# Do not let add\_compile\_definitions to change my define

**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252
**Category:** Usage
**Created:** [November 27, 2020, 7:35am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252 "2020-11-27T07:35:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 8
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![dalianduzhi](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dalianduzhi](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/dalianduzhi)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2020, 7:35am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252/1 "2020-11-27T07:35:31Z")

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In MSYS2 on windows10, I want to add the following define to the ArmCC compiler via add\_compile\_definitions

-D\_\_TIME\_\_="“NO\_TIME”"

But no matter how I write,I can not get the what I wanted.  
How can I get this define?

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### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [November 27, 2020, 3:58pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252/2 "2020-11-27T15:58:00Z")

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This might be a built-in define that can’t be changed. That said, your quoting looks weird. How is it specified in the `CMakeLists.txt` or command line and how does it appear in the compile line (`make VERBOSE=1` or `ninja -v`)?

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### Author: ![dalianduzhi](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dalianduzhi](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/dalianduzhi)
#### Post date: [November 28, 2020, 1:06am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252/3 "2020-11-28T01:06:23Z")

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The command line I wanted is  
-D\_\_TIME\_\_="\“NO\_TIME\”".

thanks

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### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [November 29, 2020, 5:37pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252/4 "2020-11-29T17:37:13Z")

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What are you getting? And how are you trying to specify it in code (either CMake or command line)?

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### Author: ![dalianduzhi](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dalianduzhi](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/dalianduzhi)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252/5 "2020-11-30T00:58:06Z")

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![无标题](https://discourse.cmake.org/uploads/default/original/1X/3aba8e7a116d5fc9699d4e2b703020038543734e.png)

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### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252/6 "2020-11-30T02:22:07Z")

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Try this in the `CMakeLists.txt`:

```cmake
add_compile_definitions(" __TIME__ =\"NO_TIME\"")

```

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### Author: ![dalianduzhi](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/d/eb8c5e/32.png) [@dalianduzhi](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/dalianduzhi)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2020, 3:22am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252/7 "2020-11-30T03:22:31Z")

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I got this.

 ![无标题](https://discourse.cmake.org/uploads/default/original/1X/fc7963d8d24e1a5030f2c6fb65b5f54c45491dda.png)

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### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [November 30, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/do-not-let-add-compile-definitions-to-change-my-define/2252/8 "2020-11-30T13:43:02Z")

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That’s what you want though (based on what you’ve said), so that looks good to me. If the compiler is not passing it through to your code, that’s beyond CMake’s abilities.