Help/command/foreach.rst

foreach
-------

Evaluate a group of commands for each value in a list.

.. code-block:: cmake

  foreach(<loop_var> <items>)
    <commands>
  endforeach()

where ``<items>`` is a list of items that are separated by
semicolon or whitespace.
All commands between ``foreach`` and the matching ``endforeach`` are recorded
without being invoked.  Once the ``endforeach`` is evaluated, the recorded
list of commands is invoked once for each item in ``<items>``.
At the beginning of each iteration the variable ``<loop_var>`` will be set
to the value of the current item.

The scope of ``<loop_var>`` is restricted to the loop scope. See policy
:policy:`CMP0124` for details.

The commands :command:`break` and :command:`continue` provide means to
escape from the normal control flow.

Per legacy, the :command:`endforeach` command admits
an optional ``<loop_var>`` argument.
If used, it must be a verbatim
repeat of the argument of the opening
``foreach`` command.

.. code-block:: cmake

  foreach(<loop_var> RANGE <stop>)

In this variant, ``foreach`` iterates over the numbers
0, 1, ... up to (and including) the nonnegative integer ``<stop>``.

.. code-block:: cmake

  foreach(<loop_var> RANGE <start> <stop> [<step>])

In this variant, ``foreach`` iterates over the numbers from
``<start>`` up to at most ``<stop>`` in steps of ``<step>``.
If ``<step>`` is not specified, then the step size is 1.
The three arguments ``<start>`` ``<stop>`` ``<step>`` must
all be nonnegative integers, and ``<stop>`` must not be
smaller than ``<start>``; otherwise you enter the danger zone
of undocumented behavior that may change in future releases.

.. code-block:: cmake

  foreach(<loop_var> IN [LISTS [<lists>]] [ITEMS [<items>]])

In this variant, ``<lists>`` is a whitespace or semicolon
separated list of list-valued variables. The ``foreach``
command iterates over each item in each given list.
The ``<items>`` following the ``ITEMS`` keyword are processed
as in the first variant of the ``foreach`` command.
The forms ``LISTS A`` and ``ITEMS ${A}`` are
equivalent.

The following example shows how the ``LISTS`` option is
processed:

.. code-block:: cmake

  set(A 0;1)
  set(B 2 3)
  set(C "4 5")
  set(D 6;7 8)
  set(E "")
  foreach(X IN LISTS A B C D E)
      message(STATUS "X=${X}")
  endforeach()

yields::

  -- X=0
  -- X=1
  -- X=2
  -- X=3
  -- X=4 5
  -- X=6
  -- X=7
  -- X=8


.. code-block:: cmake

  foreach(<loop_var>... IN ZIP_LISTS <lists>)

.. versionadded:: 3.17

In this variant, ``<lists>`` is a whitespace or semicolon
separated list of list-valued variables. The ``foreach``
command iterates over each list simultaneously setting the
iteration variables as follows:

- if the only ``loop_var`` given, then it sets a series of
  ``loop_var_N`` variables to the current item from the
  corresponding list;
- if multiple variable names passed, their count should match
  the lists variables count;
- if any of the lists are shorter, the corresponding iteration
  variable is not defined for the current iteration.

.. code-block:: cmake

  list(APPEND English one two three four)
  list(APPEND Bahasa satu dua tiga)

  foreach(num IN ZIP_LISTS English Bahasa)
      message(STATUS "num_0=${num_0}, num_1=${num_1}")
  endforeach()

  foreach(en ba IN ZIP_LISTS English Bahasa)
      message(STATUS "en=${en}, ba=${ba}")
  endforeach()

yields::

  -- num_0=one, num_1=satu
  -- num_0=two, num_1=dua
  -- num_0=three, num_1=tiga
  -- num_0=four, num_1=
  -- en=one, ba=satu
  -- en=two, ba=dua
  -- en=three, ba=tiga
  -- en=four, ba=

See Also
^^^^^^^^

* :command:`break`
* :command:`continue`
* :command:`endforeach`
* :command:`while`