configured to build with C++/CLI support.

The Visual Studio generator defines the clr parameter depending on the value of the COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME target property:

Not Set (default) Native C++.

"" (set but empty) Mixed unmanaged/managed C++ using .NET Framework.

netcore
    New in version 3.26.

    Mixed unmanaged/managed C++ using .NET Core.

    This required VS 2019's v142 toolset or higher.

    pure Managed C++.

    safe Managed C++.

    This property is only evaluated Visual Studio Generators for VS 2010 and above.

    To be able to build managed C++ targets with VS 2017 and above the component C++/CLI support must be installed, which may not be done by default.

    See also IMPORTED_COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME

  COMPATIBLE_INTERFACE_BOOL

Properties which must be compatible with their link interface

The COMPATIBLE_INTERFACE_BOOL property may contain a list of properties for this target which must be consistent when evaluated as a boolean with the INTERFACE variant of the property in all linked dependees. For example, if a property FOO appears in the list, then for each dependee, the INTERFACE_FOO property content in all of its dependencies must be consistent with each other, and with the FOO property in the depender.

Consistency in this sense has the meaning that if the property is set, then it must have the same boolean value as all others, and if the property is not set, then it is ignored.

Note that for each dependee, the set of properties specified in this property must not intersect with the set specified in any of the other Compatible Interface Properties.

  COMPATIBLE_INTERFACE_NUMBER_MAX

Properties whose maximum value from the link interface will be used.

The COMPATIBLE_INTERFACE_NUMBER_MAX property may contain a list of properties for this target whose maximum value may be read at generate time when evaluated in the INTERFACE variant of the property in all linked dependees. For example, if a property FOO appears in the list, then for each dependee, the INTERFACE_FOO property content in all of its dependencies will be compared with each other and with the FOO property in the depender. When reading the FOO property at generate time, the maximum value will be returned. If the property is not set, then it is ignored.

Note that for each dependee, the set of properties specified in this property must not intersect with the set specified in any of the other Compatible Interface Properties.

  COMPATIBLE_INTERFACE_NUMBER_MIN

Properties whose minimum value from the link interface will be used.

The COMPATIBLE_INTERFACE_NUMBER_MIN property may contain a list of properties for this target whose minimum value may be read at generate time when evaluated in the INTERFACE variant of the property of all linked dependees. For example, if a property FOO appears in the list, then for each dependee, the INTERFACE_FOO property content in all of its dependencies will be compared with each other and with the FOO property in the depender. When reading the FOO property at generate time, the minimum value will be returned. If the property is not set, then it is ignored.

Note that for each dependee, the set of properties specified in this property must not intersect with the set specified in any of the other Compatible Interface Properties.

  COMPATIBLE_INTERFACE_STRING

Properties which must be string-compatible with their link interface

The COMPATIBLE_INTERFACE_STRING property may contain a list of properties for this target which must be the same when evaluated as a string in the INTERFACE variant of the property all linked dependees. For example, if a property FOO appears in the list, then for each dependee, the INTERFACE_FOO property content in all of its dependencies must be equal with each other, and with the FOO property in the depender. If the property is not set, then it is ignored.

Note that for each dependee, the set of properties specified in this property must not intersect with the set specified in any of the other Compatible Interface Properties.

  COMPILE_DEFINITIONS

Preprocessor definitions for compiling a target's sources.

The COMPILE_DEFINITIONS property may be set to a semicolon-separated list of preprocessor definitions using the syntax VAR or VAR=value. Function-style definitions are not supported. CMake will automatically escape the value correctly for the native build system (note that CMake language syntax may require escapes to specify some values).

CMake will automatically drop some definitions that are not supported by the native build tool.

New in version 3.26: Any leading -D on an item will be removed.

Disclaimer: Most native build tools have poor support for escaping certain values. CMake has work-arounds for many cases but some values may just not be possible to pass correctly. If a value does not seem to be escaped correctly, do not attempt to work-around the problem by adding escape sequences to the value. Your work-around may break in a future version of CMake that has improved escape support. Instead consider defining the macro in a (configured) header file. Then report the limitation. Known limitations include:

#          - broken almost everywhere
;          - broken in VS IDE 7.0 and Borland Makefiles
,          - broken in VS IDE
%          - broken in some cases in NMake
& |        - broken in some cases on MinGW
^ < > \"   - broken in most Make tools on Windows

CMake does not reject these values outright because they do work in some cases. Use with caution.

Contents of COMPILE_DEFINITIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

The corresponding COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG> property may be set to specify per-configuration definitions. Generator expressions should be preferred instead of setting the alternative property.

  COMPILE_FEATURES

New in version 3.1.

Compiler features enabled for this target.

The list of features in this property are a subset of the features listed in the CMAKE_C_COMPILE_FEATURES, CMAKE_CUDA_COMPILE_FEATURES, and CMAKE_CXX_COMPILE_FEATURES variables.

Contents of COMPILE_FEATURES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

  COMPILE_FLAGS

Additional flags to use when compiling this target's sources.

The COMPILE_FLAGS property sets additional compiler flags used to build sources within the target. Use COMPILE_DEFINITIONS to pass additional preprocessor definitions.

This property is deprecated. Use the COMPILE_OPTIONS property or the target_compile_options() command instead.

  COMPILE_OPTIONS

List of options to pass to the compiler.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of options specified so far for its target. Use the target_compile_options() command to append more options. The options will be added after flags in the CMAKE_<LANG>_FLAGS and CMAKE_<LANG>_FLAGS_<CONFIG> variables, but before those propagated from dependencies by the INTERFACE_COMPILE_OPTIONS property.

This property adds compile options for all languages in a target. Use the COMPILE_LANGUAGE generator expression to specify per-language compile options.

This property is initialized by the COMPILE_OPTIONS directory property when a target is created, and is used by the generators to set the options for the compiler.

Contents of COMPILE_OPTIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  Option De-duplication

The final set of options used for a target is constructed by accumulating options from the current target and the usage requirements of its dependencies. The set of options is de-duplicated to avoid repetition.

New in version 3.12: While beneficial for individual options, the de-duplication step can break up option groups. For example, -option A -option B becomes -option A B. One may specify a group of options using shell-like quoting along with a SHELL: prefix. The SHELL: prefix is dropped, and the rest of the option string is parsed using the separate_arguments() UNIX_COMMAND mode. For example, "SHELL:-option A" "SHELL:-option B" becomes -option A -option B.

  COMPILE_PDB_NAME

New in version 3.1.

Output name for the MS debug symbol .pdb file generated by the compiler while building source files.

This property specifies the base name for the debug symbols file. If not set, the default is unspecified.

NOTE: The compiler-generated program database files are specified by the /Fd compiler flag and are not the same as linker-generated program database files specified by the /pdb linker flag. Use the PDB_NAME property to specify the latter.

  COMPILE_PDB_NAME_<CONFIG>

New in version 3.1.

Per-configuration output name for the MS debug symbol .pdb file generated by the compiler while building source files.

This is the configuration-specific version of COMPILE_PDB_NAME.

NOTE: The compiler-generated program database files are specified by the /Fd compiler flag and are not the same as linker-generated program database files specified by the /pdb linker flag. Use the PDB_NAME_<CONFIG> property to specify the latter.

  COMPILE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY

New in version 3.1.

Output directory for the MS debug symbol .pdb file generated by the compiler while building source files.

This property specifies the directory into which the MS debug symbols will be placed by the compiler. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_COMPILE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY variable if it is set when a target is created.

NOTE: The compiler-generated program database files are specified by the /Fd compiler flag and are not the same as linker-generated program database files specified by the /pdb linker flag. Use the PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY property to specify the latter.

  COMPILE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>

New in version 3.1.

Per-configuration output directory for the MS debug symbol .pdb file generated by the compiler while building source files.

This is a per-configuration version of COMPILE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY, but multi-configuration generators (Visual Studio, Xcode) do NOT append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_COMPILE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> variable if it is set when a target is created.

NOTE: The compiler-generated program database files are specified by the /Fd compiler flag and are not the same as linker-generated program database files specified by the /pdb linker flag. Use the PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> property to specify the latter.

  COMPILE_WARNING_AS_ERROR

New in version 3.24.

Specify whether to treat warnings on compile as errors. If enabled, adds a flag to treat warnings on compile as errors. If the cmake --compile-no-warning-as-error option is given on the cmake(1) command line, this property is ignored.

This property is not implemented for all compilers. It is silently ignored if there is no implementation for the compiler being used. The currently implemented compiler IDs are:

•   GNU

•   Clang

•   AppleClang

•   Fujitsu

•   FujitsuClang

•   IBMClang

•   Intel

•   IntelLLVM

•   LCC

•   MSVC

•   NVHPC

•   NVIDIA (CUDA)

•   QCC

•   SunPro

•   Tasking

•   TI

•   VisualAge

•   XL

•   XLClang

    This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_COMPILE_WARNING_AS_ERROR if it is set when a target is created.

  <CONFIG>_OUTPUT_NAME

Old per-configuration target file base name. Use OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> instead.

This is a configuration-specific version of the OUTPUT_NAME target property.

  <CONFIG>_POSTFIX

Postfix to append to the target file name for configuration <CONFIG>.

When building with configuration <CONFIG> the value of this property is appended to the target file name built on disk. For non-executable targets, this property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<CONFIG>_POSTFIX variable if it is set when a target is created. This property is ignored on macOS for Frameworks and App Bundles.

For macOS see also the FRAMEWORK_MULTI_CONFIG_POSTFIX_<CONFIG> target property.

  CROSSCOMPILING_EMULATOR

New in version 3.3.

Use the given emulator to run executables created when crosscompiling. This command will be added as a prefix to add_test(), add_custom_command(), and add_custom_target() commands for built target system executables.

New in version 3.15: If this property contains a semicolon-separated list, then the first value is the command and remaining values are its arguments.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CROSSCOMPILING_EMULATOR variable if it is set when a target is created.

  CUDA_ARCHITECTURES

New in version 3.18.

List of architectures to generate device code for.

An architecture can be suffixed by either -real or -virtual to specify the kind of architecture to generate code for. If no suffix is given then code is generated for both real and virtual architectures.

A non-empty false value (e.g. OFF) disables adding architectures. This is intended to support packagers and rare cases where full control over the passed flags is required.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES variable if it is set when a target is created.

The CUDA_ARCHITECTURES target property must be set to a non-empty value on targets that compile CUDA sources, or it is an error. See policy CMP0104.

The CUDA_ARCHITECTURES may be set to one of the following special values:

all New in version 3.23.

    Compile for all supported major and minor real architectures, and the highest major virtual architecture.

all-major
    New in version 3.23.

    Compile for all supported major real architectures, and the highest major virtual architecture.

native
    New in version 3.24.

    Compile for the architecture(s) of the host's GPU(s).

  Examples

set_target_properties(tgt PROPERTIES CUDA_ARCHITECTURES "35;50;72")

Generates code for real and virtual architectures 30, 50 and 72.

set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY CUDA_ARCHITECTURES 70-real 72-virtual)

Generates code for real architecture 70 and virtual architecture 72.

set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY CUDA_ARCHITECTURES OFF)

CMake will not pass any architecture flags to the compiler.

  CUDA_CUBIN_COMPILATION

New in version 3.27.

Compile CUDA sources to .cubin files instead of .obj files within Object Libraries.

For example:

add_library(mycubin OBJECT a.cu b.cu)
set_property(TARGET mycubin PROPERTY CUDA_CUBIN_COMPILATION ON)

  CUDA_EXTENSIONS

New in version 3.8.

Boolean specifying whether compiler specific extensions are requested.

This property specifies whether compiler specific extensions should be used. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu++11 instead of -std=c++11 to the compile line. This property is ON by default. The basic CUDA/C++ standard level is controlled by the CUDA_STANDARD target property.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CUDA_EXTENSIONS variable if set when a target is created and otherwise by the value of CMAKE_CUDA_EXTENSIONS_DEFAULT (see CMP0128).

  CUDA_FATBIN_COMPILATION

New in version 3.27.

Compile CUDA sources to .fatbin files instead of .obj files within Object Libraries.

For example:

add_library(myfbins OBJECT a.cu b.cu)
set_property(TARGET myfbins PROPERTY CUDA_FATBIN_COMPILATION ON)

  CUDA_OPTIX_COMPILATION

New in version 3.27.

Compile CUDA sources to .optixir files instead of .obj files within Object Libraries.

For example:

add_library(myoptix OBJECT a.cu b.cu)
set_property(TARGET myoptix PROPERTY CUDA_OPTIX_COMPILATION ON)

  CUDA_PTX_COMPILATION

New in version 3.9.

Compile CUDA sources to .ptx files instead of .obj files within Object Libraries.

For example:

add_library(myptx OBJECT a.cu b.cu)
set_property(TARGET myptx PROPERTY CUDA_PTX_COMPILATION ON)

  CUDA_RESOLVE_DEVICE_SYMBOLS

New in version 3.9.

CUDA only: Enables device linking for the specific library target where required.

If set, this will tell the required compilers to enable device linking on the library target. Device linking is an additional link step required by some CUDA compilers when CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION is enabled. Normally device linking is deferred until a shared library or executable is generated, allowing for multiple static libraries to resolve device symbols at the same time when they are used by a shared library or executable.

If this property or CMAKE_CUDA_RESOLVE_DEVICE_SYMBOLS is unset, static libraries are treated as if it is disabled while shared, module, and executable targets behave as if it is on.

If CMAKE_CUDA_RESOLVE_DEVICE_SYMBOLS has been defined, this property is initialized to the value the variable and overriding the default behavior.

Note that device linking is not supported for Object Libraries.

For instance:

set_property(TARGET mystaticlib PROPERTY CUDA_RESOLVE_DEVICE_SYMBOLS ON)

  CUDA_RUNTIME_LIBRARY

New in version 3.17.

Select the CUDA runtime library for use by compilers targeting the CUDA language.

The allowed case insensitive values are:

None
    Link with -cudart=none or equivalent flag(s) to use no CUDA runtime library.

Shared
    Link with -cudart=shared or equivalent flag(s) to use a dynamically-linked CUDA runtime library.

Static
    Link with -cudart=static or equivalent flag(s) to use a statically-linked CUDA runtime library.

    Contents of CUDA_RUNTIME_LIBRARY may use generator expressions.

    If that property is not set then CMake uses an appropriate default value based on the compiler to select the CUDA runtime library.

    NOTE: This property has effect only when the CUDA language is enabled. To control the CUDA runtime linking when only using the CUDA SDK with the C or C++ language we recommend using the FindCUDAToolkit module.

  CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION

New in version 3.8.

CUDA only: Enables separate compilation of device code

If set this will enable separable compilation for all CUDA files for the given target.

For instance:

set_property(TARGET myexe PROPERTY CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION ON)

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION variable if it is set when a target is created.

  CUDA_STANDARD

New in version 3.8.

The CUDA/C++ standard whose features are requested to build this target.

This property specifies the CUDA/C++ standard whose features are requested to build this target. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu++11 to the compile line.

Supported values are:

98  CUDA C++98. Note that this maps to the same as 03 internally.

03  CUDA C++03

11  CUDA C++11

14  CUDA C++14. While CMake 3.8 and later recognize 14 as a valid value, CMake 3.9 was the first version to include support for any compiler.

17  CUDA C++17. While CMake 3.8 and later recognize 17 as a valid value, CMake 3.18 was the first version to include support for any compiler.

20  New in version 3.12.

    CUDA C++20. While CMake 3.12 and later recognize 20 as a valid value, CMake 3.18 was the first version to include support for any compiler.

23  New in version 3.20.

    CUDA C++23

26  New in version 3.25.

    CUDA C++26. CMake 3.25 and later recognize 26 as a valid value, no version has support for any compiler.

    If the value requested does not result in a compile flag being added for the compiler in use, a previous standard flag will be added instead. This means that using:

    set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY CUDA_STANDARD 11)

    with a compiler which does not support -std=gnu++11 or an equivalent flag will not result in an error or warning, but will instead add the -std=gnu++03 flag if supported. This "decay" behavior may be controlled with the CUDA_STANDARD_REQUIRED target property. Additionally, the CUDA_EXTENSIONS target property may be used to control whether compiler-specific extensions are enabled on a per-target basis.

    See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CUDA_STANDARD variable if it is set when a target is created.

  CUDA_STANDARD_REQUIRED

New in version 3.8.

Boolean describing whether the value of CUDA_STANDARD is a requirement.

If this property is set to ON, then the value of the CUDA_STANDARD target property is treated as a requirement. If this property is OFF or unset, the CUDA_STANDARD target property is treated as optional and may "decay" to a previous standard if the requested is not available. For compilers that have no notion of a standard level, such as MSVC 1800 (Visual Studio 2013) and lower, this has no effect.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CUDA_STANDARD_REQUIRED variable if it is set when a target is created.

  CXX_EXTENSIONS

New in version 3.1.

Boolean specifying whether compiler specific extensions are requested.

This property specifies whether compiler specific extensions should be used. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu++11 instead of -std=c++11 to the compile line. This property is ON by default. The basic C++ standard level is controlled by the CXX_STANDARD target property.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS variable if set when a target is created and otherwise by the value of CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS_DEFAULT (see CMP0128).

  CXX_MODULE_DIRS

New in version 3.28.

Semicolon-separated list of base directories of the target's default C++ module set (i.e. the file set with name and type CXX_MODULES). The property supports generator expressions.

This property is normally only set by target_sources(FILE_SET) rather than being manipulated directly.

See CXX_MODULE_DIRS_<NAME> for the list of base directories in other C++ module sets.

  CXX_MODULE_DIRS_<NAME>

New in version 3.28.

Semicolon-separated list of base directories of the target's <NAME> C++ module set, which has the set type CXX_MODULES. The property supports generator expressions.

This property is normally only set by target_sources(FILE_SET) rather than being manipulated directly.

See CXX_MODULE_DIRS for the list of base directories in the default C++ module set. See CXX_MODULE_SETS for the file set names of all C++ module sets.

  CXX_MODULE_SET

New in version 3.28.

Semicolon-separated list of files in the target's default C++ module set, (i.e. the file set with name and type CXX_MODULES). If any of the paths are relative, they are computed relative to the target's source directory. The property supports generator expressions.

This property is normally only set by target_sources(FILE_SET) rather than being manipulated directly.

See CXX_MODULE_SET_<NAME> for the list of files in other C++ module sets.

  CXX_MODULE_SET_<NAME>

New in version 3.28.

Semicolon-separated list of files in the target's <NAME> C++ module set, which has the set type CXX_MODULES. If any of the paths are relative, they are computed relative to the target's source directory. The property supports generator expressions.

This property is normally only set by target_sources(FILE_SET) rather than being manipulated directly.

See CXX_MODULE_SET for the list of files in the default C++ module set. See CXX_MODULE_SETS for the file set names of all C++ module sets.

  CXX_MODULE_SETS

New in version 3.28.

Read-only list of the target's PRIVATE and PUBLIC C++ module sets (i.e. all file sets with the type CXX_MODULES). Files listed in these file sets are treated as source files for the purpose of IDE integration.

C++ module sets may be defined using the target_sources() command FILE_SET option with type CXX_MODULES.

See also CXX_MODULE_SET_<NAME>, CXX_MODULE_SET and INTERFACE_CXX_MODULE_SETS.

  CXX_SCAN_FOR_MODULES

New in version 3.28.

CXX_SCAN_FOR_MODULES is a boolean specifying whether CMake will scan C++ sources in the target for module dependencies. See also the CXX_SCAN_FOR_MODULES for per-source settings which, if set, overrides the target-wide settings.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CXX_SCAN_FOR_MODULES variable if it is set when a target is created.

When this property is set ON or unset, CMake will scan the target's CXX sources at build time and add module dependency information to the compile line as necessary. When this property is set OFF, CMake will not scan the target's CXX sources at build time.

Note that scanning is only performed if C++20 or higher is enabled for the target. Scanning for modules in the target's sources belonging to file sets of type CXX_MODULES is always performed.

  CXX_STANDARD

New in version 3.1.

The C++ standard whose features are requested to build this target.

This property specifies the C++ standard whose features are requested to build this target. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu++11 to the compile line. For compilers that have no notion of a standard level, such as Microsoft Visual C++ before 2015 Update 3, this has no effect.

Supported values are:

98  C++98

11  C++11

14  C++14

17  New in version 3.8.

    C++17

20  New in version 3.12.

    C++20

23  New in version 3.20.

    C++23

26  New in version 3.25.

    C++26. CMake 3.25 and later recognize 26 as a valid value, no version has support for any compiler.

    If the value requested does not result in a compile flag being added for the compiler in use, a previous standard flag will be added instead. This means that using:

    set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 11)

    with a compiler which does not support -std=gnu++11 or an equivalent flag will not result in an error or warning, but will instead add the -std=gnu++98 flag if supported. This "decay" behavior may be controlled with the CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED target property. Additionally, the CXX_EXTENSIONS target property may be used to control whether compiler-specific extensions are enabled on a per-target basis.

    See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD variable if it is set when a target is created.

  CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED

New in version 3.1.

Boolean describing whether the value of CXX_STANDARD is a requirement.

If this property is set to ON, then the value of the CXX_STANDARD target property is treated as a requirement. If this property is OFF or unset, the CXX_STANDARD target property is treated as optional and may "decay" to a previous standard if the requested is not available. For compilers that have no notion of a standard level, such as MSVC 1800 (Visual Studio 2013) and lower, this has no effect.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED variable if it is set when a target is created.

  DEBUG_POSTFIX

See target property <CONFIG>_POSTFIX.

This property is a special case of the more-general <CONFIG>_POSTFIX property for the DEBUG configuration.

  DEFINE_SYMBOL

Define a symbol when compiling this target's sources.

DEFINE_SYMBOL sets the name of the preprocessor symbol defined when compiling sources in a shared library. If not set here then it is set to target_EXPORTS by default (with some substitutions if the target is not a valid C identifier). This is useful for headers to know whether they are being included from inside their library or outside to properly setup dllexport/dllimport decorations on Windows.

On POSIX platforms, this can optionally be used to control the visibility of symbols.

CMake provides support for such decorations with the GenerateExportHeader module.

  DEPLOYMENT_ADDITIONAL_FILES

New in version 3.13.

Set the WinCE project AdditionalFiles in DeploymentTool in .vcproj files generated by the Visual Studio 9 2008 generator. This is useful when you want to debug on remote WinCE device. Specify additional files that will be copied to the device. For example:

set_property(TARGET ${TARGET} PROPERTY
  DEPLOYMENT_ADDITIONAL_FILES "english.lng|local_folder|remote_folder|0"
  "german.lng|local_folder|remote_folder|0")

produces:

<DeploymentTool AdditionalFiles="english.lng|local_folder|remote_folder|0;german.lng|local_folder|remote_folder|0" ... />

  DEPLOYMENT_REMOTE_DIRECTORY

New in version 3.6.

Set the WinCE project RemoteDirectory in DeploymentTool and RemoteExecutable in DebuggerTool in .vcproj files generated by the Visual Studio 9 2008 generator. This is useful when you want to debug on remote WinCE device. For example:

set_property(TARGET ${TARGET} PROPERTY
  DEPLOYMENT_REMOTE_DIRECTORY "\\FlashStorage")

produces:

<DeploymentTool RemoteDirectory="\FlashStorage" ... />
<DebuggerTool RemoteExecutable="\FlashStorage\target_file" ... />

  DEPRECATION

New in version 3.17.

Deprecation message from imported target's developer.

DEPRECATION is the message regarding a deprecation status to be displayed to downstream users of a target.

The message is formatted as follows:

•   Lines that do not start in whitespace are wrapped as paragraph text.

•   Lines that start in whitespace are preserved as preformatted text.

  DISABLE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS

New in version 3.16.

Disables the precompilation of header files specified by PRECOMPILE_HEADERS property.

If the property is not set, CMake will use the value provided by CMAKE_DISABLE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS.

  DLL_NAME_WITH_SOVERSION

New in version 3.27.

This property controls whether the SOVERSION target property is added to the filename of generated DLL filenames for the Windows platform, which is selected when the WIN32 variable is set.

The value of the listed property is appended to the basename of the runtime component of the shared library target as -<SOVERSION>.

Please note that setting this property has no effect if versioned filenames are globally disabled with the CMAKE_PLATFORM_NO_VERSIONED_SONAME variable.

  DOTNET_SDK

New in version 3.23.

Specify the .NET SDK for C# projects. For example: Microsoft.NET.Sdk.

This property tells Visual Studio Generators for VS 2019 and above to generate a .NET SDK-style project using the specified SDK. The property is meaningful only to these generators, and only in C# targets. It is ignored for C++ projects, even if they are managed (e.g. using COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME).

This property must be a non-empty string to generate .NET SDK-style projects. CMake does not perform any validations for the value of the property.

This property may be initialized for all targets using the CMAKE_DOTNET_SDK variable.

NOTE: The Visual Studio Generators in this version of CMake have not yet learned to support add_custom_command() in .NET SDK-style projects. It is currently an error to attach a custom command to a target with the DOTNET_SDK property set.

  DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK

New in version 3.17.

Specify the .NET target framework.

Used to specify the .NET target framework for C++/CLI and C#. For example: netcoreapp2.1.

This property is only evaluated for Visual Studio Generators VS 2010 and above.

Can be initialized for all targets using the variable CMAKE_DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK.

  DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION

New in version 3.12.

Specify the .NET target framework version.

Used to specify the .NET target framework version for C++/CLI and C#. For example: v4.5.

This property is only evaluated for Visual Studio Generators VS 2010 and above.

To initialize this variable for all targets set CMAKE_DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK or CMAKE_DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION. If both are set, the latter is ignored.

  EchoString

A message to be displayed when the target is built.

A message to display on some generators (such as Makefile Generators) when the target is built.

  ENABLE_EXPORTS

Specify whether an executable or a shared library exports symbols.

Normally an executable does not export any symbols because it is the final program. It is possible for an executable to export symbols to be used by loadable modules. When this property is set to true CMake will allow other targets to "link" to the executable with the target_link_libraries() command. On all platforms a target-level dependency on the executable is created for targets that link to it. Handling of the executable on the link lines of the loadable modules varies by platform:

•   On Windows-based systems (including Cygwin) an "import library" is created along with the executable to list the exported symbols. Loadable modules link to the import library to get the symbols.

•   On macOS, loadable modules link to the executable itself using the -bundle_loader flag.

•   On AIX, a linker "import file" is created along with the executable to list the exported symbols for import when linking other targets. Loadable modules link to the import file to get the symbols.

•   On other platforms, loadable modules are simply linked without referencing the executable since the dynamic loader will automatically bind symbols when the module is loaded.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_ENABLE_EXPORTS variable, if it is set when an executable target is created. If CMAKE_EXECUTABLE_ENABLE_EXPORTS is not set, the CMAKE_ENABLE_EXPORTS variable is used to initialize the property instead for backward compatibility reasons. See below for alternative initialization behavior for shared library targets.

    New in version 3.27: On Apple platforms, to link with a shared library (either a bare library or a framework), a linker import file can be used instead of the actual shared library. These linker import files are also known as text-based stubs, and they have a .tbd file extension.

    The generation of these linker import files, as well as their consumption, is controlled by this property. When this property is set to true on a shared library target, CMake will generate a .tbd file for the library. Other targets that link to the shared library target will then use this .tbd file when linking rather than linking to the shared library binary.

    NOTE: For backward compatibility reasons, this property will be ignored if the XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_GENERATE_TEXT_BASED_STUBS target property or the CMAKE_XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_GENERATE_TEXT_BASED_STUBS variable is set to false.

    For shared library targets, this property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_ENABLE_EXPORTS variable, if it is set when the target is created.

  EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL

Set this target property to a true (or false) value to exclude (or include) the target from the "all" target of the containing directory and its ancestors. If excluded, running e.g. make in the containing directory or its ancestors will not build the target by default.

If this target property is not set then the target will be included in the "all" target of the containing directory. Furthermore, it will be included in the "all" target of its ancestor directories unless the EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL directory property is set.

With EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL set to false or not set at all, the target will be brought up to date as part of doing a make install or its equivalent for the CMake generator being used.

If a target has EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL set to true, it may still be listed in an install(TARGETS) command, but the user is responsible for ensuring that the target's build artifacts are not missing or outdated when an install is performed.

This property may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

Only the "Ninja Multi-Config" generator supports a property value that varies by configuration. For all other generators the value of this property must be the same for all configurations.

  EXCLUDE_FROM_DEFAULT_BUILD

Exclude target from Build Solution.

This property is only used by Visual Studio generators. When set to TRUE, the target will not be built when you press Build Solution.

  EXCLUDE_FROM_DEFAULT_BUILD_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration version of target exclusion from Build Solution.

This is the configuration-specific version of EXCLUDE_FROM_DEFAULT_BUILD. If the generic EXCLUDE_FROM_DEFAULT_BUILD is also set on a target, EXCLUDE_FROM_DEFAULT_BUILD_<CONFIG> takes precedence in configurations for which it has a value.

  EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS

New in version 3.20.

Enable/Disable output of compile commands during generation for a target.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS if it is set when a target is created.

  EXPORT_NAME

Exported name for target files.

This sets the name for the IMPORTED target generated by the install(EXPORT) and export() commands. If not set, the logical target name is used by default.

  EXPORT_NO_SYSTEM

New in version 3.25.

This property affects the behavior of the install(EXPORT) and export() commands when they install or export the target respectively. When EXPORT_NO_SYSTEM is set to true, those commands generate an imported target with SYSTEM property set to false.

See the NO_SYSTEM_FROM_IMPORTED target property to set this behavior on the target consuming the include directories rather than the one providing them.

  EXPORT_PROPERTIES

New in version 3.12.

List additional properties to export for a target.

This property contains a list of property names that should be exported by the install(EXPORT) and export() commands. By default only a limited number of properties are exported. This property can be used to additionally export other properties as well.

Properties starting with INTERFACE_ or IMPORTED_ are not allowed as they are reserved for internal CMake use.

Properties containing generator expressions are also not allowed.

NOTE: Since CMake 3.19, Interface Libraries may have arbitrary target properties. If a project exports an interface library with custom properties, the resulting package may not work with dependents configured by older versions of CMake that reject the custom properties.

  FOLDER

For IDEs that present targets using a folder hierarchy, this property specifies the name of the folder to place the target under. To nest folders, use FOLDER values such as GUI/Dialogs with / characters separating folder levels. Targets with no FOLDER property will appear as top level entities. Targets with the same FOLDER property value will appear in the same folder as siblings.

Only some CMake generators honor the FOLDER property (e.g. Xcode or any of the Visual Studio generators). Those generators that don't will simply ignore it.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_FOLDER if it is set when a target is created.

The global property USE_FOLDERS must be set to true, otherwise the FOLDER property is ignored.

  Fortran_BUILDING_INSTRINSIC_MODULES

New in version 3.22.

Instructs the CMake Fortran preprocessor that the target is building Fortran intrinsics for building a Fortran compiler.

This property is off by default and should be turned only on projects that build a Fortran compiler. It should not be turned on for projects that use a Fortran compiler.

Turning this property on will correctly add dependencies for building Fortran intrinsic modules whereas turning the property off will ignore Fortran intrinsic modules in the dependency graph as they are supplied by the compiler itself.

  Fortran_FORMAT

Set to FIXED or FREE to indicate the Fortran source layout.

This property tells CMake whether the Fortran source files in a target use fixed-format or free-format. CMake will pass the corresponding format flag to the compiler. Use the source-specific Fortran_FORMAT property to change the format of a specific source file. If the variable CMAKE_Fortran_FORMAT is set when a target is created its value is used to initialize this property.

  Fortran_MODULE_DIRECTORY

Specify output directory for Fortran modules provided by the target.

If the target contains Fortran source files that provide modules and the compiler supports a module output directory this specifies the directory in which the modules will be placed. When this property is not set the modules will be placed in the build directory corresponding to the target's source directory. If the variable CMAKE_Fortran_MODULE_DIRECTORY is set when a target is created its value is used to initialize this property.

When using one of the Visual Studio Generators with the Intel Fortran plugin installed in Visual Studio, a subdirectory named after the configuration will be appended to the path where modules are created. For example, if Fortran_MODULE_DIRECTORY is set to C:/some/path, modules will end up in C:/some/path/Debug (or C:/some/path/Release etc.) when an Intel Fortran .vfproj file is generated, and in C:/some/path when any other generator is used.

Note that some compilers will automatically search the module output directory for modules USEd during compilation but others will not. If your sources USE modules their location must be specified by INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES regardless of this property.

  Fortran_PREPROCESS

New in version 3.18.

Control whether the Fortran source file should be unconditionally preprocessed.

If unset or empty, rely on the compiler to determine whether the file should be preprocessed. If explicitly set to OFF then the file does not need to be preprocessed. If explicitly set to ON, then the file does need to be preprocessed as part of the compilation step.

When using the Ninja generator, all source files are first preprocessed in order to generate module dependency information. Setting this property to OFF will make Ninja skip this step.

Use the source-specific Fortran_PREPROCESS property if a single file needs to be preprocessed. If the variable CMAKE_Fortran_PREPROCESS is set when a target is created its value is used to initialize this property.

NOTE: For some compilers, NAG, PGI and Solaris Studio, setting this to OFF will have no effect.

  FRAMEWORK

Build SHARED or STATIC library as Framework Bundle on the macOS and iOS.

If such a library target has this property set to TRUE it will be built as a framework when built on the macOS and iOS. It will have the directory structure required for a framework and will be suitable to be used with the -framework option. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_FRAMEWORK variable if it is set when a target is created.

To customize Info.plist file in the framework, use MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_INFO_PLIST target property.

For macOS see also the FRAMEWORK_VERSION target property.

Example of creation dynamicFramework:

add_library(dynamicFramework SHARED
            dynamicFramework.c
            dynamicFramework.h
)
set_target_properties(dynamicFramework PROPERTIES
  FRAMEWORK TRUE
  FRAMEWORK_VERSION C
  MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_IDENTIFIER com.cmake.dynamicFramework
  MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_INFO_PLIST Info.plist
  # "current version" in semantic format in Mach-O binary file
  VERSION 16.4.0
  # "compatibility version" in semantic format in Mach-O binary file
  SOVERSION 1.0.0
  PUBLIC_HEADER dynamicFramework.h
  XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_CODE_SIGN_IDENTITY "iPhone Developer"
)

  FRAMEWORK_MULTI_CONFIG_POSTFIX_<CONFIG>

New in version 3.18.

Postfix to append to the framework file name for configuration <CONFIG>, when using a multi-config generator (like Xcode and Ninja Multi-Config).

When building with configuration <CONFIG> the value of this property is appended to the framework file name built on disk.

For example, given a framework called my_fw, a value of _debug for the FRAMEWORK_MULTI_CONFIG_POSTFIX_DEBUG property, and Debug;Release in CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES, the following relevant files would be created for the Debug and Release configurations:

•   Release/my_fw.framework/my_fw

•   Release/my_fw.framework/Versions/A/my_fw

•   Debug/my_fw.framework/my_fw_debug

•   Debug/my_fw.framework/Versions/A/my_fw_debug

    For framework targets, this property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_FRAMEWORK_MULTI_CONFIG_POSTFIX_<CONFIG> variable if it is set when a target is created.

    This property is ignored for non-framework targets, and when using single config generators.

  FRAMEWORK_VERSION

New in version 3.4.

Version of a framework created using the FRAMEWORK target property (e.g. A).

This property only affects macOS, as iOS doesn't have versioned directory structure.

  GENERATOR_FILE_NAME

Generator's file for this target.

An internal property used by some generators to record the name of the project or dsp file associated with this target. Note that at configure time, this property is only set for targets created by include_external_msproject().

  GHS_INTEGRITY_APP

New in version 3.14.

ON / OFF boolean to determine if an executable target should be treated as an Integrity Application.

If no value is set and if a .int file is added as a source file to the executable target it will be treated as an Integrity Application.

Supported on Green Hills MULTI.

  GHS_NO_SOURCE_GROUP_FILE

New in version 3.14.

ON / OFF boolean to control if the project file for a target should be one single file or multiple files.

The default behavior or when the property is OFF is to generate a project file for the target and then a sub-project file for each source group.

When this property is ON or if CMAKE_GHS_NO_SOURCE_GROUP_FILE is ON then only a single project file is generated for the target.

Supported on Green Hills MULTI.

  GNUtoMS

Convert GNU import library (.dll.a) to MS format (.lib).

When linking a shared library or executable that exports symbols using GNU tools on Windows (MinGW/MSYS) with Visual Studio installed convert the import library (.dll.a) from GNU to MS format (.lib). Both import libraries will be installed by install(TARGETS) and exported by install(EXPORT) and export() to be linked by applications with either GNU- or MS-compatible tools.

If the variable CMAKE_GNUtoMS is set when a target is created its value is used to initialize this property. The variable must be set prior to the first command that enables a language such as project() or enable_language(). CMake provides the variable as an option to the user automatically when configuring on Windows with GNU tools.

  HAS_CXX

Link the target using the C++ linker tool (obsolete).

This is equivalent to setting the LINKER_LANGUAGE property to CXX.

  HEADER_DIRS

New in version 3.23.

Semicolon-separated list of base directories of the target's default header set (i.e. the file set with name and type HEADERS). The property supports generator expressions.

This property is normally only set by target_sources(FILE_SET) rather than being manipulated directly.

See HEADER_DIRS_<NAME> for the list of base directories in other header sets.

  HEADER_DIRS_<NAME>

New in version 3.23.

Semicolon-separated list of base directories of the target's <NAME> header set, which has the set type HEADERS. The property supports generator expressions.

This property is normally only set by target_sources(FILE_SET) rather than being manipulated directly.

See HEADER_DIRS for the list of base directories in the default header set. See HEADER_SETS for the file set names of all header sets.

  HEADER_SET

New in version 3.23.

Semicolon-separated list of files in the target's default header set, (i.e. the file set with name and type HEADERS). If any of the paths are relative, they are computed relative to the target's source directory. The property supports generator expressions.

This property is normally only set by target_sources(FILE_SET) rather than being manipulated directly.

See HEADER_SET_<NAME> for the list of files in other header sets.

  HEADER_SET_<NAME>

New in version 3.23.

Semicolon-separated list of files in the target's <NAME> header set, which has the set type HEADERS. If any of the paths are relative, they are computed relative to the target's source directory. The property supports generator expressions.

This property is normally only set by target_sources(FILE_SET) rather than being manipulated directly.

See HEADER_SET for the list of files in the default header set. See HEADER_SETS for the file set names of all header sets.

  HEADER_SETS

New in version 3.23.

Read-only list of the target's PRIVATE and PUBLIC header sets (i.e. all file sets with the type HEADERS). Files listed in these file sets are treated as source files for the purpose of IDE integration. The files also have their HEADER_FILE_ONLY property set to TRUE.

Header sets may be defined using the target_sources() command FILE_SET option with type HEADERS.

See also HEADER_SET_<NAME>, HEADER_SET and INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS.

  HIP_ARCHITECTURES

New in version 3.21.

List of GPU architectures to for which to generate device code. Architecture names are interpreted based on CMAKE_HIP_PLATFORM.

A non-empty false value (e.g. OFF) disables adding architectures. This is intended to support packagers and rare cases where full control over the passed flags is required.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_HIP_ARCHITECTURES variable if it is set when a target is created.

The HIP compilation model has two modes: whole and separable. Whole compilation generates device code at compile time. Separable compilation generates device code at link time. Therefore the HIP_ARCHITECTURES target property should be set on targets that compile or link with any HIP sources.

  Examples

set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY HIP_ARCHITECTURES gfx801 gfx900)

Generates code for both gfx801 and gfx900.

  HIP_EXTENSIONS

New in version 3.21.

Boolean specifying whether compiler specific extensions are requested.

This property specifies whether compiler specific extensions should be used. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu++11 instead of -std=c++11 to the compile line. This property is ON by default. The basic HIP/C++ standard level is controlled by the HIP_STANDARD target property.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_HIP_EXTENSIONS variable if set when a target is created and otherwise by the value of CMAKE_HIP_EXTENSIONS_DEFAULT (see CMP0128).

  HIP_STANDARD

New in version 3.21.

The HIP/C++ standard requested to build this target.

Supported values are:

98  HIP C++98

11  HIP C++11

14  HIP C++14

17  HIP C++17

20  HIP C++20

23  HIP C++23

26  New in version 3.25.

    HIP C++26. CMake 3.25 and later recognize 26 as a valid value, no version has support for any compiler.

    If the value requested does not result in a compile flag being added for the compiler in use, a previous standard flag will be added instead. This means that using:

    set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY HIP_STANDARD 11)

    with a compiler which does not support -std=gnu++11 or an equivalent flag will not result in an error or warning, but will instead add the -std=gnu++98 flag if supported. This "decay" behavior may be controlled with the HIP_STANDARD_REQUIRED target property. Additionally, the HIP_EXTENSIONS target property may be used to control whether compiler-specific extensions are enabled on a per-target basis.

    See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_HIP_STANDARD variable if it is set when a target is created.

  HIP_STANDARD_REQUIRED

New in version 3.21.

Boolean describing whether the value of HIP_STANDARD is a requirement.

If this property is set to ON, then the value of the HIP_STANDARD target property is treated as a requirement. If this property is OFF or unset, the HIP_STANDARD target property is treated as optional and may "decay" to a previous standard if the requested is not available.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_HIP_STANDARD_REQUIRED variable if it is set when a target is created.

  IMPLICIT_DEPENDS_INCLUDE_TRANSFORM

Specify #include line transforms for dependencies in a target.

This property specifies rules to transform macro-like #include lines during implicit dependency scanning of C and C++ source files. The list of rules must be semicolon-separated with each entry of the form A_MACRO(%)=value-with-% (the % must be literal). During dependency scanning occurrences of A_MACRO(...) on #include lines will be replaced by the value given with the macro argument substituted for %. For example, the entry

MYDIR(%)=<mydir/%>

will convert lines of the form

#include MYDIR(myheader.h)

to

#include <mydir/myheader.h>

allowing the dependency to be followed.

This property applies to sources in the target on which it is set.

  IMPORTED

Read-only indication of whether a target is IMPORTED.

The boolean value of this property is True for targets created with the IMPORTED option to add_executable() or add_library(). It is False for targets built within the project.

  IMPORTED_COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME

New in version 3.12.

Property to define if the target uses C++/CLI.

Ignored for non-imported targets.

See also the COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME target property.

  IMPORTED_CONFIGURATIONS

Configurations provided for an imported target.

Set this to the list of configuration names available for an imported target. For each configuration named, the imported target's artifacts must be specified in other target properties:

•   IMPORTED_LOCATION_<CONFIG>, or

•   IMPORTED_IMPLIB_<CONFIG> (on DLL platforms, on AIX for Executables or on Apple for Shared Libraries), or

•   IMPORTED_OBJECTS_<CONFIG> (for Object Libraries), or

•   IMPORTED_LIBNAME_<CONFIG> (for Interface Libraries).

    The configuration names correspond to those defined in the project from which the target is imported. If the importing project uses a different set of configurations, the names may be mapped using the MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG> target property.

    The IMPORTED_CONFIGURATIONS property is ignored for non-imported targets.

  IMPORTED_CXX_MODULES_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS

New in version 3.28.

Preprocessor definitions for compiling an IMPORTED target's C++ module sources.

CMake will automatically drop some definitions that are not supported by the native build tool.

  IMPORTED_CXX_MODULES_COMPILE_FEATURES

New in version 3.28.

Compiler features enabled for this IMPORTED target's C++ modules.

The value of this property is used by the generators to set the include paths for the compiler.

  IMPORTED_CXX_MODULES_COMPILE_OPTIONS

New in version 3.28.

List of options to pass to the compiler for this IMPORTED target's C++ modules.

  Option De-duplication

The final set of options used for a target is constructed by accumulating options from the current target and the usage requirements of its dependencies. The set of options is de-duplicated to avoid repetition.

New in version 3.12: While beneficial for individual options, the de-duplication step can break up option groups. For example, -option A -option B becomes -option A B. One may specify a group of options using shell-like quoting along with a SHELL: prefix. The SHELL: prefix is dropped, and the rest of the option string is parsed using the separate_arguments() UNIX_COMMAND mode. For example, "SHELL:-option A" "SHELL:-option B" becomes -option A -option B.

  IMPORTED_CXX_MODULES_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES

New in version 3.28.

List of preprocessor include file search directories when compiling C++ modules for IMPORTED targets.

The value of this property is used by the generators to set the include paths for the compiler.

  IMPORTED_CXX_MODULES_LINK_LIBRARIES

New in version 3.28.

List of direct dependencies to use for usage requirements for C++ modules in the target's C++ modules.

  IMPORTED_GLOBAL

New in version 3.11.

Indication of whether an IMPORTED target is globally visible.

The boolean value of this property is True for targets created with the IMPORTED GLOBAL options to add_executable() or add_library(). It is always False for targets built within the project.

For targets created with the IMPORTED option to add_executable() or add_library() but without the additional option GLOBAL this is False, too. However, setting this property for such a locally IMPORTED target to True promotes that target to global scope. This promotion can only be done in the same directory where that IMPORTED target was created in the first place.

NOTE: Once an imported target has been made global, it cannot be changed back to non-global. Therefore, if a project sets this property, it may only provide a value of True. CMake will issue an error if the project tries to set the property to a non-True value, even if the value was already False.

NOTE: Local ALIAS targets created before promoting an IMPORTED target from LOCAL to GLOBAL, keep their initial scope (see ALIAS_GLOBAL target property).

  IMPORTED_IMPLIB

Full path to the import library for an IMPORTED target.

This property may be set:

•   On DLL platforms, to the location of the .lib part of the DLL.

•   On AIX, to an import file (e.g. .imp) created for executables that export symbols (see the ENABLE_EXPORTS target property).

•   On macOS, to an import file (e.g. .tbd) created for shared libraries (see the ENABLE_EXPORTS target property). For frameworks this is the location of the .tbd file symlink just inside the framework folder.

•   New in version 3.28: On non-DLL platforms, to the location of a shared library. When set without also specifying an IMPORTED_LOCATION, the library is considered to be a stub, and its location will not be added as a runtime search path to dependents that link it.

    The IMPORTED_IMPLIB target property may be overridden for a given configuration <CONFIG> by the configuration-specific IMPORTED_IMPLIB_<CONFIG> target property. Furthermore, the MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG> target property may be used to map between a project's configurations and those of an imported target. If none of these is set then the name of any other configuration listed in the IMPORTED_CONFIGURATIONS target property may be selected and its IMPORTED_IMPLIB_<CONFIG> value used.

    This property is ignored for non-imported targets.

  IMPORTED_IMPLIB_<CONFIG>

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_IMPLIB property.

Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project from which the target is imported.

  IMPORTED_LIBNAME

New in version 3.8.

Specify the link library name for an imported Interface Library.

An interface library builds no library file itself but does specify usage requirements for its consumers. The IMPORTED_LIBNAME property may be set to specify a single library name to be placed on the link line in place of the interface library target name as a requirement for using the interface.

This property is intended for use in naming libraries provided by a platform SDK for which the full path to a library file may not be known. The value may be a plain library name such as foo but may not be a path (e.g. /usr/lib/libfoo.so) or a flag (e.g. -Wl,...). The name is never treated as a library target name even if it happens to name one.

The IMPORTED_LIBNAME property is allowed only on imported Interface Libraries and is rejected on targets of other types (for which the IMPORTED_LOCATION target property may be used).

  IMPORTED_LIBNAME_<CONFIG>

New in version 3.8.

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LIBNAME property.

Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project from which the target is imported.

  IMPORTED_LINK_DEPENDENT_LIBRARIES

Dependent shared libraries of an imported shared library.

Shared libraries may be linked to other shared libraries as part of their implementation. On some platforms the linker searches for the dependent libraries of shared libraries they are including in the link. Set this property to the list of dependent shared libraries of an imported library. The list should be disjoint from the list of interface libraries in the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES property. On platforms requiring dependent shared libraries to be found at link time CMake uses this list to add appropriate files or paths to the link command line. Ignored for non-imported targets.

  IMPORTED_LINK_DEPENDENT_LIBRARIES_<CONFIG>

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LINK_DEPENDENT_LIBRARIES.

Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project from which the target is imported. If set, this property completely overrides the generic property for the named configuration.

  IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LANGUAGES

Languages compiled into an IMPORTED static library.

Set this to the list of languages of source files compiled to produce a STATIC IMPORTED library (such as C or CXX). CMake accounts for these languages when computing how to link a target to the imported library. For example, when a C executable links to an imported C++ static library CMake chooses the C++ linker to satisfy language runtime dependencies of the static library.

This property is ignored for targets that are not STATIC libraries. This property is ignored for non-imported targets.

  IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LANGUAGES_<CONFIG>

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LANGUAGES.

Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project from which the target is imported. If set, this property completely overrides the generic property for the named configuration.

  IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES

Transitive link interface of an IMPORTED target.

Set this to the list of libraries whose interface is included when an IMPORTED library target is linked to another target. The libraries will be included on the link line for the target. Unlike the LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES property, this property applies to all imported target types, including STATIC libraries. This property is ignored for non-imported targets.

This property is ignored if the target also has a non-empty INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES property.

This property is deprecated. Use INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES instead.

  IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_<CONFIG>

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES.

Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project from which the target is imported. If set, this property completely overrides the generic property for the named configuration.

This property is ignored if the target also has a non-empty INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES property.

This property is deprecated. Use INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES instead.

  IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY

Repetition count for cycles of IMPORTED static libraries.

This is LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY for IMPORTED targets.

  IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY_<CONFIG>

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY.

If set, this property completely overrides the generic property for the named configuration.

  IMPORTED_LOCATION

Full path to the main file on disk for an IMPORTED target.

Set this to the location of an IMPORTED target file on disk. For executables this is the location of the executable file. For STATIC libraries and modules this is the location of the library or module. For SHARED libraries on non-DLL platforms this is the location of the shared library. For application bundles on macOS this is the location of the executable file inside Contents/MacOS within the bundle folder. For frameworks on macOS this is the location of the library file symlink just inside the framework folder. For DLLs this is the location of the .dll part of the library. For UNKNOWN libraries this is the location of the file to be linked. Ignored for non-imported targets.

New in version 3.28: For frameworks on macOS, this may be the location of the framework folder itself.

New in version 3.28: This may be the location of a .xcframework folder on macOS. If it is, any target that links against it will get the selected library's Headers directory as a usage requirement.

The IMPORTED_LOCATION target property may be overridden for a given configuration <CONFIG> by the configuration-specific IMPORTED_LOCATION_<CONFIG> target property. Furthermore, the MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG> target property may be used to map between a project's configurations and those of an imported target. If none of these is set then the name of any other configuration listed in the IMPORTED_CONFIGURATIONS target property may be selected and its IMPORTED_LOCATION_<CONFIG> value used.

To get the location of an imported target read one of the LOCATION or LOCATION_<CONFIG> properties.

For platforms with import libraries (e.g. Windows, AIX or macOS) see also IMPORTED_IMPLIB.

  IMPORTED_LOCATION_<CONFIG>

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_LOCATION property.

Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project from which the target is imported.

  IMPORTED_NO_SONAME

Specifies that an IMPORTED shared library target has no soname.

Set this property to true for an imported shared library file that has no soname field. CMake may adjust generated link commands for some platforms to prevent the linker from using the path to the library in place of its missing soname. Ignored for non-imported targets.

  IMPORTED_NO_SONAME_<CONFIG>

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_NO_SONAME property.

Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project from which the target is imported.

  IMPORTED_NO_SYSTEM

New in version 3.23.

Deprecated since version 3.25: IMPORTED_NO_SYSTEM is deprecated. Please use the following alternatives instead:

•   Set SYSTEM to false if you don't want a target's include directories to be treated as system directories when compiling consumers.

•   Set EXPORT_NO_SYSTEM to true if you don't want the include directories of the imported target generated by install(EXPORT) and export() commands to be treated as system directories when compiling consumers.

    Setting IMPORTED_NO_SYSTEM to true on an imported target specifies that it is not a system target. This has the following effects:

•   Entries of INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES are not treated as system include directories when compiling consumers (regardless of the value of the consumed target's SYSTEM property), as they would be by default. Entries of INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES are not affected, and will always be treated as system include directories.

•   On Apple platforms, when the target is a framework, it will not be treated as system.

    This property can also be enabled on a non-imported target. Doing so does not affect the build system, but does tell the install(EXPORT) and export() commands to enable it on the imported targets they generate.

    See the NO_SYSTEM_FROM_IMPORTED target property to set this behavior on the target consuming the include directories rather than the one providing them.

  IMPORTED_OBJECTS

New in version 3.9.

A semicolon-separated list of absolute paths to the object files on disk for an imported object library.

Ignored for non-imported targets.

Projects may skip IMPORTED_OBJECTS if the configuration-specific property IMPORTED_OBJECTS_<CONFIG> is set instead, except in situations as noted in the section below.

  Xcode Generator Considerations

New in version 3.20.

For Apple platforms, a project may be built for more than one architecture. This is controlled by the CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES variable. For all but the Xcode generator, CMake invokes compilers once per source file and passes multiple -arch flags, leading to a single object file which will be a universal binary. Such object files work well when listed in the IMPORTED_OBJECTS of a separate CMake build, even for the Xcode generator. But producing such object files with the Xcode generator is more difficult, since it invokes the compiler once per architecture for each source file. Unlike the other generators, it does not generate universal object file binaries.

A further complication with the Xcode generator is that when targeting device platforms (iOS, tvOS, visionOS or watchOS), the Xcode generator has the ability to use either the device or simulator SDK without needing CMake to be re-run. The SDK can be selected at build time. But since some architectures can be supported by both the device and the simulator SDKs (e.g. arm64 with Xcode 12 or later), not all combinations can be represented in a single universal binary. The only solution in this case is to have multiple object files.

IMPORTED_OBJECTS doesn't support generator expressions, so every file it lists needs to be valid for every architecture and SDK. If incorporating object files that are not universal binaries, the path and/or file name of each object file has to somehow encapsulate the different architectures and SDKs. With the Xcode generator, Xcode variables of the form $(...) can be used to represent these aspects and Xcode will substitute the appropriate values at build time. CMake doesn't interpret these variables and embeds them unchanged in the Xcode project file. $(CURRENT_ARCH) can be used to represent the architecture, while $(EFFECTIVE_PLATFORM_NAME) can be used to differentiate between SDKs.

The following shows one example of how these two variables can be used to refer to an object file whose location depends on both the SDK and the architecture:

add_library(someObjs OBJECT IMPORTED)
set_property(TARGET someObjs PROPERTY IMPORTED_OBJECTS
  # Quotes are required because of the ()
  "/path/to/somewhere/objects$(EFFECTIVE_PLATFORM_NAME)/$(CURRENT_ARCH)/func.o"
)
# Example paths:
#   /path/to/somewhere/objects-iphoneos/arm64/func.o
#   /path/to/somewhere/objects-iphonesimulator/x86_64/func.o

In some cases, you may want to have configuration-specific object files as well. The $(CONFIGURATION) Xcode variable is often used for this and can be used in conjunction with the others mentioned above:

add_library(someObjs OBJECT IMPORTED)
set_property(TARGET someObjs PROPERTY IMPORTED_OBJECTS
  "/path/to/somewhere/$(CONFIGURATION)$(EFFECTIVE_PLATFORM_NAME)/$(CURRENT_ARCH)/func.o"
)
# Example paths:
#   /path/to/somewhere/Release-iphoneos/arm64/func.o
#   /path/to/somewhere/Debug-iphonesimulator/x86_64/func.o

When any Xcode variable is used, CMake is not able to fully evaluate the path(s) at configure time. One consequence of this is that the configuration-specific IMPORTED_OBJECTS_<CONFIG> properties cannot be used, since CMake cannot determine whether an object file exists at a particular <CONFIG> location. The IMPORTED_OBJECTS property must be used for these situations and the configuration-specific aspects of the path should be handled by the $(CONFIGURATION) Xcode variable.

  IMPORTED_OBJECTS_<CONFIG>

New in version 3.9.

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_OBJECTS property.

Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project from which the target is imported.

  Xcode Generator Considerations

Do not use this <CONFIG>-specific property if you need to use Xcode variables like $(CURRENT_ARCH) or $(EFFECTIVE_PLATFORM_NAME) in the value. The <CONFIG>-specific properties will be ignored in such cases because CMake cannot determine whether a file exists at the configuration-specific path at configuration time. For such cases, use IMPORTED_OBJECTS instead.

  IMPORTED_SONAME

The soname of an IMPORTED target of shared library type.

Set this to the soname embedded in an imported shared library. This is meaningful only on platforms supporting the feature. Ignored for non-imported targets.

  IMPORTED_SONAME_<CONFIG>

<CONFIG>-specific version of IMPORTED_SONAME property.

Configuration names correspond to those provided by the project from which the target is imported.

  IMPORT_PREFIX

What comes before the import library name.

Similar to the target property PREFIX, but used for import libraries (typically corresponding to a DLL) instead of regular libraries. A target property that can be set to override the prefix (such as lib) on an import library name.

  IMPORT_SUFFIX

What comes after the import library name.

Similar to the target property SUFFIX, but used for import libraries (typically corresponding to a DLL) instead of regular libraries. A target property that can be set to override the suffix (such as .lib) on an import library name.

  INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES

List of preprocessor include file search directories.

This property specifies the list of directories given so far to the target_include_directories() command. In addition to accepting values from that command, values may be set directly on any target using the set_property() command. A target gets its initial value for this property from the value of the INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES directory property. Both directory and target property values are adjusted by calls to the include_directories() command.

The value of this property is used by the generators to set the include paths for the compiler.

Relative paths should not be added to this property directly. Use one of the commands above instead to handle relative paths.

Contents of INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES may use cmake-generator-expressions(7) with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INSTALL_NAME_DIR

Directory name for installed targets on Apple platforms.

INSTALL_NAME_DIR is a string specifying the directory portion of the "install_name" field of shared libraries on Apple platforms for installed targets. When not set, the default directory used is determined by MACOSX_RPATH. If the BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME_DIR property is set, this will be used already in the build tree. Policies CMP0068 and CMP0042 are also relevant.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_INSTALL_NAME_DIR if it is set when a target is created.

This property supports generator expressions. In particular, the $<INSTALL_PREFIX> generator expression can be used to set the directory relative to the install-time prefix.

On platforms that support runtime paths (RPATH), refer to the INSTALL_RPATH target property. Under Windows, the TARGET_RUNTIME_DLLS generator expression is related.

  INSTALL_REMOVE_ENVIRONMENT_RPATH

New in version 3.16.

Controls whether toolchain-defined rpaths should be removed during installation.

When a target is being installed, CMake may need to rewrite its rpath information. This occurs when the install rpath (as specified by the INSTALL_RPATH target property) has different contents to the rpath that the target was built with. Some toolchains insert their own rpath contents into the binary as part of the build. By default, CMake will preserve those extra inserted contents in the install rpath. For those scenarios where such toolchain-inserted entries need to be discarded during install, set the INSTALL_REMOVE_ENVIRONMENT_RPATH target property to true.

This property is initialized by the value of CMAKE_INSTALL_REMOVE_ENVIRONMENT_RPATH when the target is created.

  INSTALL_RPATH

The rpath to use for installed targets.

By default, the install rpath is empty. It can be set using this property, which is a semicolon-separated list specifying the rpath to use in installed targets (for platforms that support it). This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH if it is set when a target is created. Beside setting the install rpath manually, using the INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH target property it can also be generated automatically by CMake.

Normally CMake uses the build tree for the RPATH when building executables etc on systems that use RPATH, see the BUILD_RPATH target property. When the software is installed the targets are edited (or relinked) by CMake (see CMAKE_NO_BUILTIN_CHRPATH) to have the install RPATH. This editing during installation can be avoided via the BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH target property.

For handling toolchain-dependent RPATH entries the INSTALL_REMOVE_ENVIRONMENT_RPATH can be used. Runtime paths can be disabled completely via the CMAKE_SKIP_RPATH variable.

Because the rpath may contain ${ORIGIN}, which coincides with CMake syntax, the contents of INSTALL_RPATH are properly escaped in the cmake_install.cmake script (see policy CMP0095.)

This property supports generator expressions.

On Apple platforms, refer to the INSTALL_NAME_DIR target property. Under Windows, the TARGET_RUNTIME_DLLS generator expression is related.

  INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH

Add paths to linker search and installed rpath.

INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH is a boolean that if set to TRUE will append to the runtime search path (rpath) of installed binaries any directories outside the project that are in the linker search path or contain linked library files. The directories are appended after the value of the INSTALL_RPATH target property.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_INSTALL_RPATH_USE_LINK_PATH if it is set when a target is created.

  INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES

New in version 3.27.

A semicolon-separated list of macro names for AUTOMOC to be propagated to consumers.

When a target with AUTOMOC enabled links to a library that sets INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES, the target inherits the listed macro names and merges them with those specified in its own AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES property. The target will then automatically generate MOC files for source files that contain the inherited macro names too, not just the macro names specified in its own AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES property.

By default INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES is empty.

See the cmake-qt(7) manual for more information on using CMake with Qt.

  Example 1

In this example, myapp inherits the macro names STATIC_LIB_1 and STATIC_LIB_2 from static_lib. The moc tool will then automatically be run on any of the myapp sources which contain STATIC_LIB_1 or STATIC_LIB_2.

set(AUTOMOC ON)
add_executable(myapp main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(myapp PRIVATE static_lib)
add_library(static_lib STATIC static.cpp)
set_property(TARGET static_lib PROPERTY
  INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES "STATIC_LIB_1;STATIC_LIB_2"
)

  Example 2

In this example, the INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES target property of the various *_deep_lib libraries will propagate to shared_lib, static_lib and interface_lib. Because the linking relationships are specified as PUBLIC and INTERFACE, those macro names will also further propagate transitively up to app.

set(AUTOMOC ON)
add_library(shared_deep_lib SHARED deep_lib.cpp)
add_library(static_deep_lib STATIC deep_lib.cpp)
add_library(interface_deep_lib INTERFACE)
set_property(TARGET shared_deep_lib PROPERTY
  INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES "SHARED_LINK_LIB"
)
set_property(TARGET static_deep_lib PROPERTY
  INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES "STATIC_LINK_LIB"
)
set_property(TARGET interface_deep_lib PROPERTY
  INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES "INTERFACE_LINK_LIB"
)
add_library(shared_lib SHARED lib.cpp)
add_library(static_lib STATIC lib.cpp)
add_library(interface_lib INTERFACE)
# PUBLIC and INTERFACE here ensure the macro names propagate to any
# consumers of shared_lib, static_lib or interface_lib too
target_link_libraries(shared_lib PUBLIC shared_deep_lib)
target_link_libraries(static_lib PUBLIC static_deep_lib)
target_link_libraries(interface_lib INTERFACE interface_deep_lib)
# This consumer will receive all three of the above custom macro names as
# transitive usage requirements
add_executable(app main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(app PRIVATE shared_lib static_lib interface_lib)

In the above:

•   shared_lib sources will be processed by moc if they contain SHARED_LINK_LIB.

•   static_lib sources will be processed by moc if they contain STATIC_LINK_LIB.

•   app sources will be processed by moc if they contain SHARED_LINK_LIB, STATIC_LINK_LIB or INTERFACE_LINK_LIB.

  INTERFACE_AUTOUIC_OPTIONS

List of interface options to pass to uic.

Targets may populate this property to publish the options required to use when invoking uic. Consuming targets can add entries to their own AUTOUIC_OPTIONS property such as $<TARGET_PROPERTY:foo,INTERFACE_AUTOUIC_OPTIONS> to use the uic options specified in the interface of foo. This is done automatically by the target_link_libraries() command.

This property supports generator expressions. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions.

  INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS

List of public compile definitions requirements for a library.

Targets may populate this property to publish the compile definitions required to compile against the headers for the target. The target_compile_definitions() command populates this property with values given to the PUBLIC and INTERFACE keywords. Projects may also get and set the property directly.

When target dependencies are specified using target_link_libraries(), CMake will read this property from all target dependencies to determine the build properties of the consumer.

Contents of INTERFACE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) -manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INTERFACE_COMPILE_FEATURES

New in version 3.1.

List of public compile features requirements for a library.

Targets may populate this property to publish the compile features required to compile against the headers for the target. The target_compile_features() command populates this property with values given to the PUBLIC and INTERFACE keywords. Projects may also get and set the property directly.

When target dependencies are specified using target_link_libraries(), CMake will read this property from all target dependencies to determine the build properties of the consumer.

Contents of INTERFACE_COMPILE_FEATURES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) -manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

  INTERFACE_COMPILE_OPTIONS

List of public compile options requirements for a library.

Targets may populate this property to publish the compile options required to compile against the headers for the target. The target_compile_options() command populates this property with values given to the PUBLIC and INTERFACE keywords. Projects may also get and set the property directly.

When target dependencies are specified using target_link_libraries(), CMake will read this property from all target dependencies to determine the build properties of the consumer.

Contents of INTERFACE_COMPILE_OPTIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) -manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INTERFACE_CXX_MODULE_SETS

New in version 3.28.

Read-only list of the target's PUBLIC C++ module sets (i.e. all file sets with the type CXX_MODULES). Files listed in these C++ module sets can be installed with install(TARGETS) and exported with install(EXPORT) and export().

C++ module sets may be defined using the target_sources() command FILE_SET option with type CXX_MODULES.

See also CXX_MODULE_SETS.

  INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS

New in version 3.23.

Read-only list of the target's INTERFACE and PUBLIC header sets (i.e. all file sets with the type HEADERS). Files listed in these header sets can be installed with install(TARGETS) and exported with install(EXPORT) and export().

Header sets may be defined using the target_sources() command FILE_SET option with type HEADERS.

See also HEADER_SETS.

  INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS_TO_VERIFY

New in version 3.24.

Used to specify which PUBLIC and INTERFACE header sets of a target should be verified.

This property contains a semicolon-separated list of header sets which should be verified if VERIFY_INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS is set to TRUE. If the list is empty, all PUBLIC and INTERFACE header sets are verified. (If the project does not want to verify any header sets on the target, simply set VERIFY_INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS to FALSE.)

  INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES

List of public include directories requirements for a library.

Targets may populate this property to publish the include directories required to compile against the headers for the target. The target_include_directories() command populates this property with values given to the PUBLIC and INTERFACE keywords. Projects may also get and set the property directly.

When target dependencies are specified using target_link_libraries(), CMake will read this property from all target dependencies to determine the build properties of the consumer.

Contents of INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) -manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

Include directories usage requirements commonly differ between the build-tree and the install-tree. The BUILD_INTERFACE and INSTALL_INTERFACE generator expressions can be used to describe separate usage requirements based on the usage location. Relative paths are allowed within the INSTALL_INTERFACE expression and are interpreted relative to the installation prefix. For example:

target_include_directories(mylib INTERFACE
  $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/mylib>
  $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include/mylib>  # <prefix>/include/mylib
)

  Creating Relocatable Packages

Note that it is not advisable to populate the INSTALL_INTERFACE of the INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES of a target with absolute paths to the include directories of dependencies. That would hard-code into installed packages the include directory paths for dependencies as found on the machine the package was made on.

The INSTALL_INTERFACE of the INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES is only suitable for specifying the required include directories for headers provided with the target itself, not those provided by the transitive dependencies listed in its INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES target property. Those dependencies should themselves be targets that specify their own header locations in INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES.

See the Creating Relocatable Packages section of the cmake-packages(7) manual for discussion of additional care that must be taken when specifying usage requirements while creating packages for redistribution.

  INTERFACE_LINK_DEPENDS

New in version 3.13.

Additional public interface files on which a target binary depends for linking.

This property is supported only by Ninja and Makefile Generators. It is intended to specify dependencies on "linker scripts" for custom Makefile link rules.

When target dependencies are specified using target_link_libraries(), CMake will read this property from all target dependencies to determine the build properties of the consumer.

Contents of INTERFACE_LINK_DEPENDS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) -manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

Link dependency files usage requirements commonly differ between the build-tree and the install-tree. The BUILD_INTERFACE and INSTALL_INTERFACE generator expressions can be used to describe separate usage requirements based on the usage location. Relative paths are allowed within the INSTALL_INTERFACE expression and are interpreted relative to the installation prefix. For example:

set_property(TARGET mylib PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_DEPENDS
  $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/mylinkscript>
  $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:mylinkscript>  # <prefix>/mylinkscript
)

  INTERFACE_LINK_DIRECTORIES

New in version 3.13.

List of public link directories requirements for a library.

Targets may populate this property to publish the link directories required to compile against the headers for the target. The target_link_directories() command populates this property with values given to the PUBLIC and INTERFACE keywords. Projects may also get and set the property directly.

When target dependencies are specified using target_link_libraries(), CMake will read this property from all target dependencies to determine the build properties of the consumer.

Contents of INTERFACE_LINK_DIRECTORIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) -manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES

List public interface libraries for a library.

This property contains the list of transitive link dependencies. When the target is linked into another target using the target_link_libraries() command, the libraries listed (and recursively their link interface libraries) will be provided to the other target also. This property is overridden by the LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES or LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_<CONFIG> property if policy CMP0022 is OLD or unset.

The value of this property is used by the generators when constructing the link rule for a dependent target. A dependent target's direct link dependencies, specified by its LINK_LIBRARIES target property, are linked first, followed by indirect dependencies from the transitive closure of the direct dependencies' INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES properties. See policy CMP0022.

Contents of INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

NOTE: A call to target_link_libraries(<target> ...) may update this property on <target>. If <target> was not created in the same directory as the call then target_link_libraries() will wrap each entry with the form ::@(directory-id);...;::@, where the ::@ is literal and the (directory-id) is unspecified. This tells the generators that the named libraries must be looked up in the scope of the caller rather than in the scope in which the <target> was created. Valid directory ids are stripped on export by the install(EXPORT) and export() commands.

INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES adds transitive link dependencies for a target's dependents. In advanced use cases, one may update the direct link dependencies of a target's dependents by using the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT and INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target properties.

  Creating Relocatable Packages

Note that it is not advisable to populate the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES of a target with absolute paths to dependencies. That would hard-code into installed packages the library file paths for dependencies as found on the machine the package was made on.

See the Creating Relocatable Packages section of the cmake-packages(7) manual for discussion of additional care that must be taken when specifying usage requirements while creating packages for redistribution.

  INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT

New in version 3.24.

List of libraries that consumers of this library should treat as direct link dependencies.

This target property may be set to include items in a dependent target's final set of direct link dependencies. See the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target property to exclude items.

The initial set of a dependent target's direct link dependencies is specified by its LINK_LIBRARIES target property. Indirect link dependencies are specified by the transitive closure of the direct link dependencies' INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES properties. Any link dependency may specify additional direct link dependencies using the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT target property. The set of direct link dependencies is then filtered to exclude items named by any dependency's INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target property.

The value of INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT may use generator expressions.

NOTE: The INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT target property is intended for advanced use cases such as injection of static plugins into a consuming executable. It should not be used as a substitute for organizing normal calls to target_link_libraries().

  Direct Link Dependencies as Usage Requirements

The INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT and INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target properties are usage requirements. Their effects propagate to dependent targets transitively, and can therefore affect the direct link dependencies of every target in a chain of dependent libraries. Whenever some library target X links to another library target Y whose direct or transitive usage requirements contain INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT or INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE, the properties may affect X's list of direct link dependencies:

•   If X is a shared library or executable, its dependencies are linked. They also affect the usage requirements with which X's sources are compiled.

•   If X is a static library or object library, it does not actually link, so its dependencies at most affect the usage requirements with which X's sources are compiled.

    The properties may also affect the list of direct link dependencies on X's dependents:

•   If X links Y publicly:

    target_link_libraries(X PUBLIC Y)

    then Y is placed in X's INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES, so Y's usage requirements, including INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT, INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE, and the usage requirements declared by the direct link dependencies they add, are propagated to X's dependents.

•   If X is a static library or object library, and links Y privately:

    target_link_libraries(X PRIVATE Y)

    then $<LINK_ONLY:Y> is placed in X's INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES. Y's linking requirements, including INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT, INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE, and the transitive link dependencies declared by the direct link dependencies they add, are propagated to X's dependents. However, Y's non-linking usage requirements are blocked by the LINK_ONLY generator expression, and are not propagated to X's dependents.

•   If X is a shared library or executable, and links Y privately:

    target_link_libraries(X PRIVATE Y)

    then Y is not placed in X's INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES, so Y's usage requirements, even INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT and INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE, are not propagated to X's dependents.

•   In all cases, the content of X's INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES is not affected by Y's INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT or INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE.

    One may limit the effects of INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT and INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE to a subset of dependent targets by using the TARGET_PROPERTY generator expression. For example, to limit the effects to executable targets, use an entry of the form:

    "$<$<STREQUAL:$<TARGET_PROPERTY:TYPE>,EXECUTABLE>:...>"

    Similarly, to limit the effects to specific targets, use an entry of the form:

    "$<$<BOOL:$<TARGET_PROPERTY:USE_IT>>:...>"

    This entry will only affect targets that set their USE_IT target property to a true value.

  Direct Link Dependency Ordering

The list of direct link dependencies for a target is computed from an initial ordered list in its LINK_LIBRARIES target property. For each item, additional direct link dependencies are discovered from its direct and transitive INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT usage requirements. Each discovered item is injected before the item that specified it. However, a discovered item is added at most once, and only if it did not appear anywhere in the initial list. This gives LINK_LIBRARIES control over ordering of those direct link dependencies that it explicitly specifies.

Once all direct link dependencies have been collected, items named by all of their INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE usage requirements are removed from the final list. This does not affect the order of the items that remain.

  Example: Static Plugins

Consider a static library Foo that provides a static plugin FooPlugin to consuming application executables, where the implementation of the plugin depends on Foo and other things. In this case, the application should link to FooPlugin directly, before Foo. However, the application author only knows about Foo. We can express this as follows:

# Core library used by other components.
add_library(Core STATIC core.cpp)
# Foo is a static library for use by applications.
# Implementation of Foo depends on Core.
add_library(Foo STATIC foo.cpp foo_plugin_helper.cpp)
target_link_libraries(Foo PRIVATE Core)
# Extra parts of Foo for use by its static plugins.
# Implementation of Foo's extra parts depends on both Core and Foo.
add_library(FooExtras STATIC foo_extras.cpp)
target_link_libraries(FooExtras PRIVATE Core Foo)
# The Foo library has an associated static plugin
# that should be linked into the final executable.
# Implementation of the plugin depends on Core, Foo, and FooExtras.
add_library(FooPlugin STATIC foo_plugin.cpp)
target_link_libraries(FooPlugin PRIVATE Core Foo FooExtras)
# An app that links Foo should link Foo's plugin directly.
set_property(TARGET Foo PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT FooPlugin)
# An app does not need to link Foo directly because the plugin links it.
set_property(TARGET Foo PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE Foo)

An application app only needs to specify that it links to Foo:

add_executable(app main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(app PRIVATE Foo)

The INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT target property on Foo tells CMake to pretend that app also links directly to FooPlugin. The INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target property on Foo tells CMake to pretend that app did not link directly to Foo. Instead, Foo will be linked as a dependency of FooPlugin. The final link line for app will link the libraries in the following order:

•   FooPlugin as a direct link dependency of app (via Foo's usage requirements).

•   FooExtras as a dependency of FooPlugin.

•   Foo as a dependency of FooPlugin and FooExtras.

•   Core as a dependency of FooPlugin, FooExtras, and Foo.

    Note that without the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target property, Foo would be linked twice: once as a direct dependency of app, and once as a dependency of FooPlugin.

  Example: Opt-In Static Plugins

In the above Example: Static Plugins, the app executable specifies that it links directly to Foo. In a real application, there might be an intermediate library:

add_library(app_impl STATIC app_impl.cpp)
target_link_libraries(app_impl PRIVATE Foo)
add_executable(app main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(app PRIVATE app_impl)

In this case we do not want Foo's INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT and INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target properties to affect the direct dependencies of app_impl. To avoid this, we can revise the property values to make their effects opt-in:

# An app that links Foo should link Foo's plugin directly.
set_property(TARGET Foo PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT
  "$<$<BOOL:$<TARGET_PROPERTY:FOO_STATIC_PLUGINS>>:FooPlugin>"
)
# An app does not need to link Foo directly because the plugin links it.
set_property(TARGET Foo PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE
  "$<$<BOOL:$<TARGET_PROPERTY:FOO_STATIC_PLUGINS>>:Foo>"
)

Now, the app executable can opt-in to get Foo's plugin(s):

set_property(TARGET app PROPERTY FOO_STATIC_PLUGINS 1)

The final link line for app will now link the libraries in the following order:

•   FooPlugin as a direct link dependency of app (via Foo's usage requirements).

•   app_impl as a direct link dependency of app.

•   FooExtras as a dependency of FooPlugin.

•   Foo as a dependency of app_impl, FooPlugin, and FooExtras.

•   Core as a dependency of FooPlugin, FooExtras, and Foo.

  INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE

New in version 3.24.

List of libraries that consumers of this library should not treat as direct link dependencies.

This target property may be set to exclude items from a dependent target's final set of direct link dependencies. This property is processed after the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT target property of all other dependencies of the dependent target, so exclusion from direct link dependence takes priority over inclusion.

The initial set of a dependent target's direct link dependencies is specified by its LINK_LIBRARIES target property. Indirect link dependencies are specified by the transitive closure of the direct link dependencies' INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES properties. Any link dependency may specify additional direct link dependencies using the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT target property. The set of direct link dependencies is then filtered to exclude items named by any dependency's INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target property.

Excluding an item from a dependent target's direct link dependencies does not mean the dependent target won't link the item. The item may still be linked as an indirect link dependency via the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES property on other dependencies.

The value of INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE may use generator expressions.

NOTE: The INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target property is intended for advanced use cases such as injection of static plugins into a consuming executable. It should not be used as a substitute for organizing normal calls to target_link_libraries().

See the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT target property documentation for more details and examples.

  INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS

New in version 3.13.

List of public link options requirements for a library.

Targets may populate this property to publish the link options required to compile against the headers for the target. The target_link_options() command populates this property with values given to the PUBLIC and INTERFACE keywords. Projects may also get and set the property directly.

When target dependencies are specified using target_link_libraries(), CMake will read this property from all target dependencies to determine the build properties of the consumer.

Contents of INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) -manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INTERFACE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE

Whether consumers need to create a position-independent target

The INTERFACE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE property informs consumers of this target whether they must set their POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE property to ON. If this property is set to ON, then the POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE property on all consumers will be set to ON. Similarly, if this property is set to OFF, then the POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE property on all consumers will be set to OFF. If this property is undefined, then consumers will determine their POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE property by other means. Consumers must ensure that the targets that they link to have a consistent requirement for their INTERFACE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE property.

Contents of INTERFACE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INTERFACE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS

New in version 3.16.

List of interface header files to precompile into consuming targets.

Targets may populate this property to publish the header files for consuming targets to precompile. The target_precompile_headers() command populates this property with values given to the PUBLIC and INTERFACE keywords. Projects may also get and set the property directly. See the discussion in target_precompile_headers() for guidance on appropriate use of this property for installed or exported targets.

Contents of INTERFACE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INTERFACE_SOURCES

New in version 3.1.

List of interface sources to compile into consuming targets.

Targets may populate this property to publish the sources for consuming targets to compile. The target_sources() command populates this property with values given to the PUBLIC and INTERFACE keywords. Projects may also get and set the property directly.

When target dependencies are specified using target_link_libraries(), CMake will read this property from all target dependencies to determine the sources of the consumer.

Contents of INTERFACE_SOURCES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES

List of public system include directories for a library.

Targets may populate this property to publish the include directories which contain system headers, and therefore should not result in compiler warnings. Additionally, system include directories are searched after normal include directories regardless of the order specified.

When the target_include_directories() command is given the SYSTEM keyword, it populates this property with values provided after the PUBLIC and INTERFACE keywords.

Projects may also get and set the property directly, but must be aware that adding directories to this property does not make those directories used during compilation. Adding directories to this property marks directories as system directories which otherwise would be used in a non-system manner. This can appear similar to duplication, so prefer the high-level target_include_directories() command with the SYSTEM keyword and avoid setting the property directly.

When target dependencies are specified using target_link_libraries(), CMake will read this property from all target dependencies to mark the same include directories as containing system headers.

Contents of INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION

Enable interprocedural optimization for a target.

If set to true, enables interprocedural optimizations if they are known to be supported by the compiler. Depending on value of policy CMP0069, the error will be reported or ignored, if interprocedural optimization is enabled but not supported.

This property is initialized by the CMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION variable if it is set when a target is created.

There is also the per-configuration INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION_<CONFIG> target property, which overrides INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION if it is set.

  INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration interprocedural optimization for a target.

This is a per-configuration version of INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION. If set, this property overrides the generic property for the named configuration.

This property is initialized by the CMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION_<CONFIG> variable if it is set when a target is created.

  IOS_INSTALL_COMBINED

New in version 3.5.

Deprecated since version 3.28: IOS_INSTALL_COMBINED was designed to make universal binaries containing iOS/arm* device code paired with iOS Simulator/x86_64 code (or similar for other Apple embedded platforms). Universal binaries can only differentiate code based on CPU type, so this only made sense before the days of arm64 macOS machines (i.e. iOS Simulator/arm64). Apple now recommends xcframeworks, which contain multiple binaries for different platforms, for this use case.

Build a combined (device and simulator) target when installing.

When this property is set to false, which is the default, then it will either be built with the device SDK or the simulator SDK depending on the SDK set. But if this property is set to true then the target will at install time also be built for the other SDK and combined into one library.

NOTE: If a selected architecture is available for both device SDK and simulator SDK it will be built for the SDK selected by CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT and removed from the other SDK.

This feature requires at least Xcode version 6.

  ISPC_HEADER_DIRECTORY

New in version 3.19.

Specify relative output directory for ISPC headers provided by the target.

If the target contains ISPC source files, this specifies the directory in which the generated headers will be placed. Relative paths are treated with respect to the value of CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR. When this property is not set, the headers will be placed a generator defined build directory. If the variable CMAKE_ISPC_HEADER_DIRECTORY is set when a target is created its value is used to initialize this property.

  ISPC_HEADER_SUFFIX

New in version 3.19.2.

Specify output suffix to be used for ISPC generated headers provided by the target.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ISPC_HEADER_SUFFIX variable if it is set when a target is created.

If the target contains ISPC source files, this specifies the header suffix to be used for the generated headers.

The default value is _ispc.h.

  ISPC_INSTRUCTION_SETS

New in version 3.19.

List of instruction set architectures to generate code for.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_ISPC_INSTRUCTION_SETS variable if it is set when a target is created.

The ISPC_INSTRUCTION_SETS target property must be used when generating for multiple instruction sets so that CMake can track what object files will be generated.

  Examples

set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY ISPC_INSTRUCTION_SETS avx2-i32x4 avx512skx-i32x835)

Generates code for avx2 and avx512skx target architectures.

  JOB_POOL_COMPILE

Ninja only: Pool used for compiling.

The number of parallel compile processes could be limited by defining pools with the global JOB_POOLS property and then specifying here the pool name.

For instance:

set_property(TARGET myexe PROPERTY JOB_POOL_COMPILE ten_jobs)

This property is initialized by the value of CMAKE_JOB_POOL_COMPILE.

  JOB_POOL_LINK

Ninja only: Pool used for linking.

The number of parallel link processes could be limited by defining pools with the global JOB_POOLS property and then specifying here the pool name.

For instance:

set_property(TARGET myexe PROPERTY JOB_POOL_LINK two_jobs)

This property is initialized by the value of CMAKE_JOB_POOL_LINK.

  JOB_POOL_PRECOMPILE_HEADER

New in version 3.17.

Ninja only: Pool used for generating pre-compiled headers.

The number of parallel compile processes could be limited by defining pools with the global JOB_POOLS property and then specifying here the pool name.

For instance:

set_property(TARGET myexe PROPERTY JOB_POOL_PRECOMPILE_HEADER two_jobs)

This property is initialized by the value of CMAKE_JOB_POOL_PRECOMPILE_HEADER.

If neither JOB_POOL_PRECOMPILE_HEADER nor CMAKE_JOB_POOL_PRECOMPILE_HEADER are set then JOB_POOL_COMPILE will be used for this task.

  LABELS

Specify a list of text labels associated with a target.

Target label semantics are currently unspecified.

  <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY

New in version 3.6.

This property is implemented only when <LANG> is C, CXX, OBJC or OBJCXX.

Specify a semicolon-separated list containing a command line for the clang-tidy tool. The Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator will run this tool along with the compiler and report a warning if the tool reports any problems.

The specified clang-tidy command line will be invoked with additional arguments specifying the source file and, after --, the full compiler command line.

Changed in version 3.25: If the specified clang-tidy command line includes the -p option, it will be invoked without -- and the full compiler command line. clang-tidy will look up the source file in the specified compiler commands database.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_CLANG_TIDY variable if it is set when a target is created.

New in version 3.27: This property supports generator expressions.

New in version 3.27: SKIP_LINTING can be set on individual source files to exclude them from the linting tools defined by <LANG>_CPPLINT, <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY, <LANG>_CPPCHECK, and <LANG>_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE. When SKIP_LINTING is set to true on a source file, those tools will not be run on that specific file.

  <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY_EXPORT_FIXES_DIR

New in version 3.26.

This property is implemented only when <LANG> is C, CXX, OBJC or OBJCXX, and only has an effect when <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY is set.

Specify a directory for the clang-tidy tool to put .yaml files containing its suggested changes in. This can be used for automated mass refactoring by clang-tidy. Each object file that gets compiled will have a corresponding .yaml file in this directory. After the build is completed, you can run clang-apply-replacements on this directory to simultaneously apply all suggested changes to the code base. If this property is not an absolute directory, it is assumed to be relative to the target's binary directory. This property should be preferred over adding an --export-fixes or --fix argument directly to the <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY property.

When this property is set, CMake takes ownership of the specified directory, and may create, modify, or delete files and directories within the directory at any time during configure or build time. Users should use a dedicated directory for exporting clang-tidy fixes to avoid having files deleted or overwritten by CMake. Users should not create, modify, or delete files in this directory.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_CLANG_TIDY_EXPORT_FIXES_DIR variable if it is set when a target is created.

  <LANG>_COMPILER_LAUNCHER

New in version 3.4.

This property is implemented only when <LANG> is C, CXX, Fortran, HIP, ISPC, OBJC, OBJCXX, or CUDA.

Specify a semicolon-separated list containing a command line for a compiler launching tool. The Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator will run this tool and pass the compiler and its arguments to the tool. Some example tools are distcc and ccache.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_LAUNCHER variable if it is set when a target is created.

New in version 3.25: The property value may use generator expressions.

  <LANG>_CPPCHECK

New in version 3.10.

This property is supported only when <LANG> is C or CXX.

Specify a semicolon-separated list containing a command line for the cppcheck static analysis tool. The Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator will run cppcheck along with the compiler and report any problems. If the command-line specifies the exit code options to cppcheck then the build will fail if the tool returns non-zero.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_CPPCHECK variable if it is set when a target is created.

New in version 3.27: This property supports generator expressions.

New in version 3.27: SKIP_LINTING can be set on individual source files to exclude them from the linting tools defined by <LANG>_CPPLINT, <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY, <LANG>_CPPCHECK, and <LANG>_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE. When SKIP_LINTING is set to true on a source file, those tools will not be run on that specific file.

  <LANG>_CPPLINT

New in version 3.8.

This property is supported only when <LANG> is C or CXX.

Specify a semicolon-separated list containing a command line for the cpplint style checker. The Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator will run cpplint along with the compiler and report any problems.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_CPPLINT variable if it is set when a target is created.

New in version 3.27: This property supports generator expressions.

New in version 3.27: SKIP_LINTING can be set on individual source files to exclude them from the linting tools defined by <LANG>_CPPLINT, <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY, <LANG>_CPPCHECK, and <LANG>_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE. When SKIP_LINTING is set to true on a source file, those tools will not be run on that specific file.

  <LANG>_EXTENSIONS

The variations are:

•   C_EXTENSIONS

•   CXX_EXTENSIONS

•   CUDA_EXTENSIONS

•   HIP_EXTENSIONS

•   OBJC_EXTENSIONS

•   OBJCXX_EXTENSIONS

    These properties specify whether compiler-specific extensions are requested.

    These properties are initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_EXTENSIONS variable if it is set when a target is created and otherwise by the value of CMAKE_<LANG>_EXTENSIONS_DEFAULT (see CMP0128).

    For supported CMake versions see the respective pages. To control language standard versions see <LANG>_STANDARD.

    See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

  <LANG>_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE

New in version 3.3.

This property is implemented only when <LANG> is C or CXX.

Specify a semicolon-separated list containing a command line for the include-what-you-use tool. The Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator will run this tool along with the compiler and report a warning if the tool reports any problems.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE variable if it is set when a target is created.

New in version 3.27: This property supports generator expressions.

New in version 3.27: SKIP_LINTING can be set on individual source files to exclude them from the linting tools defined by <LANG>_CPPLINT, <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY, <LANG>_CPPCHECK, and <LANG>_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE. When SKIP_LINTING is set to true on a source file, those tools will not be run on that specific file.

  <LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER

New in version 3.21.

This property is implemented only when <LANG> is C, CXX, OBJC, or OBJCXX

Specify a semicolon-separated list containing a command line for a linker launching tool. The Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator will run this tool and pass the linker and its arguments to the tool. This is useful for tools such as static analyzers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER variable if it is set when a target is created.

New in version 3.27: The property value may use generator expressions.

  <LANG>_STANDARD

The variations are:

•   C_STANDARD

•   CXX_STANDARD

•   CUDA_STANDARD

•   HIP_STANDARD

•   OBJC_STANDARD

•   OBJCXX_STANDARD

    These properties specify language standard versions which are requested. When a newer standard is specified than is supported by the compiler, then it will fallback to the latest supported standard. This "decay" behavior may be controlled with the <LANG>_STANDARD_REQUIRED target property.

    Note that the actual language standard used may be higher than that specified by <LANG>_STANDARD, regardless of the value of <LANG>_STANDARD_REQUIRED. In particular, transitive usage requirements or the use of compile features can raise the required language standard above what <LANG>_STANDARD specifies.

    These properties are initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_STANDARD variable if it is set when a target is created.

    For supported values and CMake versions see the respective pages. To control compiler-specific extensions see <LANG>_EXTENSIONS.

    See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

  <LANG>_STANDARD_REQUIRED

The variations are:

•   C_STANDARD_REQUIRED

•   CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED

•   CUDA_STANDARD_REQUIRED

•   HIP_STANDARD_REQUIRED

•   OBJC_STANDARD_REQUIRED

•   OBJCXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED

    These properties specify whether the value of <LANG>_STANDARD is a requirement. When false or unset, the <LANG>_STANDARD target property is treated as optional and may "decay" to a previous standard if the requested standard is not available. When <LANG>_STANDARD_REQUIRED is set to true, <LANG>_STANDARD becomes a hard requirement and a fatal error will be issued if that requirement cannot be met.

    Note that the actual language standard used may be higher than that specified by <LANG>_STANDARD, regardless of the value of <LANG>_STANDARD_REQUIRED. In particular, transitive usage requirements or the use of compile features can raise the required language standard above what <LANG>_STANDARD specifies.

    These properties are initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_STANDARD_REQUIRED variable if it is set when a target is created.

    See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

  <LANG>_VISIBILITY_PRESET

Value for symbol visibility compile flags

The <LANG>_VISIBILITY_PRESET property determines the value passed in a visibility related compile option, such as -fvisibility= for <LANG>. This property affects compilation in sources of all types of targets (subject to policy CMP0063).

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_<LANG>_VISIBILITY_PRESET variable if it is set when a target is created.

  LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY

Output directory in which to build LIBRARY target files.

This property specifies the directory into which library target files should be built. The property value may use generator expressions. Multi-configuration generators (Visual Studio, Xcode, Ninja Multi-Config) append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory unless a generator expression is used.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY variable if it is set when a target is created.

See also the LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> target property.

  LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration output directory for LIBRARY target files.

This is a per-configuration version of the LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY target property, but multi-configuration generators (Visual Studio Generators, Xcode) do NOT append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> variable if it is set when a target is created.

Contents of LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> may use generator expressions.

  LIBRARY_OUTPUT_NAME

Output name for LIBRARY target files.

This property specifies the base name for library target files. It overrides OUTPUT_NAME and OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> properties.

See also the LIBRARY_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> target property.

  LIBRARY_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration output name for LIBRARY target files.

This is the configuration-specific version of the LIBRARY_OUTPUT_NAME target property.

  LINK_DEPENDS

Additional files on which a target binary depends for linking.

Specifies a semicolon-separated list of full-paths to files on which the link rule for this target depends. The target binary will be linked if any of the named files is newer than it.

This property is supported only by Ninja and Makefile Generators. It is intended to specify dependencies on "linker scripts" for custom Makefile link rules.

Contents of LINK_DEPENDS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  LINK_DEPENDS_NO_SHARED

Do not depend on linked shared library files.

Set this property to true to tell CMake generators not to add file-level dependencies on the shared library files linked by this target. Modification to the shared libraries will not be sufficient to re-link this target. Logical target-level dependencies will not be affected so the linked shared libraries will still be brought up to date before this target is built.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_LINK_DEPENDS_NO_SHARED variable if it is set when a target is created.

  LINK_DIRECTORIES

New in version 3.13.

List of directories to use for the link step of shared library, module and executable targets.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of directories specified so far for its target. Use the target_link_directories() command to append more search directories.

This property is initialized by the LINK_DIRECTORIES directory property when a target is created, and is used by the generators to set the search directories for the linker.

Contents of LINK_DIRECTORIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  LINK_FLAGS

Additional flags to use when linking this target if it is a shared library, module library, or an executable. Static libraries need to use STATIC_LIBRARY_OPTIONS or STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS properties.

The LINK_FLAGS property, managed as a string, can be used to add extra flags to the link step of a target. LINK_FLAGS_<CONFIG> will add to the configuration <CONFIG>, for example, DEBUG, RELEASE, MINSIZEREL, RELWITHDEBINFO, ...

NOTE: This property has been superseded by LINK_OPTIONS property.

  LINK_FLAGS_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration linker flags for a SHARED library, MODULE or EXECUTABLE target.

This is the configuration-specific version of LINK_FLAGS.

NOTE: This property has been superseded by LINK_OPTIONS property.

  LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES

List public interface libraries for a shared library or executable.

By default linking to a shared library target transitively links to targets with which the library itself was linked. For an executable with exports (see the ENABLE_EXPORTS target property) no default transitive link dependencies are used. This property replaces the default transitive link dependencies with an explicit list. When the target is linked into another target using the target_link_libraries() command, the libraries listed (and recursively their link interface libraries) will be provided to the other target also. If the list is empty then no transitive link dependencies will be incorporated when this target is linked into another target even if the default set is non-empty. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES variable if it is set when a target is created. This property is ignored for STATIC libraries.

This property is overridden by the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES property if policy CMP0022 is NEW.

This property is deprecated. Use INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES instead.

  Creating Relocatable Packages

Note that it is not advisable to populate the LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES of a target with absolute paths to dependencies. That would hard-code into installed packages the library file paths for dependencies as found on the machine the package was made on.

See the Creating Relocatable Packages section of the cmake-packages(7) manual for discussion of additional care that must be taken when specifying usage requirements while creating packages for redistribution.

  LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration list of public interface libraries for a target.

This is the configuration-specific version of LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES. If set, this property completely overrides the generic property for the named configuration.

This property is overridden by the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES property if policy CMP0022 is NEW.

This property is deprecated. Use INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES instead.

  Creating Relocatable Packages

Note that it is not advisable to populate the LINK_INTERFACE_LIBRARIES_<CONFIG> of a target with absolute paths to dependencies. That would hard-code into installed packages the library file paths for dependencies as found on the machine the package was made on.

See the Creating Relocatable Packages section of the cmake-packages(7) manual for discussion of additional care that must be taken when specifying usage requirements while creating packages for redistribution.

  LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY

Repetition count for STATIC libraries with cyclic dependencies.

When linking to a STATIC library target with cyclic dependencies the linker may need to scan more than once through the archives in the strongly connected component of the dependency graph. CMake by default constructs the link line so that the linker will scan through the component at least twice. This property specifies the minimum number of scans if it is larger than the default. CMake uses the largest value specified by any target in a component.

  LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration repetition count for cycles of STATIC libraries.

This is the configuration-specific version of LINK_INTERFACE_MULTIPLICITY. If set, this property completely overrides the generic property for the named configuration.

  LINK_LIBRARIES

List of direct link dependencies.

This property specifies the list of libraries or targets which will be used for linking. In addition to accepting values from the target_link_libraries() command, values may be set directly on any target using the set_property() command.

The value of this property is used by the generators to construct the link rule for the target. The direct link dependencies are linked first, followed by indirect dependencies from the transitive closure of the direct dependencies' INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES properties. See policy CMP0022.

Contents of LINK_LIBRARIES may use generator expressions with the syntax $<...>. Policy CMP0131 affects the behavior of the LINK_ONLY generator expression for this property.

See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

NOTE: A call to target_link_libraries(<target> ...) may update this property on <target>. If <target> was not created in the same directory as the call then target_link_libraries() will wrap each entry with the form ::@(directory-id);...;::@, where the ::@ is literal and the (directory-id) is unspecified. This tells the generators that the named libraries must be looked up in the scope of the caller rather than in the scope in which the <target> was created. Valid directory ids are stripped on export by the install(EXPORT) and export() commands.

In advanced use cases, the list of direct link dependencies specified by this property may be updated by usage requirements from dependencies. See the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT and INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE target properties.

  LINK_LIBRARIES_ONLY_TARGETS

New in version 3.23.

Enforce that link items that can be target names are actually existing targets.

Set this property to a true value to enable additional checks on the contents of the LINK_LIBRARIES and INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES target properties, typically populated by target_link_libraries(). Checks are also applied to libraries added to a target through the INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT properties of its dependencies. CMake will verify that link items that might be target names actually name existing targets. An item is considered a possible target name if:

•   it does not contain a / or \, and

•   it does not start in -, and

•   (for historical reasons) it does not start in $ or `.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_LINK_LIBRARIES_ONLY_TARGETS variable when a non-imported target is created. The property may be explicitly enabled on an imported target to check its link interface.

    In the following example, CMake will halt with an error at configure time because miLib is not a target:

    set(CMAKE_LINK_LIBRARIES_ONLY_TARGETS ON)
    add_library(myLib STATIC myLib.c)
    add_executable(myExe myExe.c)
    target_link_libraries(myExe PRIVATE miLib) # typo for myLib

    In order to link toolchain-provided libraries by name while still enforcing LINK_LIBRARIES_ONLY_TARGETS, use an imported Interface Library with the IMPORTED_LIBNAME target property:

    add_library(toolchain::m INTERFACE IMPORTED)
    set_property(TARGET toolchain::m PROPERTY IMPORTED_LIBNAME "m")
    target_link_libraries(myExe PRIVATE toolchain::m)

    See also policy CMP0028.

    NOTE: If INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES contains generator expressions, its actual list of link items may depend on the type and properties of the consuming target. In such cases CMake may not always detect names of missing targets that only appear for specific consumers. A future version of CMake with improved heuristics may start triggering errors on projects accepted by previous versions of CMake.

  LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE

New in version 3.24.

Override the library features associated with libraries from LINK_LIBRARY generator expressions. This can be used to resolve incompatible library features that result from specifying different features for the same library in different LINK_LIBRARY generator expressions.

This property supports overriding multiple libraries and features. It expects a semicolon-separated list, where each list item has the following form:

feature[,link-item]*

For each comma-separated link-item, any existing library feature associated with it will be ignored for the target this property is set on. The item will instead be associated with the specified feature. Each link-item can be anything that would be accepted as part of a library-list in a LINK_LIBRARY generator expression.

add_library(lib1 ...)
add_library(lib2 ...)
add_library(lib3 ...)
target_link_libraries(lib1 PUBLIC "$<LINK_LIBRARY:feature1,external>")
target_link_libraries(lib2 PUBLIC "$<LINK_LIBRARY:feature2,lib1>")
target_link_libraries(lib3 PRIVATE lib1 lib2)
# lib1 is associated with both feature2 and no feature. Without any override,
# this would result in a fatal error at generation time for lib3.
# Define an override to resolve the incompatible feature associations.
set_property(TARGET lib3 PROPERTY LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE "feature2,lib1,external")
# lib1 and external will now be associated with feature2 instead when linking lib3

It is also possible to override any feature with the pre-defined DEFAULT library feature. This effectively discards any feature for that link item, for that target only (lib3 in this example):

# When linking lib3, discard any library feature for lib1, and use feature2 for external
set_property(TARGET lib3 PROPERTY LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE
  "DEFAULT,lib1"
  "feature2,external"
)

The above example also demonstrates how to specify different feature overrides for different link items. See the LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE_<LIBRARY> target property for an alternative way of overriding library features for individual libraries, which may be simpler in some cases. If both properties are defined and specify an override for the same link item, LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE_<LIBRARY> takes precedence over LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE.

Contents of LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE may use generator expressions.

For more information about library features, see the CMAKE_<LANG>_LINK_LIBRARY_USING_<FEATURE> and CMAKE_LINK_LIBRARY_USING_<FEATURE> variables.

  LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE_<LIBRARY>

New in version 3.24.

Override the library feature associated with <LIBRARY> from LINK_LIBRARY generator expressions. This can be used to resolve incompatible library features that result from specifying different features for <LIBRARY> in different LINK_LIBRARY generator expressions.

When set on a target, this property holds a single library feature name, which will be applied to <LIBRARY> when linking that target.

add_library(lib1 ...)
add_library(lib2 ...)
add_library(lib3 ...)
target_link_libraries(lib1 PUBLIC "$<LINK_LIBRARY:feature1,external>")
target_link_libraries(lib2 PUBLIC "$<LINK_LIBRARY:feature2,lib1>")
target_link_libraries(lib3 PRIVATE lib1 lib2)
# lib1 is associated with both feature2 and no feature. Without any override,
# this would result in a fatal error at generation time for lib3.
# Define an override to resolve the incompatible feature associations.
set_property(TARGET lib3 PROPERTY LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE_lib1 feature2)
# lib1 will now be associated with feature2 instead when linking lib3

It is also possible to override any feature with the pre-defined DEFAULT library feature. This effectively discards any feature for that link item, for that target only (lib3 in this example):

# When linking lib3, discard any library feature for lib1
set_property(TARGET lib3 PROPERTY LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE_lib1 DEFAULT)

See the LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE target property for an alternative way of overriding library features for multiple libraries at once. If both properties are defined and specify an override for the same link item, LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE_<LIBRARY> takes precedence over LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE.

Contents of LINK_LIBRARY_OVERRIDE_<LIBRARY> may use generator expressions.

For more information about library features, see the CMAKE_<LANG>_LINK_LIBRARY_USING_<FEATURE> and CMAKE_LINK_LIBRARY_USING_<FEATURE> variables.

  LINK_OPTIONS

New in version 3.13.

List of options to use for the link step of shared library, module and executable targets as well as the device link step. Targets that are static libraries need to use the STATIC_LIBRARY_OPTIONS target property.

These options are used for both normal linking and device linking (see policy CMP0105). To control link options for normal and device link steps, $<HOST_LINK> and $<DEVICE_LINK> generator expressions can be used.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of options specified so far for its target. Use the target_link_options() command to append more options.

This property is initialized by the LINK_OPTIONS directory property when a target is created, and is used by the generators to set the options for the compiler.

Contents of LINK_OPTIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

NOTE: This property must be used in preference to LINK_FLAGS property.

  Host And Device Specific Link Options

New in version 3.18: When a device link step is involved, which is controlled by CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION and CUDA_RESOLVE_DEVICE_SYMBOLS properties and policy CMP0105, the raw options will be delivered to the host and device link steps (wrapped in -Xcompiler or equivalent for device link). Options wrapped with $<DEVICE_LINK:...> generator expression will be used only for the device link step. Options wrapped with $<HOST_LINK:...> generator expression will be used only for the host link step.

  Option De-duplication

The final set of options used for a target is constructed by accumulating options from the current target and the usage requirements of its dependencies. The set of options is de-duplicated to avoid repetition.

New in version 3.12: While beneficial for individual options, the de-duplication step can break up option groups. For example, -option A -option B becomes -option A B. One may specify a group of options using shell-like quoting along with a SHELL: prefix. The SHELL: prefix is dropped, and the rest of the option string is parsed using the separate_arguments() UNIX_COMMAND mode. For example, "SHELL:-option A" "SHELL:-option B" becomes -option A -option B.

  Handling Compiler Driver Differences

To pass options to the linker tool, each compiler driver has its own syntax. The LINKER: prefix and , separator can be used to specify, in a portable way, options to pass to the linker tool. LINKER: is replaced by the appropriate driver option and , by the appropriate driver separator. The driver prefix and driver separator are given by the values of the CMAKE_<LANG>_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG and CMAKE_<LANG>_LINKER_WRAPPER_FLAG_SEP variables.

For example, "LINKER:-z,defs" becomes -Xlinker -z -Xlinker defs for Clang and -Wl,-z,defs for GNU GCC.

The LINKER: prefix can be specified as part of a SHELL: prefix expression.

The LINKER: prefix supports, as an alternative syntax, specification of arguments using the SHELL: prefix and space as separator. The previous example then becomes "LINKER:SHELL:-z defs".

NOTE: Specifying the SHELL: prefix anywhere other than at the beginning of the LINKER: prefix is not supported.

  LINK_SEARCH_END_STATIC

End a link line such that static system libraries are used.

Some linkers support switches such as -Bstatic and -Bdynamic to determine whether to use static or shared libraries for -lXXX options. CMake uses these options to set the link type for libraries whose full paths are not known or (in some cases) are in implicit link directories for the platform. By default CMake adds an option at the end of the library list (if necessary) to set the linker search type back to its starting type. This property switches the final linker search type to -Bstatic regardless of how it started.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_LINK_SEARCH_END_STATIC if it is set when a target is created.

See also LINK_SEARCH_START_STATIC.

  LINK_SEARCH_START_STATIC

Assume the linker looks for static libraries by default.

Some linkers support switches such as -Bstatic and -Bdynamic to determine whether to use static or shared libraries for -lXXX options. CMake uses these options to set the link type for libraries whose full paths are not known or (in some cases) are in implicit link directories for the platform. By default the linker search type is assumed to be -Bdynamic at the beginning of the library list. This property switches the assumption to -Bstatic. It is intended for use when linking an executable statically (e.g. with the GNU -static option).

This property is initialized by the value of the variable
    CMAKE_LINK_SEARCH_START_STATIC if it is set when a target is created.

    See also LINK_SEARCH_END_STATIC.

  LINK_WHAT_YOU_USE

New in version 3.7.

This is a boolean option that, when set to TRUE, will automatically run contents of variable CMAKE_LINK_WHAT_YOU_USE_CHECK on the target after it is linked. In addition, the linker flag specified by variable CMAKE_<LANG>_LINK_WHAT_YOU_USE_FLAG will be passed to the target with the link command so that all libraries specified on the command line will be linked into the target. This will result in the link producing a list of libraries that provide no symbols used by this target but are being linked to it.

NOTE: For now, it is only supported for ELF platforms and is only applicable to executable and shared or module library targets. This property will be ignored for any other targets and configurations.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_LINK_WHAT_YOU_USE variable if it is set when a target is created.

  LINKER_LANGUAGE

Specifies language whose compiler will invoke the linker.

For executables, shared libraries, and modules, this sets the language whose compiler is used to link the target (such as "C" or "CXX"). A typical value for an executable is the language of the source file providing the program entry point (main). If not set, the language with the highest linker preference value is the default. Details of the linker preferences are considered internal, but some limited discussion can be found under the internal CMAKE_<LANG>_LINKER_PREFERENCE variables.

If this property is not set by the user, it will be calculated at generate-time by CMake.

  LOCATION

Read-only location of a target on disk.

For an imported target, this read-only property returns the value of the LOCATION_<CONFIG> property for an unspecified configuration <CONFIG> provided by the target.

For a non-imported target, this property is provided for compatibility with CMake 2.4 and below. It was meant to get the location of an executable target's output file for use in add_custom_command(). The path may contain a build-system-specific portion that is replaced at build time with the configuration getting built (such as $(ConfigurationName) in VS). In CMake 2.6 and above add_custom_command() automatically recognizes a target name in its COMMAND and DEPENDS options and computes the target location. In CMake 2.8.4 and above add_custom_command() recognizes generator expressions to refer to target locations anywhere in the command. Therefore this property is not needed for creating custom commands.

Do not set properties that affect the location of a target after reading this property. These include properties whose names match (RUNTIME|LIBRARY|ARCHIVE)_OUTPUT_(NAME|DIRECTORY)(_<CONFIG>)?, (IMPLIB_)?(PREFIX|SUFFIX), or "LINKER_LANGUAGE". Failure to follow this rule is not diagnosed and leaves the location of the target undefined.

  LOCATION_<CONFIG>

Read-only property providing a target location on disk.

A read-only property that indicates where a target's main file is located on disk for the configuration <CONFIG>. The property is defined only for library and executable targets. An imported target may provide a set of configurations different from that of the importing project. By default CMake looks for an exact-match but otherwise uses an arbitrary available configuration. Use the MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG> property to map imported configurations explicitly.

Do not set properties that affect the location of a target after reading this property. These include properties whose names match (RUNTIME|LIBRARY|ARCHIVE)_OUTPUT_(NAME|DIRECTORY)(_<CONFIG>)?, (IMPLIB_)?(PREFIX|SUFFIX), or LINKER_LANGUAGE. Failure to follow this rule is not diagnosed and leaves the location of the target undefined.

  MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION

New in version 3.17.

What compatibility version number is this target for Mach-O binaries.

For shared libraries on Mach-O systems (e.g. macOS, iOS) the MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION property corresponds to the compatibility version and MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION corresponds to the current version. These are both embedded in the shared library binary and can be checked with the otool -L <binary> command.

It should be noted that the MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION and MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION properties do not affect the file names or version-related symlinks that CMake generates for the library. The VERSION and SOVERSION target properties still control the file and symlink names. The install_name is also still controlled by SOVERSION.

When MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION and MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION are not given, VERSION and SOVERSION are used for the version details to be embedded in the binaries respectively. The MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION and MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION properties only need to be given if the project needs to decouple the file and symlink naming from the version details embedded in the binaries (e.g. to match libtool conventions).

  MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION

New in version 3.17.

What current version number is this target for Mach-O binaries.

For shared libraries on Mach-O systems (e.g. macOS, iOS) the MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION property corresponds to the compatibility version and MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION corresponds to the current version. These are both embedded in the shared library binary and can be checked with the otool -L <binary> command.

It should be noted that the MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION and MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION properties do not affect the file names or version-related symlinks that CMake generates for the library. The VERSION and SOVERSION target properties still control the file and symlink names. The install_name is also still controlled by SOVERSION.

When MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION and MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION are not given, VERSION and SOVERSION are used for the version details to be embedded in the binaries respectively. The MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION and MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION properties only need to be given if the project needs to decouple the file and symlink naming from the version details embedded in the binaries (e.g. to match libtool conventions).

  MACOSX_BUNDLE

Build an executable as an Application Bundle on macOS or iOS.

When this property is set to TRUE the executable when built on macOS or iOS will be created as an application bundle. This makes it a GUI executable that can be launched from the Finder. See the MACOSX_BUNDLE_INFO_PLIST target property for information about creation of the Info.plist file for the application bundle. This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_MACOSX_BUNDLE if it is set when a target is created.

  MACOSX_BUNDLE_INFO_PLIST

Specify a custom Info.plist template for a macOS and iOS Application Bundle.

An executable target with MACOSX_BUNDLE enabled will be built as an application bundle on macOS. By default its Info.plist file is created by configuring a template called MacOSXBundleInfo.plist.in located in the CMAKE_MODULE_PATH. This property specifies an alternative template file name which may be a full path.

The following target properties may be set to specify content to be configured into the file:

MACOSX_BUNDLE_BUNDLE_NAME
    Sets CFBundleName.

MACOSX_BUNDLE_BUNDLE_VERSION
    Sets CFBundleVersion.

MACOSX_BUNDLE_COPYRIGHT
    Sets NSHumanReadableCopyright.

MACOSX_BUNDLE_GUI_IDENTIFIER
    Sets CFBundleIdentifier.

MACOSX_BUNDLE_ICON_FILE
    Sets CFBundleIconFile.

MACOSX_BUNDLE_INFO_STRING
    Sets CFBundleGetInfoString.

MACOSX_BUNDLE_LONG_VERSION_STRING
    Sets CFBundleLongVersionString.

MACOSX_BUNDLE_SHORT_VERSION_STRING
    Sets CFBundleShortVersionString.

    CMake variables of the same name may be set to affect all targets in a directory that do not have each specific property set. If a custom Info.plist is specified by this property it may of course hard-code all the settings instead of using the target properties.

  MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_INFO_PLIST

Specify a custom Info.plist template for a macOS and iOS Framework.

A library target with FRAMEWORK enabled will be built as a framework on macOS. By default its Info.plist file is created by configuring a template called MacOSXFrameworkInfo.plist.in located in the CMAKE_MODULE_PATH. This property specifies an alternative template file name which may be a full path.

The following target properties may be set to specify content to be configured into the file:

MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_BUNDLE_VERSION
    Sets CFBundleVersion.

MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_ICON_FILE
    Sets CFBundleIconFile.

MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_IDENTIFIER
    Sets CFBundleIdentifier.

MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_SHORT_VERSION_STRING
    Sets CFBundleShortVersionString.

    CMake variables of the same name may be set to affect all targets in a directory that do not have each specific property set. If a custom Info.plist is specified by this property it may of course hard-code all the settings instead of using the target properties.

  MACOSX_RPATH

Whether this target on macOS or iOS is located at runtime using rpaths.

When this property is set to TRUE, the directory portion of the install_name field of this shared library will be @rpath unless overridden by INSTALL_NAME_DIR. This indicates the shared library is to be found at runtime using runtime paths (rpaths).

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_MACOSX_RPATH if it is set when a target is created.

Runtime paths will also be embedded in binaries using this target and can be controlled by the INSTALL_RPATH target property on the target linking to this target.

Policy CMP0042 was introduced to change the default value of MACOSX_RPATH to TRUE. This is because use of @rpath is a more flexible and powerful alternative to @executable_path and @loader_path.

  MANUALLY_ADDED_DEPENDENCIES

New in version 3.8.

Get manually added dependencies to other top-level targets.

This read-only property can be used to query all dependencies that were added for this target with the add_dependencies() command.

  MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG>

Map from project configuration to imported target's configuration.

Set this to the list of configurations of an imported target that may be used for the current project's <CONFIG> configuration. Targets imported from another project may not provide the same set of configuration names available in the current project. Setting this property tells CMake what imported configurations are suitable for use when building the <CONFIG> configuration. The first configuration in the list found to be provided by the imported target (i.e. via IMPORTED_LOCATION_<CONFIG> for the mapped-to <CONFIG>) is selected. As a special case, an empty list element refers to the configuration-less imported target location (i.e. IMPORTED_LOCATION).

If this property is set and no matching configurations are available, then the imported target is considered to be not found. This property is ignored for non-imported targets.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG> variable if it is set when a target is created.

  Example

For example creating imported C++ library foo:

add_library(foo STATIC IMPORTED)

Use foo_debug path for Debug build type:

set_property(
  TARGET foo APPEND PROPERTY IMPORTED_CONFIGURATIONS DEBUG
  )
set_target_properties(foo PROPERTIES
  IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LANGUAGES_DEBUG "CXX"
  IMPORTED_LOCATION_DEBUG "${foo_debug}"
  )

Use foo_release path for Release build type:

set_property(
  TARGET foo APPEND PROPERTY IMPORTED_CONFIGURATIONS RELEASE
  )
set_target_properties(foo PROPERTIES
  IMPORTED_LINK_INTERFACE_LANGUAGES_RELEASE "CXX"
  IMPORTED_LOCATION_RELEASE "${foo_release}"
  )

Use Release version of library for MinSizeRel and RelWithDebInfo build types:

set_target_properties(foo PROPERTIES
  MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_MINSIZEREL Release
  MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_RELWITHDEBINFO Release
  )

  MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT

New in version 3.25.

Select debug information format when targeting the MSVC ABI.

The allowed values are:

Embedded
    Compile with -Z7 or equivalent flag(s) to produce object files with full symbolic debugging information.

ProgramDatabase
    Compile with -Zi or equivalent flag(s) to produce a program database that contains all the symbolic debugging information.

EditAndContinue
    Compile with -ZI or equivalent flag(s) to produce a program database that supports the Edit and Continue feature.

    The value is ignored on compilers not targeting the MSVC ABI, but an unsupported value will be rejected as an error when using a compiler targeting the MSVC ABI.

    The value may also be the empty string (""), in which case no debug information format flag will be added explicitly by CMake.

    Use generator expressions to support per-configuration specification. For example, the code:

    add_executable(foo foo.c)
    set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY
      MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT "$<$<CONFIG:Debug,RelWithDebInfo>:ProgramDatabase>")

    selects for the target foo the program database debug information format for the Debug configuration.

    This property is initialized from the value of the CMAKE_MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT variable, if it is set. If this property is not set, CMake selects a debug information format using the default value $<$<CONFIG:Debug,RelWithDebInfo>:ProgramDatabase>, if supported by the compiler, and otherwise $<$<CONFIG:Debug,RelWithDebInfo>:Embedded>.

    NOTE: This property has effect only when policy CMP0141 is set to NEW prior to the first project() or enable_language() command that enables a language using a compiler targeting the MSVC ABI.

  MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY

New in version 3.15.

Select the MSVC runtime library for use by compilers targeting the MSVC ABI.

The allowed values are:

MultiThreaded
    Compile with -MT or equivalent flag(s) to use a multi-threaded statically-linked runtime library.

MultiThreadedDLL
    Compile with -MD or equivalent flag(s) to use a multi-threaded dynamically-linked runtime library.

MultiThreadedDebug
    Compile with -MTd or equivalent flag(s) to use a multi-threaded statically-linked runtime library.

MultiThreadedDebugDLL
    Compile with -MDd or equivalent flag(s) to use a multi-threaded dynamically-linked runtime library.

    The value is ignored on compilers not targeting the MSVC ABI, but an unsupported value will be rejected as an error when using a compiler targeting the MSVC ABI.

    The value may also be the empty string ("") in which case no runtime library selection flag will be added explicitly by CMake. Note that with Visual Studio Generators the native build system may choose to add its own default runtime library selection flag.

    Use generator expressions to support per-configuration specification. For example, the code:

    add_executable(foo foo.c)
    set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY
      MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY "MultiThreaded$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug>")

    selects for the target foo a multi-threaded statically-linked runtime library with or without debug information depending on the configuration.

    The property is initialized from the value of the CMAKE_MSVC_RUNTIME_LIBRARY variable, if it is set. If the property is not set, then CMake uses the default value MultiThreaded$<$<CONFIG:Debug>:Debug>DLL to select a MSVC runtime library.

    NOTE: This property has effect only when policy CMP0091 is set to NEW prior to the first project() or enable_language() command that enables a language using a compiler targeting the MSVC ABI.

  NAME

Logical name for the target.

Read-only logical name for the target as used by CMake.

  NO_SONAME

Whether to set soname when linking a shared library.

Enable this boolean property if a generated SHARED library should not have soname set. Default is to set soname on all shared libraries as long as the platform supports it. Generally, use this property only for leaf private libraries or plugins. If you use it on normal shared libraries which other targets link against, on some platforms a linker will insert a full path to the library (as specified at link time) into the dynamic section of the dependent binary. Therefore, once installed, dynamic loader may eventually fail to locate the library for the binary.

  NO_SYSTEM_FROM_IMPORTED

Do not treat include directories from the interfaces of consumed Imported Targets as system directories.

When the consumed target's SYSTEM property is set to true, the contents of the INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES target property are treated as system includes or, on Apple platforms, when the target is a framework, it will be treated as system. By default, SYSTEM is true for imported targets and false for other target types. If the NO_SYSTEM_FROM_IMPORTED property is set to true on a consuming target, compilation of sources in that consuming target will not treat the contents of the INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES of consumed imported targets as system includes, even if that imported target's SYSTEM property is false.

Directories listed in the INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES property of consumed targets are not affected by NO_SYSTEM_FROM_IMPORTED. Those directories will always be treated as system include directories by consumers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_NO_SYSTEM_FROM_IMPORTED variable if it is set when a target is created.

See the EXPORT_NO_SYSTEM target property to set this behavior on the target providing the include directories rather than the target consuming them.

  OBJC_EXTENSIONS

New in version 3.16.

Boolean specifying whether compiler specific extensions are requested.

This property specifies whether compiler specific extensions should be used. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu11 instead of -std=c11 to the compile line. This property is ON by default. The basic OBJC standard level is controlled by the OBJC_STANDARD target property.

If the property is not set, and the project has set the C_EXTENSIONS, the value of C_EXTENSIONS is set for OBJC_EXTENSIONS.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_OBJC_EXTENSIONS variable if set when a target is created and otherwise by the value of CMAKE_OBJC_EXTENSIONS_DEFAULT (see CMP0128).

  OBJC_STANDARD

New in version 3.16.

The OBJC standard whose features are requested to build this target.

This property specifies the OBJC standard whose features are requested to build this target. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu11 to the compile line.

Supported values are:

90  Objective C89/C90

99  Objective C99

11  Objective C11

    If the value requested does not result in a compile flag being added for the compiler in use, a previous standard flag will be added instead. This means that using:

    set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY OBJC_STANDARD 11)

    with a compiler which does not support -std=gnu11 or an equivalent flag will not result in an error or warning, but will instead add the -std=gnu99 or -std=gnu90 flag if supported. This "decay" behavior may be controlled with the OBJC_STANDARD_REQUIRED target property. Additionally, the OBJC_EXTENSIONS target property may be used to control whether compiler-specific extensions are enabled on a per-target basis.

    If the property is not set, and the project has set the C_STANDARD, the value of C_STANDARD is set for OBJC_STANDARD.

    See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_OBJC_STANDARD variable if it is set when a target is created.

  OBJC_STANDARD_REQUIRED

New in version 3.16.

Boolean describing whether the value of OBJC_STANDARD is a requirement.

If this property is set to ON, then the value of the OBJC_STANDARD target property is treated as a requirement. If this property is OFF or unset, the OBJC_STANDARD target property is treated as optional and may "decay" to a previous standard if the requested is not available.

If the property is not set, and the project has set the C_STANDARD_REQUIRED, the value of C_STANDARD_REQUIRED is set for OBJC_STANDARD_REQUIRED.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_OBJC_STANDARD_REQUIRED variable if it is set when a target is created.

  OBJCXX_EXTENSIONS

New in version 3.16.

Boolean specifying whether compiler specific extensions are requested.

This property specifies whether compiler specific extensions should be used. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu++11 instead of -std=c++11 to the compile line. This property is ON by default. The basic ObjC++ standard level is controlled by the OBJCXX_STANDARD target property.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

If the property is not set, and the project has set the CXX_EXTENSIONS, the value of CXX_EXTENSIONS is set for OBJCXX_EXTENSIONS.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_OBJCXX_EXTENSIONS variable if set when a target is created and otherwise by the value of CMAKE_OBJCXX_EXTENSIONS_DEFAULT (see CMP0128).

  OBJCXX_STANDARD

New in version 3.16.

The ObjC++ standard whose features are requested to build this target.

This property specifies the ObjC++ standard whose features are requested to build this target. For some compilers, this results in adding a flag such as -std=gnu++11 to the compile line.

Supported values are:

98  Objective C++98

11  Objective C++11

14  Objective C++14

17  Objective C++17

20  Objective C++20

23  New in version 3.20.

    Objective C++23

26  New in version 3.25.

    Objective C++26. CMake 3.25 and later recognize 26 as a valid value, no version has support for any compiler.

    If the value requested does not result in a compile flag being added for the compiler in use, a previous standard flag will be added instead. This means that using:

    set_property(TARGET tgt PROPERTY OBJCXX_STANDARD 11)

    with a compiler which does not support -std=gnu++11 or an equivalent flag will not result in an error or warning, but will instead add the -std=gnu++98 flag if supported. This "decay" behavior may be controlled with the OBJCXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED target property. Additionally, the OBJCXX_EXTENSIONS target property may be used to control whether compiler-specific extensions are enabled on a per-target basis.

    If the property is not set, and the project has set the CXX_STANDARD, the value of CXX_STANDARD is set for OBJCXX_STANDARD.

    See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_OBJCXX_STANDARD variable if it is set when a target is created.

  OBJCXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED

New in version 3.16.

Boolean describing whether the value of OBJCXX_STANDARD is a requirement.

If this property is set to ON, then the value of the OBJCXX_STANDARD target property is treated as a requirement. If this property is OFF or unset, the OBJCXX_STANDARD target property is treated as optional and may "decay" to a previous standard if the requested is not available.

If the property is not set, and the project has set the CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED, the value of CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED is set for OBJCXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED.

See the cmake-compile-features(7) manual for information on compile features and a list of supported compilers.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_OBJCXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED variable if it is set when a target is created.

  OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES

New in version 3.19.

Activates dependency optimization of static and object libraries.

When this property is set to true, some dependencies for a static or object library may be removed at generation time if they are not necessary to build the library, since static and object libraries don't actually link against anything.

If a static or object library has dependency optimization enabled, it first discards all dependencies. Then, it looks through all of the direct and indirect dependencies that it initially had, and adds them back if they meet any of the following criteria:

•   The dependency was added to the library by add_dependencies().

•   The dependency was added to the library through a source file in the library generated by a custom command that uses the dependency.

•   The dependency has any PRE_BUILD, PRE_LINK, or POST_BUILD custom commands associated with it.

•   The dependency contains any source files that were generated by a custom command.

•   The dependency contains any languages which produce side effects that are relevant to the library. Currently, all languages except C, C++, Objective-C, Objective-C++, assembly, and CUDA are assumed to produce side effects. However, side effects from one language are assumed not to be relevant to another (for example, a Fortran library is assumed to not have any side effects that are relevant for a Swift library.)

    As an example, assume you have a static Fortran library which depends on a static C library, which in turn depends on a static Fortran library. The top-level Fortran library has optimization enabled, but the middle C library does not. If you build the top Fortran library, the bottom Fortran library will also build, but not the middle C library, since the C library does not have any side effects that are relevant for the Fortran library. However, if you build the middle C library, the bottom Fortran library will also build, even though it does not have any side effects that are relevant to the C library, since the C library does not have optimization enabled.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES variable when the target is created.

  OSX_ARCHITECTURES

Target specific architectures for macOS.

The OSX_ARCHITECTURES property sets the target binary architecture for targets on macOS (-arch). This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES if it is set when a target is created. Use OSX_ARCHITECTURES_<CONFIG> to set the binary architectures on a per-configuration basis, where <CONFIG> is an upper-case name (e.g. OSX_ARCHITECTURES_DEBUG).

  OSX_ARCHITECTURES_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration macOS and iOS binary architectures for a target.

This property is the configuration-specific version of OSX_ARCHITECTURES.

  OUTPUT_NAME

Output name for target files.

This sets the base name for output files created for an executable or library target. If not set, the logical target name is used by default during generation. The value is not set by default during configuration.

Contents of OUTPUT_NAME and the variants listed below may use generator expressions.

See also the variants:

•   OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>

•   ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>

•   ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_NAME

•   LIBRARY_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>

•   LIBRARY_OUTPUT_NAME

•   RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>

•   RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME

  OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration target file base name.

This is the configuration-specific version of the OUTPUT_NAME target property.

  PCH_INSTANTIATE_TEMPLATES

New in version 3.19.

When this property is set to true, the precompiled header compiler options will contain a flag to instantiate templates during the generation of the PCH if supported. This can significantly improve compile times. Supported in Clang since version 11.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_PCH_INSTANTIATE_TEMPLATES variable if it is set when a target is created. If that variable is not set, the property defaults to ON.

  PCH_WARN_INVALID

New in version 3.18.

When this property is set to true, the precompile header compiler options will contain a compiler flag which should warn about invalid precompiled headers e.g. -Winvalid-pch for GNU compiler.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_PCH_WARN_INVALID variable if it is set when a target is created. If that variable is not set, the property defaults to ON.

  PDB_NAME

Output name for the MS debug symbol .pdb file generated by the linker for an executable or shared library target.

This property specifies the base name for the debug symbols file. If not set, the OUTPUT_NAME target property value or logical target name is used by default.

NOTE: This property does not apply to STATIC library targets because no linker is invoked to produce them so they have no linker-generated .pdb file containing debug symbols.

The linker-generated program database files are specified by the /pdb linker flag and are not the same as compiler-generated program database files specified by the /Fd compiler flag. Use the COMPILE_PDB_NAME property to specify the latter.

  PDB_NAME_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration output name for the MS debug symbol .pdb file generated by the linker for an executable or shared library target.

This is the configuration-specific version of PDB_NAME.

NOTE: This property does not apply to STATIC library targets because no linker is invoked to produce them so they have no linker-generated .pdb file containing debug symbols.

The linker-generated program database files are specified by the /pdb linker flag and are not the same as compiler-generated program database files specified by the /Fd compiler flag. Use the COMPILE_PDB_NAME_<CONFIG> property to specify the latter.

  PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY

Output directory for the MS debug symbols .pdb file generated by the linker for an executable or shared library target.

This property specifies the directory into which the MS debug symbols will be placed by the linker. The property value may use generator expressions. Multi-configuration generators append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory unless a generator expression is used.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY variable if it is set when a target is created.

NOTE: This property does not apply to STATIC library targets because no linker is invoked to produce them so they have no linker-generated .pdb file containing debug symbols.

The linker-generated program database files are specified by the /pdb linker flag and are not the same as compiler-generated program database files specified by the /Fd compiler flag. Use the COMPILE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY property to specify the latter.

  PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration output directory for the MS debug symbol .pdb file generated by the linker for an executable or shared library target.

This is a per-configuration version of PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY, but multi-configuration generators (Visual Studio Generators, Xcode) do NOT append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> variable if it is set when a target is created.

Contents of PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> may use generator expressions.

NOTE: This property does not apply to STATIC library targets because no linker is invoked to produce them so they have no linker-generated .pdb file containing debug symbols.

The linker-generated program database files are specified by the /pdb linker flag and are not the same as compiler-generated program database files specified by the /Fd compiler flag. Use the COMPILE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> property to specify the latter.

  POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE

Whether to create a position-independent target

The POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE property determines whether position independent executables or shared libraries will be created. This property is True by default for SHARED and MODULE library targets and False otherwise. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE variable if it is set when a target is created.

NOTE: For executable targets, the link step is controlled by the CMP0083 policy and the CheckPIESupported module.

  PRECOMPILE_HEADERS

New in version 3.16.

List of header files to precompile.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of header files to precompile specified so far for its target. Use the target_precompile_headers() command to append more header files.

This property supports generator expressions.

  PRECOMPILE_HEADERS_REUSE_FROM

New in version 3.16.

Target from which to reuse the precompiled headers build artifact.

See the second signature of target_precompile_headers() command for more detailed information.

  PREFIX

What comes before the library name.

A target property that can be set to override the prefix (such as lib) on a library name.

  PRIVATE_HEADER

Specify private header files in a FRAMEWORK shared library target.

Shared library targets marked with the FRAMEWORK property generate frameworks on macOS, iOS and normal shared libraries on other platforms. This property may be set to a list of header files to be placed in the PrivateHeaders directory inside the framework folder. On non-Apple platforms these headers may be installed using the PRIVATE_HEADER option to the install(TARGETS) command.

  PROJECT_LABEL

Change the name of a target in an IDE.

Can be used to change the name of the target in an IDE like Visual Studio.

  PUBLIC_HEADER

Specify public header files in a FRAMEWORK shared library target.

Shared library targets marked with the FRAMEWORK property generate frameworks on macOS, iOS and normal shared libraries on other platforms. This property may be set to a list of header files to be placed in the Headers directory inside the framework folder. On non-Apple platforms these headers may be installed using the PUBLIC_HEADER option to the install(TARGETS) command.

  RESOURCE

Specify resource files in a FRAMEWORK or BUNDLE.

Target marked with the FRAMEWORK or BUNDLE property generate framework or application bundle (both macOS and iOS is supported) or normal shared libraries on other platforms. This property may be set to a list of files to be placed in the corresponding directory (eg. Resources directory for macOS) inside the bundle. On non-Apple platforms these files may be installed using the RESOURCE option to the install(TARGETS) command.

Following example of Application Bundle:

add_executable(ExecutableTarget
  addDemo.c
  resourcefile.txt
  appresourcedir/appres.txt)
target_link_libraries(ExecutableTarget heymath mul)
set(RESOURCE_FILES
  resourcefile.txt
  appresourcedir/appres.txt)
set_target_properties(ExecutableTarget PROPERTIES
  MACOSX_BUNDLE TRUE
  MACOSX_FRAMEWORK_IDENTIFIER org.cmake.ExecutableTarget
  RESOURCE "${RESOURCE_FILES}")

will produce flat structure for iOS systems:

ExecutableTarget.app
  appres.txt
  ExecutableTarget
  Info.plist
  resourcefile.txt

For macOS systems it will produce following directory structure:

ExecutableTarget.app/
  Contents
    Info.plist
    MacOS
      ExecutableTarget
    Resources
      appres.txt
      resourcefile.txt

For Linux, such CMake script produce following files:

ExecutableTarget
Resources
  appres.txt
  resourcefile.txt

  RULE_LAUNCH_COMPILE

Specify a launcher for compile rules.

NOTE: This property is intended for internal use by ctest(1). Projects and developers should use the <LANG>_COMPILER_LAUNCHER target properties or the associated CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_LAUNCHER variables instead.

See the global property of the same name for details. This overrides the global and directory property for a target.

  RULE_LAUNCH_CUSTOM

Specify a launcher for custom rules.

See the global property of the same name for details. This overrides the global and directory property for a target.

  RULE_LAUNCH_LINK

Specify a launcher for link rules.

NOTE: This property is intended for internal use by ctest(1). Projects and developers should use the <LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER target properties or the associated CMAKE_<LANG>_LINKER_LAUNCHER variables instead.

See the global property of the same name for details. This overrides the global and directory property for a target.

  RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY

Output directory in which to build RUNTIME target files.

This property specifies the directory into which runtime target files should be built. The property value may use generator expressions. Multi-configuration generators (Visual Studio, Xcode, Ninja Multi-Config) append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory unless a generator expression is used.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY variable if it is set when a target is created.

See also the RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> target property.

  RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration output directory for RUNTIME target files.

This is a per-configuration version of the RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY target property, but multi-configuration generators (Visual Studio Generators, Xcode) do NOT append a per-configuration subdirectory to the specified directory. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> variable if it is set when a target is created.

Contents of RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG> may use generator expressions.

  RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME

Output name for RUNTIME target files.

This property specifies the base name for runtime target files. It overrides OUTPUT_NAME and OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> properties.

See also the RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG> target property.

  RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration output name for RUNTIME target files.

This is the configuration-specific version of the RUNTIME_OUTPUT_NAME target property.

  SKIP_BUILD_RPATH

Should rpaths be used for the build tree.

SKIP_BUILD_RPATH is a boolean specifying whether to skip automatic generation of an rpath allowing the target to run from the build tree, see also the BUILD_RPATH target property. This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_SKIP_BUILD_RPATH if it is set when a target is created.

  SOURCE_DIR

New in version 3.4.

This read-only property reports the value of the CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR variable in the directory in which the target was defined.

  SOURCES

This specifies the list of paths to source files for the target. The following commands all set or add to the SOURCES target property and are the usual way to manipulate it:

•   add_executable()

•   add_library()

•   add_custom_target()

•   target_sources()

    Contents of SOURCES may use generator expressions. If a path starts with a generator expression, it is expected to evaluate to an absolute path. Not doing so is considered undefined behavior.

    Paths that are for files generated by the build will be treated as relative to the build directory of the target, if the path is not already specified as an absolute path. Note that whether a file is seen as generated may be affected by policy CMP0118.

    If a path does not start with a generator expression, is not an absolute path and is not a generated file, it will be treated as relative to the location selected by the first of the following that matches:

•   If a file by the specified path exists relative to the target's source directory, use that file.

•   If policy CMP0115 is not set to NEW, try appending each known source file extension to the path and check if that exists relative to the target's source directory.

•   Repeat the above two steps, this time relative to the target's binary directory instead.

    Note that the above decisions are made at generation time, not build time.

    See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  SOVERSION

What version number is this target.

For shared libraries VERSION and SOVERSION can be used to specify the build version and API version respectively. When building or installing appropriate symlinks are created if the platform supports symlinks and the linker supports so-names. If only one of both is specified the missing is assumed to have the same version number. SOVERSION is ignored if NO_SONAME property is set.

  Windows Versions

For shared libraries and executables on Windows the VERSION attribute is parsed to extract a <major>.<minor> version number. These numbers are used as the image version of the binary.

  Mach-O Versions

For shared libraries and executables on Mach-O systems (e.g. macOS, iOS), the SOVERSION property corresponds to the compatibility version and VERSION corresponds to the current version (unless Mach-O specific overrides are provided, as discussed below). See the FRAMEWORK target property for an example.

For shared libraries, the MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION and MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION properties can be used to override the compatibility version and current version respectively. Note that SOVERSION will still be used to form the install_name and both SOVERSION and VERSION may also affect the file and symlink names.

Versions of Mach-O binaries may be checked with the otool -L <binary> command.

  STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS

Archiver (or MSVC librarian) flags for a static library target. Targets that are shared libraries, modules, or executables need to use the LINK_OPTIONS or LINK_FLAGS target properties.

The STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS property, managed as a string, can be used to add extra flags to the link step of a static library target. STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS_<CONFIG> will add to the configuration <CONFIG>, for example, DEBUG, RELEASE, MINSIZEREL, RELWITHDEBINFO, ...

NOTE: This property has been superseded by STATIC_LIBRARY_OPTIONS property.

  STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS_<CONFIG>

Per-configuration archiver (or MSVC librarian) flags for a static library target.

This is the configuration-specific version of STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS.

NOTE: This property has been superseded by STATIC_LIBRARY_OPTIONS property.

  STATIC_LIBRARY_OPTIONS

New in version 3.13.

Archiver (or MSVC librarian) flags for a static library target. Targets that are shared libraries, modules, or executables need to use the LINK_OPTIONS target property.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of options specified so far for its target. Use set_target_properties() or set_property() commands to set its content.

Contents of STATIC_LIBRARY_OPTIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

NOTE: This property must be used in preference to STATIC_LIBRARY_FLAGS property.

  Option De-duplication

The final set of options used for a target is constructed by accumulating options from the current target and the usage requirements of its dependencies. The set of options is de-duplicated to avoid repetition.

New in version 3.12: While beneficial for individual options, the de-duplication step can break up option groups. For example, -option A -option B becomes -option A B. One may specify a group of options using shell-like quoting along with a SHELL: prefix. The SHELL: prefix is dropped, and the rest of the option string is parsed using the separate_arguments() UNIX_COMMAND mode. For example, "SHELL:-option A" "SHELL:-option B" becomes -option A -option B.

  SUFFIX

What comes after the target name.

A target property that can be set to override the suffix (such as .so or .exe) on the name of a library, module or executable.

  Swift_DEPENDENCIES_FILE

New in version 3.15.

This property sets the path for the Swift dependency file (swiftdep) for the target. If one is not specified, it will default to <TARGET>.swiftdeps.

  Swift_LANGUAGE_VERSION

New in version 3.16.

This property sets the language version for the Swift sources in the target. If one is not specified, it will default to CMAKE_Swift_LANGUAGE_VERSION if specified, otherwise it is the latest version supported by the compiler.

  Swift_MODULE_DIRECTORY

New in version 3.15.

Specify output directory for Swift modules provided by the target.

If the target contains Swift source files, this specifies the directory in which the modules will be placed. When this property is not set, the modules will be placed in the build directory corresponding to the target's source directory. If the variable CMAKE_Swift_MODULE_DIRECTORY is set when a target is created its value is used to initialize this property.

  Swift_MODULE_NAME

New in version 3.15.

This property specifies the name of the Swift module. It is defaulted to the name of the target.

  SYSTEM

New in version 3.25.

Specifies that a target is a system target. This has the following effects:

•   Entries of INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES are treated as system include directories when compiling consumers. Entries of INTERFACE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES are not affected, and will always be treated as system include directories.

•   On Apple platforms, If the FRAMEWORK target property is true, the frameworks directory is treated as system.

    For imported targets, this property defaults to true, which means that their INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES and, if the FRAMEWORK target property is true, frameworks directory are treated as system directories by default. If their SYSTEM property is false, then their INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES as well as frameworks will not be treated as system. Use the EXPORT_NO_SYSTEM property to change how a target's SYSTEM property is set when it is installed.

    For non-imported targets, this target property is initialized from the SYSTEM directory property when the target is created.

  TYPE

The type of the target.

This read-only property can be used to test the type of the given target. It will be one of STATIC_LIBRARY, MODULE_LIBRARY, SHARED_LIBRARY, OBJECT_LIBRARY, INTERFACE_LIBRARY, EXECUTABLE or one of the internal target types.

  UNITY_BUILD

New in version 3.16.

When this property is set to true, the target source files will be combined into batches for faster compilation. This is done by creating a (set of) unity sources which #include the original sources, then compiling these unity sources instead of the originals. This is known as a Unity or Jumbo build.

CMake provides different algorithms for selecting which sources are grouped together into a bucket. Algorithm selection is decided by the UNITY_BUILD_MODE target property, which has the following acceptable values:

•   BATCH When in this mode CMake determines which files are grouped together. The UNITY_BUILD_BATCH_SIZE property controls the upper limit on how many sources can be combined per unity source file.

•   GROUP When in this mode each target explicitly specifies how to group source files. Each source file that has the same UNITY_GROUP value will be grouped together. Any sources that don't have this property will be compiled individually. The UNITY_BUILD_BATCH_SIZE property is ignored when using this mode.

    If no explicit UNITY_BUILD_MODE has been specified, CMake will default to BATCH.

    Unity builds are not currently supported for all languages. CMake version 3.28.0-rc1 supports combining C and CXX source files. For targets that mix source files from more than one language, CMake will separate the languages such that each generated unity source file only contains sources for a single language.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_UNITY_BUILD variable when a target is created.

    NOTE: Projects should not directly set the UNITY_BUILD property or its associated CMAKE_UNITY_BUILD variable to true. Depending on the capabilities of the build machine and compiler used, it might or might not be appropriate to enable unity builds. Therefore, this feature should be under developer control, which would normally be through the developer choosing whether or not to set the CMAKE_UNITY_BUILD variable on the cmake(1) command line or some other equivalent method. However, it IS recommended to set the UNITY_BUILD target property to false if it is known that enabling unity builds for the target can lead to problems.

  ODR (One definition rule) errors

When multiple source files are included into one source file, as is done for unity builds, it can potentially lead to ODR errors. CMake provides a number of measures to help address such problems:

•   Any source file that has a non-empty COMPILE_OPTIONS, COMPILE_DEFINITIONS, COMPILE_FLAGS, or INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES source property will not be combined into a unity source.

•   Projects can prevent an individual source file from being combined into a unity source by setting its SKIP_UNITY_BUILD_INCLUSION source property to true. This can be a more effective way to prevent problems with specific files than disabling unity builds for an entire target.

•   Projects can set UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID to cause a valid C-identifier to be generated which is unique per file in a unity build. This can be used to avoid problems with anonymous namespaces in unity builds.

•   The UNITY_BUILD_CODE_BEFORE_INCLUDE and UNITY_BUILD_CODE_AFTER_INCLUDE target properties can be used to inject code into the unity source files before and after every #include statement.

•   The order of source files added to the target via commands like add_library(), add_executable() or target_sources() will be preserved in the generated unity source files. This can be used to manually enforce a specific grouping based on the UNITY_BUILD_BATCH_SIZE target property.

  UNITY_BUILD_BATCH_SIZE

New in version 3.16.

Specifies the maximum number of source files that can be combined into any one unity source file when unity builds are enabled by the UNITY_BUILD target property. The original source files will be distributed across as many unity source files as necessary to honor this limit.

The initial value for this property is taken from the CMAKE_UNITY_BUILD_BATCH_SIZE variable when the target is created. If that variable has not been set, the initial value will be 8.

The batch size needs to be selected carefully. If set too high, the size of the combined source files could result in the compiler using excessive memory or hitting other similar limits. In extreme cases, this can even result in build failure. On the other hand, if the batch size is too low, there will be little gain in build performance.

Although strongly discouraged, the batch size may be set to a value of 0 to combine all the sources for the target into a single unity file, regardless of how many sources are involved. This runs the risk of creating an excessively large unity source file and negatively impacting the build performance, so a value of 0 is not generally recommended.

  UNITY_BUILD_CODE_AFTER_INCLUDE

New in version 3.16.

Code snippet which is included verbatim by the UNITY_BUILD feature just after every #include statement in the generated unity source files. For example:

set(after [[
#if defined(NOMINMAX)
#undef NOMINMAX
#endif
]])
set_target_properties(myTarget PROPERTIES
  UNITY_BUILD_CODE_AFTER_INCLUDE "${after}"
)

See also UNITY_BUILD_CODE_BEFORE_INCLUDE.

  UNITY_BUILD_CODE_BEFORE_INCLUDE

New in version 3.16.

Code snippet which is included verbatim by the UNITY_BUILD feature just before every #include statement in the generated unity source files. For example:

set(before [[
#if !defined(NOMINMAX)
#define NOMINMAX
#endif
]])
set_target_properties(myTarget PROPERTIES
  UNITY_BUILD_CODE_BEFORE_INCLUDE "${before}"
)

See also UNITY_BUILD_CODE_AFTER_INCLUDE.

  UNITY_BUILD_MODE

New in version 3.18.

CMake provides different algorithms for selecting which sources are grouped together into a bucket. Selection is decided by this property, which has the following acceptable values:

BATCH
    When in this mode CMake determines which files are grouped together. The UNITY_BUILD_BATCH_SIZE property controls the upper limit on how many sources can be combined per unity source file.

    Example usage:

    add_library(example_library
                source1.cxx
                source2.cxx
                source3.cxx
                source4.cxx)
    set_target_properties(example_library PROPERTIES
                          UNITY_BUILD_MODE BATCH
                          UNITY_BUILD_BATCH_SIZE 2
                          )

GROUP
    When in this mode each target explicitly specifies how to group source files. Each source file that has the same UNITY_GROUP value will be grouped together. Any sources that don't have this property will be compiled individually. The UNITY_BUILD_BATCH_SIZE property is ignored when using this mode.

    Example usage:

    add_library(example_library
                source1.cxx
                source2.cxx
                source3.cxx
                source4.cxx)
    set_target_properties(example_library PROPERTIES
                          UNITY_BUILD_MODE GROUP
                          )
    set_source_files_properties(source1.cxx source2.cxx source3.cxx
                                PROPERTIES UNITY_GROUP "bucket1"
                                )
    set_source_files_properties(source4.cxx
                                PROPERTIES UNITY_GROUP "bucket2"
                                )

    If no explicit UNITY_BUILD_MODE has been specified, CMake will default to BATCH.

  UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID

New in version 3.20.

The name of a valid C-identifier which is set to a unique per-file value during unity builds.

When this property is populated and when UNITY_BUILD is true, the property value is used to define a compiler definition of the specified name. The value of the defined symbol is unspecified, but it is unique per file path.

Given:

set_target_properties(myTarget PROPERTIES
  UNITY_BUILD "ON"
  UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID "MY_UNITY_ID"
)

the MY_UNITY_ID symbol is defined to a unique per-file value.

One known use case for this identifier is to disambiguate the variables in an anonymous namespace in a limited scope. Anonymous namespaces present a problem for unity builds because they are used to ensure that certain variables and declarations are scoped to a translation unit which is approximated by a single source file. When source files are combined in a unity build file, those variables in different files are combined in a single translation unit and the names clash. This property can be used to avoid that with code like the following:

// Needed for when unity builds are disabled
#ifndef MY_UNITY_ID
#define MY_UNITY_ID
#endif
namespace { namespace MY_UNITY_ID {
  // The name 'i' clashes (or could clash) with other
  // variables in other anonymous namespaces
  int i = 42;
}}
int use_var()
{
  return MY_UNITY_ID::i;
}

The pseudonymous namespace is used within a truly anonymous namespace. On many platforms, this maintains the invariant that the symbols within do not get external linkage when performing a unity build.

  VERIFY_INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS

New in version 3.24.

Used to verify that all headers in a target's PUBLIC and INTERFACE header sets can be included on their own.

When this property is set to true, and the target is an object library, static library, shared library, interface library, or executable with exports enabled, and the target has one or more PUBLIC or INTERFACE header sets, an object library target named <target_name>_verify_interface_header_sets is created. This verification target has one source file per header in the PUBLIC and INTERFACE header sets. Each source file only includes its associated header file. The verification target links against the original target to get all of its usage requirements. The verification target has its EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL and DISABLE_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS properties set to true, and its AUTOMOC, AUTORCC, AUTOUIC, and UNITY_BUILD properties set to false.

If the header's LANGUAGE property is set, the value of that property is used to determine the language with which to compile the header file. Otherwise, if the target has any C++ sources, the header is compiled as C++. Otherwise, if the target has any C sources, the header is compiled as C. Otherwise, if C++ is enabled globally, the header is compiled as C++. Otherwise, if C is enabled globally, the header is compiled as C. Otherwise, the header file is not compiled.

If the header's SKIP_LINTING property is set to true, the file is not compiled.

If any verification targets are created, a top-level target called all_verify_interface_header_sets is created which depends on all verification targets.

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_VERIFY_INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS variable if it is set when a target is created.

If the project wishes to control which header sets are verified by this property, it can set INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS_TO_VERIFY.

  VERSION

What version number is this target.

For shared libraries VERSION and SOVERSION can be used to specify the build version and API version respectively. When building or installing appropriate symlinks are created if the platform supports symlinks and the linker supports so-names. If only one of both is specified the missing is assumed to have the same version number. For executables VERSION can be used to specify the build version. When building or installing appropriate symlinks are created if the platform supports symlinks.

  Windows Versions

For shared libraries and executables on Windows the VERSION attribute is parsed to extract a <major>.<minor> version number. These numbers are used as the image version of the binary.

  Mach-O Versions

For shared libraries and executables on Mach-O systems (e.g. macOS, iOS), the SOVERSION property corresponds to the compatibility version and VERSION corresponds to the current version (unless Mach-O specific overrides are provided, as discussed below). See the FRAMEWORK target property for an example.

For shared libraries, the MACHO_COMPATIBILITY_VERSION and MACHO_CURRENT_VERSION properties can be used to override the compatibility version and current version respectively. Note that SOVERSION will still be used to form the install_name and both SOVERSION and VERSION may also affect the file and symlink names.

Versions of Mach-O binaries may be checked with the otool -L <binary> command.

  VISIBILITY_INLINES_HIDDEN

Whether to add a compile flag to hide symbols of inline functions

The VISIBILITY_INLINES_HIDDEN property determines whether a flag for hiding symbols for inline functions, such as -fvisibility-inlines-hidden, should be used when invoking the compiler. This property affects compilation in sources of all types of targets (subject to policy CMP0063).

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_VISIBILITY_INLINES_HIDDEN variable if it is set when a target is created.

  VS_CONFIGURATION_TYPE

New in version 3.6.

Visual Studio project configuration type.

Sets the ConfigurationType attribute for a generated Visual Studio project. The property value may use generator expressions. If this property is set, it overrides the default setting that is based on the target type (e.g. StaticLibrary, Application, ...).

Supported on Visual Studio Generators for VS 2010 and higher.

  VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND

New in version 3.12.

Sets the local debugger command for Visual Studio C++ targets. The property value may use generator expressions. This is defined in <LocalDebuggerCommand> in the Visual Studio project file. This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND if it is set when a target is created.

This property only works for Visual Studio 12 2013 and above; it is ignored on other generators.

  VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND_ARGUMENTS

New in version 3.13.

Sets the local debugger command line arguments for Visual Studio C++ targets. The property value may use generator expressions. This is defined in <LocalDebuggerCommandArguments> in the Visual Studio project file. This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND_ARGUMENTS if it is set when a target is created.

This property only works for Visual Studio 12 2013 and above; it is ignored on other generators.

  VS_DEBUGGER_ENVIRONMENT

New in version 3.13.

Sets the local debugger environment for Visual Studio C++ targets. The property value may use generator expressions. This is defined in <LocalDebuggerEnvironment> in the Visual Studio project file. This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_VS_DEBUGGER_ENVIRONMENT if it is set when a target is created.

This property only works for Visual Studio 12 2013 and above; it is ignored on other generators.

  VS_DEBUGGER_WORKING_DIRECTORY

New in version 3.8.

Sets the local debugger working directory for Visual Studio C++ targets. The property value may use generator expressions. This is defined in <LocalDebuggerWorkingDirectory> in the Visual Studio project file. This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_VS_DEBUGGER_WORKING_DIRECTORY if it is set when a target is created.

This property only works for Visual Studio 12 2013 and above; it is ignored on other generators.

  VS_DESKTOP_EXTENSIONS_VERSION

New in version 3.4.

Visual Studio Windows 10 Desktop Extensions Version

Specifies the version of the Desktop Extensions that should be included in the target. For example 10.0.10240.0. If the value is not specified, the Desktop Extensions will not be included. To use the same version of the extensions as the Windows 10 SDK that is being used, you can use the CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION variable.

  VS_DOTNET_DOCUMENTATION_FILE

New in version 3.17.

Visual Studio managed project .NET documentation output

Sets the target XML documentation file output.

  VS_DOTNET_REFERENCE_<refname>

New in version 3.8.

Visual Studio managed project .NET reference with name <refname> and hint path.

Adds one .NET reference to generated Visual Studio project. The reference will have the name <refname> and will point to the assembly given as value of the property.

See also VS_DOTNET_REFERENCES and VS_DOTNET_REFERENCES_COPY_LOCAL

  VS_DOTNET_REFERENCEPROP_<refname>_TAG_<tagname>

New in version 3.10.

Defines an XML property <tagname> for a .NET reference <refname>.

Reference properties can be set for .NET references which are defined by the target properties VS_DOTNET_REFERENCES, VS_DOTNET_REFERENCE_<refname> and also for project references to other C# targets which are established by target_link_libraries().

This property is only applicable to C# targets and Visual Studio generators 2010 and later.

  VS_DOTNET_REFERENCES

Visual Studio managed project .NET references

Adds one or more semicolon-delimited .NET references to a generated Visual Studio project. For example, "System;System.Windows.Forms".

  VS_DOTNET_REFERENCES_COPY_LOCAL

New in version 3.8.

Sets the Copy Local property for all .NET hint references in the target

Boolean property to enable/disable copying of .NET hint references to output directory. The default is ON.

  VS_DOTNET_STARTUP_OBJECT

New in version 3.24.

Sets the startup object property in Visual Studio .NET targets. The property value defines a full qualified class name (including package name), for example: MyCompany.Package.MyStarterClass.

If the property is unset, Visual Studio uses the first matching static void Main(string[]) function signature by default. When more than one Main() method is available in the current project, the property becomes mandatory for building the project.

This property only works for Visual Studio 12 2013 and above; it is ignored on other generators.

set_property(TARGET ${TARGET_NAME} PROPERTY
  VS_DOTNET_STARTUP_OBJECT "MyCompany.Package.MyStarterClass")

  VS_DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION

Specify the .NET target framework version.

Used to specify the .NET target framework version for C++/CLI. For example, "v4.5".

This property is deprecated and should not be used anymore. Use DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK or DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION instead.

  VS_DPI_AWARE

New in version 3.16.

Set the Manifest Tool -> Input and Output -> DPI Awareness in the Visual Studio target project properties.

Valid values are PerMonitor, ON, or OFF.

For example:

add_executable(myproject myproject.cpp)
set_property(TARGET myproject PROPERTY VS_DPI_AWARE "PerMonitor")

  VS_GLOBAL_KEYWORD

Visual Studio project keyword for VS 10 (2010) and newer.

Sets the "keyword" attribute for a generated Visual Studio project. Defaults to "Win32Proj". You may wish to override this value with "ManagedCProj", for example, in a Visual Studio managed C++ unit test project.

Use the VS_KEYWORD target property to set the keyword for Visual Studio 9 (2008) and older.

  VS_GLOBAL_PROJECT_TYPES

Visual Studio project type(s).

Can be set to one or more UUIDs recognized by Visual Studio to indicate the type of project. This value is copied verbatim into the generated project file. Example for a managed C++ unit testing project:

{3AC096D0-A1C2-E12C-1390-A8335801FDAB};{8BC9CEB8-8B4A-11D0-8D11-00A0C91BC942}

UUIDs are semicolon-delimited.

  VS_GLOBAL_ROOTNAMESPACE

Visual Studio project root namespace.

Sets the "RootNamespace" attribute for a generated Visual Studio project. The attribute will be generated only if this is set.

  VS_GLOBAL_<variable>

Visual Studio project-specific global variable.

Tell the Visual Studio generator to set the global variable '<variable>' to a given value in the generated Visual Studio project. Ignored on other generators. Qt integration works better if VS_GLOBAL_QtVersion is set to the version FindQt4.cmake found. For example, "4.7.3"

  VS_IOT_EXTENSIONS_VERSION

New in version 3.4.

Visual Studio Windows 10 IoT Extensions Version

Specifies the version of the IoT Extensions that should be included in the target. For example 10.0.10240.0. If the value is not specified, the IoT Extensions will not be included. To use the same version of the extensions as the Windows 10 SDK that is being used, you can use the CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION variable.

  VS_IOT_STARTUP_TASK

New in version 3.4.

Visual Studio Windows 10 IoT Continuous Background Task

Specifies that the target should be compiled as a Continuous Background Task library.

  VS_JUST_MY_CODE_DEBUGGING

New in version 3.15.

Enable Just My Code with Visual Studio debugger.

Supported on Visual Studio Generators for VS 2010 and higher, Makefile Generators and the Ninja generators.

This property is initialized by the CMAKE_VS_JUST_MY_CODE_DEBUGGING variable if it is set when a target is created.

  VS_KEYWORD

Visual Studio project keyword for VS 9 (2008) and older.

Can be set to change the visual studio keyword, for example Qt integration works better if this is set to Qt4VSv1.0.

Use the VS_GLOBAL_KEYWORD target property to set the keyword for Visual Studio 12 (2013) and newer.

  VS_MOBILE_EXTENSIONS_VERSION

New in version 3.4.

Visual Studio Windows 10 Mobile Extensions Version

Specifies the version of the Mobile Extensions that should be included in the target. For example 10.0.10240.0. If the value is not specified, the Mobile Extensions will not be included. To use the same version of the extensions as the Windows 10 SDK that is being used, you can use the CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION variable.

  VS_NO_COMPILE_BATCHING

New in version 3.24.

Turn off compile batching for the target. Usually MSBuild calls the compiler with multiple c/cpp files and compiler starts subprocesses for each file to make the build parallel. If you want compiler to be invoked with one file at a time set VS_NO_COMPILE_BATCHING to ON. If this flag is set MSBuild will call compiler with one c/cpp file at a time. Useful when you want to use tool that replaces the compiler, for example some build caching tool.

This property is initialized by the CMAKE_VS_NO_COMPILE_BATCHING variable if it is set when a target is created.

  Example

This shows setting the property for the target foo.

add_library(foo SHARED foo.cpp)
set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY VS_NO_COMPILE_BATCHING ON)

  VS_NO_SOLUTION_DEPLOY

New in version 3.15.

Specify that the target should not be marked for deployment to a Windows CE or Windows Phone device in the generated Visual Studio solution.

Be default, all EXE and shared library (DLL) targets are marked to deploy to the target device in the generated Visual Studio solution.

Generator expressions are supported.

There are reasons one might want to exclude a target / generated project from deployment:

•   The library or executable may not be necessary in the primary deploy/debug scenario, and excluding from deployment saves time in the develop/download/debug cycle.

•   There may be insufficient space on the target device to accommodate all of the build products.

•   Visual Studio 2013 requires a target device IP address be entered for each target marked for deployment. For large numbers of targets, this can be tedious. NOTE: Visual Studio will deploy all project dependencies of a project tagged for deployment to the IP address configured for that project even if those dependencies are not tagged for deployment.

  Example 1

This shows setting the variable for the target foo.

add_library(foo SHARED foo.cpp)
set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY VS_NO_SOLUTION_DEPLOY ON)

  Example 2

This shows setting the variable for the Release configuration only.

add_library(foo SHARED foo.cpp)
set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY VS_NO_SOLUTION_DEPLOY "$<CONFIG:Release>")

  VS_PACKAGE_REFERENCES

New in version 3.15.

Visual Studio package references for nuget.

Adds one or more semicolon-delimited package references to a generated Visual Studio project. The version of the package will be underscore delimited. For example, boost_1.7.0;nunit_3.12.*.

set_property(TARGET ${TARGET_NAME} PROPERTY
  VS_PACKAGE_REFERENCES "boost_1.7.0")

  VS_PLATFORM_TOOLSET

New in version 3.18.

Overrides the platform toolset used to build a target.

Only supported when the compiler used by the given toolset is the same as the compiler used to build the whole source tree.

This is especially useful to create driver projects with the toolsets "WindowsUserModeDriver10.0" or "WindowsKernelModeDriver10.0".

  VS_PROJECT_IMPORT

New in version 3.15.

Visual Studio managed project imports

Adds to a generated Visual Studio project one or more semicolon-delimited paths to .props files needed when building projects from some NuGet packages. For example, my_packages_path/MyPackage.1.0.0/build/MyPackage.props.

  VS_SCC_AUXPATH

Visual Studio Source Code Control Aux Path.

Can be set to change the visual studio source code control auxpath property.

  VS_SCC_LOCALPATH

Visual Studio Source Code Control Local Path.

Can be set to change the visual studio source code control local path property.

  VS_SCC_PROJECTNAME

Visual Studio Source Code Control Project.

Can be set to change the visual studio source code control project name property.

  VS_SCC_PROVIDER

Visual Studio Source Code Control Provider.

Can be set to change the visual studio source code control provider property.

  VS_SDK_REFERENCES

New in version 3.7.

Visual Studio project SDK references. Specify a semicolon-separated list of SDK references to be added to a generated Visual Studio project, e.g. Microsoft.AdMediatorWindows81, Version=1.0.

  VS_SOLUTION_DEPLOY

New in version 3.18.

Specify that the target should be marked for deployment when not targeting Windows CE, Windows Phone or a Windows Store application.

If the target platform doesn't support deployment, this property won't have any effect.

Generator expressions are supported.

  Examples

Always deploy target foo:

add_executable(foo SHARED foo.cpp)
set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY VS_SOLUTION_DEPLOY ON)

Deploy target foo for all configurations except Release:

add_executable(foo SHARED foo.cpp)
set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY VS_SOLUTION_DEPLOY "$<NOT:$<CONFIG:Release>>")

  VS_SOURCE_SETTINGS_<tool>

New in version 3.18.

Set any item metadata on all non-built files that use <tool>.

Takes a list of Key=Value pairs. Tells the Visual Studio generator to set Key to Value as item metadata on all non-built files that use <tool>.

For example:

set_property(TARGET main PROPERTY VS_SOURCE_SETTINGS_FXCompile "Key=Value" "Key2=Value2")

will set Key to Value and Key2 to Value2 for all non-built files that use FXCompile.

Generator expressions are supported.

  VS_USER_PROPS

New in version 3.8.

Sets the user props file to be included in the visual studio C++ project file. The standard path is $(UserRootDir)\\Microsoft.Cpp.$(Platform).user.props, which is in most cases the same as %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Microsoft\\MSBuild\\v4.0\\Microsoft.Cpp.Win32.user.props or %LOCALAPPDATA%\\Microsoft\\MSBuild\\v4.0\\Microsoft.Cpp.x64.user.props.

The *.user.props files can be used for Visual Studio wide configuration which is independent from cmake.

  VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_MIN_VERSION

New in version 3.4.

Visual Studio Windows Target Platform Minimum Version

For Windows 10. Specifies the minimum version of the OS that is being targeted. For example 10.0.10240.0. If the value is not specified, the value of the CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION variable will be used on WindowsStore projects. Otherwise the target platform minimum version will not be specified for the project.

New in version 3.27: This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_MIN_VERSION variable if it is set when a target is created.

  VS_WINRT_COMPONENT

New in version 3.1.

Mark a target as a Windows Runtime component for the Visual Studio generator. Compile the target with C++/CX language extensions for Windows Runtime. For SHARED and MODULE libraries, this also defines the _WINRT_DLL preprocessor macro.

NOTE: Currently this is implemented only by Visual Studio generators. Support may be added to other generators in the future.

  VS_WINRT_EXTENSIONS

Deprecated. Use VS_WINRT_COMPONENT instead. This property was an experimental partial implementation of that one.

  VS_WINRT_REFERENCES

Visual Studio project Windows Runtime Metadata references

Adds one or more semicolon-delimited WinRT references to a generated Visual Studio project. For example, "Windows;Windows.UI.Core".

  WATCOM_RUNTIME_LIBRARY

New in version 3.24.

Select the Watcom runtime library for use by compilers targeting the Watcom ABI.

The allowed values are:

SingleThreaded
    Compile without additional flags to use a single-threaded statically-linked runtime library.

SingleThreadedDLL
    Compile with -br or equivalent flag(s) to use a single-threaded dynamically-linked runtime library. This is not available for Linux targets.

MultiThreaded
    Compile with -bm or equivalent flag(s) to use a multi-threaded statically-linked runtime library.

MultiThreadedDLL
    Compile with -bm -br or equivalent flag(s) to use a multi-threaded dynamically-linked runtime library. This is not available for Linux targets.

    The value is ignored on non-Watcom compilers but an unsupported value will be rejected as an error when using a compiler targeting the Watcom ABI.

    The value may also be the empty string ("") in which case no runtime library selection flag will be added explicitly by CMake.

    Use generator expressions to support per-configuration specification.

    For example, the code:

    add_executable(foo foo.c)
    set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY
      WATCOM_RUNTIME_LIBRARY "MultiThreaded")

    selects for the target foo a multi-threaded statically-linked runtime library.

    If this property is not set then CMake uses the default value MultiThreadedDLL on Windows and SingleThreaded on other platforms to select a Watcom runtime library.

    NOTE: This property has effect only when policy CMP0136 is set to NEW prior to the first project() or enable_language() command that enables a language using a compiler targeting the Watcom ABI.

  WIN32_EXECUTABLE

Build an executable with a WinMain entry point on windows.

When this property is set to true the executable when linked on Windows will be created with a WinMain() entry point instead of just main(). This makes it a GUI executable instead of a console application. See the CMAKE_MFC_FLAG variable documentation to configure use of the Microsoft Foundation Classes (MFC) for WinMain executables. This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_WIN32_EXECUTABLE variable if it is set when a target is created.

This property supports generator expressions, except if the target is managed (contains C# code.)

  WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS

New in version 3.4.

This property is implemented only for MS-compatible tools on Windows.

Enable this boolean property to automatically create a module definition (.def) file with all global symbols found in the input .obj files for a SHARED library (or executable with ENABLE_EXPORTS) on Windows. The module definition file will be passed to the linker causing all symbols to be exported from the .dll. For global data symbols, __declspec(dllimport) must still be used when compiling against the code in the .dll. All other function symbols will be automatically exported and imported by callers. This simplifies porting projects to Windows by reducing the need for explicit dllexport markup, even in C++ classes.

When this property is enabled, zero or more .def files may also be specified as source files of the target. The exports named by these files will be merged with those detected from the object files to generate a single module definition file to be passed to the linker. This can be used to export symbols from a .dll that are not in any of its object files but are added by the linker from dependencies (e.g. msvcrt.lib).

This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS variable if it is set when a target is created.

  XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_<an-attribute>

Set Xcode target attributes directly.

Tell the Xcode generator to set <an-attribute> to a given value in the generated Xcode project. Ignored on other generators.

This offers low-level control over the generated Xcode project file. It is meant as a last resort for specifying settings that CMake does not otherwise have a way to control. Although this can override a setting CMake normally produces on its own, doing so bypasses CMake's model of the project and can break things.

See the CMAKE_XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_<an-attribute> variable to set attributes on all targets in a directory tree.

Contents of XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_<an-attribute> may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

  XCODE_EMBED_FRAMEWORKS_CODE_SIGN_ON_COPY

New in version 3.20.

Tell the Xcode generator to perform code signing for all the frameworks and libraries that are embedded using the XCODE_EMBED_FRAMEWORKS property.

New in version 3.21.

This property was generalized to other types of embedded items. See XCODE_EMBED_<type>_CODE_SIGN_ON_COPY for the more general form.

  XCODE_EMBED_FRAMEWORKS_REMOVE_HEADERS_ON_COPY

New in version 3.20.

Tell the Xcode generator to remove headers from all the frameworks that are embedded using the XCODE_EMBED_FRAMEWORKS property.

New in version 3.21.

This property was generalized to other types of embedded items. See XCODE_EMBED_<type>_REMOVE_HEADERS_ON_COPY for the more general form.

  XCODE_EMBED_<type>

New in version 3.20.

Tell the Xcode generator to embed the specified list of items into the target bundle. <type> specifies the embed build phase to use. See the Xcode documentation for the base location of each <type>.

The supported values for <type> are:

FRAMEWORKS
    The specified items will be added to the Embed Frameworks build phase. The items can be CMake target names or paths to frameworks or libraries.

APP_EXTENSIONS
    New in version 3.21.

    The specified items will be added to the Embed App Extensions build phase, with Destination set to PlugIns and Foundation Extensions They must be CMake target names.

EXTENSIONKIT_EXTENSIONS
    New in version 3.26.

    The specified items will be added to the Embed App Extensions build phase, with Destination set to ExtensionKit Extensions They must be CMake target names, and should likely have the XCODE_PRODUCT_TYPE target property set to com.apple.product-type.extensionkit-extension as well as the XCODE_EXPLICIT_FILE_TYPE to wrapper.extensionkit-extension

PLUGINS
    New in version 3.23.

    The specified items will be added to the Embed PlugIns build phase. They must be CMake target names.

RESOURCES
    New in version 3.28.

    The specified items will be added to the Embed Resources build phase. They must be CMake target names.

    See also XCODE_EMBED_<type>_PATH, XCODE_EMBED_<type>_REMOVE_HEADERS_ON_COPY and XCODE_EMBED_<type>_CODE_SIGN_ON_COPY.

  XCODE_EMBED_<type>_CODE_SIGN_ON_COPY

New in version 3.20.

Boolean property used only by the Xcode generator. It specifies whether to perform code signing for the items that are embedded using the XCODE_EMBED_<type> property.

The supported values for <type> are:

FRAMEWORKS

APP_EXTENSIONS
    New in version 3.21.

EXTENSIONKIT_EXTENSIONS
    New in version 3.26.

PLUGINS
    New in version 3.23.

    If a XCODE_EMBED_<type>_CODE_SIGN_ON_COPY property is not defined on the target, no code signing on copy will be performed for that <type>.

  XCODE_EMBED_<type>_PATH

New in version 3.20.

This property is used only by the Xcode generator. When defined, it specifies the relative path to use when embedding the items specified by XCODE_EMBED_<type>. The path is relative to the base location of the Embed XXX build phase associated with <type>. See the Xcode documentation for the base location of each <type>.

The supported values for <type> are:

FRAMEWORKS

APP_EXTENSIONS
    New in version 3.21.

EXTENSIONKIT_EXTENSIONS
    New in version 3.26.

PLUGINS
    New in version 3.23.

RESOURCES
    New in version 3.28.

  XCODE_EMBED_<type>_REMOVE_HEADERS_ON_COPY

New in version 3.20.

Boolean property used only by the Xcode generator. It specifies whether to remove headers from all the frameworks that are embedded using the XCODE_EMBED_<type> property.

The supported values for <type> are:

FRAMEWORKS
    If the XCODE_EMBED_FRAMEWORKS_REMOVE_HEADERS_ON_COPY property is not defined, headers will not be removed on copy by default.

APP_EXTENSIONS
    New in version 3.21.

    If the XCODE_EMBED_APP_EXTENSIONS_REMOVE_HEADERS_ON_COPY property is not defined, headers WILL be removed on copy by default.

EXTENSIONKIT_EXTENSIONS
    New in version 3.26.

    If the XCODE_EMBED_APP_EXTENSIONS_REMOVE_HEADERS_ON_COPY property is not defined, headers WILL be removed on copy by default.

PLUGINS
    New in version 3.23.

  XCODE_EXPLICIT_FILE_TYPE

New in version 3.8.

Set the Xcode explicitFileType attribute on its reference to a target. CMake computes a default based on target type but can be told explicitly with this property.

See also XCODE_PRODUCT_TYPE.

  XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME

New in version 3.15.

If enabled, the Xcode generator will generate schema files. These are useful to invoke analyze, archive, build-for-testing and test actions from the command line.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME if it is set when a target is created.

The following target properties overwrite the default of the corresponding settings on the "Diagnostic" tab for each schema file. Each of those is initialized by the respective CMAKE_ variable at target creation time.

•   XCODE_SCHEME_ADDRESS_SANITIZER

•   XCODE_SCHEME_ADDRESS_SANITIZER_USE_AFTER_RETURN

•   XCODE_SCHEME_DISABLE_MAIN_THREAD_CHECKER

•   XCODE_SCHEME_DYNAMIC_LIBRARY_LOADS

•   XCODE_SCHEME_DYNAMIC_LINKER_API_USAGE

•   XCODE_SCHEME_GUARD_MALLOC

•   XCODE_SCHEME_MAIN_THREAD_CHECKER_STOP

•   XCODE_SCHEME_MALLOC_GUARD_EDGES

•   XCODE_SCHEME_MALLOC_SCRIBBLE

•   XCODE_SCHEME_MALLOC_STACK

•   XCODE_SCHEME_THREAD_SANITIZER

•   XCODE_SCHEME_THREAD_SANITIZER_STOP

•   XCODE_SCHEME_UNDEFINED_BEHAVIOUR_SANITIZER

•   XCODE_SCHEME_UNDEFINED_BEHAVIOUR_SANITIZER_STOP

•   XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_CONFIGURATION

•   XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_API_VALIDATION

•   XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_SHADER_VALIDATION

•   XCODE_SCHEME_ZOMBIE_OBJECTS

    The following target properties will be applied on the "Info", "Arguments", and "Options" tab:

•   XCODE_SCHEME_ARGUMENTS

•   XCODE_SCHEME_DEBUG_AS_ROOT

•   XCODE_SCHEME_DEBUG_DOCUMENT_VERSIONING

•   XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_FRAME_CAPTURE_MODE

•   XCODE_SCHEME_ENVIRONMENT

•   XCODE_SCHEME_EXECUTABLE

•   XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_MODE

•   XCODE_SCHEME_WORKING_DIRECTORY

  XCODE_LINK_BUILD_PHASE_MODE

New in version 3.19.

When using the Xcode generator, libraries to be linked will be specified in the Xcode project file using either the "Link Binary With Libraries" build phase or directly as linker flags. The former allows Xcode to manage build paths, which may be necessary when creating Xcode archives because it may use different build paths to a regular build.

This property controls usage of "Link Binary With Libraries" build phase for a target that is an app bundle, executable, shared library, shared framework or a module library.

Possible values are:

•   NONE The libraries will be linked by specifying the linker flags directly.

•   BUILT_ONLY The "Link Binary With Libraries" build phase will be used to link to another target under the following conditions:

•   The target to be linked to is a regular non-imported, non-interface library target.

•   The output directory of the target being built has not been changed from its default (see RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY and LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY).

•   KNOWN_LOCATION The "Link Binary With Libraries" build phase will be used to link to another target under the same conditions as with BUILT_ONLY and also:

•   Imported library targets except those of type UNKNOWN.

•   Any non-target library specified directly with a path.

    For all other cases, the libraries will be linked by specifying the linker flags directly.

    WARNING: Libraries linked using "Link Binary With Libraries" are linked after the ones linked through regular linker flags. This order should be taken into account when different static libraries contain symbols with the same name, as the former ones will take precedence over the latter.

    WARNING: If two or more directories contain libraries with identical file names and some libraries are linked from those directories, the library search path lookup will end up linking libraries from the first directory. This is a known limitation of Xcode.

    This property is initialized by the value of the CMAKE_XCODE_LINK_BUILD_PHASE_MODE variable if it is set when a target is created.

  XCODE_PRODUCT_TYPE

New in version 3.8.

Set the Xcode productType attribute on its reference to a target. CMake computes a default based on target type but can be told explicitly with this property.

See also XCODE_EXPLICIT_FILE_TYPE.

  XCODE_SCHEME_ADDRESS_SANITIZER

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Address Sanitizer in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_ADDRESS_SANITIZER if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_ADDRESS_SANITIZER_USE_AFTER_RETURN

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Detect use of stack after return in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_ADDRESS_SANITIZER_USE_AFTER_RETURN if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_ARGUMENTS

New in version 3.13.

Specify command line arguments that should be added to the Arguments section of the generated Xcode scheme.

If set to a list of arguments those will be added to the scheme.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_DEBUG_AS_ROOT

New in version 3.15.

Whether to debug the target as 'root'.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_DEBUG_DOCUMENT_VERSIONING

New in version 3.16.

Whether to enable Allow debugging when using document Versions Browser in the Options section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_DEBUG_DOCUMENT_VERSIONING if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_DISABLE_MAIN_THREAD_CHECKER

New in version 3.13.

Whether to disable the Main Thread Checker in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_DISABLE_MAIN_THREAD_CHECKER if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_DYNAMIC_LIBRARY_LOADS

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Dynamic Library Loads in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_DYNAMIC_LIBRARY_LOADS if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_DYNAMIC_LINKER_API_USAGE

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Dynamic Linker API usage in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_DYNAMIC_LINKER_API_USAGE if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_API_VALIDATION

New in version 3.25.

Property value for Metal: API Validation in the Options section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_API_VALIDATION if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_FRAME_CAPTURE_MODE

New in version 3.23.

Property value for GPU Frame Capture in the Options section of the generated Xcode scheme. Example values are Metal and Disabled.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_FRAME_CAPTURE_MODE if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_SHADER_VALIDATION

New in version 3.25.

Property value for Metal: Shader Validation in the Options section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_SHADER_VALIDATION if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_ENVIRONMENT

New in version 3.13.

Specify environment variables that should be added to the Arguments section of the generated Xcode scheme.

If set to a list of environment variables and values of the form MYVAR=value those environment variables will be added to the scheme.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_EXECUTABLE

New in version 3.13.

Specify path to executable in the Info section of the generated Xcode scheme. If not set the schema generator will select the current target if it is actually executable.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_GUARD_MALLOC

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Guard Malloc in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_GUARD_MALLOC if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_CONFIGURATION

New in version 3.25.

Set the build configuration to run the target.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_CONFIGURATION if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_MODE

New in version 3.25.

Property value for Launch in the Info section of the generated Xcode scheme.

Possible values are:

AUTO
    Launch automatically. This is the default.

WAIT
    Wait for the executable to be launched.

    This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_MODE if it is set when a target is created.

    Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_MAIN_THREAD_CHECKER_STOP

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable the Main Thread Checker option Pause on issues in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_MAIN_THREAD_CHECKER_STOP if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_MALLOC_GUARD_EDGES

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Malloc Guard Edges in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_MALLOC_GUARD_EDGES if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_MALLOC_SCRIBBLE

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Malloc Scribble in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_MALLOC_SCRIBBLE if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_MALLOC_STACK

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Malloc Stack in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_MALLOC_STACK if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_THREAD_SANITIZER

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Thread Sanitizer in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_THREAD_SANITIZER if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_THREAD_SANITIZER_STOP

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Thread Sanitizer - Pause on issues in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_THREAD_SANITIZER_STOP if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_UNDEFINED_BEHAVIOUR_SANITIZER

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Undefined Behavior Sanitizer in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_UNDEFINED_BEHAVIOUR_SANITIZER if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_UNDEFINED_BEHAVIOUR_SANITIZER_STOP

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Undefined Behavior Sanitizer option Pause on issues in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_UNDEFINED_BEHAVIOUR_SANITIZER_STOP if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_WORKING_DIRECTORY

New in version 3.17.

Specify the Working Directory of the Run and Profile actions in the generated Xcode scheme. In case the value contains generator expressions those are evaluated.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_WORKING_DIRECTORY if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_SCHEME_ZOMBIE_OBJECTS

New in version 3.13.

Whether to enable Zombie Objects in the Diagnostics section of the generated Xcode scheme.

This property is initialized by the value of the variable CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_ZOMBIE_OBJECTS if it is set when a target is created.

Please refer to the XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME target property documentation to see all Xcode schema related properties.

  XCODE_XCCONFIG

New in version 3.24.

If set, the Xcode generator will register the specified file as a target-level XCConfig file. For global XCConfig files see the CMAKE_XCODE_XCCONFIG variable.

This feature is intended to ease migration from native Xcode projects to CMake projects.

Contents of XCODE_XCCONFIG may use generator expressions.

  XCTEST

New in version 3.3.

This target is a XCTest CFBundle on the Mac.

This property will usually get set via the xctest_add_bundle() macro in FindXCTest module.

If a module library target has this property set to true it will be built as a CFBundle when built on the Mac. It will have the directory structure required for a CFBundle.

This property depends on BUNDLE to be effective.

PROPERTIES ON TESTS

  ATTACHED_FILES

Attach a list of files to a dashboard submission.

Set this property to a list of files that will be encoded and submitted to the dashboard as an addition to the test result.

  ATTACHED_FILES_ON_FAIL

Attach a list of files to a dashboard submission if the test fails.

Same as ATTACHED_FILES, but these files will only be included if the test does not pass.

  COST

This property describes the cost of a test. When parallel testing is enabled, tests in the test set will be run in descending order of cost. Projects can explicitly define the cost of a test by setting this property to a floating point value.

When the cost of a test is not defined by the project, ctest will initially use a default cost of 0. It computes a weighted average of the cost each time a test is run and uses that as an improved estimate of the cost for the next run. The more a test is re-run in the same build directory, the more representative the cost should become.

  DEPENDS

Specifies that this test should only be run after the specified list of tests.

Set this to a list of tests that must finish before this test is run. The results of those tests are not considered, the dependency relationship is purely for order of execution (i.e. it is really just a run after relationship). Consider using test fixtures with setup tests if a dependency with successful completion is required (see FIXTURES_REQUIRED).

  Examples

add_test(NAME baseTest1 ...)
add_test(NAME baseTest2 ...)
add_test(NAME dependsTest12 ...)
set_tests_properties(dependsTest12 PROPERTIES DEPENDS "baseTest1;baseTest2")
# dependsTest12 runs after baseTest1 and baseTest2, even if they fail

  DISABLED

New in version 3.9.

If set to True, the test will be skipped and its status will be 'Not Run'. A DISABLED test will not be counted in the total number of tests and its completion status will be reported to CDash as Disabled.

A DISABLED test does not participate in test fixture dependency resolution. If a DISABLED test has fixture requirements defined in its FIXTURES_REQUIRED property, it will not cause setup or cleanup tests for those fixtures to be added to the test set.

If a test with the FIXTURES_SETUP property set is DISABLED, the fixture behavior will be as though that setup test was passing and any test case requiring that fixture will still run.

  ENVIRONMENT

Specify environment variables that should be defined for running a test.

Set to a semicolon-separated list list of environment variables and values of the form MYVAR=value. Those environment variables will be defined while running the test. The environment changes from this property do not affect other tests.

  ENVIRONMENT_MODIFICATION

New in version 3.22.

Specify environment variables that should be modified for running a test. Note that the operations performed by this property are performed after the ENVIRONMENT property is already applied.

Set to a semicolon-separated list of environment variables and values of the form MYVAR=OP:VALUE, where MYVAR is the case-sensitive name of an environment variable to be modified. Entries are considered in the order specified in the property's value. The OP may be one of:

•   reset: Reset to the unmodified value, ignoring all modifications to MYVAR prior to this entry. Note that this will reset the variable to the value set by ENVIRONMENT, if it was set, and otherwise to its state from the rest of the CTest execution.

•   set: Replaces the current value of MYVAR with VALUE.

•   unset: Unsets the current value of MYVAR.

•   string_append: Appends singular VALUE to the current value of MYVAR.

•   string_prepend: Prepends singular VALUE to the current value of MYVAR.

•   path_list_append: Appends singular VALUE to the current value of MYVAR using the host platform's path list separator (; on Windows and : elsewhere).

•   path_list_prepend: Prepends singular VALUE to the current value of MYVAR using the host platform's path list separator (; on Windows and : elsewhere).

•   cmake_list_append: Appends singular VALUE to the current value of MYVAR using ; as the separator.

•   cmake_list_prepend: Prepends singular VALUE to the current value of MYVAR using ; as the separator.

    Unrecognized OP values will result in the test failing before it is executed. This is so that future operations may be added without changing valid behavior of existing tests.

    The environment changes from this property do not affect other tests.

  FAIL_REGULAR_EXPRESSION

If the output matches this regular expression the test will fail, regardless of the process exit code.

If set, if the output matches one of specified regular expressions, the test will fail. Example:

set_tests_properties(mytest PROPERTIES
  FAIL_REGULAR_EXPRESSION "[^a-z]Error;ERROR;Failed"
)

FAIL_REGULAR_EXPRESSION expects a list of regular expressions.

See also the PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION and SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION test properties.

  FIXTURES_CLEANUP

New in version 3.7.

Specifies a list of fixtures for which the test is to be treated as a cleanup test. These fixture names are distinct from test case names and are not required to have any similarity to the names of tests associated with them.

Fixture cleanup tests are ordinary tests with all of the usual test functionality. Setting the FIXTURES_CLEANUP property for a test has two primary effects:

•   CTest will ensure the test executes after all other tests which list any of the fixtures in its FIXTURES_REQUIRED property.

•   If CTest is asked to run only a subset of tests (e.g. using regular expressions or the --rerun-failed option) and the cleanup test is not in the set of tests to run, it will automatically be added if any tests in the set require any fixture listed in FIXTURES_CLEANUP.

    A cleanup test can have multiple fixtures listed in its FIXTURES_CLEANUP property. It will execute only once for the whole CTest run, not once for each fixture. A fixture can also have more than one cleanup test defined. If there are multiple cleanup tests for a fixture, projects can control their order with the usual DEPENDS test property if necessary.

    A cleanup test is allowed to require other fixtures, but not any fixture listed in its FIXTURES_CLEANUP property. For example:

    # Ok: Dependent fixture is different to cleanup
    set_tests_properties(cleanupFoo PROPERTIES
      FIXTURES_CLEANUP  Foo
      FIXTURES_REQUIRED Bar
    )
    # Error: cannot require same fixture as cleanup
    set_tests_properties(cleanupFoo PROPERTIES
      FIXTURES_CLEANUP  Foo
      FIXTURES_REQUIRED Foo
    )

    Cleanup tests will execute even if setup or regular tests for that fixture fail or are skipped.

    See FIXTURES_REQUIRED for a more complete discussion of how to use test fixtures.

  FIXTURES_REQUIRED

New in version 3.7.

Specifies a list of fixtures the test requires. Fixture names are case sensitive and they are not required to have any similarity to test names.

Fixtures are a way to attach setup and cleanup tasks to a set of tests. If a test requires a given fixture, then all tests marked as setup tasks for that fixture will be executed first (once for the whole set of tests, not once per test requiring the fixture). After all tests requiring a particular fixture have completed, CTest will ensure all tests marked as cleanup tasks for that fixture are then executed. Tests are marked as setup tasks with the FIXTURES_SETUP property and as cleanup tasks with the FIXTURES_CLEANUP property. If any of a fixture's setup tests fail, all tests listing that fixture in their FIXTURES_REQUIRED property will not be executed. The cleanup tests for the fixture will always be executed, even if some setup tests fail.

When CTest is asked to execute only a subset of tests (e.g. by the use of regular expressions or when run with the --rerun-failed command line option), it will automatically add any setup or cleanup tests for fixtures required by any of the tests that are in the execution set. This behavior can be overridden with the -FS, -FC and -FA command line options to ctest(1) if desired.

Since setup and cleanup tasks are also tests, they can have an ordering specified by the DEPENDS test property just like any other tests. This can be exploited to implement setup or cleanup using multiple tests for a single fixture to modularise setup or cleanup logic.

The concept of a fixture is different to that of a resource specified by RESOURCE_LOCK, but they may be used together. A fixture defines a set of tests which share setup and cleanup requirements, whereas a resource lock has the effect of ensuring a particular set of tests do not run in parallel. Some situations may need both, such as setting up a database, serializing test access to that database and deleting the database again at the end. For such cases, tests would populate both FIXTURES_REQUIRED and RESOURCE_LOCK to combine the two behaviors. Names used for RESOURCE_LOCK have no relationship with names of fixtures, so note that a resource lock does not imply a fixture and vice versa.

Consider the following example which represents a database test scenario similar to that mentioned above:

add_test(NAME testsDone   COMMAND emailResults)
add_test(NAME fooOnly     COMMAND testFoo)
add_test(NAME dbOnly      COMMAND testDb)
add_test(NAME dbWithFoo   COMMAND testDbWithFoo)
add_test(NAME createDB    COMMAND initDB)
add_test(NAME setupUsers  COMMAND userCreation)
add_test(NAME cleanupDB   COMMAND deleteDB)
add_test(NAME cleanupFoo  COMMAND removeFoos)
set_tests_properties(setupUsers PROPERTIES DEPENDS createDB)
set_tests_properties(createDB   PROPERTIES FIXTURES_SETUP    DB)
set_tests_properties(setupUsers PROPERTIES FIXTURES_SETUP    DB)
set_tests_properties(cleanupDB  PROPERTIES FIXTURES_CLEANUP  DB)
set_tests_properties(cleanupFoo PROPERTIES FIXTURES_CLEANUP  Foo)
set_tests_properties(testsDone  PROPERTIES FIXTURES_CLEANUP  "DB;Foo")
set_tests_properties(fooOnly    PROPERTIES FIXTURES_REQUIRED Foo)
set_tests_properties(dbOnly     PROPERTIES FIXTURES_REQUIRED DB)
set_tests_properties(dbWithFoo  PROPERTIES FIXTURES_REQUIRED "DB;Foo")
set_tests_properties(dbOnly dbWithFoo createDB setupUsers cleanupDB
                     PROPERTIES RESOURCE_LOCK DbAccess)

Key points from this example:

•   Two fixtures are defined: DB and Foo. Tests can require a single fixture as fooOnly and dbOnly do, or they can depend on multiple fixtures like dbWithFoo does.

•   A DEPENDS relationship is set up to ensure setupUsers happens after createDB, both of which are setup tests for the DB fixture and will therefore be executed before the dbOnly and dbWithFoo tests automatically.

•   No explicit DEPENDS relationships were needed to make the setup tests run before or the cleanup tests run after the regular tests.

•   The Foo fixture has no setup tests defined, only a single cleanup test.

•   testsDone is a cleanup test for both the DB and Foo fixtures. Therefore, it will only execute once regular tests for both fixtures have finished (i.e. after fooOnly, dbOnly and dbWithFoo). No DEPENDS relationship was specified for testsDone, so it is free to run before, after or concurrently with other cleanup tests for either fixture.

•   The setup and cleanup tests never list the fixtures they are for in their own FIXTURES_REQUIRED property, as that would result in a dependency on themselves and be considered an error.

  FIXTURES_SETUP

New in version 3.7.

Specifies a list of fixtures for which the test is to be treated as a setup test. These fixture names are distinct from test case names and are not required to have any similarity to the names of tests associated with them.

Fixture setup tests are ordinary tests with all of the usual test functionality. Setting the FIXTURES_SETUP property for a test has two primary effects:

•   CTest will ensure the test executes before any other test which lists the fixture name(s) in its FIXTURES_REQUIRED property.

•   If CTest is asked to run only a subset of tests (e.g. using regular expressions or the --rerun-failed option) and the setup test is not in the set of tests to run, it will automatically be added if any tests in the set require any fixture listed in FIXTURES_SETUP.

    A setup test can have multiple fixtures listed in its FIXTURES_SETUP property. It will execute only once for the whole CTest run, not once for each fixture. A fixture can also have more than one setup test defined. If there are multiple setup tests for a fixture, projects can control their order with the usual DEPENDS test property if necessary.

    A setup test is allowed to require other fixtures, but not any fixture listed in its FIXTURES_SETUP property. For example:

    # Ok: dependent fixture is different to setup
    set_tests_properties(setupFoo PROPERTIES
      FIXTURES_SETUP    Foo
      FIXTURES_REQUIRED Bar
    )
    # Error: cannot require same fixture as setup
    set_tests_properties(setupFoo PROPERTIES
      FIXTURES_SETUP    Foo
      FIXTURES_REQUIRED Foo
    )

    If any of a fixture's setup tests fail, none of the tests listing that fixture in its FIXTURES_REQUIRED property will be run. Cleanup tests will, however, still be executed.

    See FIXTURES_REQUIRED for a more complete discussion of how to use test fixtures.

  GENERATED_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE

New in version 3.28.

Path to the dynamically-generated resource spec file generated by this test.

  LABELS

Specify a list of text labels associated with a test. The labels are reported in both the ctest output summary and in dashboard submissions. They can also be used to filter the set of tests to be executed (see the ctest -L and ctest -LE options).

See Additional Labels for adding labels to a test dynamically during test execution.

  MEASUREMENT

Specify a CDASH measurement and value to be reported for a test.

If set to a name then that name will be reported to CDASH as a named measurement with a value of 1. You may also specify a value by setting MEASUREMENT to measurement=value.

  PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION

The output must match this regular expression for the test to pass. The process exit code is ignored.

If set, the test output will be checked against the specified regular expressions and at least one of the regular expressions has to match, otherwise the test will fail. Example:

set_tests_properties(mytest PROPERTIES
  PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION "TestPassed;All ok"
)

PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION expects a list of regular expressions.

See also the FAIL_REGULAR_EXPRESSION and SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION test properties.

  PROCESSOR_AFFINITY

New in version 3.12.

Set to a true value to ask CTest to launch the test process with CPU affinity for a fixed set of processors. If enabled and supported for the current platform, CTest will choose a set of processors to place in the CPU affinity mask when launching the test process. The number of processors in the set is determined by the PROCESSORS test property or the number of processors available to CTest, whichever is smaller. The set of processors chosen will be disjoint from the processors assigned to other concurrently running tests that also have the PROCESSOR_AFFINITY property enabled.

  PROCESSORS

Set to specify how many process slots this test requires. If not set, the default is 1 processor.

Denotes the number of processors that this test will require. This is typically used for MPI tests, and should be used in conjunction with the ctest_test() PARALLEL_LEVEL option.

This will also be used to display a weighted test timing result in label and subproject summaries in the command line output of ctest(1). The wall clock time for the test run will be multiplied by this property to give a better idea of how much cpu resource CTest allocated for the test.

See also the PROCESSOR_AFFINITY test property.

  REQUIRED_FILES

List of files required to run the test. The filenames are relative to the test WORKING_DIRECTORY unless an absolute path is specified.

If set to a list of files, the test will not be run unless all of the files exist.

  Examples

Suppose that test.txt is created by test baseTest and none.txt does not exist:

add_test(NAME baseTest ...)   # Assumed to create test.txt
add_test(NAME fileTest ...)
# The following ensures that if baseTest is successful, test.txt will
# have been created before fileTest is run
set_tests_properties(fileTest PROPERTIES
  DEPENDS baseTest
  REQUIRED_FILES test.txt
)
add_test(NAME notRunTest ...)
# The following makes notRunTest depend on two files. Nothing creates
# the none.txt file, so notRunTest will fail with status "Not Run".
set_tests_properties(notRunTest PROPERTIES
  REQUIRED_FILES "test.txt;none.txt"
)

The above example demonstrates how REQUIRED_FILES works, but it is not the most robust way to implement test ordering with failure detection. For that, test fixtures are a better alternative (see FIXTURES_REQUIRED).

  RESOURCE_GROUPS

New in version 3.16.

Specify resources required by a test, grouped in a way that is meaningful to the test. See resource allocation for more information on how this property integrates into the CTest resource allocation feature.

The RESOURCE_GROUPS property is a semicolon-separated list of group descriptions. Each entry consists of an optional number of groups using the description followed by a series of resource requirements for those groups. These requirements (and the number of groups) are separated by commas. The resource requirements consist of the name of a resource type, followed by a colon, followed by an unsigned integer specifying the number of slots required on one resource of the given type.

The RESOURCE_GROUPS property tells CTest what resources a test expects to use grouped in a way meaningful to the test. The test itself must read the environment variables to determine which resources have been allocated to each group. For example, each group may correspond to a process the test will spawn when executed.

Consider the following example:

add_test(NAME MyTest COMMAND MyExe)
set_property(TEST MyTest PROPERTY RESOURCE_GROUPS
  "2,gpus:2"
  "gpus:4,crypto_chips:2")

In this example, there are two group descriptions (implicitly separated by a semicolon.) The content of the first description is 2,gpus:2. This description specifies 2 groups, each of which requires 2 slots from a single GPU. The content of the second description is gpus:4,crypto_chips:2. This description does not specify a group count, so a default of 1 is assumed. This single group requires 4 slots from a single GPU and 2 slots from a single cryptography chip. In total, 3 resource groups are specified for this test, each with its own unique requirements.

Note that the number of slots following the resource type specifies slots from a single instance of the resource. If the resource group can tolerate receiving slots from different instances of the same resource, it can indicate this by splitting the specification into multiple requirements of one slot. For example:

add_test(NAME MyTest COMMAND MyExe)
set_property(TEST MyTest PROPERTY RESOURCE_GROUPS
  "gpus:1,gpus:1,gpus:1,gpus:1")

In this case, the single resource group indicates that it needs four GPU slots, all of which may come from separate GPUs (though they don't have to; CTest may still assign slots from the same GPU.)

When CTest sets the environment variables for a test, it assigns a group number based on the group description, starting at 0 on the left and the number of groups minus 1 on the right. For example, in the example above, the two groups in the first description would have IDs of 0 and 1, and the single group in the second description would have an ID of 2.

Both the RESOURCE_GROUPS and RESOURCE_LOCK properties serve similar purposes, but they are distinct and orthogonal. Resources specified by RESOURCE_GROUPS do not affect RESOURCE_LOCK, and vice versa. Whereas RESOURCE_LOCK is a simpler property that is used for locking one global resource, RESOURCE_GROUPS is a more advanced property that allows multiple tests to simultaneously use multiple resources of the same type, specifying their requirements in a fine-grained manner.

  RESOURCE_LOCK

Specify a list of resources that are locked by this test.

If multiple tests specify the same resource lock, they are guaranteed not to run concurrently.

See also FIXTURES_REQUIRED if the resource requires any setup or cleanup steps.

Both the RESOURCE_GROUPS and RESOURCE_LOCK properties serve similar purposes, but they are distinct and orthogonal. Resources specified by RESOURCE_GROUPS do not affect RESOURCE_LOCK, and vice versa. Whereas RESOURCE_LOCK is a simpler property that is used for locking one global resource, RESOURCE_GROUPS is a more advanced property that allows multiple tests to simultaneously use multiple resources of the same type, specifying their requirements in a fine-grained manner.

  RUN_SERIAL

Do not run this test in parallel with any other test.

Use this option in conjunction with the ctest_test PARALLEL_LEVEL option to specify that this test should not be run in parallel with any other tests.

  SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION

New in version 3.16.

If the output matches this regular expression the test will be marked as skipped.

If set, if the output matches one of specified regular expressions, the test will be marked as skipped. Example:

set_property(TEST mytest PROPERTY
  SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION "[^a-z]Skip" "SKIP" "Skipped"
)

SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION expects a list of regular expressions.

See also the SKIP_RETURN_CODE, PASS_REGULAR_EXPRESSION, and FAIL_REGULAR_EXPRESSION test properties.

  SKIP_RETURN_CODE

Return code to mark a test as skipped.

Sometimes only a test itself can determine if all requirements for the test are met. If such a situation should not be considered a hard failure a return code of the process can be specified that will mark the test as Not Run if it is encountered. Valid values are in the range of 0 to 255, inclusive.

See also the SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION property.

  TIMEOUT

How many seconds to allow for this test.

This property if set will limit a test to not take more than the specified number of seconds to run. If it exceeds that the test process will be killed and ctest will move to the next test. This setting takes precedence over CTEST_TEST_TIMEOUT.

An explicit 0 value means the test has no timeout, except as necessary to honor ctest --stop-time.

See also TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH and TIMEOUT_SIGNAL_NAME.

  TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH

New in version 3.6.

Change a test's timeout duration after a matching line is encountered in its output.

  Usage

add_test(mytest ...)
set_property(TEST mytest PROPERTY TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH "${seconds}" "${regex}")

  Description

Allow a test seconds to complete after regex is encountered in its output.

When the test outputs a line that matches regex its start time is reset to the current time and its timeout duration is changed to seconds. Prior to this, the timeout duration is determined by the TIMEOUT property or the CTEST_TEST_TIMEOUT variable if either of these are set. Because the test's start time is reset, its execution time will not include any time that was spent waiting for the matching output.

TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH is useful for avoiding spurious timeouts when your test must wait for some system resource to become available before it can execute. Set TIMEOUT to a longer duration that accounts for resource acquisition and use TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH to control how long the actual test is allowed to run.

If the required resource can be controlled by CTest you should use RESOURCE_LOCK instead of TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH. This property should be used when only the test itself can determine when its required resources are available.

See also TIMEOUT_SIGNAL_NAME.

  TIMEOUT_SIGNAL_GRACE_PERIOD

New in version 3.27.

If the TIMEOUT_SIGNAL_NAME test property is set, this property specifies the number of seconds to wait for a test process to terminate after sending the custom signal. Otherwise, this property has no meaning.

The grace period may be any real value greater than 0.0, but not greater than 60.0. If this property is not set, the default is 1.0 second.

This is available only on platforms supporting POSIX signals. It is not available on Windows.

  TIMEOUT_SIGNAL_NAME

New in version 3.27.

Specify a custom signal to send to a test process when its timeout is reached. This is available only on platforms supporting POSIX signals. It is not available on Windows.

The name must be one of the following:

SIGINT
    Interrupt.

SIGQUIT
    Quit.

SIGTERM
    Terminate.

SIGUSR1
    User defined signal 1.

SIGUSR2
    User defined signal 2.

    The custom signal is sent to the test process to give it a chance to exit gracefully during a grace period:

•   If the test process created any children, it is responsible for terminating them too.

•   The grace period length is determined by the TIMEOUT_SIGNAL_GRACE_PERIOD test property.

•   If the test process does not terminate before the grace period ends, ctest(1) will force termination of its entire process tree via SIGSTOP and SIGKILL.

    See also CTEST_TEST_TIMEOUT, TIMEOUT, and TIMEOUT_AFTER_MATCH.

  WILL_FAIL

If set to true, this will invert the pass/fail flag of the test.

This property can be used for tests that are expected to fail and return a non-zero return code. Note that system-level test failures such as segmentation faults or heap errors will still fail the test even if WILL_FALL is true.

  WORKING_DIRECTORY

The directory from which the test executable will be called.

If this is not set, the test will be run with the working directory set to the binary directory associated with where the test was created (i.e. the CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR for where add_test() was called).

PROPERTIES ON SOURCE FILES

  ABSTRACT

Is this source file an abstract class.

A property on a source file that indicates if the source file represents a class that is abstract. This only makes sense for languages that have a notion of an abstract class and it is only used by some tools that wrap classes into other languages.

  AUTORCC_OPTIONS

Additional options for rcc when using AUTORCC

This property holds additional command line options which will be used when rcc is executed during the build via AUTORCC, i.e. it is equivalent to the optional OPTIONS argument of the qt4_add_resources() macro.

By default it is empty.

The options set on the .qrc source file may override AUTORCC_OPTIONS set on the target.

  EXAMPLE

# ...
set_property(SOURCE resources.qrc PROPERTY AUTORCC_OPTIONS "--compress;9")
# ...

  AUTOUIC_OPTIONS

Additional options for uic when using AUTOUIC

This property holds additional command line options which will be used when uic is executed during the build via AUTOUIC, i.e. it is equivalent to the optional OPTIONS argument of the qt4_wrap_ui() macro.

By default it is empty.

The options set on the .ui source file may override AUTOUIC_OPTIONS set on the target.

  EXAMPLE

# ...
set_property(SOURCE widget.ui PROPERTY AUTOUIC_OPTIONS "--no-protection")
# ...

  COMPILE_DEFINITIONS

Preprocessor definitions for compiling a source file.

The COMPILE_DEFINITIONS property may be set to a semicolon-separated list of preprocessor definitions using the syntax VAR or VAR=value. Function-style definitions are not supported. CMake will automatically escape the value correctly for the native build system (note that CMake language syntax may require escapes to specify some values). This property may be set on a per-configuration basis using the name COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG> where <CONFIG> is an upper-case name (ex. COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_DEBUG).

CMake will automatically drop some definitions that are not supported by the native build tool. Xcode does not support per-configuration definitions on source files.

New in version 3.26: Any leading -D on an item will be removed.

Disclaimer: Most native build tools have poor support for escaping certain values. CMake has work-arounds for many cases but some values may just not be possible to pass correctly. If a value does not seem to be escaped correctly, do not attempt to work-around the problem by adding escape sequences to the value. Your work-around may break in a future version of CMake that has improved escape support. Instead consider defining the macro in a (configured) header file. Then report the limitation. Known limitations include:

#          - broken almost everywhere
;          - broken in VS IDE 7.0 and Borland Makefiles
,          - broken in VS IDE
%          - broken in some cases in NMake
& |        - broken in some cases on MinGW
^ < > \"   - broken in most Make tools on Windows

CMake does not reject these values outright because they do work in some cases. Use with caution.

Contents of COMPILE_DEFINITIONS may use cmake-generator-expressions(7) with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. However, Xcode does not support per-config per-source settings, so expressions that depend on the build configuration are not allowed with that generator.

Generator expressions should be preferred instead of setting the alternative per-configuration property.

  COMPILE_FLAGS

Additional flags to be added when compiling this source file.

The COMPILE_FLAGS property, managed as a string, sets additional compiler flags used that will be added to the list of compile flags when this source file builds. The flags will be added after target-wide flags (except in some cases not supported by the Visual Studio 9 2008 generator).

Use COMPILE_DEFINITIONS to pass additional preprocessor definitions.

Contents of COMPILE_FLAGS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. However, Xcode does not support per-config per-source settings, so expressions that depend on the build configuration are not allowed with that generator.

NOTE: This property has been superseded by the COMPILE_OPTIONS property.

  COMPILE_OPTIONS

New in version 3.11.

List of additional options to pass to the compiler.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of options and will be added to the list of compile flags when this source file builds. The options will be added after target-wide options (except in some cases not supported by the Visual Studio 9 2008 generator).

Contents of COMPILE_OPTIONS may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. However, Xcode does not support per-config per-source settings, so expressions that depend on the build configuration are not allowed with that generator.

Usage example:

set_source_files_properties(foo.cpp PROPERTIES COMPILE_OPTIONS "-Wno-unused-parameter;-Wno-missing-field-initializer")

Related properties:

•   Prefer this property over COMPILE_FLAGS.

•   Use COMPILE_DEFINITIONS to pass additional preprocessor definitions.

•   Use INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES to pass additional include directories.

    Related commands:

•   add_compile_options() for directory-wide settings

•   target_compile_options() for target-specific settings

  CXX_SCAN_FOR_MODULES

New in version 3.28.

CXX_SCAN_FOR_MODULES is a boolean specifying whether CMake will scan the source for C++ module dependencies. See also the CXX_SCAN_FOR_MODULES for target-wide settings.

When this property is set ON, CMake will scan the source at build time and add module dependency information to the compile line as necessary. When this property is set OFF, CMake will not scan the source at build time. When this property is unset, the CXX_SCAN_FOR_MODULES property is consulted.

Note that scanning is only performed if C++20 or higher is enabled for the target and the source uses the CXX language. Scanning for modules in sources belonging to file sets of type CXX_MODULES is always performed.

  EXTERNAL_OBJECT

If set to true then this is an object file.

If this property is set to True then the source file is really an object file and should not be compiled. It will still be linked into the target though.

  Fortran_FORMAT

Set to FIXED or FREE to indicate the Fortran source layout.

This property tells CMake whether a given Fortran source file uses fixed-format or free-format. CMake will pass the corresponding format flag to the compiler. Consider using the target-wide Fortran_FORMAT property if all source files in a target share the same format.

NOTE: For some compilers, NAG, PGI and Solaris Studio, setting this to OFF will have no effect.

  Fortran_PREPROCESS

New in version 3.18.

Control whether the Fortran source file should be unconditionally preprocessed.

If unset or empty, rely on the compiler to determine whether the file should be preprocessed. If explicitly set to OFF then the file does not need to be preprocessed. If explicitly set to ON, then the file does need to be preprocessed as part of the compilation step.

When using the Ninja generator, all source files are first preprocessed in order to generate module dependency information. Setting this property to OFF will make Ninja skip this step.

Consider using the target-wide Fortran_PREPROCESS property if all source files in a target need to be preprocessed.

  GENERATED

Is this source file generated as part of the build or CMake process.

Changed in version 3.20: The GENERATED source file property is now visible in all directories.

Tells the internal CMake engine that a source file is generated by an outside process such as another build step, or the execution of CMake itself. This information is then used to exempt the file from any existence or validity checks.

Any file that is

•   created by the execution of commands such as add_custom_command() which run during the build

•   listed as one of the BYPRODUCTS of an add_custom_command() or add_custom_target() command, or

•   created by a CMake AUTOGEN operation such as AUTOMOC, AUTORCC, or AUTOUIC

    will be marked with the GENERATED property.

    When a generated file created as the OUTPUT of an add_custom_command() command is explicitly listed as a source file for any target in the same directory scope (which usually means the same CMakeLists.txt file), CMake will automatically create a dependency to make sure the file is generated before building that target.

    The Makefile Generators will remove GENERATED files during make clean.

    Generated sources may be hidden in some IDE tools, while in others they might be shown. For the special case of sources generated by CMake's AUTOMOC, AUTORCC or AUTOUIC functionality, the AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP, AUTOMOC_SOURCE_GROUP, AUTORCC_SOURCE_GROUP and AUTOUIC_SOURCE_GROUP target properties may influence where the generated sources are grouped in the project's file lists.

    NOTE: Starting with CMake 3.20 the GENERATED source file property can be set and retrieved from any directory scope. It is an all-or-nothing property. It also can no longer be removed or unset if it was set to TRUE. Policy CMP0118 was introduced to allow supporting the OLD behavior for some time.

  HEADER_FILE_ONLY

Is this source file only a header file.

A property on a source file that indicates if the source file is a header file with no associated implementation. This is set automatically based on the file extension and is used by CMake to determine if certain dependency information should be computed.

By setting this property to ON, you can disable compilation of the given source file, even if it should be compiled because it is part of the library's/executable's sources.

This is useful if you have some source files which you somehow pre-process, and then add these pre-processed sources via add_library() or add_executable(). Normally, in IDE, there would be no reference of the original sources, only of these pre-processed sources. So by setting this property for all the original source files to ON, and then either calling add_library() or add_executable() while passing both the pre-processed sources and the original sources, or by using target_sources() to add original source files will do exactly what would one expect, i.e. the original source files would be visible in IDE, and will not be built.

  INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES

New in version 3.11.

List of preprocessor include file search directories.

This property holds a semicolon-separated list of paths and will be added to the list of include directories when this source file builds. These directories will take precedence over directories defined at target level except for Xcode generator due to technical limitations.

Relative paths should not be added to this property directly.

Contents of INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. However, Xcode does not support per-config per-source settings, so expressions that depend on the build configuration are not allowed with that generator.

  KEEP_EXTENSION

Make the output file have the same extension as the source file.

If this property is set then the file extension of the output file will be the same as that of the source file. Normally the output file extension is computed based on the language of the source file, for example .cxx will go to a .o extension.

  LABELS

Specify a list of text labels associated with a source file.

This property has meaning only when the source file is listed in a target whose LABELS property is also set. No other semantics are currently specified.

  LANGUAGE

Specify the programming language in which a source file is written.

A property that can be set to indicate what programming language the source file is. If it is not set the language is determined based on the file extension. Typical values are CXX (i.e. C++), C, CSharp, CUDA, Fortran, HIP, ISPC, and ASM. Setting this property for a file means this file will be compiled, unless HEADER_FILE_ONLY is set.

Changed in version 3.20: Setting this property causes the source file to be compiled as the specified language, using explicit flags if possible. Previously it only caused the specified language's compiler to be used. See policy CMP0119.

  LOCATION

The full path to a source file.

A read only property on a SOURCE FILE that contains the full path to the source file.

  MACOSX_PACKAGE_LOCATION

Place a source file inside a Application Bundle (MACOSX_BUNDLE), Core Foundation Bundle (BUNDLE), or Framework Bundle (FRAMEWORK). It is applicable for macOS and iOS.

Executable targets with the MACOSX_BUNDLE property set are built as macOS or iOS application bundles on Apple platforms. Shared library targets with the FRAMEWORK property set are built as macOS or iOS frameworks on Apple platforms. Module library targets with the BUNDLE property set are built as macOS CFBundle bundles on Apple platforms. Source files listed in the target with this property set will be copied to a directory inside the bundle or framework content folder specified by the property value. For macOS Application Bundles the content folder is <name>.app/Contents. For macOS Frameworks the content folder is <name>.framework/Versions/<version>. For macOS CFBundles the content folder is <name>.bundle/Contents (unless the extension is changed). See the PUBLIC_HEADER, PRIVATE_HEADER, and RESOURCE target properties for specifying files meant for Headers, PrivateHeaders, or Resources directories.

If the specified location is equal to Resources, the resulting location will be the same as if the RESOURCE property had been used. If the specified location is a sub-folder of Resources, it will be placed into the respective sub-folder. Note: For iOS Apple uses a flat bundle layout where no Resources folder exist. Therefore CMake strips the Resources folder name from the specified location.

  OBJECT_DEPENDS

Additional files on which a compiled object file depends.

Specifies a semicolon-separated list of full-paths to files on which any object files compiled from this source file depend. On Makefile Generators and the Ninja generator an object file will be recompiled if any of the named files is newer than it. Visual Studio Generators and the Xcode generator cannot implement such compilation dependencies.

This property need not be used to specify the dependency of a source file on a generated header file that it includes. Although the property was originally introduced for this purpose, it is no longer necessary. If the generated header file is created by a custom command in the same target as the source file, the automatic dependency scanning process will recognize the dependency. If the generated header file is created by another target, an inter-target dependency should be created with the add_dependencies() command (if one does not already exist due to linking relationships).

  OBJECT_OUTPUTS

Additional outputs for a Ninja or Makefile Generators rule.

Additional outputs created by compilation of this source file. If any of these outputs is missing the object will be recompiled. This is supported only on the Ninja and Makefile Generators and will be ignored on other generators.

This property supports generator expressions.

  SKIP_AUTOGEN

New in version 3.8.

Exclude the source file from AUTOMOC, AUTOUIC and AUTORCC processing (for Qt projects).

For finer exclusion control see SKIP_AUTOMOC, SKIP_AUTOUIC and SKIP_AUTORCC.

  EXAMPLE

# ...
set_property(SOURCE file.h PROPERTY SKIP_AUTOGEN ON)
# ...

  SKIP_AUTOMOC

New in version 3.8.

Exclude the source file from AUTOMOC processing (for Qt projects).

For broader exclusion control see SKIP_AUTOGEN.

  EXAMPLE

# ...
set_property(SOURCE file.h PROPERTY SKIP_AUTOMOC ON)
# ...

  SKIP_AUTORCC

New in version 3.8.

Exclude the source file from AUTORCC processing (for Qt projects).

For broader exclusion control see SKIP_AUTOGEN.

  EXAMPLE

# ...
set_property(SOURCE file.qrc PROPERTY SKIP_AUTORCC ON)
# ...

  SKIP_AUTOUIC

New in version 3.8.

Exclude the source file from AUTOUIC processing (for Qt projects).

SKIP_AUTOUIC can be set on C++ header and source files and on .ui files.

For broader exclusion control see SKIP_AUTOGEN.

  EXAMPLE

# ...
set_property(SOURCE file.h PROPERTY SKIP_AUTOUIC ON)
set_property(SOURCE file.cpp PROPERTY SKIP_AUTOUIC ON)
set_property(SOURCE widget.ui PROPERTY SKIP_AUTOUIC ON)
# ...

  SKIP_LINTING

New in version 3.27.

This property allows you to exclude a specific source file from the linting process. The linting process involves running tools such as <LANG>_CPPLINT, <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY, <LANG>_CPPCHECK, and <LANG>_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE on the source files, as well as compiling header files as part of VERIFY_INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS. By setting SKIP_LINTING on a source file, the mentioned linting tools will not be executed for that particular file.

  Example

Consider a C++ project that includes multiple source files, such as main.cpp, things.cpp, and generatedBindings.cpp. In this example, you want to exclude the generatedBindings.cpp file from the linting process. To achieve this, you can utilize the SKIP_LINTING property with the set_source_files_properties() command as shown below:

add_executable(MyApp main.cpp things.cpp generatedBindings.cpp)
set_source_files_properties(generatedBindings.cpp PROPERTIES
    SKIP_LINTING ON
)

In the provided code snippet, the SKIP_LINTING property is set to true for the generatedBindings.cpp source file. As a result, when the linting tools specified by <LANG>_CPPLINT, <LANG>_CLANG_TIDY, <LANG>_CPPCHECK, or <LANG>_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE are executed, they will skip analyzing the generatedBindings.cpp file.

By using the SKIP_LINTING property, you can selectively exclude specific source files from the linting process. This allows you to focus the linting tools on the relevant parts of your project, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of the linting workflow.

  SKIP_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS

New in version 3.16.

Is this source file skipped by PRECOMPILE_HEADERS feature.

This property helps with build problems that one would run into when using the PRECOMPILE_HEADERS feature.

One example would be the usage of Objective-C (*.m) files, and Objective-C++ (*.mm) files, which lead to compilation failure because they are treated (in case of Ninja / Makefile generator) as C, and CXX respectively. The precompile headers are not compatible between languages.

  SKIP_UNITY_BUILD_INCLUSION

New in version 3.16.

Setting this property to true ensures the source file will be skipped by unity builds when its associated target has its UNITY_BUILD property set to true. The source file will instead be compiled on its own in the same way as it would with unity builds disabled.

This property helps with "ODR (One definition rule)" problems where combining a particular source file with others might lead to build errors or other unintended side effects.

  Swift_DEPENDENCIES_FILE

New in version 3.15.

This property sets the path for the Swift dependency file (swiftdeps) for the source. If one is not specified, it will default to <OBJECT>.swiftdeps.

  Swift_DIAGNOSTICS_FILE

New in version 3.15.

This property controls where the Swift diagnostics are serialized.

  SYMBOLIC

Is this just a name for a rule.

If SYMBOLIC (boolean) is set to True the build system will be informed that the source file is not actually created on disk but instead used as a symbolic name for a build rule.

  UNITY_GROUP

New in version 3.18.

This property controls which bucket the source will be part of when the UNITY_BUILD_MODE is set to GROUP.

  VS_COPY_TO_OUT_DIR

New in version 3.8.

Sets the <CopyToOutputDirectory> tag for a source file in a Visual Studio project file. Valid values are Never, Always and PreserveNewest.

  VS_CSHARP_<tagname>

New in version 3.8.

Visual Studio and CSharp source-file-specific configuration.

Tell the Visual Studio generators to set the source file tag <tagname> to a given value in the generated Visual Studio CSharp project. Ignored on other generators and languages. This property can be used to define dependencies between source files or set any other Visual Studio specific parameters.

Example usage:

set_source_files_properties(<filename>
         PROPERTIES
         VS_CSHARP_DependentUpon <other file>
         VS_CSHARP_SubType "Form")

  VS_DEPLOYMENT_CONTENT

New in version 3.1.

Mark a source file as content for deployment with a Windows Phone or Windows Store application when built with a Visual Studio generators. The value must evaluate to either 1 or 0 and may use generator expressions to make the choice based on the build configuration. The .vcxproj file entry for the source file will be marked either DeploymentContent or ExcludedFromBuild for values 1 and 0, respectively.

  VS_DEPLOYMENT_LOCATION

New in version 3.1.

Specifies the deployment location for a content source file with a Windows Phone or Windows Store application when built with a Visual Studio generators. This property is only applicable when using VS_DEPLOYMENT_CONTENT. The value represent the path relative to the app package and applies to all configurations.

  VS_INCLUDE_IN_VSIX

New in version 3.8.

Boolean property to specify if the file should be included within a VSIX (Visual Studio Integration Extension) extension package. This is needed for development of Visual Studio extensions.

  VS_RESOURCE_GENERATOR

New in version 3.8.

This property allows to specify the resource generator to be used on this file. It defaults to PublicResXFileCodeGenerator if not set.

This property only applies to C# projects.

  VS_SETTINGS

New in version 3.18.

Set any item metadata on a file.

New in version 3.22: This property is honored for all source file types. Previously it worked only for non-built files.

Takes a list of Key=Value pairs. Tells the Visual Studio generator to set Key to Value as item metadata on the file.

For example:

set_property(SOURCE file.hlsl PROPERTY VS_SETTINGS "Key=Value" "Key2=Value2")

will set Key to Value and Key2 to Value2 on the file.hlsl item as metadata.

Generator expressions are supported.

  VS_SHADER_DISABLE_OPTIMIZATIONS

New in version 3.11.

Disable compiler optimizations for an .hlsl source file. This adds the -Od flag to the command line for the FxCompiler tool. Specify the value true for this property to disable compiler optimizations.

  VS_SHADER_ENABLE_DEBUG

New in version 3.11.

Enable debugging information for an .hlsl source file. This adds the -Zi flag to the command line for the FxCompiler tool. Specify the value true to generate debugging information for the compiled shader.

  VS_SHADER_ENTRYPOINT

New in version 3.1.

Specifies the name of the entry point for the shader of a .hlsl source file.

  VS_SHADER_FLAGS

New in version 3.2.

Set additional Visual Studio shader flags of a .hlsl source file.

  VS_SHADER_MODEL

New in version 3.1.

Specifies the shader model of a .hlsl source file. Some shader types can only be used with recent shader models

  VS_SHADER_OBJECT_FILE_NAME

New in version 3.12.

Specifies a file name for the compiled shader object file for an .hlsl source file. This adds the -Fo flag to the command line for the FxCompiler tool.

  VS_SHADER_OUTPUT_HEADER_FILE

New in version 3.10.

Set filename for output header file containing object code of a .hlsl source file.

  VS_SHADER_TYPE

New in version 3.1.

Set the Visual Studio shader type of a .hlsl source file.

  VS_SHADER_VARIABLE_NAME

New in version 3.10.

Set name of variable in header file containing object code of a .hlsl source file.

  VS_TOOL_OVERRIDE

New in version 3.7.

Override the default Visual Studio tool that will be applied to the source file with a new tool not based on the extension of the file.

  VS_XAML_TYPE

New in version 3.3.

Mark a Extensible Application Markup Language (XAML) source file as a different type than the default Page. The most common usage would be to set the default App.xaml file as ApplicationDefinition.

  WRAP_EXCLUDE

Exclude this source file from any code wrapping techniques.

Some packages can wrap source files into alternate languages to provide additional functionality.

For example, C++ code can be wrapped into Java or Python, using SWIG. If WRAP_EXCLUDE is set to True, that indicates that this source file should not be wrapped.

  XCODE_EXPLICIT_FILE_TYPE

New in version 3.1.

Set the Xcode explicitFileType attribute on its reference to a source file. CMake computes a default based on file extension but can be told explicitly with this property.

See also XCODE_LAST_KNOWN_FILE_TYPE.

  XCODE_FILE_ATTRIBUTES

New in version 3.7.

Add values to the Xcode ATTRIBUTES setting on its reference to a source file. Among other things, this can be used to set the role on a .mig file:

set_source_files_properties(defs.mig
    PROPERTIES
        XCODE_FILE_ATTRIBUTES "Client;Server"
)

  XCODE_LAST_KNOWN_FILE_TYPE

New in version 3.1.

Set the Xcode lastKnownFileType attribute on its reference to a source file. CMake computes a default based on file extension but can be told explicitly with this property.

See also XCODE_EXPLICIT_FILE_TYPE, which is preferred over this property if set.

PROPERTIES ON CACHE ENTRIES

  ADVANCED

True if entry should be hidden by default in GUIs.

This is a boolean value indicating whether the entry is considered interesting only for advanced configuration. The mark_as_advanced() command modifies this property.

  HELPSTRING

Help associated with entry in GUIs.

This string summarizes the purpose of an entry to help users set it through a CMake GUI.

  MODIFIED

Internal management property. Do not set or get.

This is an internal cache entry property managed by CMake to track interactive user modification of entries. Ignore it.

  STRINGS

Enumerate possible STRING entry values for GUI selection.

For cache entries with type STRING, this enumerates a set of values. CMake GUIs may use this to provide a selection widget instead of a generic string entry field. This is for convenience only. CMake does not enforce that the value matches one of those listed.

  TYPE

Widget type for entry in GUIs.

Cache entry values are always strings, but CMake GUIs present widgets to help users set values. The GUIs use this property as a hint to determine the widget type. Valid TYPE values are:

BOOL          = Boolean ON/OFF value.
PATH          = Path to a directory.
FILEPATH      = Path to a file.
STRING        = Generic string value.
INTERNAL      = Do not present in GUI at all.
STATIC        = Value managed by CMake, do not change.
UNINITIALIZED = Type not yet specified.

Generally the TYPE of a cache entry should be set by the command which creates it ( set(), option(), find_library(), etc.).

  VALUE

Value of a cache entry.

This property maps to the actual value of a cache entry. Setting this property always sets the value without checking, so use with care.

PROPERTIES ON INSTALLED FILES

  CPACK_DESKTOP_SHORTCUTS

New in version 3.3.

Species a list of shortcut names that should be created on the Desktop for this file.

The property is currently only supported by the CPack WIX Generator.

  CPACK_NEVER_OVERWRITE

New in version 3.1.

Request that this file not be overwritten on install or reinstall.

The property is currently only supported by the CPack WIX Generator.

  CPACK_PERMANENT

New in version 3.1.

Request that this file not be removed on uninstall.

The property is currently only supported by the CPack WIX Generator.

  CPACK_START_MENU_SHORTCUTS

New in version 3.3.

Species a list of shortcut names that should be created in the Start Menu for this file.

The property is currently only supported by the CPack WIX Generator.

  CPACK_STARTUP_SHORTCUTS

New in version 3.3.

Species a list of shortcut names that should be created in the Startup folder for this file.

The property is currently only supported by the CPack WIX Generator.

  CPACK_WIX_ACL

New in version 3.1.

Specifies access permissions for files or directories installed by a WiX installer.

The property can contain multiple list entries, each of which has to match the following format.

<user>[@<domain>]=<permission>[,<permission>]

<user> and <domain> specify the windows user and domain for which the <Permission> element should be generated.

<permission> is any of the YesNoType attributes listed here:

http://wixtoolset.org/documentation/manual/v3/xsd/wix/permission.html

The property is currently only supported by the CPack WIX Generator.

DEPRECATED PROPERTIES ON DIRECTORIES

  ADDITIONAL_MAKE_CLEAN_FILES

Deprecated since version 3.15: Use ADDITIONAL_CLEAN_FILES instead.

Additional files to remove during the clean stage.

A ;-list of files that will be removed as a part of the make clean target.

Arguments to ADDITIONAL_MAKE_CLEAN_FILES may use generator expressions.

This property only works for the Makefile generators. It is ignored on other generators.

  COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG>

Ignored. See CMake Policy CMP0043.

Per-configuration preprocessor definitions in a directory.

This is the configuration-specific version of COMPILE_DEFINITIONS where <CONFIG> is an upper-case name (ex. COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_DEBUG).

This property will be initialized in each directory by its value in the directory's parent.

Contents of COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG> may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

Generator expressions should be preferred instead of setting this property.

  INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION

This directory property does not exist anymore.

See the target property INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION instead.

  INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION_<CONFIG>

This directory property does not exist anymore.

See the target property INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION_<CONFIG> instead.

  TEST_INCLUDE_FILE

Deprecated. Use TEST_INCLUDE_FILES instead.

A cmake file that will be included when ctest is run.

If you specify TEST_INCLUDE_FILE, that file will be included and processed when ctest is run on the directory.

DEPRECATED PROPERTIES ON TARGETS

  COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG>

Ignored. See CMake Policy CMP0043.

Per-configuration preprocessor definitions on a target.

This is the configuration-specific version of COMPILE_DEFINITIONS where <CONFIG> is an upper-case name (ex. COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_DEBUG).

Contents of COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG> may use "generator expressions" with the syntax $<...>. See the cmake-generator-expressions(7) manual for available expressions. See the cmake-buildsystem(7) manual for more on defining buildsystem properties.

Generator expressions should be preferred instead of setting this property.

  POST_INSTALL_SCRIPT

Deprecated install support.

The PRE_INSTALL_SCRIPT and POST_INSTALL_SCRIPT properties are the old way to specify CMake scripts to run before and after installing a target. They are used only when the old INSTALL_TARGETS command is used to install the target. Use the install() command instead.

  PRE_INSTALL_SCRIPT

Deprecated install support.

The PRE_INSTALL_SCRIPT and POST_INSTALL_SCRIPT properties are the old way to specify CMake scripts to run before and after installing a target. They are used only when the old INSTALL_TARGETS command is used to install the target. Use the install() command instead.

DEPRECATED PROPERTIES ON SOURCE FILES

  COMPILE_DEFINITIONS_<CONFIG>

Ignored. See CMake Policy CMP0043.

Per-configuration preprocessor definitions on a source file.

This is the configuration-specific version of COMPILE_DEFINITIONS. Note that Xcode does not support per-configuration source file flags so this property will be ignored by the Xcode generator.

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