[CMake] ExternalProject questions

[Hugh Sorby]

I have nothing to say for 1. and 2. but I also would like to see 3. in 
CMake.  Currently I am patching some third_party sources to suit my 
needs and it would be easier for me if patch was added as an CMake -E 
command.

I was considering making a feature request but since Michael has 
mentioned it here, I thought I would add my 2 cents worth.

Michael Wild wrote:
> Hi all
>
> I have a few questions concerning the new ExternalProject module 
> (which, by the way is fantastic and really simplifies my code).
>
> 1. From my understanding of the ExternalProject_Add documentation, 
> shouldn't INSTALL_DIR be passed on the configure-line as 
> -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX:PATH=${INSTALL_DIR} when configuring a 
> CMake-based project? As far as I can tell, <INSTALL_DIR> is never used 
> in _ep_add_configure_command (and also no other place, although the 
> ExternalProject_Add_Step does the substitution).
>
> 2. Is it possible to have the library produced by ExternalProject_Add 
> depend on the target created by ExternalProject_Add? This would 
> greatly simplify dependency tracking for me.
>
> 3. It would be really useful if CMake implemented a '-E patch' 
> command. In the same line, it would be great if ExternalProject_Add 
> had a PATCH_FILE <patch> option, which allows one to simply pass it a 
> patch which applies with -p1 to the source directory.
>
> Michael
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