[cmake-developers] Adding compile and build type tests to CMake/CTest

[Edward Diener]

On 9/18/2017 8:16 AM, Brad King wrote:
> On 09/15/2017 09:22 AM, Edward Diener wrote:
>> A gui environment like Visual Studio does provide
>> functionality to just compile one or more source files, and it also
>> provides functionality to just build an executable from one or more
>> source files without actually running that executable.
> 
> Yes.  We just need it to be generated separately from the main build
> system so that "Build Solution" or our ALL_BUILD.vcxproj don't try
> to build the tests.  Some work will be needed on the CMake side to
> do this in a built-in way.
> 
> Do you happen to know if/how it is possible to take a .vcxproj with
> multiple source files (ClCompile entries) and use MSBuild to compile
> just one of the sources from the command-line?  The IDE must do it
> somehow with the right-click "Compile" option.  Similarly in Xcode?

I do not know much about MSBuild since I have normally used the IDE.

> 
>> I would just like to see a built-in
>> equivalent to testing under CMake which involves only a successful
>> compilation or not, equivalent to Boost Build's 'compile/compile-fail'
>> rule and a built-in equivalent to testing which involves only a
>> successful build or not of a non-build target equivalent to Boost
>> Build's 'link/link-fail' rule. I think both of the latter are valid
>> testing methodologies which do not involve an actual run-time test.
> 
> Yes, having a built-in solution would be nice.  Currently these can
> only be achieved indirectly by writing tests that configure projects
> that are not configured by CMake as part of the main project.
> 
> BTW, where is the corresponding discussion of this problem on the
> Boost side taking place?

When the original announcement from the Boost Steering Committee was 
made a few months back that Boost would be moving to CMake there were 
numerous discussions about converting jam files to CMake and how this 
can be done, largely on the Boost developers mailing list. I brought up 
issues about how to duplicate Boost Build testing under CMake. Since 
then there has been little further discussion about this or indication 
by the Boost Steering Committee how this was to be done, on the 
developers mailing list. One implementation popularly considered is on 
Github as https://github.com/boost-cmake/bcm, but that implementation of 
a pure compile test is a kludge IMO, which led to this discussion here.

> 
> Thanks,
> -Brad
>