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CMake 3.12 Release Notes
************************
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Changes made since CMake 3.11 include the following.
New Features
============
Generators
----------
* The :ref:`Visual Studio Generators` for VS 2017 learned to support a
``version=14.##`` option in the :variable:`CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET`
value (e.g. via the :manual:`cmake(1)` ``-T`` option) to specify a
toolset version number.
Command-Line
------------
* The :manual:`cmake(1)` :ref:`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 :command:`add_compile_definitions` command was added to set preprocessor
definitions at directory level. This supersedes :command:`add_definitions`.
* The :command:`cmake_minimum_required` and :command:`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
older of the running CMake version and the version specified by
``<max>``. This allows projects to specify a range of versions
for which they have been updated and avoid explicit policy settings.
* The :command:`file(GLOB)` and :command:`file(GLOB_RECURSE)` commands
learned a new flag ``CONFIGURE_DEPENDS`` which enables expression of
build system dependency on globbed directory's contents.
* The :command:`file(TOUCH)` and :command:`file(TOUCH_NOCREATE)` commands
were added to expose ``TOUCH`` functionality without having to use
CMake's command-line tool mode with :command:`execute_process`.
* The :command:`find_package` command now searches prefixes specified by
the :variable:`<PackageName>_ROOT` CMake variable and the
:envvar:`<PackageName>_ROOT` 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 :policy:`CMP0074`.
* The :command:`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 :command:`list` command learned a ``JOIN`` sub-command
to concatenate list's elements separated by a glue string.
* The :command:`list` command learned a ``SUBLIST`` sub-command
to get a sublist of the list.
* The :command:`list` command learned a ``TRANSFORM`` sub-command
to apply various string transformation to list's elements.
* The :command:`project` command learned an optional ``HOMEPAGE_URL``
parameter which has the effect of setting variables like
:variable:`PROJECT_HOMEPAGE_URL`, :variable:`<PROJECT-NAME>_HOMEPAGE_URL`
and :variable:`CMAKE_PROJECT_HOMEPAGE_URL`.
* The :command:`string` command learned a ``JOIN`` sub-command
to concatenate input strings separated by a glue string.
* :command:`target_compile_options` and :command:`add_compile_options`
commands gained a ``SHELL:`` prefix to specify a group of related
options using shell-like quoting.
* The :command:`target_link_libraries` command now supports
:ref:`Object Libraries`. Linking to an object library uses its object
files in direct dependents and also propagates usage requirements.
Variables
---------
* The :variable:`CMAKE_FOLDER` variable was added to initialize the
:prop_tgt:`FOLDER` property on all targets.
* The :variable:`CMAKE_DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION` variable
was defined to initialize all
:prop_tgt:`DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION` target properties.
* ``CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION*`` variables have been introduced:
- :variable:`CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION`
- :variable:`CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR`
- :variable:`CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR`
- :variable:`CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH`
- :variable:`CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_TWEAK`
* The :variable:`CMAKE_SUPPRESS_REGENERATION` variable was extended to
support the :generator:`Ninja` and :ref:`Makefile Generators`.
It is also now documented.
* ``CMAKE_VS_SDK_*_DIRECTORIES`` variables were defined to tell
:ref:`Visual Studio Generators` for VS 2010 and above how to populate
fields in ``.vcxproj`` files that specify SDK directories. The
variables are:
- :variable:`CMAKE_VS_SDK_EXCLUDE_DIRECTORIES`
- :variable:`CMAKE_VS_SDK_EXECUTABLE_DIRECTORIES`
- :variable:`CMAKE_VS_SDK_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES`
- :variable:`CMAKE_VS_SDK_LIBRARY_DIRECTORIES`
- :variable:`CMAKE_VS_SDK_LIBRARY_WINRT_DIRECTORIES`
- :variable:`CMAKE_VS_SDK_REFERENCE_DIRECTORIES`
- :variable:`CMAKE_VS_SDK_SOURCE_DIRECTORIES`
* A :variable:`MSVC_TOOLSET_VERSION` variable was added to provide the
MSVC toolset version associated with the current MSVC compiler version
in :variable:`MSVC_VERSION`.
Properties
----------
* The :prop_tgt:`COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME` target property was introduced
to configure the use of managed C++ for :ref:`Visual Studio Generators`
for VS 2010 and above.
A corresponding :prop_tgt:`IMPORTED_COMMON_LANGUAGE_RUNTIME` target
property was added to support ``C++/CLI`` for imported targets.
* The :prop_tgt:`DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION` target property
was introduced as replacement for
:prop_tgt:`VS_DOTNET_TARGET_FRAMEWORK_VERSION`, which is considered
deprecated now.
* An :prop_tgt:`EXPORT_PROPERTIES` target property was added to specify a
custom list of target properties to include in targets exported by the
:command:`install(EXPORT)` and :command:`export` commands.
* The :prop_tgt:`PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY` property learned to support
:manual:`generator expressions <cmake-generator-expressions(7)>`.
* A :prop_dir:`TESTS` directory property was added to hold the list of
tests defined by the :command:`add_test` command.
* A :prop_tgt:`VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND` target property was created to set the
debugging command line with :ref:`Visual Studio Generators` for VS 2010
and above.
* HLSL source file properties :prop_sf:`VS_SHADER_DISABLE_OPTIMIZATIONS`
and :prop_sf:`VS_SHADER_ENABLE_DEBUG` gained support for generator
expressions.
* HLSL source file property :prop_sf:`VS_SHADER_OBJECT_FILE_NAME` has been
added to the :ref:`Visual Studio Generators` for VS 2010 and above.
The property specifies the file name of the compiled shader object.
Modules
-------
* The :module:`FindALSA` module now provides imported targets.
* The :module:`FindCURL` module now provides imported targets.
* The :module:`FindJPEG` module now provides imported targets.
* The :module:`FindLibXml2` module now provides imported targets.
* The :module:`FindMatlab` module now supports the Matlab Runtime
Compiler (MCR) for compiling and linking matlab extensions.
* A :module:`FindODBC` module was added to find an Open Database Connectivity
(ODBC) library.
* The :module:`FindPkgConfig` module has learned to export the found
libraries with full path for direct consumption with the
:command:`target_link_libraries` command.
* New :module:`FindPython3` and :module:`FindPython2` modules, as well as
a new :module:`FindPython` module, have been added to provide a new way
to locate python environments.
* The :module:`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 :module:`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 :module:`UseSWIG` module learned to support CSHARP variant
wrapper files.
* The :module:`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,...>``
:manual:`generator expression <cmake-generator-expressions(7)>`
has been added to enable consumption of generator expressions whose
evaluation results itself in generator expressions.
* A new ``$<IN_LIST:...>``
:manual:`generator expression <cmake-generator-expressions(7)>`
has been added.
* A new ``$<TARGET_EXISTS:...>``
:manual:`generator expression <cmake-generator-expressions(7)>`
has been added.
* A new ``$<TARGET_NAME_IF_EXISTS:...>``
:manual:`generator expression <cmake-generator-expressions(7)>`
has been added.
CTest
-----
* The :command:`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 :prop_test:`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 :module:`CPack` module now uses variables
:variable:`CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MAJOR`,
:variable:`CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_MINOR` and
:variable:`CMAKE_PROJECT_VERSION_PATCH`
to initialize corresponding CPack variables.
* A :cpack_gen:`CPack NuGet Generator` was was added with basic
support for `NuGet`_.
.. _NuGet: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/nuget/what-is-nuget
Other
-----
* The :manual:`Compile Features <cmake-compile-features(7)>` functionality
is now aware of C++ 20. No specific features are yet enumerated besides
the ``cxx_std_20`` meta-feature.
* The :manual:`Compile Features <cmake-compile-features(7)>` functionality
is now aware of the availability of C features in MSVC since VS 2010.
* The :manual:`Compile Features <cmake-compile-features(7)>` functionality
is now aware of C language standards supported by Texas Instruments C
compilers.
Deprecated and Removed Features
===============================
* The :generator:`Visual Studio 8 2005` generator has been removed.
* CMake no longer produces ``<tgt>_LIB_DEPENDS`` cache entries
for library targets. See policy :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
:command:`install` documentation so that external packaging software can take
advantage of CPack-style component installs.
* The :module:`CheckIncludeFile` module ``check_include_file`` macro
learned to honor the ``CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES`` variable.
See policy :policy:`CMP0075`.
* The :module:`CheckIncludeFileCXX` module ``check_include_file_cxx`` macro
learned to honor the ``CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES`` variable.
See policy :policy:`CMP0075`.
* The :module:`CheckIncludeFiles` module ``check_include_files`` macro
learned to honor the ``CMAKE_REQUIRED_LIBRARIES`` variable.
See policy :policy:`CMP0075`.
* The :manual:`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 :module:`UseSWIG` module :command:`swig_add_library` command
(and legacy ``swig_add_module`` command) now set the prefix of
Java modules to ``""`` for MINGW, MSYS, and CYGWIN environments.
.. _`Fortran Submodules`: http://fortranwiki.org/fortran/show/Submodules