CMake 3.25.0-rc3 is ready for testing

Announcements
1

I am proud to announce the third CMake 3.25 release candidate.
https://cmake.org/download/

Documentation is available at:
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.25

Release notes appear below and are also published at
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.25/release/3.25.html

Some of the more significant changes in CMake 3.25 are:

  • The “find_file()”, “find_path()”, “find_library()”, and
    “find_program()” commands gained a “VALIDATOR” option to specify a
    function to be called for each candidate item to validate it.

  • The “try_compile()” and “try_run()” commands gained new signatures
    that more consistently use keyword dispatch and do not require a
    binary directory to be specified. Additionally, these signatures
    use a unique directory for each invocation, which allows multiple
    outputs to be preserved when using “cmake --debug-trycompile”.

  • The “add_subdirectory()” command gained a “SYSTEM” option to enable
    the “SYSTEM” directory property in the subdirectory.

  • The “block()” and “endblock()” commands were added to manage
    specific scopes (policy or variable) for a contained block of
    commands.

  • The “return()” command gained a “PROPAGATE” option to propagate
    variables to the scope to which control returns. See policy
    “CMP0140”.

  • The “BSD” and “CMAKE_HOST_BSD” variables are now set to a string
    value when the target or host system is BSD, respectively.

  • The “LINUX” and “CMAKE_HOST_LINUX” variables are now set to true
    when the target or host system is Linux, respectively.

  • The “CMAKE_MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT” variable and
    “MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT” target property were introduced to
    select the debug information format for compilers targeting the MSVC
    ABI. See policy “CMP0141”.

CMake 3.25 Release Notes

Changes made since CMake 3.24 include the following.

New Features

Presets

  • The “cmake-presets(7)” schema version has been bumped to “6”.

  • The “cmake-presets(7)” format now supports a “packagePresets” field
    to specify presets for “cpack --preset”.

  • The “cmake-presets(7)” format now supports a “workflowPresets” field
    to specify presets for “cmake --workflow”.

  • The “cmake-presets(7)” format now supports an “outputJUnitFile” field
    to specify JUnit output in test presets

Languages

  • The “Compile Features” functionality is now aware of C++26, and
    defines a “cxx_std_26” meta-feature. C++26 compiler modes may also
    be specified via the “CXX_STANDARD”, “CUDA_STANDARD”,
    “HIP_STANDARD”, or “OBJCXX_STANDARD” target properties.

  • “CUDA” language support now includes device link-time optimization
    when using “nvcc”. The “CMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION”
    variable and the associated “INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION” target
    property will activate device LTO.

Command-Line

  • A “cmake --workflow --preset” mode was added to drive sequences of
    configure, build, test, and package operations through a single
    command.

  • The “cmake -E capabilities” command gained a new “tls” field that
    tells whether or not TLS is enabled.

  • The “cmake -E env” command-line tool gained a “–modify” flag to
    support “ENVIRONMENT_MODIFICATION” operations.

  • The “cmake --debug-trycompile” option now prints log messages
    reporting the directory in which each try-compile check is done.

Compilers

  • Support for the Tasking compiler toolsets (SmartCode, TriCore,
    Standalone: ARM, MCS, 8051) was added with compiler id “Tasking”.
    See the “CMAKE_TASKING_TOOLSET” variable.

Commands

  • The “add_subdirectory()” command gained a “SYSTEM” option to enable
    the “SYSTEM” directory property in the subdirectory.

  • The “block()” and “endblock()” commands were added to manage
    specific scopes (policy or variable) for a contained block of
    commands.

  • The “cmake_language()” command gained a new “GET_MESSAGE_LOG_LEVEL”
    sub-command. It can be used to query the current message logging
    level.

  • The “find_file()”, “find_path()”, “find_library()”, and
    “find_program()” commands gained a “VALIDATOR” option to specify a
    function to be called for each candidate item to validate it.

  • The “find_package()” command now considers paths of the form
    “//(cmake|CMake)//” when searching for package
    configuration files.

  • The “return()” command gained a “PROPAGATE” option to propagate
    variables to the scope to which control returns. See policy
    “CMP0140”.

  • The “try_compile()” and “try_run()” commands gained new signatures
    that more consistently use keyword dispatch and do not require a
    binary directory to be specified. Additionally, these signatures
    use a unique directory for each invocation, which allows multiple
    outputs to be preserved when using “cmake --debug-trycompile”.

  • The “try_compile()” and “try_run()” commands gained the option
    “NO_CACHE” to store results in normal variables.

  • The “try_run()” command gained “RUN_OUTPUT_STDOUT_VARIABLE” and
    “RUN_OUTPUT_STDERR_VARIABLE” options to capture stdout and stderr
    separately from the output of the compiled program.

Variables

  • The “BSD” and “CMAKE_HOST_BSD” variables are now set to a string
    value when the target or host system is BSD, respectively.

  • The “LINUX” and “CMAKE_HOST_LINUX” variables are now set to true
    when the target or host system is Linux, respectively.

  • The “CMAKE_MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT” variable and
    “MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT” target property were introduced to
    select the debug information format for compilers targeting the MSVC
    ABI. See policy “CMP0141”.

  • The “CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_API_VALIDATION” variable and
    corresponding “XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_API_VALIDATION” target
    property were added to tell the “Xcode” generator what to put in the
    scheme’s “Metal: API Validation” setting.

  • The “CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_SHADER_VALIDATION” variable and
    corresponding “XCODE_SCHEME_ENABLE_GPU_SHADER_VALIDATION” target
    property were added to tell the “Xcode” generator what to put in the
    scheme’s “Metal: Shader Validation” setting.

  • The “CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_MODE” variable and corresponding
    “XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_MODE” target property were added to tell the
    “Xcode” generator what to put in the scheme’s “Launch” mode setting.

  • The “CMAKE_XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_CONFIGURATION” variable and
    corresponding “XCODE_SCHEME_LAUNCH_CONFIGURATION” target property
    were added to tell the “Xcode” generator what configuration to put
    in the scheme’s Launch action.

Properties

  • The “_COMPILER_LAUNCHER” target property now supports
    “generator expressions”.

  • The “EXPORT_NO_SYSTEM” target property was added to specify that
    “install(EXPORT)” and “export()” commands will generate an imported
    target with “SYSTEM” property “OFF”.

  • The “SYSTEM” target property was added to specify whether a target
    should be treated as a system library (i.e. its include directories
    are automatically “SYSTEM” when compiling consumers). If not set,
    the default is the previous behavior: on for imported targets and
    off for other targets.

  • The “SYSTEM” directory property was added to initialize the “SYSTEM”
    target property for targets created in that directory.

Modules

  • The “FetchContent” module “FetchContent_Declare()” command gained a
    “SYSTEM” option to enable the “SYSTEM” directory property in the
    subdirectory.

  • The “FindCUDAToolkit” module now provides a target for nvtx3 for
    CUDA 10.0+, which supersedes nvToolsExt. A deprecation warning is
    emitted when using “nvToolsExt” if the project requires CMake 3.25
    and CUDA 10.0+ is used.

  • The “FindDoxygen” module’s version handling has been improved:

    • Multiple candidate installations will now be considered, if
      needed, to satisfy version constraints. Previously, only the
      first one encountered would be considered.

    • Version ranges are supported.

    • Variations in the version format reported by Doxygen are now
      tolerated (e.g. a trailing git commit hash).

  • The “FindOpenAL” module now provides an imported target.

  • The “FindOpenSP” module was added to find the OpenSP library.

  • The “FindVulkan” module gained support for new components:

    “dxc”
    DirectX Shader Compiler.

    “volk”
    Volk open-source vulkan meta-loader.

CPack

  • The “CPack Archive Generator” gained a new
    “CPACK_ARCHIVE_FILE_EXTENSION” variable to control the package file
    name extension.

  • The “CPack NSIS Generator” gained two new variables
    “CPACK_NSIS_EXECUTABLE_PRE_ARGUMENTS” and
    “CPACK_NSIS_EXECUTABLE_POST_ARGUMENTS” to provide arguments to the
    nsis executable invocation.

  • The “CPack” module gained the “CPACK_READELF_EXECUTABLE”,
    “CPACK_OBJCOPY_EXECUTABLE”, and “CPACK_OBJDUMP_EXECUTABLE” variables
    to control the locations of binutils used by “cpack(1)”.

Deprecated and Removed Features

  • The “IMPORTED_NO_SYSTEM” target property has been deprecated in
    favor of “SYSTEM” and “EXPORT_NO_SYSTEM”.

  • The “Visual Studio 10 2010” generator has been removed.

  • The “Visual Studio 11 2012” generator is now deprecated and will be
    removed in a future version of CMake.

Other Changes

  • On Windows, when targeting the MSVC ABI, the “find_library()”
    command now accepts “.a” file names after first considering “.lib”.
    This is symmetric with existing behavior when targeting the GNU ABI,
    in which the command accepts “.lib” file names after first
    considering “.a”.

  • The “SSL_CERT_FILE” and “SSL_CERT_DIR” environment variables can now
    be used to override where to find certificate authorities for
    TLS/SSL operations.

  • If “_CLANG_TIDY” includes a “-p” argument, the full compiler
    command line is no longer appended after “–”.

  • The “Xcode” generator no longer adds the per-config suffix
    “$(CONFIGURATION)$(EFFECTIVE_PLATFORM_NAME)” to library search
    paths. See policy “CMP0142”.

Changes made since CMake 3.25.0-rc2:

Alex Turbov (3):

  • Help: Reformat find_package search paths as Sphinx tables
  • Help: Mention CMake version for a recently-added find_package search path
  • Help: Add more CLI :option: references to various pages

Anthony Roberts (1):

  • Tests: Fix RunCMake.VsDotnetSdk with VS >= 17.3 on ARM64

Aurelien Regat-Barrel (1):

  • file(DOWNLOAD): Fix LOG with EXPECTED_HASH on download failure

Brad King (21):

  • Tests: Explicitly allow usage of git file-based protocol in test cases
  • cm/filesystem: Fix crash with pre-C++11 std::string GNU ABI in C++17
  • Tests: Avoid running C++11 test on GNU < 4.7
  • Xcode: Evaluate Swift compile definitions separately
  • VS: Fix crash finding vswhere on 32-bit Windows
  • Ninja: Restore support for non-ascii paths on Windows with ninja<=1.10
  • Tests: Add case for ninja with non-ascii chars
  • Xcode: Revert “Don’t set INSTALL_PATH unless target is SHARED_LIBRARY”
  • FindGLUT: Fix regression when pkg-config is not available
  • Xcode: Put object files in a place that Xcode cleans
  • cmGeneratedFileStream: Add support for a temporary alternate encoding
  • cm_codecvt: Add support for the Windows console output code page
  • Ninja: Match showIncludes dependencies using console output code page
  • cmGeneratedFileStream: Drop unused WriteRaw method
  • cmLocalGenerator: Factor out helper to compute MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT
  • cmLocalGenerator: Clarify name of local PDB type variable
  • Tests: Drop redundant project init from RunCMake.PrecompileHeaders cases
  • CMP0141: Fix PCH REUSE_FROM under policy NEW behavior
  • curl: Update script to get curl 7.86.0
  • curl: Set build options the way we need for CMake
  • CMake 3.25.0-rc3

Craig Scott (4):

  • Help: Fix trivial typos related to presets
  • Help: Use array consistently in presets manual
  • Help: State default preset strategy for architecture and toolset
  • Help: Minor formatting and cross-ref cleanup for _POSTFIX

Curl Upstream (1):

  • curl 2022-10-26 (cd95ee9f)

Kyle Edwards (6):

  • cmake: Support --list-presets=workflow
  • CPack: Require no argument for --trace and --trace-expand
  • cmake --workflow: print usage message
  • cmake --workflow: print usage and exit on unrecognized argument
  • cmake::Workflow: Refactor to use enum class argument
  • cmake --workflow: add --fresh option

Letu Ren (1):

  • Linux: Avoid finding libraries using lib64 on ArchLinux

Markus Ferrell (1):

  • Tutorial: Restore USE_MYMATH in place of MY_MATH

Michael Hirsch (1):

  • Help: cmake(1), ctest(1), versionadded for key flags

Mis, Piotr (1):

  • VS: Fix MSBuild property for nostdlib flag

Mojca Miklavec (1):

  • CPack/NSIS: Document BOM mark for UTF-8 encoded LICENSE file

Robert Maynard (1):

  • FindCUDAToolkit: Add nvptxcompiler_static dependency on Threads::Threads

Sebastian Maisch (1):

  • VS: Fix paths in multi-target SDK-style projects

Werner, Joerg (1):

  • cmGlobalVisualStudioGenerator: Fix compiling as C++20 in VS 2022

مهدي شينون (Mehdi Chinoune) (1):

  • LLVMFlang: Add a required line to define linking rules on Windows