Provided by: cmake-data_3.27.4-1_all bug

NAME

       cmake-language - CMake Language Reference

ORGANIZATION

       CMake input files are written in the "CMake Language" in source files named CMakeLists.txt
       or ending in a .cmake file name extension.

       CMake Language source files in a project are organized into:

       • Directories (CMakeLists.txt),

       • Scripts (<script>.cmake), and

       • Modules (<module>.cmake).

   Directories
       When CMake processes a project source tree, the  entry  point  is  a  source  file  called
       CMakeLists.txt  in the top-level source directory.  This file may contain the entire build
       specification or use the add_subdirectory() command to add subdirectories  to  the  build.
       Each  subdirectory  added  by  the  command must also contain a CMakeLists.txt file as the
       entry point to that directory.  For each source directory  whose  CMakeLists.txt  file  is
       processed  CMake  generates  a  corresponding  directory  in  the build tree to act as the
       default working and output directory.

   Scripts
       An individual <script>.cmake source file may be processed in  script  mode  by  using  the
       cmake(1)  command-line  tool  with the -P option.  Script mode simply runs the commands in
       the given CMake Language source file and does not generate a build system.   It  does  not
       allow CMake commands that define build targets or actions.

   Modules
       CMake Language code in either Directories or Scripts may use the include() command to load
       a  <module>.cmake  source  file  in  the  scope  of  the  including  context.    See   the
       cmake-modules(7)  manual  page  for  documentation  of  modules  included  with  the CMake
       distribution.  Project source trees may also provide their own modules and  specify  their
       location(s) in the CMAKE_MODULE_PATH variable.

SYNTAX

   Encoding
       A  CMake  Language  source file may be written in 7-bit ASCII text for maximum portability
       across all supported platforms.  Newlines may be encoded as either \n or \r\n but will  be
       converted to \n as input files are read.

       Note  that  the  implementation  is 8-bit clean so source files may be encoded as UTF-8 on
       platforms with system APIs supporting this encoding.  In addition,  CMake  3.2  and  above
       support  source  files  encoded  in  UTF-8  on Windows (using UTF-16 to call system APIs).
       Furthermore, CMake 3.0 and above allow a leading UTF-8 Byte-Order Mark in source files.

   Source Files
       A CMake Language source file consists of zero or more  Command  Invocations  separated  by
       newlines and optionally spaces and Comments:

       file         ::=  file_element*
       file_element ::=  command_invocation line_ending |
                         (bracket_comment|space)* line_ending
       line_ending  ::=  line_comment? newline
       space        ::=  <match '[ \t]+'>
       newline      ::=  <match '\n'>

       Note  that  any source file line not inside Command Arguments or a Bracket Comment can end
       in a Line Comment.

   Command Invocations
       A command  invocation  is  a  name  followed  by  paren-enclosed  arguments  separated  by
       whitespace:

       command_invocation  ::=  space* identifier space* '(' arguments ')'
       identifier          ::=  <match '[A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_]*'>
       arguments           ::=  argument? separated_arguments*
       separated_arguments ::=  separation+ argument? |
                                separation* '(' arguments ')'
       separation          ::=  space | line_ending

       For example:

          add_executable(hello world.c)

       Command  names  are  case-insensitive.   Nested unquoted parentheses in the arguments must
       balance.  Each ( or ) is given to the command invocation as a literal  Unquoted  Argument.
       This may be used in calls to the if() command to enclose conditions.  For example:

          if(FALSE AND (FALSE OR TRUE)) # evaluates to FALSE

       NOTE:
          CMake  versions  prior  to  3.0  require  command  name  identifiers  to  be at least 2
          characters.

          CMake versions prior to 2.8.12  silently  accept  an  Unquoted  Argument  or  a  Quoted
          Argument  immediately  following a Quoted Argument and not separated by any whitespace.
          For compatibility, CMake 2.8.12 and higher accept such code but produce a warning.

   Command Arguments
       There are three types of arguments within Command Invocations:

       argument ::=  bracket_argument | quoted_argument | unquoted_argument

   Bracket Argument
       A bracket argument, inspired by Lua long bracket syntax, encloses content between  opening
       and closing "brackets" of the same length:

       bracket_argument ::=  bracket_open bracket_content bracket_close
       bracket_open     ::=  '[' '='* '['
       bracket_content  ::=  <any text not containing a bracket_close with
                              the same number of '=' as the bracket_open>
       bracket_close    ::=  ']' '='* ']'

       An  opening  bracket  is  written  [  followed  by  zero  or  more  =  followed by [.  The
       corresponding closing bracket is written ] followed by the same number of = followed by ].
       Brackets  do  not  nest.  A unique length may always be chosen for the opening and closing
       brackets to contain closing brackets of other lengths.

       Bracket argument content consists of all text between the opening  and  closing  brackets,
       except that one newline immediately following the opening bracket, if any, is ignored.  No
       evaluation of the enclosed content, such as Escape Sequences or  Variable  References,  is
       performed.   A  bracket  argument is always given to the command invocation as exactly one
       argument.

       For example:

          message([=[
          This is the first line in a bracket argument with bracket length 1.
          No \-escape sequences or ${variable} references are evaluated.
          This is always one argument even though it contains a ; character.
          The text does not end on a closing bracket of length 0 like ]].
          It does end in a closing bracket of length 1.
          ]=])

       NOTE:
          CMake versions prior to 3.0 do not  support  bracket  arguments.   They  interpret  the
          opening bracket as the start of an Unquoted Argument.

   Quoted Argument
       A quoted argument encloses content between opening and closing double-quote characters:

       quoted_argument     ::=  '"' quoted_element* '"'
       quoted_element      ::=  <any character except '\' or '"'> |
                                escape_sequence |
                                quoted_continuation
       quoted_continuation ::=  '\' newline

       Quoted  argument  content  consists  of all text between opening and closing quotes.  Both
       Escape Sequences and Variable References are evaluated.  A quoted argument is always given
       to the command invocation as exactly one argument.

       For example:

          message("This is a quoted argument containing multiple lines.
          This is always one argument even though it contains a ; character.
          Both \\-escape sequences and ${variable} references are evaluated.
          The text does not end on an escaped double-quote like \".
          It does end in an unescaped double quote.
          ")

       The  final  \  on  any  line  ending  in an odd number of backslashes is treated as a line
       continuation and ignored along with the  immediately  following  newline  character.   For
       example:

          message("\
          This is the first line of a quoted argument. \
          In fact it is the only line but since it is long \
          the source code uses line continuation.\
          ")

       NOTE:
          CMake  versions prior to 3.0 do not support continuation with \.  They report errors in
          quoted arguments containing lines ending in an odd number of \ characters.

   Unquoted Argument
       An unquoted argument is not enclosed by any  quoting  syntax.   It  may  not  contain  any
       whitespace, (, ), #, ", or \ except when escaped by a backslash:

       unquoted_argument ::=  unquoted_element+ | unquoted_legacy
       unquoted_element  ::=  <any character except whitespace or one of '()#"\'> |
                              escape_sequence
       unquoted_legacy   ::=  <see note in text>

       Unquoted argument content consists of all text in a contiguous block of allowed or escaped
       characters.  Both Escape Sequences and Variable References are evaluated.   The  resulting
       value  is  divided  in the same way Lists divide into elements.  Each non-empty element is
       given to the command invocation as an argument.  Therefore an  unquoted  argument  may  be
       given to a command invocation as zero or more arguments.

       For example:

          foreach(arg
              NoSpace
              Escaped\ Space
              This;Divides;Into;Five;Arguments
              Escaped\;Semicolon
              )
            message("${arg}")
          endforeach()

       NOTE:
          To support legacy CMake code, unquoted arguments may also contain double-quoted strings
          ("...", possibly enclosing horizontal whitespace), and make-style  variable  references
          ($(MAKEVAR)).

          Unescaped  double-quotes  must  balance, may not appear at the beginning of an unquoted
          argument, and are treated as part of the content.  For example, the unquoted  arguments
          -Da="b c", -Da=$(v), and a" "b"c"d are each interpreted literally.  They may instead be
          written  as  quoted  arguments  "-Da=\"b  c\"",  "-Da=$(v)",   and   "a\"   \"b\"c\"d",
          respectively.

          Make-style  references  are treated literally as part of the content and do not undergo
          variable expansion.  They are treated as part of a  single  argument  (rather  than  as
          separate $, (, MAKEVAR, and ) arguments).

          The  above "unquoted_legacy" production represents such arguments.  We do not recommend
          using legacy unquoted arguments in new code.   Instead  use  a  Quoted  Argument  or  a
          Bracket Argument to represent the content.

   Escape Sequences
       An escape sequence is a \ followed by one character:

       escape_sequence  ::=  escape_identity | escape_encoded | escape_semicolon
       escape_identity  ::=  '\' <match '[^A-Za-z0-9;]'>
       escape_encoded   ::=  '\t' | '\r' | '\n'
       escape_semicolon ::=  '\;'

       A  \ followed by a non-alphanumeric character simply encodes the literal character without
       interpreting it as syntax.  A \t, \r, or \n encodes a tab,  carriage  return,  or  newline
       character,  respectively.  A \; outside of any Variable References  encodes itself but may
       be used in an Unquoted Argument to encode the ; without dividing the argument value on it.
       A \; inside Variable References encodes the literal ; character.  (See also policy CMP0053
       documentation for historical considerations.)

   Variable References
       A variable reference has the form ${<variable>} and is evaluated inside a Quoted  Argument
       or  an  Unquoted Argument.  A variable reference is replaced by the value of the specified
       variable or cache entry, or if neither is set, by the empty string.   Variable  references
       can nest and are evaluated from the inside out, e.g. ${outer_${inner_variable}_variable}.

       Literal  variable references may consist of alphanumeric characters, the characters /_.+-,
       and Escape Sequences.  Nested references may be used to evaluate variables  of  any  name.
       See  also policy CMP0053 documentation for historical considerations and reasons why the $
       is also technically permitted but is discouraged.

       The Variables section documents the scope of variable names and how their values are set.

       An environment variable reference has the  form  $ENV{<variable>}.   See  the  Environment
       Variables section for more information.

       A  cache  variable reference has the form $CACHE{<variable>}, and is replaced by the value
       of the specified cache entry without checking for a normal variable of the same name.   If
       the  cache  entry  does not exist, it is replaced by the empty string.  See CACHE for more
       information.

       The if() command has a special condition syntax that allows for variable references in the
       short  form  <variable>  instead  of ${<variable>}.  However, environment variables always
       need to be referenced as $ENV{<variable>}.

   Comments
       A comment starts with a #  character  that  is  not  inside  a  Bracket  Argument,  Quoted
       Argument,  or  escaped  with  \  as  part of an Unquoted Argument.  There are two types of
       comments: a Bracket Comment and a Line Comment.

   Bracket Comment
       A # immediately followed by a bracket_open forms  a  bracket  comment  consisting  of  the
       entire bracket enclosure:

       bracket_comment ::=  '#' bracket_argument

       For example:

          #[[This is a bracket comment.
          It runs until the close bracket.]]
          message("First Argument\n" #[[Bracket Comment]] "Second Argument")

       NOTE:
          CMake  versions  prior  to  3.0  do  not  support bracket comments.  They interpret the
          opening # as the start of a Line Comment.

   Line Comment
       A # not immediately followed by a bracket_open forms a line comment that  runs  until  the
       end of the line:

       line_comment ::=  '#' <any text not starting in a bracket_open
                              and not containing a newline>

       For example:

          # This is a line comment.
          message("First Argument\n" # This is a line comment :)
                  "Second Argument") # This is a line comment.

CONTROL STRUCTURES

   Conditional Blocks
       The   if()/elseif()/else()/endif()   commands   delimit   code   blocks   to  be  executed
       conditionally.

   Loops
       The foreach()/endforeach() and while()/endwhile()  commands  delimit  code  blocks  to  be
       executed  in  a loop.  Inside such blocks the break() command may be used to terminate the
       loop early whereas the continue() command may be used to start  with  the  next  iteration
       immediately.

   Command Definitions
       The  macro()/endmacro(),  and  function()/endfunction() commands delimit code blocks to be
       recorded for later invocation as commands.

VARIABLES

       Variables are the basic unit of storage in the CMake Language.  Their values are always of
       string type, though some commands may interpret the strings as values of other types.  The
       set() and unset() commands explicitly set or unset a variable,  but  other  commands  have
       semantics  that  modify  variables  as  well.   Variable  names are case-sensitive and may
       consist of almost any text,  but  we  recommend  sticking  to  names  consisting  only  of
       alphanumeric characters plus _ and -.

       Variables  have  dynamic  scope.   Each variable "set" or "unset" creates a binding in the
       current scope:

       Block Scope
              The block() command may create a new scope for variable bindings.

       Function Scope
              Command Definitions created by the function() command create  commands  that,  when
              invoked, process the recorded commands in a new variable binding scope.  A variable
              "set" or "unset" binds in this scope and is visible for the  current  function  and
              any nested calls within it, but not after the function returns.

       Directory Scope
              Each  of  the  Directories  in a source tree has its own variable bindings.  Before
              processing the CMakeLists.txt file for  a  directory,  CMake  copies  all  variable
              bindings  currently  defined in the parent directory, if any, to initialize the new
              directory scope.  CMake Scripts, when processed with cmake -P,  bind  variables  in
              one "directory" scope.

              A  variable  "set"  or  "unset"  not  inside  a  function call binds to the current
              directory scope.

       Persistent Cache
              CMake stores a separate set of "cache" variables, or "cache entries", whose  values
              persist  across  multiple  runs within a project build tree.  Cache entries have an
              isolated binding scope modified only by explicit request,  such  as  by  the  CACHE
              option of the set() and unset() commands.

       When evaluating Variable References, CMake first searches the function call stack, if any,
       for a binding and then falls back to the binding in the current directory scope,  if  any.
       If  a  "set"  binding  is found, its value is used.  If an "unset" binding is found, or no
       binding is found, CMake then searches for a cache entry.  If a cache entry is  found,  its
       value  is  used.   Otherwise,  the  variable  reference evaluates to an empty string.  The
       $CACHE{VAR} syntax can be used to do direct cache entry lookups.

       The cmake-variables(7) manual documents the many variables that are provided by  CMake  or
       have meaning to CMake when set by project code.

       NOTE:
          CMake reserves identifiers that:

          • begin with CMAKE_ (upper-, lower-, or mixed-case), or

          • begin with _CMAKE_ (upper-, lower-, or mixed-case), or

          • begin with _ followed by the name of any CMake Command.

ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES

       Environment Variables are like ordinary Variables, with the following differences:

       Scope  Environment variables have global scope in a CMake process.  They are never cached.

       References
              Variable References have the form $ENV{<variable>}, using the ENV operator.

       Initialization
              Initial values of the CMake environment variables are those of the calling process.
              Values can be changed using the set() and unset() commands.   These  commands  only
              affect  the  running  CMake  process, not the system environment at large.  Changed
              values are not written back to the calling  process,  and  they  are  not  seen  by
              subsequent build or test processes.

              See the cmake -E env command-line tool to run a command in a modified environment.

       Inspection
              See  the  cmake -E environment command-line tool to display all current environment
              variables.

       The cmake-env-variables(7)  manual  documents  environment  variables  that  have  special
       meaning to CMake.

LISTS

       Although  all  values in CMake are stored as strings, a string may be treated as a list in
       certain contexts, such as during evaluation of an Unquoted Argument.  In such contexts,  a
       string is divided into list elements by splitting on ; characters not following an unequal
       number of [ and ] characters and not immediately preceded by a \.  The  sequence  \;  does
       not divide a value but is replaced by ; in the resulting element.

       A  list  of elements is represented as a string by concatenating the elements separated by
       ;.  For example, the set() command stores multiple values into the destination variable as
       a list:

          set(srcs a.c b.c c.c) # sets "srcs" to "a.c;b.c;c.c"

       Lists are meant for simple use cases such as a list of source files and should not be used
       for complex data processing tasks.  Most commands that construct lists  do  not  escape  ;
       characters in list elements, thus flattening nested lists:

          set(x a "b;c") # sets "x" to "a;b;c", not "a;b\;c"

       In  general,  lists  do  not support elements containing ; characters.  To avoid problems,
       consider the following advice:

       • The  interfaces   of   many   CMake   commands,   variables,   and   properties   accept
         semicolon-separated  lists.   Avoid passing lists with elements containing semicolons to
         these interfaces unless they document either direct support or some  way  to  escape  or
         encode semicolons.

       • When  constructing  a list, substitute an otherwise-unused placeholder for ; in elements
         when.  Then substitute ;  for  the  placeholder  when  processing  list  elements.   For
         example, the following code uses | in place of ; characters:

            set(mylist a "b|c")
            foreach(entry IN LISTS mylist)
              string(REPLACE "|" ";" entry "${entry}")
              # use "${entry}" normally
            endforeach()

         The  ExternalProject  module's LIST_SEPARATOR option is an example of an interface built
         using this approach.

       • In lists of generator expressions, use the $<SEMICOLON> generator expression.

       • In command calls, use Quoted Argument syntax whenever possible.  The called command will
         receive  the  content  of  the argument with semicolons preserved.  An Unquoted Argument
         will be split on semicolons.

       • In function() implementations, avoid ARGV and ARGN, which do not distinguish  semicolons
         in  values  from  those  separating  values.   Instead,  prefer  using  named positional
         arguments and the ARGC and ARGV# variables.  When using cmake_parse_arguments() to parse
         arguments, prefer its PARSE_ARGV signature, which uses the ARGV# variables.

         Note that this approach does not apply to macro() implementations because they reference
         arguments using placeholders, not real variables.

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