[CMake] Moving large MSVS projects to CUDA

[James Bigler]

On Mon, May 7, 2012 at 11:41 AM, Ming <ymyang at wisc.edu> wrote:

>    **
>
>>   *  -The code in question is the Geant4 (**
>> http://geant4.web.cern.ch/geant4/support/download.shtml*<http://geant4.web.cern.ch/geant4/support/download.shtml>
>> *) toolkit, which uses CMake to handle its cross-platform
>> configurations. The end result of the toolkit is to compile a large set of
>> libraries.*
>> *-I’ve changed all of the source files from .cc to .cu, and changed all
>> “add_library” terms to “cuda_add_library”*
>> *-I’ve also updated all of the “include directories” to
>> “cuda_include_directories”*
>> *-The end result is that I am able to generate a build directory
>> (without any errors) using cmake, for VS2010. *
>> **
>> *However when I attempt to build the package in an analagous fashion, I
>> get errors from visual studio informing me mid-build that it:*
>> **
>> *Cannot load macro project “ for the following reason:*
>> *C:\...\Projects\VSMacros80\Samples\Samples.vsmacros’ is an invalid or
>> inaccessible macro project file*
>> **
>> *Once I acknowledge this message, it then says:*
>> **
>> *CMake has regenerated 3 .sln and/or .vcproj files.*
>> *Click:*
>> *--Yes to reload the whole solution...*
>> *--No to reload the solution ...*
>> *--Cancel to do nothing*
>> **
>> *This message shows up even though CMake was done generating files and
>> was closed prior to the build.*
>> *The same thing happens on my work computer, and I am able to compile
>> other programs just fine, so I do not believe it to be a corrupt install of
>> visual studio.  Any suggestions on why this would occur is appreciated!*
>> **
>> *Thanks,*
>> *Ming*
>> **
>> *Uploaded screenshots of the error messages:*
>> *https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/ymyang/web/macroerr1.png*<https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/ymyang/web/macroerr1.png>
>> * *
>> *https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/ymyang/web/macroerr2.png*<https://mywebspace.wisc.edu/ymyang/web/macroerr2.png>
>> * *
>>
>
> *I believe the macro error is a known problem with the CMake VS macro in
> VS 2010 (MS broke it).  The regeneration of the project files is also a
> known behavior of FindCUDA.  The dependencies are computed by nvcc during
> build and saved in a file.  When the dependency file is regenerated CMake
> will want to reconfigure to add those new dependencies to the project
> file.  This is the expected behavior.
>
> My current recommendation for CUDA + VS 2010 is to specify
> CMAKE_SUPPRESS_REGENERATION OFF in your project file's CMakeLists.txt:
> option(CMAKE_SUPPRESS_REGENERATION "Suppress regeneration of build scripts
> during build" ON)
>
> This will disable the VS CMake plugin, requiring you to manually configure
> with CMake when you change the build scripts.  I also recommend configuring
> CMake after your first build to pick up the file level dependencies that
> CUDA generates.
>
> James
> *
> Hey James,
> Thanks you for the reply.  I am a bit new to this (and definitely jumping
> into the deep end with what I am attempting).  Could you elaborate on what
> you mean by “manually configure with CMake” after the initial build?  Is it
> safe to interpret that as re-running CMake-gui after a build, for the same
> source and build directories?.  Or is there something else implied?  I’ve
> had issues in the past trying to perform a configure command in CMake-gui
> when the buidl directory already existed..?
>
> Thanks!
> Ming
>

By design, CMake should detect configuration changes and reconfigure before
the build starts.  The VS plugin was designed to provide a single dialog
box that would allow for reloading of the entire solution with a single
click rather than having to click "reload" for each project one at a time.
This plugin doesn't work properly in VS 2010, because MS broke something.

To run the configuration manually, you would need to configure your build
from the CMake-GUI instead of relying on VS to run the configuration during
the build.  You would use the same build and source directory.  This should
work fine.
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