[CMake] Copying DLLs to output directory

Fri Oct 31 15:51:02 EDT 2014

Am 31. Oktober 2014 20:11:23 MEZ, schrieb Robert Dailey <rcdailey.lists at gmail.com>:
>I like this idea but it doesn't seem like it will work for targets
>with multiple DLLs... for example boost. It has several DLLs. I don't
>want to define 1 target for each DLL either. Sometimes that doesn't
>make sense.

The FindQt4 module already does this. Every component has its own imported target, e.g. Qt4::Core. The :: is for namespacing in cmake.
There can only be one library per imported target but you can still group them with variables, again see FindQt4.
Interface targets should not contain libraries.

>On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 10:45 AM, Hendrk Sattler
><post at hendrik-sattler.de> wrote:
>> Am 2014-10-28 18:25, schrieb Robert Dailey:
>>>
>>> I have a third party library like OpenSSL prebuilt for each platform
>>> and in my own structure in version control. I have a CMake script
>that
>>> creates an INTERFACE library target for it. I setup the include
>>> directories and link targets. However, I don't see a way to
>configure
>>> DLLs in the interface library target. How would you do this, and
>what
>>> would CMake do to these targets to make sure they are copied to the
>>> output directory of the executable I run from Visual Studio for
>>> debugging?
>>
>>
>> I have this for ZLib:
>> if ( ZLIB_FOUND )
>>   if ( WIN32 )
>>     get_filename_component( ZLIB_LIBDIR "${ZLIB_LIBRARY}" PATH )
>>     get_filename_component ( ZLIB_BASENAME "${ZLIB_LIBRARY}" NAME_WE
>)
>>     get_filename_component ( ZLIB_LIBDIR_BASE "${ZLIB_LIBDIR}" PATH )
>>     find_file ( ZLIB_DLL
>>
>"${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${ZLIB_BASENAME}${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
>>       HINTS
>>         "${ZLIB_LIBDIR_BASE}"
>>       PATH_SUFFIXES
>>         bin
>>       NO_DEFAULT_PATH
>>     )
>>     mark_as_advanced ( ZLIB_DLL )
>>     if ( ZLIB_DLL )
>>       add_library ( zlib SHARED IMPORTED GLOBAL )
>>       set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY IMPORTED_IMPLIB
>"${ZLIB_LIBRARY}"
>> )
>>       set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY IMPORTED_LOCATION
>"${ZLIB_DLL}" )
>>     else ( ZLIB_DLL )
>>       add_library ( zlib STATIC IMPORTED GLOBAL )
>>       set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY IMPORTED_LOCATION
>> "${ZLIB_LIBRARY}" )
>>     endif ( ZLIB_DLL )
>>   else( WIN32 )
>>     add_library ( zlib UNKNOWN IMPORTED GLOBAL )
>>     set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY IMPORTED_LOCATION
>"${ZLIB_LIBRARY}"
>> )
>>   endif( WIN32 )
>>   set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
>>     "${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}"
>>   )
>>
>>   set ( ZLIB_LIBRARIES zlib )
>>   set ( ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS "${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}" )
>> endif ( ZLIB_FOUND )
>>
>> The .lib goes into IMPORTED_IMPLIB and the .dll goes into
>IMPORTED_LOCATION.
>> The way to find the .dll from the location of the .lib might differ
>for
>> different libraries.
>> For ZLib, the base name is the same.
>>
>> Later, you can use this imported target:
>>   add_custom_command ( TARGET myTarget POST_BUILD
>>     COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different $<TARGET_FILE:zlib>
>> $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:myTarget>
>>   )
>> Now, zlib.dll is in the same directory as myTarget.dll.
>>
>> HS
>>
>>> On Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 12:21 AM, Hendrik Sattler
>>> <post at hendrik-sattler.de> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Hi,
>>>>
>>>> you can use generator expression in a post build rule to copy the
>dll
>>>> file to the same target dir as the target you link it with. The
>easiest way
>>>> to do this is to properly define all 3rd party libraries as
>imported targets
>>>> that contains both, the lib and the dll file.
>>>> Sadly, the FindQt4 on Windows doesn't do this and thus make life
>harder
>>>> than needed. CMake configuration files should always do this right.
>>>>
>>>> OTOH, you could also write a wrapper batch file or change VS
>properties
>>>> to modify PATH to include all libraries before the regular path.
>>>>
>>>> HS
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Am 28. Oktober 2014 02:55:08 MEZ, schrieb Robert Dailey
>>>> <rcdailey.lists at gmail.com>:
>>>>>
>>>>> This actually used to be a very difficult problem to solve.
>However,
>>>>> to debug in visual studio it's essential.
>>>>>
>>>>> If I have DLLs located in third party directories OR from targets
>that
>>>>> I depend on, those must all be copied to the directory of the
>>>>> executable I'm debugging in order for those DLLs to be found and
>>>>> loaded.
>>>>>
>>>>> Using CMake 3.0.2, I hope this task is simpler, especially with
>the
>>>>> introduction of a nice suite of generator expressions. Can anyone
>>>>> recommend a good way to do this?
>>>>
>>>>
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>>
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>> Powered by www.kitware.com
>>
>> Please keep messages on-topic and check the CMake FAQ at:
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>more
>> information on each offering, please visit:
>>
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