CMake 3.19.0-rc1 is ready for testing

October 13, 2020

I am proud to announce the first CMake 3.19 release candidate.
    https://cmake.org/download/

Documentation is available at:
    https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.19

Release notes appear below and are also published at
    https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.19/release/3.19.html

Some of the more significant changes in CMake 3.19 are:

  • “cmake(1)” and “cmake-gui(1)” now recognize “CMakePresets.json” and
    “CMakeUserPresets.json” files.
  • The “Xcode” generator now uses the Xcode “new build system” when
    generating for Xcode 12.0 or higher. See the
    “CMAKE_XCODE_BUILD_SYSTEM” variable. One may use “-T buildsystem=1”
    to switch to the legacy build system.
  • The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2015 and above gained support
    for the Visual Studio Tools for Android. One may now set
    “CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME” to “Android” to generate “.vcxproj” files for
    the Android tools.
  • CMake learned to support “ISPC” as a first-class language that can
    be enabled via the “project()” and “enable_language()” commands.
    “ISPC” is currently supported by the Makefile Generators and the
    “Ninja” generator on Linux, macOS, and Windows using the Intel ISPC
    compiler.
  • “CUDA” language support for Clang now supports separable compilation
    (“CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION”)
  • The “CMake GUI” now has an environment variable editor.
  • The “cmake_path()” command was added for operations on filesystem
    paths.
  • The “file(GENERATE)” command gained a new “TARGET” keyword to
    support resolving target-dependent generator expressions.
  • The “CMAKE_OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES” variable was added to initialize
    the new “OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES” target property and avoid
    unnecessarily building dependencies for a static library.
  • The “CheckCompilerFlag” module has been added to generalize
    “CheckCCompilerFlag” and “CheckCXXCompilerFlag” to more languages.
    It also supports the “CUDA” and “ISPC” languages.
  • The “CheckSourceCompiles” module has been added to generalize
    “CheckCSourceCompiles” and “CheckCXXSourceCompiles” to more
    languages. It also supports the “CUDA” and “ISPC” languages.
  • The “CheckSourceRuns” module has been added to generalize
    “CheckCSourceRuns” and “CheckCXXSourceRuns” to more languages. It
    also supports the “CUDA” language.
  • The “FindCUDAToolkit” module gained support for finding CUDA
    toolkits that do not contain “nvcc”, as well as for finding
    scattered toolkit installations when cross-compiling.
  • Interface Libraries may now have source files added via
    “add_library()” or “target_sources()”. Those with sources will be
    generated as part of the build system.
  • Compatibility with versions of CMake older than 2.8.12 is now
    deprecated and will be removed from a future version. Calls to
    “cmake_minimum_required()” or “cmake_policy()” that set the policy
    version to an older value now issue a deprecation diagnostic.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CMake 3.19 Release Notes
************************


Changes made since CMake 3.18 include the following.

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

Presets
-------

* "cmake(1)" and "cmake-gui(1)" now recognize "CMakePresets.json" and
"CMakeUserPresets.json" files.

Generators
----------

* The "Xcode" generator now uses the Xcode “new build system” when
generating for Xcode 12.0 or higher. See the
"CMAKE_XCODE_BUILD_SYSTEM" variable. One may use "-T buildsystem=1"
to switch to the legacy build system.

* The "Xcode" generator gained support for linking libraries and
frameworks via the *Link Binaries With Libraries* build phase
instead of always by embedding linker flags directly.  This behavior
is controlled by a new "XCODE_LINK_BUILD_PHASE_MODE" target
property, which is initialized by a new
"CMAKE_XCODE_LINK_BUILD_PHASE_MODE" variable.

* The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2015 and above gained support
for the Visual Studio Tools for Android.  One may now set
"CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME" to "Android" to generate ".vcxproj" files for
the Android tools.

Languages
---------

* CMake learned to support "ISPC" as a first-class language that can
be enabled via the "project()" and "enable_language()" commands.
"ISPC" is currently supported by the Makefile Generators and the
"Ninja" generator on Linux, macOS, and Windows using the Intel ISPC
compiler.

* "CUDA" language support for Clang now includes:

* separable compilation ("CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION"), and

* finding scattered toolkit installations when cross-compiling.

File-Based API
--------------

* The "cmake-file-api(7)" “codemodel” version 2 "version" field has
been updated to 2.2.

* The "cmake-file-api(7)" “codemodel” version 2 “target” object gained
a new "languageStandard" field in the "compileGroups" objects.

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

* The "cmake(1)" command-line tool’s "--install" mode gained a "--
default-directory-permissions" option.

* "cmake(1)" gained a "-E create_hardlink" command-line tool that can
be used to create hardlinks between files.

GUI
---

* The "CMake GUI" now has an environment variable editor.

Commands
--------

* The "add_test()" command now (officially) supports whitespace and
other special characters in the name for the test it creates. See
policy "CMP0110".

* The "cmake_language()" command gained a "DEFER" mode to schedule
command calls to occur at the end of processing a directory.

* The "cmake_path()" command was added for operations on filesystem
paths.

* The "configure_file()" command gained a "NO_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS"
option to suppress copying the input file’s permissions to the
output file.

* The "execute_process()" command gained a "COMMAND_ERROR_IS_FATAL"
option to specify a fatal error.

* The "file(ARCHIVE_CREATE)" command gained a "COMPRESSION_LEVEL"
option to specify the compression level.

* The "file(CHMOD)" and "file(CHMOD_RECURSE)" subcommands were added
to set permissions of files and directories.

* The "file(DOWNLOAD)" command "" argument is now optional.  If
it is not specified, the file is not saved.

* The "file(GENERATE)" command gained a new "TARGET" keyword to
support resolving target-dependent generator expressions.

* The "file()" gained sub-command *REAL_PATH* to compute a path with
symlinks resolved.

* The "find_package()" command learned to handle a version range.

* The "separate_arguments()" command gained new "PROGRAM" option to
search program.

* The "set_property()", "get_property()", and
"get_directory_property()" commands’ "DIRECTORY" options now accept
references to binary directory paths, such as the value of
"CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR".

* The "string()" command gained set of new "JSON" sub commands to
provide JSON parsing capabilities.

Variables
---------

* The "CMAKE_CLANG_VFS_OVERLAY" variable was added to tell Clang to
use a VFS overlay to support the Windows SDK when cross-compiling
from hosts with case-sensitive filesystems.

* The "CMAKE_MFC_FLAG" variable now supports generator expressions.

* The "CMAKE_OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES" variable was added to initialize
the new "OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES" target property and avoid
unnecessarily building dependencies for a static library.

* The "CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION_MAXIMUM" variable was
added to tell the Visual Studio Generators what maximum version of
the Windows SDK to choose.

Properties
----------

* The "EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL" target property now supports "generator
expressions".

* The "OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES" target property was added to avoid
unnecessarily building dependencies for a static library.

* The "PCH_INSTANTIATE_TEMPLATES" target property was added to enable
template instantiation in the precompiled header. This is enabled by
default and offers a roughly 20% compile time improvement. Currently
only supported by Clang 11.

* The "WIN32_EXECUTABLE" target property now supports "generator
expressions".

Modules
-------

* The "CheckCompilerFlag" module has been added to generalize
"CheckCCompilerFlag" and "CheckCXXCompilerFlag" to more languages.
It also supports the "CUDA" and "ISPC" languages.

* The "CheckLinkerFlag" module now supports the "CUDA" language.

* The "CheckSourceCompiles" module has been added to generalize
"CheckCSourceCompiles" and "CheckCXXSourceCompiles" to more
languages. It also supports the "CUDA" and "ISPC" languages.

* The "CheckSourceRuns" module has been added to generalize
"CheckCSourceRuns" and "CheckCXXSourceRuns" to more languages. It
also supports the "CUDA" language.

* "CMakePackageConfigHelpers" module learned to manage version range.

* The "FindCUDAToolkit" module gained support for finding CUDA
toolkits that do not contain "nvcc", as well as for finding
scattered toolkit installations when cross-compiling.

* The "FindPackageHandleStandardArgs" module learned to handle version
range. It also gained the "find_package_check_version()" command to
check the validity of a version against version-related arguments of
"find_package()" command.

* The "FindPython3", "FindPython2" and "FindPython" modules gained the
capability to manage a version range.

* The "FindPython3", "FindPython2" and "FindPython" modules provide,
respectively, the variable "Python3_LINK_OPTIONS",
"Python2_LINK_OPTIONS" and "Python_LINK_OPTIONS" for link options.

* The "FindSDL" module now provides:

* imported target "SDL::SDL",

* result variables "SDL_LIBRARIES" and "SDL_INCLUDE_DIRS",

* version variables "SDL_VERSION", "SDL_VERSION_MAJOR"
"SDL_VERSION_MINOR", and "SDL_VERSION_PATCH".

* "FindSWIG" module gains the capability to manage a version range.

* The "FindTIFF" module gained a "CXX" component to find the "tiffxx"
library containing C++ bindings.

* The "FindVulkan" module now provides a "Vulkan::glslc" imported
target and associated "Vulkan_GLSLC_EXECUTABLE" variable which
contain the path to the GLSL SPIR-V compiler.

* "UseSWIG" module gains new source file properties "OUTPUT_DIR" and
"OUTFILE_DIR" to manage output directories on per source basis.

CTest
-----

* "ctest(1)" now supports "compute-sanitizer" ("cuda-memcheck") as
"CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND".  The different tools (memcheck,
racecheck, synccheck, initcheck) supplied by "compute-sanitizer" can
be selected by adding appropriate flags to the
"CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND_OPTIONS" variable.  The default flags are
"--tool memcheck --leak-check full".

CPack
-----

* CPack gained the "CPACK_PRE_BUILD_SCRIPTS",
"CPACK_POST_BUILD_SCRIPTS", and "CPACK_PACKAGE_FILES" variables.

* The "CPack External Generator" gained the
"CPACK_EXTERNAL_BUILT_PACKAGES" variable.

* The "CPack WIX Generator" gained a "CPACK_WIX_CUSTOM_XMLNS" option
to specify custom XML namespaces.

Other
-----

* Interface Libraries may now have source files added via
"add_library()" or "target_sources()".  Those with sources will be
generated as part of the build system.

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

* Compatibility with versions of CMake older than 2.8.12 is now
deprecated and will be removed from a future version.  Calls to
"cmake_minimum_required()" or "cmake_policy()" that set the policy
version to an older value now issue a deprecation diagnostic.

* An explicit deprecation diagnostic was added for policy "CMP0071"
("CMP0071" and below were already deprecated). The "cmake-
policies(7)" manual explains that the OLD behaviors of all policies
are deprecated and that projects should port to the NEW behaviors.

* macOS SDKs older than 10.5 are no longer supported.

* "cmake-gui(1)" now requires Qt5. Support for compiling with Qt4 has
been removed.

* The "cmake(1)" command-line option "--warn-unused-vars" has been
removed and is now silently ignored.  The option has not worked
correctly since CMake 3.3.

Documentation
=============

The following guides have been added:

* "IDE Integration Guide"

* "Importing and Exporting Guide"

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

* Building for macOS will now use the latest SDK available on the
system, unless the user has explicitly chosen a SDK using
"CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT".  The deployment target or system macOS version
will not affect the choice of SDK.

* The "CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER" variable may now be used to store
“mandatory” compiler flags like the "CC" and other environment
variables.

* The "CMAKE_<LANG>_FLAGS_INIT" variable will now be considered during
the compiler identification check if other sources like
"CMAKE_<LANG>_FLAGS" or "CFLAGS" are not set.

* The "find_program()" command now requires permission to execute but
not to read the file found.  See policy "CMP0109".

* An imported target with a missing location now fails during
generation if the location is used.  See policy "CMP0111".

* The following target-based generator expressions that query for
directory or file name components no longer add a dependency on the
evaluated target. See policy "CMP0112".

    * "TARGET_FILE_DIR"

    * "TARGET_LINKER_FILE_BASE_NAME"

    * "TARGET_LINKER_FILE_NAME"

    * "TARGET_LINKER_FILE_DIR"

    * "TARGET_SONAME_FILE_NAME"

    * "TARGET_SONAME_FILE_DIR"

    * "TARGET_PDB_FILE_NAME"

    * "TARGET_PDB_FILE_DIR"

    * "TARGET_BUNDLE_DIR"

    * "TARGET_BUNDLE_CONTENT_DIR"

* Makefile Generators no longer repeat custom commands from target
dependencies.  See policy "CMP0113".

* The "ExternalProject" module handling of step target dependencies
has been revised.  See policy "CMP0114".

* The "OSX_ARCHITECTURES" target property is now respected for the
"ASM" language.

* If "CUDA" compiler detection fails with user-specified
"CMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES" or "CMAKE_CUDA_HOST_COMPILER", an error
is raised.

1 comment to CMake 3.19.0-rc1 is ready for testing

  1. Hi,

    I have a problem with the Xcode generator. It seems that .dylib-files that are listed as sources in add_executable() are automatically linked into the executable (which does not work, because their directories were not added to the library path). I my case, the libraries should not be linked at all, because they are Qt plugins that should just be copied into the application bundle. For that to happen, they have to be listed as sources.

    set(BUSH_PLUGIN_COCOA “${SIMROBOT_PREFIX}/Util/qt/macOS/plugins/platforms/libqcocoa.dylib”)
    set(BUSH_PLUGIN_MACSTYLE “${SIMROBOT_PREFIX}/Util/qt/macOS/plugins/styles/libqmacstyle.dylib”)

    set_source_files_properties(${BUSH_PLUGIN_COCOA} PROPERTIES MACOSX_PACKAGE_LOCATION PlugIns/platforms)
    set_source_files_properties(${BUSH_PLUGIN_MACSTYLE} PROPERTIES MACOSX_PACKAGE_LOCATION PlugIns/styles)

    add_executable(bush MACOSX_BUNDLE ${BUSH_SOURCES} “${BUSH_PLUGIN_COCOA}” “${BUSH_PLUGIN_MACSTYLE}”)

    This worked until CMake 3.18, but it fails with CMake 3.19.

    Best regards,

    Thomas

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