Help/generator/Ninja Multi-Config.rst

Ninja Multi-Config
------------------

Generates multiple ``build-<Config>.ninja`` files.

This generator is very much like the :generator:`Ninja` generator, but with
some key differences. Only these differences will be discussed in this
document.

Unlike the :generator:`Ninja` generator, ``Ninja Multi-Config`` generates
multiple configurations at once with :variable:`CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES`
instead of only one configuration with :variable:`CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE`. One
``build-<Config>.ninja`` file will be generated for each of these
configurations (with ``<Config>`` being the configuration name.) No
``build.ninja`` file is generated, unless
:variable:`CMAKE_NINJA_MULTI_DEFAULT_BUILD_TYPE` is specified. You must specify
the desired ``build-<Config>.ninja`` file with ``ninja -f``. Running
``cmake --build . --config <Config> --target <target>`` will run Ninja with
``build-<Config>.ninja`` as the ``-f`` file and ``<target>`` as the build
target.

If :variable:`CMAKE_NINJA_MULTI_CROSS_CONFIG_ENABLE` is turned on, executables
and libraries of any configuration can be built regardless of which
``build-<Config>.ninja`` file is used, simply by specifying
``<target>:<OtherConfig>`` as the Ninja target. You can also specify
``<target>:all`` to build a target in all configurations. Each
``build-<Config>.ninja`` file will additionally have ``<target>`` targets which
are aliases for ``<target>:<Config>``. However, custom commands and custom
targets will always use the configuration specified in
``build-<Config>.ninja``. This is due to the fact that it is impossible in
Ninja for the same file to be output with different commands in the same build
graph.

If :variable:`CMAKE_NINJA_MULTI_CROSS_CONFIG_ENABLE` is not enabled, you can
still build any target in ``build-<Config>.ninja`` by specifying
``<target>:<Config>`` or ``<target>``, but not ``<target>:<OtherConfig>`` or
``<target>:all``.

Consider the following example:

.. code-block:: cmake

  cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16)
  project(MultiConfigNinja C)

  add_executable(generator generator.c)
  add_custom_command(OUTPUT generated.c COMMAND generator generated.c)
  add_library(generated ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/generated.c)

Now assume you configure the project with ``Ninja Multi-Config`` and run one of
the following commands:

.. code-block:: shell

  ninja -f build-Debug.ninja generated
  # OR
  cmake --build . --config Debug --target generated

This would build the ``Debug`` configuration of ``generator``, which would be
used to generate ``generated.c``, which would be used to build the ``Debug``
configuration of ``generated``.

But if :variable:`CMAKE_NINJA_MULTI_CROSS_CONFIG_ENABLE` is enabled, and you
run the following instead:

.. code-block:: shell

  ninja -f build-Release.ninja generated:Debug
  # OR
  cmake --build . --config Release --target generated:Debug

This would build the ``Release`` configuration of ``generator``, which would be
used to generate ``generated.c``, which would be used to build the ``Debug``
configuration of ``generated``. This is useful for running a release-optimized
version of a generator utility while still building the debug version of the
targets built with the generated code.

As a convenience, ``Ninja Multi-Config`` offers a
:variable:`CMAKE_NINJA_MULTI_DEFAULT_BUILD_TYPE` setting. If this variable is
specified, a ``build.ninja`` file will be generated which points to the
specified ``build-<Config>.ninja`` file.