CMP0141ΒΆ

New in version 3.25.

MSVC debug information format flags are selected by an abstraction.

Compilers targeting the MSVC ABI have flags to select the debug information format. Debug information format selection typically varies with build configuration.

In CMake 3.24 and below, debug information format flags are added to the default CMAKE_<LANG>_FLAGS_<CONFIG> cache entries by CMake automatically. This allows users to edit their cache entries to adjust the flags. However, the presence of such default flags is problematic for projects that want to choose a different runtime library programmatically. In particular, it requires string editing of the CMAKE_<LANG>_FLAGS_<CONFIG> variables with knowledge of the CMake builtin defaults so they can be replaced.

CMake 3.25 and above prefer to leave the debug information format flags out of the default CMAKE_<LANG>_FLAGS_<CONFIG> values and instead offer a first-class abstraction. The CMAKE_MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT variable and MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT target property may be set to select the MSVC debug information format. If they are not set, CMake enables debug information in debug configurations using the default value $<$<CONFIG:Debug,RelWithDebInfo>:ProgramDatabase>, if supported by the compiler, and otherwise $<$<CONFIG:Debug,RelWithDebInfo>:Embedded>.

This policy provides compatibility with projects that have not been updated to be aware of the abstraction. The policy setting takes effect as of the first project() or enable_language() command that enables a language whose compiler targets the MSVC ABI.

Note

Once the policy has taken effect at the top of a project, that choice will be used throughout the tree. In projects that have nested projects in subdirectories, be sure to confirm if everything is working with the selected policy behavior.

The OLD behavior for this policy is to place MSVC debug information format flags in the default CMAKE_<LANG>_FLAGS_<CONFIG> cache entries and ignore the CMAKE_MSVC_DEBUG_INFORMATION_FORMAT abstraction. The NEW behavior for this policy is to not place MSVC debug information format flags in the default cache entries and use the abstraction instead.

This policy was introduced in CMake version 3.25. Use the cmake_policy() command to set it to OLD or NEW explicitly. Unlike many policies, CMake version 3.27.9 does not warn when this policy is not set and simply uses OLD behavior.

Note

The OLD behavior of a policy is deprecated by definition and may be removed in a future version of CMake.