# unable to get target location
**URL:** https://discourse.cmake.org/t/unable-to-get-target-location/797
**Category:** Code
**Created:** [March 12, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/unable-to-get-target-location/797 "2020-03-12T12:51:19Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@hex](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/hex)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/unable-to-get-target-location/797/1 "2020-03-12T12:51:20Z")
I am getting a location not found for my custom target. Here is the code snippet:
```cmake
cmake_minimum_required( VERSION 3.17 )
project(Debug)
add_custom_target(tgt ALL)
get_target_property( TGT_LOCATION tgt LOCATION )
message( "loc: ${TGT_LOCATION}" )
```
result:
```auto
loc: TGT_LOCATION-NOTFOUND
Scanning dependencies of target tgt
Built target tgt
```
`LOCATION` is the Read-only location of a target on disk. For a non-imported target, this property is provided for compatibility with CMake 2.4 and below.
what am I missing here?
---
### Author:  [@craig.scott](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/craig.scott)
#### Post date: [March 12, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/unable-to-get-target-location/797/2 "2020-03-12T20:14:48Z")
A custom target has no build output, so there is nothing to get the location of. If `tgt` was a library or executable, it would work okay. That said, it would be rare to need the `LOCATION` target property. In the context of where you want to use it, if generator expressions are supported, the expression `$` is much more robust because it works for multi-config generators, whereas `LOCATION` doesn’t.
---
### Author:  [@hex](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/hex)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2020, 10:52am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/unable-to-get-target-location/797/3 "2020-03-13T10:52:38Z")
I am still unsuccessful with this after applying `CMP0026`:
```cmake
cmake_minimum_required( VERSION 3.17 )
project(Debug)
cmake_policy(SET CMP0026 OLD)
add_custom_target(tgt ALL)
get_target_property( TGT_LOCATION tgt LOCATION )
message( "loc: ${TGT_LOCATION}" )
```
---
### Author:  [@Angew](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/Angew)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2020, 10:56am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/unable-to-get-target-location/797/4 "2020-03-13T10:56:01Z")
As Craig said, you’re dealing with a custom target (added by `add_custom_target()`). These do _not_ have a location; the concept makes no sense for them.
What do you expect the location of your custom target to be? Based on that, there might be a different way to obtain such information.
---
### Author:  [@hex](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/hex)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2020, 11:09am UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/unable-to-get-target-location/797/5 "2020-03-13T11:09:39Z")
this is about a legacy code snippet for a build procedure I have limited knowledge on. I am trying to understand the location by observation, to make adjustments accordingly.
I do understand that the provided solution by Craig must be implemented afterwards.
The part that is confusing me here is the documentation:
> For a non-imported target, this property is provided for compatibility
> with CMake 2.4 and below. It was meant to get the location of an
> executable target’s output file for use in |add\_custom\_command|.
`tgt` is a non-imported target. It states that this property was used in CMake \<= 2.4 for custom commands. It implies that this property is automatically set in later versions.
> […] In CMake 2.6 and above
> |add\_custom\_command| automatically recognizes a target name in its
> `COMMAND` and `DEPENDS` options and computes the target location. In
> CMake 2.8.4 and above |add\_custom\_command| recognizes
> generator expressions \
> to refer to target locations anywhere in the command.
> Therefore this property is not needed for creating custom commands.
For CMake \>= 2.8.4 usage for this purpose is discouraged.
CMP0026 is marked deprecated for 3.17 but the old behaviour hasn’t been dropped yet.
---
### Author:  [@Angew](https://discourse.cmake.org/u/Angew)
#### Post date: [March 13, 2020, 12:51pm UTC](https://discourse.cmake.org/t/unable-to-get-target-location/797/6 "2020-03-13T12:51:51Z")
Notice that even the documentation you quoted says “It was meant to get the location of an
**executable** target’s output file” (emphasis mine). You have a _custom_ target, not an _executable_ target. Custom targets don’t have outputs, so they don’t have a location, and have never had one.
If your custom target produces something at a path on disk, you should use your knowledge of that path directly instead of trying to query it from the target. If that proves difficult due to scoping or knowledge-separation issues, you can set a custom property on the custom target which will store that path, and retrieve that property at the point you need to use it.