Add Source in a subdirectory to a cmake project

by

Since CMake 3.1 there is a new way to add source from subdirectories: target_sources

Say you have root_dir and root_dir/sub_dir and source files in both. With target_sources you can do this:

In root_dir/CMakeLists.txt define the target

add_library(some_target main.cpp)
add_subdirectory(sub_dir)

In root_dir/sub_dir/CMakeLists.txt add sources:

target_sources(some_target PRIVATE more_cool_stuff.cpp)

some_target will now contain both source files.

It is also possible to use other commands in root_dir/sub_dir/CMakeLists.txt using some_target, for example target_compile_definitions which is quite convenient to add compilation definitions.

I learned about target_sources here, check it out if you want more explanation and examples

More Related Contents:

  1. CMake link to external library
  2. What is the proper way to use `pkg-config` from `cmake`?
  3. CMake does not find includes / libraries
  4. CMake: In which order are files parsed (cache, toolchain, etc.)?
  5. How to specify a compiler in CMake?
  6. Why is cmake file GLOB evil?
  7. How to modify environment variables passed to custom CMake target?
  8. How do I change the working directory for my program
  9. Copy file from source directory to binary directory using CMake
  10. Find package Eigen3 for CMake
  11. CMake share library with multiple executables
  12. Listing include_directories in CMake
  13. Recursive list of LINK_LIBRARIES in CMake
  14. Building a tool immediately so it can be used later in same CMake run
  15. How to instruct CMake to use the build architecture compiler
  16. MacOS, CMake and OpenMP
  17. What is CMake equivalent of ‘configure –prefix=DIR && make all install ‘?
  18. What is a CMake generator?
  19. How to detect if current scope has a parent in CMake?
  20. Making a CMake library accessible by other CMake packages automatically
  21. CMake: How to build external projects and include their targets
  22. Set CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS options using CMake
  23. Passing compiler options in CMake
  24. how to add prebuilt object files to executable in cmake
  25. spacing in -D option in cmake
  26. How to use CMake to find and link to a library using install-export and find_package?
  27. CMake : Changing name of Visual Studio and Xcode exectuables depending on configuration in a project generated by CMake
  28. Why add header files into the add_library/add_executable commands in CMake?
  29. CMake and finding other projects and their dependencies
  30. How to add a custom build type to CMake? (targeting make)

Leave a Comment