Ubuntu Manpage: cmake-generators - CMake Generators Reference

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Provided by: cmake-data_3.16.3-1ubuntu1.20.04.1_all

NAME

       cmake-generators - CMake Generators Reference

INTRODUCTION

       A  CMake  Generator is responsible for writing the input files for a native build system.  Exactly one of
       the CMake Generators must be selected for a build tree to determine what native build  system  is  to  be
       used.   Optionally  one  of the Extra Generators may be selected as a variant of some of the Command-Line
       Build Tool Generators to produce project files for an auxiliary IDE.

       CMake Generators are platform-specific so each may be available only on certain platforms.  The  cmake(1)
       command-line tool --help output lists available generators on the current platform.  Use its -G option to
       specify the generator for a new build tree.  The cmake-gui(1) offers interactive selection of a generator
       when creating a new build tree.

CMAKE GENERATORS

Command-Line Build Tool Generators
These generators support command-line build tools. In order to use them, one must launch CMake from a
command-line prompt whose environment is already configured for the chosen compiler and build tool.

Makefile Generators
Borland Makefiles
Generates Borland makefiles.

MSYS Makefiles
Generates makefiles for use with MSYS (Minimal SYStem) make under the MSYS shell.

Use this generator in a MSYS shell prompt and using make as the build tool. The generated makefiles use
/bin/sh as the shell to launch build rules. They are not compatible with a Windows command prompt.

To build under a Windows command prompt, use the MinGW Makefiles generator.

MinGW Makefiles
Generates makefiles for use with mingw32-make under a Windows command prompt.

Use this generator under a Windows command prompt with MinGW (Minimalist GNU for Windows) in the PATH and
using mingw32-make as the build tool. The generated makefiles use cmd.exe as the shell to launch build
rules. They are not compatible with MSYS or a unix shell.

To build under the MSYS shell, use the MSYS Makefiles generator.

NMake Makefiles
Generates NMake makefiles.

NMake Makefiles JOM
Generates JOM makefiles.

Unix Makefiles
Generates standard UNIX makefiles.

A hierarchy of UNIX makefiles is generated into the build tree. Use any standard UNIX-style make program
to build the project through the all target and install the project through the install (or
install/strip) target.

For each subdirectory sub/dir of the project a UNIX makefile will be created, containing the following
targets:

all Depends on all targets required by the subdirectory.

install
Runs the install step in the subdirectory, if any.

install/strip
Runs the install step in the subdirectory followed by a CMAKE_STRIP command, if any.

The CMAKE_STRIP variable will contain the platform’s strip utility, which removes symbols
information from generated binaries.

test Runs the test step in the subdirectory, if any.

package
Runs the package step in the subdirectory, if any.

Watcom WMake
Generates Watcom WMake makefiles.

Ninja Generator
Ninja
Generates build.ninja files.

A build.ninja file is generated into the build tree. Use the ninja program to build the project through
the all target and install the project through the install (or install/strip) target.

For each subdirectory sub/dir of the project, additional targets are generated:

sub/dir/all
Depends on all targets required by the subdirectory.

sub/dir/install
Runs the install step in the subdirectory, if any.

sub/dir/install/strip
Runs the install step in the subdirectory followed by a CMAKE_STRIP command, if any.

The CMAKE_STRIP variable will contain the platform’s strip utility, which removes symbols
information from generated binaries.

sub/dir/test
Runs the test step in the subdirectory, if any.

sub/dir/package
Runs the package step in the subdirectory, if any.

Fortran Support
The Ninja generator conditionally supports Fortran when the ninja tool has the required features. As of
this version of CMake the needed features have not been integrated into upstream Ninja. Kitware
maintains a branch of Ninja with the required features on github.com/Kitware/ninja.

IDE Build Tool Generators
These generators support Integrated Development Environment (IDE) project files. Since the IDEs
configure their own environment one may launch CMake from any environment.

Visual Studio Generators
Visual Studio 6
Removed. This once generated Visual Studio 6 project files, but the generator has been removed since
CMake 3.6. It is still possible to build with VS 6 tools using the NMake Makefiles generator.

Visual Studio 7
Removed. This once generated Visual Studio .NET 2002 project files, but the generator has been removed
since CMake 3.6. It is still possible to build with VS 7.0 tools using the NMake Makefiles generator.

Visual Studio 7 .NET 2003
Removed. This once generated Visual Studio .NET 2003 project files, but the generator has been removed
since CMake 3.9. It is still possible to build with VS 7.1 tools using the NMake Makefiles generator.

Visual Studio 8 2005
Removed. This once generated Visual Studio 8 2005 project files, but the generator has been removed
since CMake 3.12. It is still possible to build with VS 2005 tools using the NMake Makefiles generator.

Visual Studio 9 2008
Generates Visual Studio 9 2008 project files.

Platform Selection
The default target platform name (architecture) is Win32.

The CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM variable may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -A option, to specify a target
platform name (architecture). For example:

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 9 2008" -A Win32

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 9 2008" -A x64

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 9 2008" -A Itanium

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 9 2008" -A <WinCE-SDK> (Specify a target platform matching a Windows CE SDK
name.)

For compatibility with CMake versions prior to 3.1, one may specify a target platform name optionally at
the end of the generator name. This is supported only for:

Visual Studio 9 2008 Win64
Specify target platform x64.

Visual Studio 9 2008 IA64
Specify target platform Itanium.

Visual Studio 9 2008 <WinCE-SDK>
Specify target platform matching a Windows CE SDK name.

Visual Studio 10 2010
Generates Visual Studio 10 (VS 2010) project files.

For compatibility with CMake versions prior to 3.0, one may specify this generator using the name Visual
Studio 10 without the year component.

Project Types
Only Visual C++ and C# projects may be generated. Other types of projects (Database, Website, etc.) are
not supported.

Platform Selection
The default target platform name (architecture) is Win32.

The CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM variable may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -A option, to specify a target
platform name (architecture). For example:

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 10 2010" -A Win32

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 10 2010" -A x64

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 10 2010" -A Itanium

For compatibility with CMake versions prior to 3.1, one may specify a target platform name optionally at
the end of the generator name. This is supported only for:

Visual Studio 10 2010 Win64
Specify target platform x64.

Visual Studio 10 2010 IA64
Specify target platform Itanium.

Toolset Selection
The v100 toolset that comes with Visual Studio 10 2010 is selected by default. The
CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET option may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -T option, to specify another
toolset.

Visual Studio 11 2012
Generates Visual Studio 11 (VS 2012) project files.

For compatibility with CMake versions prior to 3.0, one may specify this generator using the name “Visual
Studio 11” without the year component.

Project Types
Only Visual C++ and C# projects may be generated. Other types of projects (JavaScript, Database,
Website, etc.) are not supported.

Platform Selection
The default target platform name (architecture) is Win32.

The CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM variable may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -A option, to specify a target
platform name (architecture). For example:

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 11 2012" -A Win32

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 11 2012" -A x64

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 11 2012" -A ARM

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 11 2012" -A <WinCE-SDK> (Specify a target platform matching a Windows CE SDK
name.)

For compatibility with CMake versions prior to 3.1, one may specify a target platform name optionally at
the end of the generator name. This is supported only for:

Visual Studio 11 2012 Win64
Specify target platform x64.

Visual Studio 11 2012 ARM
Specify target platform ARM.

Visual Studio 11 2012 <WinCE-SDK>
Specify target platform matching a Windows CE SDK name.

Toolset Selection
The v110 toolset that comes with Visual Studio 11 2012 is selected by default. The
CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET option may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -T option, to specify another
toolset.

Visual Studio 12 2013
Generates Visual Studio 12 (VS 2013) project files.

For compatibility with CMake versions prior to 3.0, one may specify this generator using the name “Visual
Studio 12” without the year component.

Project Types
Only Visual C++ and C# projects may be generated. Other types of projects (JavaScript, Powershell,
Python, etc.) are not supported.

Platform Selection
The default target platform name (architecture) is Win32.

The CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM variable may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -A option, to specify a target
platform name (architecture). For example:

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 12 2013" -A Win32

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 12 2013" -A x64

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 12 2013" -A ARM

For compatibility with CMake versions prior to 3.1, one may specify a target platform name optionally at
the end of the generator name. This is supported only for:

Visual Studio 12 2013 Win64
Specify target platform x64.

Visual Studio 12 2013 ARM
Specify target platform ARM.

Toolset Selection
The v120 toolset that comes with Visual Studio 12 2013 is selected by default. The
CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET option may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -T option, to specify another
toolset.

For each toolset that comes with this version of Visual Studio, there are variants that are themselves
compiled for 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) hosts (independent of the architecture they target). By
default this generator uses the 32-bit variant even on a 64-bit host. One may explicitly request use of
either the 32-bit or 64-bit host tools by adding either host=x86 or host=x64 to the toolset
specification. See the CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET variable for details.

Visual Studio 14 2015
Generates Visual Studio 14 (VS 2015) project files.

Project Types
Only Visual C++ and C# projects may be generated. Other types of projects (JavaScript, Powershell,
Python, etc.) are not supported.

Platform Selection
The default target platform name (architecture) is Win32.

The CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM variable may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -A option, to specify a target
platform name (architecture). For example:

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 14 2015" -A Win32

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 14 2015" -A x64

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 14 2015" -A ARM

For compatibility with CMake versions prior to 3.1, one may specify a target platform name optionally at
the end of the generator name. This is supported only for:

Visual Studio 14 2015 Win64
Specify target platform x64.

Visual Studio 14 2015 ARM
Specify target platform ARM.

Toolset Selection
The v140 toolset that comes with Visual Studio 14 2015 is selected by default. The
CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET option may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -T option, to specify another
toolset.

Visual Studio 15 2017
Generates Visual Studio 15 (VS 2017) project files.

Project Types
Only Visual C++ and C# projects may be generated. Other types of projects (JavaScript, Powershell,
Python, etc.) are not supported.

Instance Selection
VS 2017 supports multiple installations on the same machine. The CMAKE_GENERATOR_INSTANCE variable may
be set as a cache entry containing the absolute path to a Visual Studio instance. If the value is not
specified explicitly by the user or a toolchain file, CMake queries the Visual Studio Installer to locate
VS instances, chooses one, and sets the variable as a cache entry to hold the value persistently.

When CMake first chooses an instance, if the VS150COMNTOOLS environment variable is set and points to the
Common7/Tools directory within one of the instances, that instance will be used. Otherwise, if more than
one instance is installed we do not define which one is chosen by default.

Platform Selection
The default target platform name (architecture) is Win32.

The CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM variable may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -A option, to specify a target
platform name (architecture). For example:

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017" -A Win32

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017" -A x64

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017" -A ARM

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017" -A ARM64

For compatibility with CMake versions prior to 3.1, one may specify a target platform name optionally at
the end of the generator name. This is supported only for:

Visual Studio 15 2017 Win64
Specify target platform x64.

Visual Studio 15 2017 ARM
Specify target platform ARM.

Toolset Selection
The v141 toolset that comes with Visual Studio 15 2017 is selected by default. The
CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET option may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -T option, to specify another
toolset.

Visual Studio 16 2019
Generates Visual Studio 16 (VS 2019) project files.

Project Types
Only Visual C++ and C# projects may be generated. Other types of projects (JavaScript, Powershell,
Python, etc.) are not supported.

Instance Selection
VS 2019 supports multiple installations on the same machine. The CMAKE_GENERATOR_INSTANCE variable may
be set as a cache entry containing the absolute path to a Visual Studio instance. If the value is not
specified explicitly by the user or a toolchain file, CMake queries the Visual Studio Installer to locate
VS instances, chooses one, and sets the variable as a cache entry to hold the value persistently.

When CMake first chooses an instance, if the VS160COMNTOOLS environment variable is set and points to the
Common7/Tools directory within one of the instances, that instance will be used. Otherwise, if more than
one instance is installed we do not define which one is chosen by default.

Platform Selection
The default target platform name (architecture) is that of the host and is provided in the
CMAKE_VS_PLATFORM_NAME_DEFAULT variable.

The CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM variable may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -A option, to specify a target
platform name (architecture). For example:

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" -A Win32

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" -A x64

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" -A ARM

• cmake -G "Visual Studio 16 2019" -A ARM64

Toolset Selection
The v142 toolset that comes with Visual Studio 16 2019 is selected by default. The
CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET option may be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -T option, to specify another
toolset.

For each toolset that comes with this version of Visual Studio, there are variants that are themselves
compiled for 32-bit (x86) and 64-bit (x64) hosts (independent of the architecture they target). By
default this generator uses the 64-bit variant on x64 hosts and the 32-bit variant otherwise. One may
explicitly request use of either the 32-bit or 64-bit host tools by adding either host=x86 or host=x64 to
the toolset specification. See the CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET variable for details.

Other Generators
Green Hills MULTI
Generates Green Hills MULTI project files (experimental, work-in-progress).

The buildsystem has predetermined build-configuration settings that can be controlled via the
CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE variable.

Customizations that are used to pick toolset and target system:

The -A <arch> can be supplied for setting the target architecture. <arch> usually is one of arm, ppc,
86, etcetera. If the target architecture is not specified then the default architecture of arm will be
used.

The -T <toolset> option can be used to set the directory location of the toolset. Both absolute and
relative paths are valid. Relative paths use GHS_TOOLSET_ROOT as the root. If the toolset is not
specified then the latest toolset found in GHS_TOOLSET_ROOT will be used.

Cache variables that are used for toolset and target system customization:

• GHS_TARGET_PLATFORM
Defaults to integrity.
Usual values are integrity, threadx, uvelosity, velosity,
vxworks, standalone.

• GHS_PRIMARY_TARGET
Sets primaryTarget entry in project file.
Defaults to <arch>_<GHS_TARGET_PLATFORM>.tgt.

• GHS_TOOLSET_ROOT
Root path for toolset searches.
Defaults to C:/ghs in Windows or /usr/ghs in Linux.

• GHS_OS_ROOT
Root path for RTOS searches.
Defaults to C:/ghs in Windows or /usr/ghs in Linux.

• GHS_OS_DIR and GHS_OS_DIR_OPTION
Sets -os_dir entry in project file.
Defaults to latest platform OS installation at GHS_OS_ROOT. Set this value if
a specific RTOS is to be used.
GHS_OS_DIR_OPTION default value is -os_dir.

• GHS_BSP_NAME
Sets -bsp entry in project file.
Defaults to sim<arch> for integrity platforms.

Customizations are available through the following cache variables:

• GHS_CUSTOMIZATION

• GHS_GPJ_MACROS

The following properties are available:

• GHS_INTEGRITY_APP

• GHS_NO_SOURCE_GROUP_FILE

NOTE:
This generator is deemed experimental as of CMake 3.16.3 and is still a work in progress. Future
versions of CMake may make breaking changes as the generator matures.

Xcode
Generate Xcode project files.

This supports Xcode 5.0 and above.

Toolset Selection
By default Xcode is allowed to select its own default toolchain. The CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET option may
be set, perhaps via the cmake(1) -T option, to specify another toolset.

EXTRA GENERATORS

Some of the CMake Generators listed in the cmake(1) command-line tool --help output may have variants
that specify an extra generator for an auxiliary IDE tool. Such generator names have the form
<extra-generator> - <main-generator>. The following extra generators are known to CMake.

CodeBlocks
Generates CodeBlocks project files.

Project files for CodeBlocks will be created in the top directory and in every subdirectory which
features a CMakeLists.txt file containing a project() call. Additionally a hierarchy of makefiles is
generated into the build tree. The CMAKE_CODEBLOCKS_EXCLUDE_EXTERNAL_FILES variable may be set to ON to
exclude any files which are located outside of the project root directory. The appropriate make program
can build the project through the default all target. An install target is also provided.

This “extra” generator may be specified as:

CodeBlocks - MinGW Makefiles
Generate with MinGW Makefiles.

CodeBlocks - NMake Makefiles
Generate with NMake Makefiles.

CodeBlocks - NMake Makefiles JOM
Generate with NMake Makefiles JOM.

CodeBlocks - Ninja
Generate with Ninja.

CodeBlocks - Unix Makefiles
Generate with Unix Makefiles.

CodeLite
Generates CodeLite project files.

Project files for CodeLite will be created in the top directory and in every subdirectory which features
a CMakeLists.txt file containing a project() call. The CMAKE_CODELITE_USE_TARGETS variable may be set to
ON to change the default behavior from projects to targets as the basis for project files. The
appropriate make program can build the project through the default all target. An install target is also
provided.

This “extra” generator may be specified as:

CodeLite - MinGW Makefiles
Generate with MinGW Makefiles.

CodeLite - NMake Makefiles
Generate with NMake Makefiles.

CodeLite - Ninja
Generate with Ninja.

CodeLite - Unix Makefiles
Generate with Unix Makefiles.

Eclipse CDT4
Generates Eclipse CDT 4.0 project files.

Project files for Eclipse will be created in the top directory. In out of source builds, a linked
resource to the top level source directory will be created. Additionally a hierarchy of makefiles is
generated into the build tree. The appropriate make program can build the project through the default
all target. An install target is also provided.

This “extra” generator may be specified as:

Eclipse CDT4 - MinGW Makefiles
Generate with MinGW Makefiles.

Eclipse CDT4 - NMake Makefiles
Generate with NMake Makefiles.

Eclipse CDT4 - Ninja
Generate with Ninja.

Eclipse CDT4 - Unix Makefiles
Generate with Unix Makefiles.

Kate
Generates Kate project files.

A project file for Kate will be created in the top directory in the top level build directory. To use it
in Kate, the Project plugin must be enabled. The project file is loaded in Kate by opening the
ProjectName.kateproject file in the editor. If the Kate Build-plugin is enabled, all targets generated
by CMake are available for building.

This “extra” generator may be specified as:

Kate - MinGW Makefiles
Generate with MinGW Makefiles.

Kate - NMake Makefiles
Generate with NMake Makefiles.

Kate - Ninja
Generate with Ninja.

Kate - Unix Makefiles
Generate with Unix Makefiles.

Sublime Text 2
Generates Sublime Text 2 project files.

Project files for Sublime Text 2 will be created in the top directory and in every subdirectory which
features a CMakeLists.txt file containing a project() call. Additionally Makefiles (or build.ninja
files) are generated into the build tree. The appropriate make program can build the project through the
default all target. An install target is also provided.

This “extra” generator may be specified as:

Sublime Text 2 - MinGW Makefiles
Generate with MinGW Makefiles.

Sublime Text 2 - NMake Makefiles
Generate with NMake Makefiles.

Sublime Text 2 - Ninja
Generate with Ninja.

Sublime Text 2 - Unix Makefiles
Generate with Unix Makefiles.

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