[CMake] Copying DLLs to output directory

Fri Oct 31 15:28:00 EDT 2014

It sucks, but I do that with Qt's libraries. One target for each library. I prefix the target with "ZZ_" so that in IDEs like Visual Studio and Xcode those targets fall to the bottom of the list. I also group them in folders if Visual Studio will allow it. I use the "copy if different" argument to the CMake command for the copy. Seems to work.

Mike Jackson

On Oct 31, 2014, at 3:11 PM, Robert Dailey <rcdailey.lists at gmail.com> wrote:

> I like this idea but it doesn't seem like it will work for targets
> with multiple DLLs... for example boost. It has several DLLs. I don't
> want to define 1 target for each DLL either. Sometimes that doesn't
> make sense.
> 
> On Wed, Oct 29, 2014 at 10:45 AM, Hendrk Sattler
> <post at hendrik-sattler.de> wrote:
>> Am 2014-10-28 18:25, schrieb Robert Dailey:
>>> 
>>> I have a third party library like OpenSSL prebuilt for each platform
>>> and in my own structure in version control. I have a CMake script that
>>> creates an INTERFACE library target for it. I setup the include
>>> directories and link targets. However, I don't see a way to configure
>>> DLLs in the interface library target. How would you do this, and what
>>> would CMake do to these targets to make sure they are copied to the
>>> output directory of the executable I run from Visual Studio for
>>> debugging?
>> 
>> 
>> I have this for ZLib:
>> if ( ZLIB_FOUND )
>>  if ( WIN32 )
>>    get_filename_component( ZLIB_LIBDIR "${ZLIB_LIBRARY}" PATH )
>>    get_filename_component ( ZLIB_BASENAME "${ZLIB_LIBRARY}" NAME_WE )
>>    get_filename_component ( ZLIB_LIBDIR_BASE "${ZLIB_LIBDIR}" PATH )
>>    find_file ( ZLIB_DLL
>> "${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_PREFIX}${ZLIB_BASENAME}${CMAKE_SHARED_LIBRARY_SUFFIX}"
>>      HINTS
>>        "${ZLIB_LIBDIR_BASE}"
>>      PATH_SUFFIXES
>>        bin
>>      NO_DEFAULT_PATH
>>    )
>>    mark_as_advanced ( ZLIB_DLL )
>>    if ( ZLIB_DLL )
>>      add_library ( zlib SHARED IMPORTED GLOBAL )
>>      set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY IMPORTED_IMPLIB "${ZLIB_LIBRARY}"
>> )
>>      set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY IMPORTED_LOCATION "${ZLIB_DLL}" )
>>    else ( ZLIB_DLL )
>>      add_library ( zlib STATIC IMPORTED GLOBAL )
>>      set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY IMPORTED_LOCATION
>> "${ZLIB_LIBRARY}" )
>>    endif ( ZLIB_DLL )
>>  else( WIN32 )
>>    add_library ( zlib UNKNOWN IMPORTED GLOBAL )
>>    set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY IMPORTED_LOCATION "${ZLIB_LIBRARY}"
>> )
>>  endif( WIN32 )
>>  set_property ( TARGET zlib PROPERTY INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
>>    "${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}"
>>  )
>> 
>>  set ( ZLIB_LIBRARIES zlib )
>>  set ( ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS "${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIR}" )
>> endif ( ZLIB_FOUND )
>> 
>> The .lib goes into IMPORTED_IMPLIB and the .dll goes into IMPORTED_LOCATION.
>> The way to find the .dll from the location of the .lib might differ for
>> different libraries.
>> For ZLib, the base name is the same.
>> 
>> Later, you can use this imported target:
>>  add_custom_command ( TARGET myTarget POST_BUILD
>>    COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E copy_if_different $<TARGET_FILE:zlib>
>> $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:myTarget>
>>  )
>> Now, zlib.dll is in the same directory as myTarget.dll.
>> 
>> HS
>> 
>>> On Tue, Oct 28, 2014 at 12:21 AM, Hendrik Sattler
>>> <post at hendrik-sattler.de> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Hi,
>>>> 
>>>> you can use generator expression in a post build rule to copy the dll
>>>> file to the same target dir as the target you link it with. The easiest way
>>>> to do this is to properly define all 3rd party libraries as imported targets
>>>> that contains both, the lib and the dll file.
>>>> Sadly, the FindQt4 on Windows doesn't do this and thus make life harder
>>>> than needed. CMake configuration files should always do this right.
>>>> 
>>>> OTOH, you could also write a wrapper batch file or change VS properties
>>>> to modify PATH to include all libraries before the regular path.
>>>> 
>>>> HS
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Am 28. Oktober 2014 02:55:08 MEZ, schrieb Robert Dailey
>>>> <rcdailey.lists at gmail.com>:
>>>>> 
>>>>> This actually used to be a very difficult problem to solve. However,
>>>>> to debug in visual studio it's essential.
>>>>> 
>>>>> If I have DLLs located in third party directories OR from targets that
>>>>> I depend on, those must all be copied to the directory of the
>>>>> executable I'm debugging in order for those DLLs to be found and
>>>>> loaded.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Using CMake 3.0.2, I hope this task is simpler, especially with the
>>>>> introduction of a nice suite of generator expressions. Can anyone
>>>>> recommend a good way to do this?
>>>> 
>>>> 
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