[CMake] How to list user-definable CMake variables

[Marcel Loose]

On Tue, 2010-09-28 at 10:43 +0200, Michael Wild wrote:
> On 28. Sep, 2010, at 10:12 , Marcel Loose wrote:
> 
> > 
> > On 28. Sep, 2010, at 9:33 , Marcel Loose wrote:
> > 
> >>> Hi all,
> >>> 
> >>> I was wondering how I could generate a list of user-definable
CMake
> >>> variables. This list, with a brief help per variable, would be
> > *very*
> >>> useful for the end-user. It's a bit like the well-known "configure
> >>> --help" which gives you a overview of all variables that can be
set.
> >>> 
> >>> Best regards,
> >>> Marcel Loose.
> >> 
> >> Is "cmake -LAH" what you want?
> >> 
> >> Michael
> > 
> > Hi Michael,
> > 
> > Well this is sort of what I was looking for, though I was hoping
that it
> > would be possible to list any useful variable *before* running
CMake.
> > 
> > Is there some kind of hook, e.g. 'cmake --custom-help', that can be
used
> > to display project-specific help. The help text should be provided
by
> > the developer, of course.
> > 
> > Best regards,
> > Marcel Loose.
> 
> Not that I'd know of. I also think that this would be quite difficult
to implement. You're far better off writing an extensive README or
INSTALL document.
> 
> Michael
> 
> --
> There is always a well-known solution to every human problem -- neat,
plausible, and wrong.
> H. L. Mencken
> 
That's a pity.

Of course there's nothing against having a good, useful README and/or
INSTALL file. But I also like to keep the documentation close to the
code. The more documentation and code get separated, the higher the risk
that the two diverge.

Anyway, thanks for thinking with me.

Best regards,
Marcel Loose.