focal (7) cmake-compile-features.7.gz
NAME
cmake-compile-features - CMake Compile Features Reference
INTRODUCTION
Project source code may depend on, or be conditional on, the availability of certain features of the
compiler. There are three use-cases which arise: Compile Feature Requirements, Optional Compile Features
and Conditional Compilation Options.
While features are typically specified in programming language standards, CMake provides a primary user
interface based on granular handling of the features, not the language standard that introduced the
feature.
The CMAKE_C_KNOWN_FEATURES and CMAKE_CXX_KNOWN_FEATURES global properties contain all the features known
to CMake, regardless of compiler support for the feature. The CMAKE_C_COMPILE_FEATURES and
CMAKE_CXX_COMPILE_FEATURES variables contain all features CMake knows are known to the compiler,
regardless of language standard or compile flags needed to use them.
Features known to CMake are named mostly following the same convention as the Clang feature test macros.
There are some exceptions, such as CMake using cxx_final and cxx_override instead of the single
cxx_override_control used by Clang.
Note that there are no separate compile features properties or variables for the OBJC or OBJCXX
languages. These are based off C or C++ respectively, so the properties and variables for their
corresponding base language should be used instead.
COMPILE FEATURE REQUIREMENTS
Compile feature requirements may be specified with the target_compile_features() command. For example,
if a target must be compiled with compiler support for the cxx_constexpr feature:
add_library(mylib requires_constexpr.cpp)
target_compile_features(mylib PRIVATE cxx_constexpr)
In processing the requirement for the cxx_constexpr feature, cmake(1) will ensure that the in-use C++
compiler is capable of the feature, and will add any necessary flags such as -std=gnu++11 to the compile
lines of C++ files in the mylib target. A FATAL_ERROR is issued if the compiler is not capable of the
feature.
The exact compile flags and language standard are deliberately not part of the user interface for this
use-case. CMake will compute the appropriate compile flags to use by considering the features specified
for each target.
Such compile flags are added even if the compiler supports the particular feature without the flag. For
example, the GNU compiler supports variadic templates (with a warning) even if -std=gnu++98 is used.
CMake adds the -std=gnu++11 flag if cxx_variadic_templates is specified as a requirement.
In the above example, mylib requires cxx_constexpr when it is built itself, but consumers of mylib are
not required to use a compiler which supports cxx_constexpr. If the interface of mylib does require the
cxx_constexpr feature (or any other known feature), that may be specified with the PUBLIC or INTERFACE
signatures of target_compile_features():
add_library(mylib requires_constexpr.cpp)
# cxx_constexpr is a usage-requirement
target_compile_features(mylib PUBLIC cxx_constexpr)
# main.cpp will be compiled with -std=gnu++11 on GNU for cxx_constexpr.
add_executable(myexe main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(myexe mylib)
Feature requirements are evaluated transitively by consuming the link implementation. See
cmake-buildsystem(7) for more on transitive behavior of build properties and usage requirements.
Requiring Language Standards
In projects that use a large number of commonly available features from a particular language standard
(e.g. C++ 11) one may specify a meta-feature (e.g. cxx_std_11) that requires use of a compiler mode that
is at minimum aware of that standard, but could be greater. This is simpler than specifying all the
features individually, but does not guarantee the existence of any particular feature. Diagnosis of use
of unsupported features will be delayed until compile time.
For example, if C++ 11 features are used extensively in a project’s header files, then clients must use a
compiler mode that is no less than C++ 11. This can be requested with the code:
target_compile_features(mylib PUBLIC cxx_std_11)
In this example, CMake will ensure the compiler is invoked in a mode of at-least C++ 11 (or C++ 14, C++
17, …), adding flags such as -std=gnu++11 if necessary. This applies to sources within mylib as well as
any dependents (that may include headers from mylib).
Availability of Compiler Extensions
Because the CXX_EXTENSIONS target property is ON by default, CMake uses extended variants of language
dialects by default, such as -std=gnu++11 instead of -std=c++11. That target property may be set to OFF
to use the non-extended variant of the dialect flag. Note that because most compilers enable extensions
by default, this could expose cross-platform bugs in user code or in the headers of third-party
dependencies.
OPTIONAL COMPILE FEATURES
Compile features may be preferred if available, without creating a hard requirement. For example, a
library may provides alternative implementations depending on whether the cxx_variadic_templates feature
is available:
#if Foo_COMPILER_CXX_VARIADIC_TEMPLATES
template<int I, int... Is>
struct Interface;
template<int I>
struct Interface<I>
{
static int accumulate()
{
return I;
}
};
template<int I, int... Is>
struct Interface
{
static int accumulate()
{
return I + Interface<Is...>::accumulate();
}
};
#else
template<int I1, int I2 = 0, int I3 = 0, int I4 = 0>
struct Interface
{
static int accumulate() { return I1 + I2 + I3 + I4; }
};
#endif
Such an interface depends on using the correct preprocessor defines for the compiler features. CMake can
generate a header file containing such defines using the WriteCompilerDetectionHeader module. The module
contains the write_compiler_detection_header function which accepts parameters to control the content of
the generated header file:
write_compiler_detection_header(
FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/foo_compiler_detection.h"
PREFIX Foo
COMPILERS GNU
FEATURES
cxx_variadic_templates
)
Such a header file may be used internally in the source code of a project, and it may be installed and
used in the interface of library code.
For each feature listed in FEATURES, a preprocessor definition is created in the header file, and defined
to either 1 or 0.
Additionally, some features call for additional defines, such as the cxx_final and cxx_override features.
Rather than being used in #ifdef code, the final keyword is abstracted by a symbol which is defined to
either final, a compiler-specific equivalent, or to empty. That way, C++ code can be written to
unconditionally use the symbol, and compiler support determines what it is expanded to:
struct Interface {
virtual void Execute() = 0;
};
struct Concrete Foo_FINAL {
void Execute() Foo_OVERRIDE;
};
In this case, Foo_FINAL will expand to final if the compiler supports the keyword, or to empty otherwise.
In this use-case, the CMake code will wish to enable a particular language standard if available from the
compiler. The CXX_STANDARD target property variable may be set to the desired language standard for a
particular target, and the CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD may be set to influence all following targets:
write_compiler_detection_header(
FILE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/foo_compiler_detection.h"
PREFIX Foo
COMPILERS GNU
FEATURES
cxx_final cxx_override
)
# Includes foo_compiler_detection.h and uses the Foo_FINAL symbol
# which will expand to 'final' if the compiler supports the requested
# CXX_STANDARD.
add_library(foo foo.cpp)
set_property(TARGET foo PROPERTY CXX_STANDARD 11)
# Includes foo_compiler_detection.h and uses the Foo_FINAL symbol
# which will expand to 'final' if the compiler supports the feature,
# even though CXX_STANDARD is not set explicitly. The requirement of
# cxx_constexpr causes CMake to set CXX_STANDARD internally, which
# affects the compile flags.
add_library(foo_impl foo_impl.cpp)
target_compile_features(foo_impl PRIVATE cxx_constexpr)
The write_compiler_detection_header function also creates compatibility code for other features which
have standard equivalents. For example, the cxx_static_assert feature is emulated with a template and
abstracted via the <PREFIX>_STATIC_ASSERT and <PREFIX>_STATIC_ASSERT_MSG function-macros.
CONDITIONAL COMPILATION OPTIONS
Libraries may provide entirely different header files depending on requested compiler features.
For example, a header at with_variadics/interface.h may contain:
template<int I, int... Is>
struct Interface;
template<int I>
struct Interface<I>
{
static int accumulate()
{
return I;
}
};
template<int I, int... Is>
struct Interface
{
static int accumulate()
{
return I + Interface<Is...>::accumulate();
}
};
while a header at no_variadics/interface.h may contain:
template<int I1, int I2 = 0, int I3 = 0, int I4 = 0>
struct Interface
{
static int accumulate() { return I1 + I2 + I3 + I4; }
};
It would be possible to write a abstraction interface.h header containing something like:
#include "foo_compiler_detection.h"
#if Foo_COMPILER_CXX_VARIADIC_TEMPLATES
#include "with_variadics/interface.h"
#else
#include "no_variadics/interface.h"
#endif
However this could be unmaintainable if there are many files to abstract. What is needed is to use
alternative include directories depending on the compiler capabilities.
CMake provides a COMPILE_FEATURES generator expression to implement such conditions. This may be used
with the build-property commands such as target_include_directories() and target_link_libraries() to set
the appropriate buildsystem properties:
add_library(foo INTERFACE)
set(with_variadics ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/with_variadics)
set(no_variadics ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/no_variadics)
target_include_directories(foo
INTERFACE
"$<$<COMPILE_FEATURES:cxx_variadic_templates>:${with_variadics}>"
"$<$<NOT:$<COMPILE_FEATURES:cxx_variadic_templates>>:${no_variadics}>"
)
Consuming code then simply links to the foo target as usual and uses the feature-appropriate include
directory
add_executable(consumer_with consumer_with.cpp)
target_link_libraries(consumer_with foo)
set_property(TARGET consumer_with CXX_STANDARD 11)
add_executable(consumer_no consumer_no.cpp)
target_link_libraries(consumer_no foo)
SUPPORTED COMPILERS
CMake is currently aware of the C++ standards and compile features available from the following compiler
ids as of the versions specified for each:
• AppleClang: Apple Clang for Xcode versions 4.4+.
• Clang: Clang compiler versions 2.9+.
• GNU: GNU compiler versions 4.4+.
• MSVC: Microsoft Visual Studio versions 2010+.
• SunPro: Oracle SolarisStudio versions 12.4+.
• Intel: Intel compiler versions 12.1+.
CMake is currently aware of the C standards and compile features available from the following compiler
ids as of the versions specified for each:
• all compilers and versions listed above for C++.
• GNU: GNU compiler versions 3.4+
CMake is currently aware of the C++ standards and their associated meta-features (e.g. cxx_std_11)
available from the following compiler ids as of the versions specified for each:
• Cray: Cray Compiler Environment version 8.1+.
• PGI: PGI version 12.10+.
• XL: IBM XL version 10.1+.
CMake is currently aware of the C standards and their associated meta-features (e.g. c_std_99) available
from the following compiler ids as of the versions specified for each:
• all compilers and versions listed above with only meta-features for C++.
• TI: Texas Instruments compiler.
CMake is currently aware of the CUDA standards from the following compiler ids as of the versions
specified for each:
• NVIDIA: NVIDIA nvcc compiler 7.5+.
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