[CMake] Adding install dependency to test-target?

[Hugo Heden]

Eric Noulard wrote:
>> Good day all,
>>
>>
>> Is there any way that I can add 'install' dependency to the 'test'-target?
>>
>> Doing
>>
>>  add_dependencies( test install )
>>
>> does not seem to work:
>>  CMake Error at ... (ADD_DEPENDENCIES):
>>     add_dependencies Adding dependency to non-existent target: test
>>     
> May be you can try to add a first "fake test" which does it:
>
> ADD_TEST(00_Install ${CMAKE_BUILD_TOOL} install)
Aha, I did not think about that, that's very nice, thanks a lot Eric! 
(But for future reference, see below)

> I don't think it's possible to add dependencies to "built-in" CMake target
> (which deserve a feature request :-)
>   
Ok, I'll file one (unless prompted not to, pending any future discussion 
here -- I don't really have a valid use-case!)

----

I realized that I don't really have a valid use-case for letting 'test' 
depend on 'install', and I think there could never be one.

Reasoning: In any context where it would be unsafe to invoke 'test' 
without 'install', one would want to do something like

add_dependencies( test install )

or, as Eric suggested,

ENABLE_TESTING()
# First test:
ADD_TEST(00_Install ${CMAKE_BUILD_TOOL} install)

But this will not work: The user (developer..) could always *select* 
tests using ctest -R from the command line, like

$ ctest -R Blabla

in which case the 'install' target will *not* be invoked before the 
tests. For this reason, each and every test must depend on that 
everything is installed (e.g each test could start with invoking 
${CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM} install) ..

Now, this is unfortunate, because checking that installation is 
up-to-date takes a bit of time.  And when _N_ tests are run, for example 
by invoking 'make test', this installation-is-up-to-date check is 
performed  _N-1_ times too many.

There are probably ways to resolve this.. but I haven't yet.

Ok, thanks for reading!

Best Regards
Hugo Heden



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