CMake 3.23.0-rc1 is ready for testing

Announcements
1

I am proud to announce the first CMake 3.23 release candidate.
https://cmake.org/download/

Documentation is available at:
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.23

Release notes appear below and are also published at
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.23/release/3.23.html

Some of the more significant changes in CMake 3.23 are:

  • “cmake-presets(7)” files now have an optional “include” field, which
    allows the files to include other files.

  • The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2019 and above learned to
    support .NET SDK-style project files (".csproj") for C# projects.
    See the “DOTNET_SDK” target property and corresponding
    “CMAKE_DOTNET_SDK” variable. “add_custom_command()” is not yet
    supported in .NET SDK-style projects.

  • The IBM Open XL C/C++ compiler, based on LLVM, is now supported with
    compiler id “IBMClang”.

  • The MCST LCC compiler is now supported with compiler id “LCC”. See
    policy “CMP0129”.

  • The “install(TARGETS)” command gained a new “FILE_SET” argument,
    which can be used to install header file sets associated with a
    target.

  • The “target_sources()” command gained a new “FILE_SET” mode, which
    can be used to add headers as header-only source files of a target.

  • The “CMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES” variable and associated
    “CUDA_ARCHITECTURES” target property now support the “all”, and
    “all-major” values for CUDA toolkit 7.0+.

CMake 3.23 Release Notes

Changes made since CMake 3.22 include the following.

New Features

Presets

  • “cmake-presets(7)” files now support schema version “4”.

  • “cmake-presets(7)” files now have an optional “include” field, which
    allows the files to include other files.

  • “cmake-presets(7)” gained support for specifying the
    “resolvePackageReferences” command line option in a build preset.

Generators

  • The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2019 and above learned to
    support .NET SDK-style project files (".csproj") for C# projects.
    See the “DOTNET_SDK” target property and corresponding
    “CMAKE_DOTNET_SDK” variable. “add_custom_command()” is not yet
    supported in .NET SDK-style projects.

  • The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2017 and above learned to use
    portable instances of Visual Studio not known to the VS installer.
    See the “CMAKE_GENERATOR_INSTANCE” variable.

Command-Line

  • The “cmake(1)” “–build” command, when used with Visual Studio
    Generators on projects that set the “VS_PACKAGE_REFERENCES” target
    property, now automatically restores package references from NuGet.
    The cache variable “CMAKE_VS_NUGET_PACKAGE_RESTORE” may be set to
    toggle this behavior in a build tree. Use the “–resolve-package-
    references=<on|off|only>” command-line option to control the
    behavior on one invocation.

  • The “cmake(1)” command line tool gained a “–debug-find-pkg=” option
    to enable debug messages under specific “find_package()” calls.

  • The “cmake(1)” command line tool gained a “–debug-find-var=” option
    to enable debug messages for “find_*” calls that use specific result
    variables.

Compilers

  • The IBM Open XL C/C++ compiler, based on LLVM, is now supported with
    compiler id “IBMClang”.

  • The MCST LCC compiler is now supported with compiler id “LCC”. See
    policy “CMP0129”.

File-Based API

  • The “cmake-file-api(7)” “codemodel” version 2 “version” field has
    been updated to “2.4”.

  • The “cmake-file-api(7)” “codemodel” version 2 “directory” object
    “installers” field gained a new “fileSet” installer type.

Commands

  • The “define_property()” command gained a new
    “INITIALIZE_FROM_VARIABLE” option to cause a target property to be
    initialized from a variable when a target is created.

  • The “install(TARGETS)” command gained a new “FILE_SET” argument,
    which can be used to install header file sets associated with a
    target.

  • The “string(TIMESTAMP)” and “file(TIMESTAMP)” commands now support
    the “%f” specifier for microseconds.

  • The “target_sources()” command gained a new “FILE_SET” mode, which
    can be used to add headers as header-only source files of a target.

Variables

  • The “CMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES” variable and associated
    “CUDA_ARCHITECTURES” target property now support the “all”, and
    “all-major” values for CUDA toolkit 7.0+.

  • The “CMAKE_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH” and “CMAKE_SYSTEM_IGNORE_PREFIX_PATH”
    variables were added to tell the “find_package()”, “find_program()”,
    “find_library()”, “find_path()”, and “find_file()” commands to
    ignore specified prefixes.

  • The “CMAKE_LINK_LIBRARIES_ONLY_TARGETS” variable and corresponding
    “LINK_LIBRARIES_ONLY_TARGETS” target property were added to
    optionally require that all link items that can be target names are
    actually names of existing targets.

Properties

  • The “HEADER_SETS” and “INTERFACE_HEADER_SETS” target properties were
    added to list header sets associated with a target.

  • The “HEADER_SET” and “HEADER_SET_<NAME>” target properties were
    added to list files in the default header set and named header sets,
    respectively.

  • The “HEADER_DIRS” and “HEADER_DIRS_<NAME>” target properties were
    added to specify the base directories of the default header set and
    named header sets, respectively.

  • The “IMPORTED_NO_SYSTEM” target property was added to specify that
    an Imported Target should not be treated as a system library (i.e.
    its include directories are not automatically “SYSTEM”).

  • The “INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT” and
    “INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE” target properties were
    added to express usage requirements affecting a consumer’s direct
    link dependencies.

  • The “XCODE_EMBED_PLUGINS” target property was added to tell the
    “Xcode” generator what targets to put in the “Embed PlugIns” build
    phase.

  • The “XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_FRAME_CAPTURE_MODE” target property and
    supporting “CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_FRAME_CAPTURE_MODE”
    variable were added to tell the “Xcode” generator to enable
    specifying the Xcode scheme option property “GPU Frame Capture”.

Modules

  • The “CheckPIESupported” module now supports the “OBJC”, “OBJCXX”,
    “CUDA”, and “HIP” languages. It also now honors “CMAKE_SYSROOT” and
    “CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT”.

  • The “ExternalProject” module’s “ExternalProject_Add()” command
    gained support for a “USES_TERMINAL_PATCH” option to give the patch
    step exclusive terminal access.

  • The “FindCUDAToolkit” module now provides a target for
    “libcufft_static_nocallback”, if found.

  • The “FindGLUT” module now provides the “GLUT_INCLUDE_DIRS” result
    variable to conform with naming conventions documented in the
    “cmake-developer(7)” manual. This supersedes the legacy
    “GLUT_INCLUDE_DIR” variable.

  • The “FindGTest” module now provides a target for GMock, if found.

  • The “FindVulkan” module now provides a “Vulkan_VERSION” result
    variable reporting the version number.

CTest

  • “ctest(1)” gained a new “CTEST_SUBMIT_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT” variable,
    which can be used to specify a timeout for submission inactivity.

CPack

  • The “CPack productbuild Generator” gained the new
    “CPACK_PRODUCTBUILD_DOMAINS”, “CPACK_PRODUCTBUILD_DOMAINS_ANYWHERE”,
    “CPACK_PRODUCTBUILD_DOMAINS_USER”, and
    “CPACK_PRODUCTBUILD_DOMAINS_ROOT” variables for adding the domains
    element to the Distribution XML.

  • The “CPack productbuild Generator” gained a new variable,
    “CPACK_PRODUCTBUILD_IDENTIFIER”, used to customize the unique
    product identifier associated with the product.

  • The “CPack IFW Generator” gained the new “CPACK_IFW_ARCHIVE_FORMAT”
    and “CPACK_IFW_ARCHIVE_COMPRESSION” variables for setting the format
    used when packaging new component data archives, and choosing the
    compression level used. These features are available for QtIFW 4.2
    and newer.

  • The “CPack IFW Generator” gained new
    “CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_DISABLE_COMMAND_LINE_INTERFACE” variable to
    prevent the user from passing any consumer command to the installer,
    like “install”, “update”, and “remove”. This feature is available
    for QtIFW 4.0 and newer.

  • The “CPack IFW Generator” gained the new
    “CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_PRODUCT_IMAGES” variable for adding a list of
    images to be shown on the “PerformInstallationPage”. This feature is
    available for QtIFW 4.0 and newer.

  • The “CPack IFW Generator” gained the new
    “CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_RUN_PROGRAM”,
    “CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_RUN_PROGRAM_ARGUMENTS”, and
    “CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_RUN_PROGRAM_DESCRIPTION” variables for executing
    a command after the installer is done if the user accepts the
    action. This feature is available for QtIFW 4.0 and newer.

  • The “CPack IFW Generator” gained the new
    “CPACK_IFW_PACKAGE_SIGNING_IDENTITY” variable for specifying a code
    signing identity to be used for signing the generated app bundle.
    This feature is available on macOS only, and for QtIFW 3.0 and
    newer.

  • The “CPack WIX Generator” gained a new variable,
    “CPACK_WIX_SKIP_WIX_UI_EXTENSION”, to skip the inclusion of
    WixUIExtensions.

Deprecated and Removed Features

  • The “cpack(1)” undocumented “OSXX11” generator has been removed.

Other Changes

  • The “CPack DragNDrop Generator” no longer attaches
    “CPACK_RESOURCE_FILE_LICENSE” as the license agreement in the
    generated “.dmg” unless explicitly activated by a
    “CPACK_DMG_SLA_USE_RESOURCE_FILE_LICENSE” option. In CMake projects,
    the “CPack” module enables the option by default for compatibility.

  • “CUDA” targets may now enable both “CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION” and
    “CUDA_PTX_COMPILATION”.

  • “CUDA” compiler detection now:

    • issues an error in all cases when it’s unable to compute the
      default architecture(s) if required (see “CMP0104”),

    • handles “OFF” for “CMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES” on Clang,

    • supports the theoretical case of multiple default architectures,
      and

    • tries to detect invalid architectures and issue an error.

  • “CUDA” with Clang now implements policy “CMP0105” and the
    “$<DEVICE_LINK:…>” and “$<HOST_LINK:…>” “generator expressions”.

  • The “define_property()” command’s “BRIEF_DOCS” and “FULL_DOCS”
    arguments are now optional.

  • “ccmake(1)” may now be enabled on Windows when building CMake from
    source. This is experimental, and so is not included in official
    distributions.

3 Likes