[cmake-developers] [ANNOUNCE] CMake 3.9.0-rc1 now ready for testing

[Robert Maynard]

I am proud to announce the first CMake 3.9 release candidate.
  https://cmake.org/download/

Documentation is available at:
  https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.9

Release notes appear below and are also published at
  https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.9/release/3.9.html

Some of the more significant changes in CMake 3.9 are:

* "CUDA" is now supported by the Visual Studio Generators for VS
  2010 and above.  This complements the existing support by the
  Makefile Generators and the "Ninja" generator.

* The "add_library()" command "IMPORTED" option learned to support
  Object Libraries.

* All "find_" commands now have a "PACKAGE_ROOT" search path group
  that is first in the search heuristics.  If a "find_" command is
  called from inside a find module, then the CMake variable and
  environment variable named "<PackageName>_ROOT" are used as prefixes
  and are the first set of paths to be searched.

* The "install(TARGETS)" command learned a new "OBJECTS" option to
  specify where to install Object Libraries.

* The "install(EXPORT)" command learned how to export Object
  Libraries.

* A "BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME_DIR" target property and corresponding
  "CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME_DIR" variable were added to control
  whether to use the "INSTALL_NAME_DIR" target property value for
  binaries in the build tree.  This is for macOS "install_name" as
  "BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH" is for "RPATH".

* A "CUDA_PTX_COMPILATION" target property was added to Object
  Libraries to support compiling to ".ptx" files instead of host
  object files.

* A new "GoogleTest" module was added to provide the
  "gtest_add_tests()" function independently of the "FindGTest"
  module. The function was also updated to support keyword arguments,
  with functionality expanded to allow a test name prefix and suffix
  to be specified, the dependency on the source files to be optional
  and the list of discovered test cases to be returned to the caller.

* The "Ninja" generator has loosened the dependencies of object
  compilation.  Object compilation now depends only on custom targets
  and custom commands associated with libraries on which the object's
  target depends and no longer depends on the libraries themselves.
  Source files in dependent targets may now compile without waiting
  for their targets' dependencies to link.

* Interprocedural optimization (IPO) is now supported for GNU and
  Clang compilers using link time optimization (LTO) flags.  See the
  "INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION" target property and
  "CheckIPOSupported" module.

* The "TARGET_OBJECTS" "generator expression" is now supported by
  the "add_custom_command()" and "file(GENERATE)" commands.

CMake 3.9 Release Notes
***********************

Changes made since CMake 3.8 include the following.


New Features
============


Languages
---------

* "CUDA" is now supported by the Visual Studio Generators for VS
  2010 and above.  This complements the existing support by the
  Makefile Generators and the "Ninja" generator.


Generators
----------

* Visual Studio Generators for VS 2010 and above learned to support
  the "ASM_NASM" language when "nasm" is installed.

* The "Xcode" generator learned to create Xcode schema files. This
  is an experimental feature and can be activated by setting the
  "CMAKE_XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME" variable to a "TRUE" value.


Commands
--------

* The "add_library()" command "IMPORTED" option learned to support
  Object Libraries.

* All "find_" commands now have a "PACKAGE_ROOT" search path group
  that is first in the search heuristics.  If a "find_" command is
  called from inside a find module, then the CMake variable and
  environment variable named "<PackageName>_ROOT" are used as prefixes
  and are the first set of paths to be searched.

* The "find_library()" command learned to search "libx32" paths when
  the build targets the "x32" ABI.  See the
  "FIND_LIBRARY_USE_LIBX32_PATHS" global property.

* The "include_external_msproject()" command learned to use the
  "MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG>" target property to map current
  configurations to the external configurations.

* The "install(TARGETS)" command learned a new "OBJECTS" option to
  specify where to install Object Libraries.

* The "install(EXPORT)" command learned how to export Object
  Libraries.

* The "project()" command learned an optional "DESCRIPTION"
  parameter to set the "PROJECT_DESCRIPTION" variable.

* The "separate_arguments()" command gained a "NATIVE_COMMAND" mode
  that performs argument separation depending on the host operating
  system.


Variables
---------

* A "CMAKE_AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS" variable was introduced to allow
  "CMAKE_AUTOMOC" to extract additional dependency file names for
  "moc" from the contents of source files.

* A "CMAKE_AUTOUIC_SEARCH_PATHS" variable was introduced to allow
  "CMAKE_AUTOUIC" to search for "foo.ui" in more places than the
  vicinity of the file including "ui_foo.h".

* A "CMAKE_FIND_LIBRARY_CUSTOM_LIB_SUFFIX" variable was added to
  tell the "find_library()" command to search in a "lib<suffix>"
  directory before each "lib" directory that would normally be
  searched.

* A "CMAKE_INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION" variable was added to
  initialize the "INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION" property on all
  targets.

* A "CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_AR" variable was added to hold the path
  to the GCC/Clang wrapper of "ar".

* A "CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_RANLIB" variable was added to hold the
  path to the GCC/Clang wrapper of "ranlib".

* The "CMAKE_SYSROOT_COMPILE" and "CMAKE_SYSROOT_LINK" variables
  were added to use separate sysroots for compiling and linking.


Properties
----------

* A new "AUTOGEN_BUILD_DIR" target property was introduced to set a
  custom output directory for "AUTOMOC", "AUTOUIC", and "AUTORCC".

* A new "AUTOMOC_DEPEND_FILTERS" target property was introduced to
  allow "AUTOMOC" to extract additional dependency file names for
  "moc" from the contents of source files.

* A new "AUTOUIC_SEARCH_PATHS" target property was introduced to
  allow "AUTOUIC" to search for "foo.ui" in more places than the
  vicinity of the file including "ui_foo.h".

* Global properties "AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP", "AUTOMOC_SOURCE_GROUP"
  and "AUTORCC_SOURCE_GROUP" were introduced to allow files generated
  by "AUTOMOC" or "AUTORCC" to be placed in a "source_group()".

* A "BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME_DIR" target property and corresponding
  "CMAKE_BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_NAME_DIR" variable were added to control
  whether to use the "INSTALL_NAME_DIR" target property value for
  binaries in the build tree.  This is for macOS "install_name" as
  "BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH" is for "RPATH".

* A "CUDA_PTX_COMPILATION" target property was added to Object
  Libraries to support compiling to ".ptx" files instead of host
  object files.

* A "GENERATOR_IS_MULTI_CONFIG" global property was added to
  determine whether the current generator is a multi-configuration
  generator (such as Visual Studio Generators or "Xcode").

* The "INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION" target property is now enforced
  when enabled.  CMake will add IPO flags unconditionally or produce
  an error if it does not know the flags for the current compiler. The
  project is now responsible to use the "CheckIPOSupported" module to
  check for IPO support before enabling the target property.  See
  policy "CMP0069".

* The "WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS" target property may now be used
  in combination with explicit ".def" files in order to export all
  symbols from the object files within a target plus an explicit list
  of symbols that the linker finds in dependencies (e.g.
  "msvcrt.lib").


Modules
-------

* A "CheckIPOSupported" module was added to help projects check
  whether interprocedural optimization (IPO) is supported by the
  current toolchain and CMake version.

* The "FeatureSummary" module "feature_summary()" command now
  accepts the new "DEFAULT_DESCRIPTION" option that will print the
  default title for the selected package type.

* The "FeatureSummary" module gained a new
  "FeatureSummary_<TYPE>_DESCRIPTION" variable that can be defined for
  each "<TYPE>" to replace the type name with the specified string
  whenever the package type is used in an output string by the module.

* The "FindDoxygen" module learned to control Doxygen behavior using
  CMake variables and generate documentation via the newly added
  "doxygen_add_docs()" function. The Doxygen input file ("Doxyfile")
  is automatically generated and doxygen is run as part of a custom
  target. Additional components can be specified to find optional
  tools: "dot", "mscgen" and "dia".

* The "FindMPI" module now provides imported targets.

* The "FindProtobuf" module "protobuf_generate_cpp()" command gained
  an "EXPORT_MACRO" option to specify the name of a DLL export markup
  macro.

* The "FindProtobuf" module now supports usage of static libraries
  for Unix via a new "Protobuf_USE_STATIC_LIBS" input variable.

* The "FindProtobuf" module now provides imported targets when the
  libraries are found.

* A new "GoogleTest" module was added to provide the
  "gtest_add_tests()" function independently of the "FindGTest"
  module. The function was also updated to support keyword arguments,
  with functionality expanded to allow a test name prefix and suffix
  to be specified, the dependency on the source files to be optional
  and the list of discovered test cases to be returned to the caller.


CTest
-----

* The "ctest_submit()" command gained a "HTTPHEADER" option to
  specify custom headers to send during submission.

* The "ctest(1)" executable gained new options which allow the
  developer to disable automatically adding tests to the test set to
  satisfy fixture dependencies. "-FS" prevents adding setup tests for
  fixtures matching the provided regular expression, "-FC" prevents
  adding cleanup tests for matching fixtures and "-FA" prevents adding
  any test for matching fixtures.

* A "DISABLED" test property was added to mark tests that are
  configured but explicitly disabled so they do not run.


CPack
-----

* The "CPackArchive" module learned to modify the filename per-
  component.  See the "CPACK_ARCHIVE_FILE_NAME" variable and its per-
  component version "CPACK_ARCHIVE_<component>_FILE_NAME".

* The "CPackComponent" module "cpack_add_component()" command gained
  a new "PLIST <filename>" option to specify the "pkgbuild" "--
  component-plist" argument when using the "productbuild" generator.

* The "CPackIFW" module "cpack_ifw_configure_component()" and
  "cpack_ifw_configure_component_group()" commands gained
  internationalization support for "DISPLAY_NAME" and "DESCRIPTION"
  options.

* The "CPackIFW" module learned the new hint "CPACK_IFW_ROOT"
  variable for finding the QtIFW tool suite installed in a non-
  standard place.

* The "CPackProductBuild" module gained a new
  "CPACK_PRODUCTBUILD_RESOURCES_DIR" variable to specify resources to
  be copied into the "Resources" directory.

* The "CPackRPM" module learned to modify the "debuginfo" package
  name.  See the "CPACK_RPM_DEBUGINFO_FILE_NAME" variable.

* The "CPackWIX" module patching system now has the ability to set
  additional attributes.  This can be done by specifying attributes
  with the "CPackWiXFragment" XML tag after the "Id" attribute. See
  the "CPACK_WIX_PATCH_FILE" variable.

* The CPack WIX generator implemented a new
  "CPACK_WIX_ROOT_FOLDER_ID" variable which allows using a custom root
  folder ID instead of the default "ProgramFilesFolder" /
  "ProgramFiles64Folder".


Other
-----

* Interprocedural optimization (IPO) is now supported for GNU and
  Clang compilers using link time optimization (LTO) flags.  See the
  "INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION" target property and
  "CheckIPOSupported" module.

* The "TARGET_OBJECTS" "generator expression" is now supported by
  the "add_custom_command()" and "file(GENERATE)" commands.

* Two new informational generator expressions to retrieve Apple
  Bundle directories have been added. The first one
  "$<TARGET_BUNDLE_DIR:tgt>" outputs the full path to the Bundle
  directory, the other one "$<TARGET_BUNDLE_CONTENT_DIR:tgt>" outputs
  the full path to the "Contents" directory of macOS Bundles and App
  Bundles. For all other bundle types and SDKs it is identical with
  "$<TARGET_BUNDLE_DIR:tgt>". The new expressions are helpful to query
  Bundle locations independent of the different Bundle types and
  layouts on macOS and iOS.


Deprecated and Removed Features
===============================

* An explicit deprecation diagnostic was added for policies
  "CMP0036" and below.  The "cmake-policies(7)" manual explains that
  the OLD behaviors of all policies are deprecated and that projects
  should always port to the NEW behaviors as soon as possible.

* The "Visual Studio 8 2005" generator is now deprecated and will be
  removed in a future version of CMake.

* The "Visual Studio 7 .NET 2003" generator has been removed.

* The "Xcode" generator dropped support for Xcode versions older
  than 3.

* The "FindDoxygen" module has deprecated several variables.

* The version of curl bundled with CMake no longer accepts URLs of
  the form "file://c:/..." on Windows due to a change in upstream curl
  7.52.  Use the form "file:///c:/..." instead to work on all
  versions.


Other Changes
=============

* When using "AUTOMOC", CMake now scans for the presence of the
  "Q_PLUGIN_METADATA" macro and reruns moc when the file from the
  macro's "FILE" argument changes.

* When "AUTOMOC" detects an include statement of the form "#include
  "moc_<basename>.cpp"" the search for the respective header file now
  looks in the "INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES" of the target as well.

* When running tests, CTest learned to treat skipped tests (using
  the "SKIP_RETURN_CODE" property) the same as tests with the new
  "DISABLED" property. Due to this change, CTest will not indicate
  failure when all tests are either skipped or pass.

* The "Ninja" generator has loosened the dependencies of object
  compilation.  Object compilation now depends only on custom targets
  and custom commands associated with libraries on which the object's
  target depends and no longer depends on the libraries themselves.
  Source files in dependent targets may now compile without waiting
  for their targets' dependencies to link.

* On macOS, the default application bundle "Info.plist" file now
  enables Hi-DPI support.

* On macOS, "RPATH" settings such as "BUILD_WITH_INSTALL_RPATH" no
  longer affect the "install_name" field.  See policy "CMP0068".