# How to put a result file to any subdirectory
**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/how-to-put-a-result-file-to-any-subdirectory/3266
**Category:** Usage
**Tags:** os:windows, gen:makefiles
**Created:** [May 5, 2021, 8:40am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/how-to-put-a-result-file-to-any-subdirectory/3266 "2021-05-05T08:40:06Z")
**Posts on this page:** 4
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@polarisru](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/polarisru)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2021, 8:40am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/how-to-put-a-result-file-to-any-subdirectory/3266/1 "2021-05-05T08:40:06Z")
I try to compile my Cortex-M0 project with CMake and arm-none-eabi-gcc (mingw32-make as make).
Everything is Ok, I get my hex and binary as result, but I want to have them not in the main directory with CMakeLists.txt, but in the separate directory, “bin” for example.
I’ve found, that CMAKE\_RUNTIME\_OUTPUT\_DIRECTORY must do the thing, but it doesn’t work properly.
I try to define it within my CMakeLists.txt:
> set(CMAKE\_RUNTIME\_OUTPUT\_DIRECTORY bin)
But I get this error during the linking:
> [100%] Linking C executable bin\xxx.out
> arm-none-eabi-size: ‘xxx.out’: No such file
> mingw32-make[2]: \*\*\* [CMakeFiles\xxx.out.dir\build.make:913: bin/xxx.out] Error 1
> mingw32-make[2]: \*\*\* Deleting file ‘bin/xxx.out’
> mingw32-make[1]: \*\*\* [CMakeFiles\Makefile2:82: CMakeFiles/xxx.out.dir/all] Error 2
> mingw32-make: \*\*\* [Makefile:90: all] Error 2
Bin directory was created, but it’s empty, so probably xxx.out was not created properly. How could I get it working?
If I remove CMAKE\_RUNTIME\_OUTPUT\_DIRECTORY definition, everything is Ok, linking is successful, but all my files (xxx.out, xxx.bin, xxx.hex) are placed to a root directory.
Here is the whole content of my CMakeLists.txt:
> cmake\_minimum\_required(VERSION 3.5)
> project(xxx)
>
> enable\_language(C ASM)
> set(CMAKE\_C\_STANDARD 99)
> set(CMAKE\_C\_STANDARD\_REQUIRED ON)
> set(CMAKE\_C\_EXTENSIONS OFF)
>
> set(EXECUTABLE ${PROJECT\_NAME}.out)
>
> #set(CMAKE\_RUNTIME\_OUTPUT\_DIRECTORY bin)
>
> include\_directories(src)
> set(sources
> src/main.c
> )
> add\_executable (${EXECUTABLE} ${sources})
>
> target\_compile\_definitions(${EXECUTABLE} PRIVATE
> -D\_\_ATSAMC21E18A\_\_
> -D\_\_TARGET\_CPU\_CORTEX\_M0
> )
>
> target\_compile\_options(${EXECUTABLE} PRIVATE
> -mcpu=cortex-m0plus
> -march=armv6-m
> -mthumb
> -mfloat-abi=soft
> -fdata-sections
> -ffunction-sections
> -fno-strict-aliasing
> -Wall
> -O2
> )
>
> target\_link\_options(${EXECUTABLE} PRIVATE
> -Tsys/samc21g18a\_release.ld
> -mcpu=cortex-m0plus
> -march=armv6-m
> -mthumb
> -mfloat-abi=soft
> -Wl,-Map=${PROJECT\_NAME}.map,–cref
> -specs=nano.specs
> -Wl,–gc-sections
> -lm
> -lc
> -lnosys
> )
>
> target\_link\_libraries(${EXECUTABLE} PRIVATE
> m
> )
>
> add\_custom\_command(TARGET ${EXECUTABLE}
> POST\_BUILD
> COMMAND arm-none-eabi-size ${EXECUTABLE})
>
> add\_custom\_command(TARGET ${EXECUTABLE}
> POST\_BUILD
> COMMAND arm-none-eabi-objcopy -O ihex ${EXECUTABLE} ${PROJECT\_NAME}.hex
> COMMAND arm-none-eabi-objcopy -O binary ${EXECUTABLE} ${PROJECT\_NAME}.bin)
Do you have any ideas? Thank you in advance!
---
### Author:  [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2021, 10:18am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/how-to-put-a-result-file-to-any-subdirectory/3266/2 "2021-05-05T10:18:52Z")
The problem is in your `POST_BUILD` commands. They used to work because, by default the working directory is `CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR`. Now that the binary has moved to another directory, they cannot “find” the executable by just its name. Instead of passing `${EXECUTABLE}` as an argument, I would recommend `$` instead. This will also work reliably for multi-config generators.
---
### Author:  [@polarisru](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/polarisru)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2021, 1:57pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/how-to-put-a-result-file-to-any-subdirectory/3266/3 "2021-05-05T13:57:07Z")
Thank you for your reply!
Probably you are right, the configuration was not Ok, but I’ve found another problem with this solution - the whole building process will be done in the project’s root directory, but I prefer to have everything in a separate directory. My previous workout was like that:
> cmake -G “MinGW Makefiles” -DCMAKE\_TOOLCHAIN\_FILE=arm-none-eabi-gcc.cmake
> mingw32-make
But now I define the build directory in the command line and perform the build process with cmake tools only:
> cmake -G “MinGW Makefiles” -DCMAKE\_TOOLCHAIN\_FILE=arm-none-eabi-gcc.cmake . -Bbin
> cmake --build ./bin
The only problem is a lot of temporary files I wish to delete after the build process. But this is another issue.
Now everything related to the build process is in the **bin** directory including the hex and bin files.
---
### Author:  [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [May 5, 2021, 6:02pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/how-to-put-a-result-file-to-any-subdirectory/3266/4 "2021-05-05T18:02:23Z")
> [@polarisru](#):
>
> The only problem is a lot of temporary files I wish to delete after the build process. But this is another issue.
Such as? And why are they a problem. If you want it for packaging or other purposes, it is usually far better to use installation to pull things out of the build tree for use elsewhere.
> [@polarisru](#):
>
> Now everything related to the build process is in the **bin** directory including the hex and bin files.
Maybe I’m confused. This is what you wanted right?
It seems you were using in-source builds and wanted to move the binaries? I would recommend using out-of-source builds (as `-Bbin` will do) and then use installation to “remove” the temporary files.