How to write a proper configurePreset using MinGW compilers with "MinGW Makefiles" generator?

hwhsu1231 · October 6, 2022, 4:13am

Problem Descriptions

First of all, I already installed MinGW64 compiler in MSYS with running the following command:

pacman -S mingw-w64-x86_64-toolchain

And I tried the following example of CMakePresets.json:

Click to expand

{
  "version": 5,
  "configurePresets": [
    {
      "name": "win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug",
      "displayName": "Windows GCC x64 (MinGW Makefiles) Debug",
      "description": "Using GCC x64 compiler with \"MinGW Makefiles\" geneartor on Windows - Debug",
      "generator": "MinGW Makefiles",
      "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/${presetName}",
      "installDir": "${sourceDir}/install/${presetName}",
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe",
        "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/g++.exe",
        "CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM": "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/mingw32-make.exe",
        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug"
      }
    }
  ],
  "buildPresets": [
    {
      "name": "win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug",
      "displayName": "Windows GCC x64 (MinGW Makefiles) Debug",
      "configurePreset": "win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug"
    }
  ]
}

However, it failed with the following error message:

Click to expand

F:\Git-Repo\cmake-project-template-conan>cmake --preset win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug
Preset CMake variables:

  CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Debug"
  CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER="C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/g++.exe"
  CMAKE_C_COMPILER="C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe"
  CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH="F:/Git-Repo/cmake-project-template-conan/install/win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug"
  CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM="C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/mingw32-make.exe"

-- The C compiler identification is unknown
-- The CXX compiler identification is unknown
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - failed
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe - broken
CMake Error at C:/Program Files/CMake/share/cmake-3.24/Modules/CMakeTestCCompiler.cmake:69 (message):
  The C compiler

    "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe"

  is not able to compile a simple test program.

  It fails with the following output:

    Change Dir: F:/Git-Repo/cmake-project-template-conan/build/win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp

    Run Build Command(s):C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/mingw32-make.exe -f Makefile cmTC_5af10/fast && C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/mingw32-make.exe  -f CMakeFiles\cmTC_5af10.dir\build.make CMakeFiles/cmTC_5af10.dir/build
    mingw32-make[1]: Entering directory 'F:/Git-Repo/cmake-project-template-conan/build/win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
    Building C object CMakeFiles/cmTC_5af10.dir/testCCompiler.c.obj
    C:\msys64\mingw64\bin\gcc.exe    -o CMakeFiles\cmTC_5af10.dir\testCCompiler.c.obj -c F:\Git-Repo\cmake-project-template-conan\build\win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug\CMakeFiles\CMakeTmp\testCCompiler.c
    mingw32-make[1]: *** [CMakeFiles\cmTC_5af10.dir\build.make:77: CMakeFiles/cmTC_5af10.dir/testCCompiler.c.obj] Error 1
    mingw32-make[1]: Leaving directory 'F:/Git-Repo/cmake-project-template-conan/build/win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug/CMakeFiles/CMakeTmp'
    mingw32-make: *** [Makefile:126: cmTC_5af10/fast] Error 2





  CMake will not be able to correctly generate this project.
Call Stack (most recent call first):
  CMakeLists.txt:3 (project)


-- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
See also "F:/Git-Repo/cmake-project-template-conan/build/win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log".
See also "F:/Git-Repo/cmake-project-template-conan/build/win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug/CMakeFiles/CMakeError.log".

Here are the generated CMakeOutput.log and CMakeError.log:

What do I miss? If the above example is not appropriate, can someone give me a successful example? or how to fix it?

Environments and Versions

OS version: Windows 11
Compiler version: GCC 12.2.0
CMake version: CMake 3.24.2

brad.king · October 6, 2022, 2:43pm

– The C compiler identification is unknown
… is not able to compile a simple test program.

It looks like the gcc binary is immediately exiting with an error code but no message. Please try running C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe from the same environment in which you’re trying to use the preset. I suspect that the compiler’s runtime dependencies are not in the PATH.

hwhsu1231 · October 6, 2022, 3:32pm

I suspect that the compiler’s runtime dependencies are not in the PATH .

Yes! I think this is the problem. And I found a solution.

First of all, I didn’t add the directory C:/msys64/mingw64/bin into the PATH because I tend to call msys2_shell.cmd to open a new terminal with the corresponding environment when I want to use MinGW. Therefore, I APPEND the directory C:/msys64/mingw64/bin to the PATH in CMakePresets.json. And it WORKS.

The following is the modified example of CMakePresets.json.

Click to expand

{
  "version": 5,
  "configurePresets": [
    {
      "name": "win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug",
      "displayName": "Windows GCC x64 (MinGW Makefiles) Debug",
      "description": "Using GCC x64 compiler with \"MinGW Makefiles\" geneartor on Windows - Debug",
      "generator": "MinGW Makefiles",
      "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/build/${presetName}",
      "installDir": "${sourceDir}/install/${presetName}",
      "environment": {
        "PATH": "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin;$penv{PATH}"
      },
      "cacheVariables": {
        "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "gcc.exe",
        "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "g++.exe",
        "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug"
      }
    }
  ],
  "buildPresets": [
    {
      "name": "win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug",
      "displayName": "Windows GCC x64 (MinGW Makefiles) Debug",
      "configurePreset": "win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug"
    }
  ]
}

And the following is the log of DEMO:

Click to expand

F:\Git-Repo\cmake-project-template-conan>cmake --preset win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug
Preset CMake variables:

  CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="Debug"
  CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER="g++.exe"
  CMAKE_C_COMPILER="gcc.exe"
  CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH="F:/Git-Repo/cmake-project-template-conan/install/win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug"

Preset environment variables:

  PATH="C:/msys64/mingw64/bin;C:\Python\Python310\Scripts\;C:\Python\Python310\;C:\Program Files\Eclipse Foundation\jdk-8.0.302.8-hotspot\bin;C:\Windows\system32;C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32\Wbem;C:\Windows\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\Windows\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files\Microsoft VS Code\bin;C:\Program Files\dotnet\;C:\Program Files\CMake\bin;C:\Program Files\Intel\WiFi\bin\;C:\Program Files\Common Files\Intel\WirelessCommon\;C:\Program Files (x86)\gsudo\;C:\Program Files\NASM;C:\Program Files\Git\cmd;C:\Program Files\Typora;C:\WINDOWS\system32;C:\WINDOWS;C:\WINDOWS\System32\Wbem;C:\WINDOWS\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\;C:\WINDOWS\System32\OpenSSH\;C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio\2019\Community\VC\Auxiliary\Build;C:\Users\hwhsu1231\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps;C:\Users\hwhsu1231\.dotnet\tools"

-- The C compiler identification is GNU 12.2.0
-- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 12.2.0
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Check for working C compiler: C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/gcc.exe - skipped
-- Detecting C compile features
-- Detecting C compile features - done
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Check for working CXX compiler: C:/msys64/mingw64/bin/g++.exe - skipped
-- Detecting CXX compile features
-- Detecting CXX compile features - done
========== cmake-project-template-conan ==========
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: F:/Git-Repo/cmake-project-template-conan/build/win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug

hwhsu1231 · October 6, 2022, 3:54pm

@brad.king

There is another problem confusing me, which is “the difference between $penv{} and $env{}”.

I found that if I use $env{PATH} instead of $penv{PATH} in the above example, which is:

"environment": {
  "PATH": "C:/msys64/mingw64/bin;$env{PATH}"
},

Then, there will be an error message about “Invalid macro expansion” when I run cmake --preset command.

F:\Git-Repo\cmake-project-template-conan>cmake --preset win32-gcc-x64-mingw-debug
CMake Error: Could not read presets from F:/Git-Repo/cmake-project-template-conan: Invalid macro expansion

HOWEVER, it can still work when I use VSCode with CMake-Tools plugin to configure the project. WHY??

The following is the DEMO GIF:

vscode-demo

kyle.edwards · October 7, 2022, 1:54pm

The $env{...} macro is supposed to reference other environment variables within the environment map, or the environment inherited from the parent process if the corresponding variable doesn’t exist. The problem is that if PATH contains $env{PATH}, then it’s referencing itself, creating a circular dependency. The purpose of $penv{...} is to break this cycle by only using the environment inherited from the parent process. If "PATH": "$env{PATH}" works in VSCode then it sounds like they didn’t implement their preset support properly.