CMake 3.12.0-rc3 is ready for testing

July 9, 2018

I am proud to announce the third CMake 3.12 release candidate.
https://cmake.org/download/

The first two 3.12.0 release candidates included a change to allow
the target_link_libraries command to modify targets created outside
the current directory. This has been reverted in rc3 due to
problems with visibility of the linked targets. See issue17943.

Documentation is available at:
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.12

Release notes appear below and are also published at
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.12/release/3.12.html

Some of the more significant changes in CMake 3.12 are:

  • The “target_link_libraries()” command now supports Object
    Libraries. Linking to an object library uses its object files in
    direct dependents and also propagates usage requirements.
  • The “file(GLOB)” and “file(GLOB_RECURSE)” commands learned a new
    flag “CONFIGURE_DEPENDS” which enables expression of build system
    dependency on globbed directory’s contents.
  • The “Compile Features” functionality is now aware of C++ 20. No
    specific features are yet enumerated besides the “cxx_std_20” meta-
    feature.
  • The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2017 learned to support a
    “version=14.##” option in the “CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET” value (e.g.
    via the “cmake(1)” “-T” option) to specify a toolset version number.
  • The “cmake(1)” Build Tool Mode (“cmake –build”) gained “–
    parallel [<jobs>]” and “-j [<jobs>]” options to specify a parallel
    build level. They map to corresponding options of the native build
    tool.
  • The “add_compile_definitions()” command was added to set
    preprocessor definitions at directory level. This supersedes
    “add_definitions()”.
  • The “cmake_minimum_required()” and “cmake_policy(VERSION)”
    commands now accept a version range using the form
    “<min>[…<max>]”. The “<min>” version is required but policies are
    set based on the “<max>” version. This allows projects to specify a
    range of versions for which they have been updated and avoid
    explicit policy settings.
  • The “find_package()” command now searches a prefix specified by a
    “PackageName_ROOT” CMake or environment variable. Package roots are
    maintained as a stack so nested calls to all “find_*” commands
    inside find modules also search the roots as prefixes. See policy
    “CMP0074”.
  • A new “$<GENEX_EVAL:…>” and “$<TARGET_GENEX_EVAL:target,…>”
    “generator expression” has been added to enable consumption of
    generator expressions whose evaluation results itself in generator
    expressions.
  • A new “$<TARGET_EXISTS:…>” “generator expression” has been
    added.
  • A new “$<TARGET_NAME_IF_EXISTS:…>” “generator expression” has
    been added.
  • The “FindCURL” module now provides imported targets.
  • The “FindJPEG” module now provides imported targets.
  • A “FindODBC” module was added to find an Open Database
    Connectivity (ODBC) library.
  • New “FindPython3” and “FindPython2” modules, as well as a new
    “FindPython” module, have been added to provide a new way to locate
    python environments.
CMake 3.12 Release Notes
************************

Changes made since CMake 3.11 include the following.


New Features
============


Generators
----------

* The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2017 learned to support a
  "version=14.##" option in the "CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET" value (e.g.
  via the "cmake(1)" "-T" option) to specify a toolset version number.


Command-Line
------------

* The "cmake(1)" Build Tool Mode ("cmake --build") gained "--
  parallel [<jobs>]" and "-j [<jobs>]" options to specify a parallel
  build level.  They map to corresponding options of the native build
  tool.


Commands
--------

* The "add_compile_definitions()" command was added to set
  preprocessor definitions at directory level.  This supersedes
  "add_definitions()".

* The "cmake_minimum_required()" and "cmake_policy(VERSION)"
  commands now accept a version range using the form
  "<min>[...<max>]". The "<min>" version is required but policies are
  set based on the "<max>" version.  This allows projects to specify a
  range of versions for which they have been updated and avoid
  explicit policy settings.

* The "file(GLOB)" and "file(GLOB_RECURSE)" commands learned a new
  flag "CONFIGURE_DEPENDS" which enables expression of build system
  dependency on globbed directory's contents.

* The "file(TOUCH)" and "file(TOUCH_NOCREATE)" commands were added
  to expose "TOUCH" functionality without having to use CMake's
  command- line tool mode with "execute_process()".

* The "find_package()" command now searches a prefix specified by a
  "PackageName_ROOT" CMake or environment variable.  Package roots are
  maintained as a stack so nested calls to all "find_*" commands
  inside find modules also search the roots as prefixes. See policy
  "CMP0074".

* The "install()" command learned an optional "NAMELINK_COMPONENT"
  parameter, which allows you to change the component for a shared
  library's namelink. If none is specified, the value of "COMPONENT"
  is used by default.

* The "list()" command learned a "JOIN" sub-command to concatenate
  list's elements separated by a glue string.

* The "list()" command learned a "SUBLIST" sub-command to get a
  sublist of the list.

* The "list()" command learned a "TRANSFORM" sub-command to apply
  various string transformation to list's elements.

* The "project()" command learned an optional "HOMEPAGE_URL"
  parameter which has the effect of setting variables like
  "PROJECT_HOMEPAGE_URL", "<PROJECT-NAME>_HOMEPAGE_URL" and
  "CMAKE_PROJECT_HOMEPAGE_URL".

* The "string()" command learned a "JOIN" sub-command to concatenate
  input strings separated by a glue string.

* "target_compile_options()" and "add_compile_options()" commands
  gained a "SHELL:" prefix to specify a group of related options using
  shell-like quoting.

* The "target_link_libraries()" command now supports Object
  Libraries. Linking to an object library uses its object files in
  direct dependents and also propagates usage requirements.


Variables
---------

* The "CMAKE_FOLDER" variable was added to initialize the "FOLDER"
  property on all targets.

* The "CMAKE_DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION" variable was defined
  to initialize all "DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION" target
  properties.

* "CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION*" variables have been introduced:

  * "CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION"

  * "CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR"

  * "CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR"

  * "CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH"

  * "CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_TWEAK"

* The "CMAKE_SUPPRESS_REGENERATION" variable was extended to support
  the "Ninja" and Makefile Generators. It is also now documented.

* "CMAKE_VS_SDK_*_DIRECTORIES" variables were defined to tell Visual
  Studio Generators for VS 2010 and above how to populate fields in
  ".vcxproj" files that specify SDK directories.  The variables are:

  * "CMAKE_VS_SDK_EXCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"

  * "CMAKE_VS_SDK_EXECUTABLE_DIRECTORIES"

  * "CMAKE_VS_SDK_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES"

  * "CMAKE_VS_SDK_LIBRARY_DIRECTORIES"

  * "CMAKE_VS_SDK_LIBRARY_WINRT_DIRECTORIES"

  * "CMAKE_VS_SDK_REFERENCE_DIRECTORIES"

  * "CMAKE_VS_SDK_SOURCE_DIRECTORIES"

* A "MSVC_TOOLSET_VERSION" variable was added to provide the MSVC
  toolset version associated with the current MSVC compiler version in
  "MSVC_VERSION".


Properties
----------

* The "COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME" target property was introduced to
  configure the use of managed C++ for Visual Studio Generators for VS
  2010 and above. A corresponding "IMPORTED_COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME"
  target property was added to support "C++/CLI" for imported targets.

* The "DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION" target property was
  introduced as replacement for "VS_DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION",
  which is considered deprecated now.

* An "EXPORT_PROPERTIES" target property was added to specify a
  custom list of target properties to include in targets exported by
  the "install(EXPORT)" and "export()" commands.

* The "PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY" property learned to support "generator
  expressions".

* A "TESTS" directory property was added to hold the list of tests
  defined by the "add_test()" command.

* A "VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND" target property was created to set the
  debugging command line with Visual Studio Generators for VS 2010 and
  above.

* HLSL source file properties "VS_SHADER_DISABLE_OPTIMIZATIONS" and
  "VS_SHADER_ENABLE_DEBUG" gained support for generator expressions.

* HLSL source file property "VS_SHADER_OBJECT_FILE_NAME" has been
  added to the Visual Studio Generators for VS 2010 and above. The
  property specifies the file name of the compiled shader object.


Modules
-------

* The "FindALSA" module now provides imported targets.

* The "FindCURL" module now provides imported targets.

* The "FindJPEG" module now provides imported targets.

* The "FindLibXml2" module now provides imported targets.

* The "FindMatlab" module now supports the Matlab Runtime Compiler
  (MCR) for compiling and linking matlab extensions.

* A "FindODBC" module was added to find an Open Database
  Connectivity (ODBC) library.

* The "FindPkgConfig" module has learned to export the found
  libraries with full path for direct consumption with the
  "target_link_libraries()" command.

* New "FindPython3" and "FindPython2" modules, as well as a new
  "FindPython" module, have been added to provide a new way to locate
  python environments.

* The "UseSWIG" module gained a whole refresh and is now more
  consistent with standard CMake commands to generate libraries and is
  fully configurable through properties.

* The "UseSWIG" module learned to manage multiple behaviors through
  "UseSWIG_MODULE_VERSION" variable to ensure legacy support as well
  as more robust handling of "SWIG" advanced features (like
  "%template").

* The "UseSWIG" module learned to support CSHARP variant wrapper
  files.

* The "WriteCompilerDetectionHeader" module gained a "BARE_FEATURES"
  option to add a compatibility define for the exact keyword of a new
  language feature.


Generator Expressions
---------------------

* A new "$<GENEX_EVAL:...>" and "$<TARGET_GENEX_EVAL:target,...>"
  "generator expression" has been added to enable consumption of
  generator expressions whose evaluation results itself in generator
  expressions.

* A new "$<IN_LIST:...>" "generator expression" has been added.

* A new "$<TARGET_EXISTS:...>" "generator expression" has been
  added.

* A new "$<TARGET_NAME_IF_EXISTS:...>" "generator expression" has
  been added.


CTest
-----

* The "ctest_start()" command has been reworked so that you can
  simply call "ctest_start(APPEND)" and it will read all the needed
  information from the TAG file. The argument parsing has also been
  relaxed so that the order of the arguments is less significant.

* A "PROCESSOR_AFFINITY" test property was added to request that
  CTest run a test with CPU affinity for a set of processors disjoint
  from other concurrently running tests with the property set.


CPack
-----

* The "CPack" module now uses variables
  "CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR", "CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR" and
  "CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH" to initialize corresponding CPack
  variables.

* "cpack(1)" gained basic support for NuGet. See the "CPackNuGet"
  module.


Other
-----

* The "Compile Features" functionality is now aware of C++ 20.  No
  specific features are yet enumerated besides the "cxx_std_20" meta-
  feature.

* The "Compile Features" functionality is now aware of the
  availability of C features in MSVC since VS 2010.

* The "Compile Features" functionality is now aware of C language
  standards supported by Texas Instruments C compilers.


Deprecated and Removed Features
===============================

* The "Visual Studio 8 2005" generator has been removed.

* CMake no longer produces "<tgt>_LIB_DEPENDS" cache entries for
  library targets.  See policy "CMP0073".


Other Changes
=============

* Include flags for directories marked as "SYSTEM" are now moved
  after non-system directories.  The "-isystem" flag does this
  automatically, so moving them explicitly to the end makes the
  behavior consistent on compilers that do not have any "-isystem"
  flag.

* Fortran dependency scanning now supports dependencies implied by
  Fortran Submodules.

* The existence and functionality of the file
  "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/cmake_install.cmake" has now been documented in
  the "install()" documentation so that external packaging software
  can take advantage of CPack-style component installs.

* The "CheckIncludeFile" module "check_include_file" macro learned
  to honor the "CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES" variable. See policy
  "CMP0075".

* The "CheckIncludeFileCXX" module "check_include_file_cxx" macro
  learned to honor the "CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES" variable. See policy
  "CMP0075".

* The "CheckIncludeFiles" module "check_include_files" macro learned
  to honor the "CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES" variable. See policy
  "CMP0075".

* The "cmake(1)" "-E copy_directory" tool now fails when the source
  directory does not exist.  Previously it succeeded by creating an
  empty destination directory.

* The "UseSWIG" module "swig_add_library()" command (and legacy
  "swig_add_module" command) now set the prefix of Java modules to
  """" for MINGW, MSYS, and CYGWIN environments.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes made since CMake 3.12.0-rc2:

Adriaan de Groot (1):
      FindLua: Set CMP0012 to NEW for the revised search code

Andrew Fuller (1):
      CPack/Deb: Restore setting of root as the owner of files

Brad King (2):
      Revert "target_link_libraries: Allow use with targets in other directories"
      CMake 3.12.0-rc3

Craig Scott (1):
      Help: Clarify ... behavior for policy-related commands

Marc Chevrier (2):
      UseSWIG: reintroduce legacy target name management
      Help: fix add_compile_definitions() documentation

Robert Dailey (1):
      VS: Only link cs files when they're not in binary dir

 

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