[GH-ISSUE #131] Simplify CMakeLists #108

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opened 2026-05-05 11:41:31 -06:00 by gitea-mirror · 1 comment

gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:41:31 -06:00

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Originally created by @Alexhuszagh on GitHub (Oct 23, 2017).
Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter/issues/131

Originally assigned to: @jmcnamara on GitHub.

CMake has the power to track private and public macro definitions, include directories, linked libraries and linker flags. This allows anyone using libxlsxwriter in a dependent project to simply call target_link_libraries(${my_target} xlsxwriter) and it will automatically track all the required definitions, include directories, libraries, and linker flags for compilation.

I have patched my own CMakeLists to remedy this as we have started to include more configurations, optional system libraries (like minizip), and others.

The diff is available here, and the working version is available on a downstream branch. If all is satisfactory, I can submit a PR. This will be useful to simplify compiler and linker flags during compilation, as well as simplify the inclusion of libxlsxwriter in projects using a CMake build system.

diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 810287d..a7a463f 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -26,10 +26,6 @@
 #           or using a flag with CMake (`-DZLIB_ROOT:STRING=/usr/include`).
 #           This sets the preferred search path for the ZLIB installation.
 #
-#       BUILD_STATIC
-#           Build static libraries (default on). To build shared
-#           libraries, pass `-DBUILD_STATIC=OFF` during configuration.
-#
 #       BUILD_TESTS
 #           Build unittests (default off). To build the unittests,
 #           pass `-DBUILD_TESTS=ON` during configuration.
@@ -50,6 +46,11 @@
 #       To build in release mode, pass `-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release`
 #       during configuration.
 #
+#       CMake sets the creation of static and shared libraries with the
+#       `BUILD_SHARED_LIBS` option, which can be set as a flag during
+#       configuration. To build a static library, pass
+#       `-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF` during configuration.
+#
 #   Generators:
 #       CMake also supports custom build generators, such as MakeFiles,
 #       Ninja, Visual Studio, and XCode. For example, to generate
@@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ set(CMAKE_LEGACY_CYGWIN_WIN32 1)
 if(MSVC)
     cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.4)
 else()
-    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)
+    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.7)
 endif()
 
 SET(PROJECT_NAME "xlsxwriter" CACHE STRING "Optional project and binary name")
@@ -77,7 +78,6 @@ enable_testing()
 
 SET(ZLIB_ROOT "" CACHE STRING "Optional root for the ZLIB installation")
 
-option(BUILD_STATIC "Build static libxlsxwriter" ON)
 option(BUILD_TESTS "Build libxlsxwriter tests" OFF)
 option(BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build libxlsxwriter examples" OFF)
 option(USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE "Use the C standard library's tmpfile()" OFF)
@@ -87,22 +87,22 @@ if(DEFINED ENV{${ZLIB_ROOT}})
 endif()
 
 if(IOAPI_NO_64)
-    add_definitions(-DIOAPI_NO_64=1)
+    list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS IOAPI_NO_64=1)
 endif()
 
 # CONFIGURATIONS
 # --------------
 
 if(USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE)
-    add_definitions(-DUSE_STANDARD_TMPFILE)
+    list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE)
 endif()
 
-if(BUILD_STATIC)
+if(NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
     if(UNIX)
         set(CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
     elseif(MINGW OR MSYS)
         set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -static -static-libgcc -Wno-char-subscripts -Wno-long-long")
-        add_definitions(-DUSE_FILE32API)
+        list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS USE_FILE32API)
     elseif(MSVC)
         set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG} /MTd /O0 /Fd${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}.pdb")
         set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE} /MT /Ox /Zi /Fd${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}.pdb")
@@ -111,46 +111,63 @@ if(BUILD_STATIC)
     endif()
 endif()
 
+# INCLUDES
+# --------
+
 enable_language(CXX)
 list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake)
+
+# ZLIB
 find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED "1.0")
-include_directories(${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_INCLUDE_DIRS ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS})
 message("zlib version: " ${ZLIB_VERSION})
 
 # LIBRARY
 # -------
 
-add_definitions(-DNOCRYPT -DNOUNCRYPT)
+list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS NOCRYPT NOUNCRYPT)
 
 # Fix for modified zconf.h on Gentoo.
 if(${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM} MATCHES gentoo)
-    add_definitions(-DOF=_Z_OF)
+    list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS OF=_Z_OF)
+endif()
+
+# Ensure CRT Secure warnings are disabled
+if(MSVC)
+    list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS)
+endif()
+
+# Ensure "TESTING" macro is defined if building tests
+if(BUILD_TESTS)
+    list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS TESTING)
 endif()
 
-include_directories(include include/xlsxwriter)
 file(GLOB LXW_SOURCES src/*.c)
+file(GLOB_RECURSE LXW_HEADERS RELATIVE include *.h)
 list(APPEND LXW_SOURCES third_party/minizip/ioapi.c third_party/minizip/zip.c)
 if(MSVC)
     list(APPEND LXW_SOURCES third_party/minizip/iowin32.c)
 endif()
-if (NOT ${USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE})
-    include_directories(third_party/tmpfileplus)
+if (NOT USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE)
     list(APPEND LXW_SOURCES third_party/tmpfileplus/tmpfileplus.c)
 endif()
 
 set(LXW_PROJECT_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}")
 set(LXW_LIB_DIR "${LXW_PROJECT_DIR}/lib")
-
-if(BUILD_STATIC)
-    add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} STATIC ${LXW_SOURCES})
-else()
-    add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} SHARED ${LXW_SOURCES})
-endif()
-
-target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
+add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} "")
+target_sources(${PROJECT_NAME}
+    PRIVATE ${LXW_SOURCES}
+    PUBLIC ${LXW_HEADERS}
+)
+target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} LINK_PUBLIC ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
+target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE ${LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS})
+target_include_directories(${PROJECT_NAME}
+    PRIVATE ${LXW_PRIVATE_INCLUDE_DIRS}
+    PUBLIC include include/xlsxwriter
+)
 
 if(MSVC)
-    if (BUILD_STATIC)
+    if (NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
         add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} POST_BUILD
             COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E rename
             ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}.pdb
@@ -173,7 +190,8 @@ macro(CreateTest sources target)
     set(dependencies ${output_name})
 
     add_executable(${output_name} ${${sources}})
-    target_link_libraries(${output_name} ${PROJECT_NAME} ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
+    target_link_libraries(${output_name} ${PROJECT_NAME})
+    target_compile_definitions(${output_name} PRIVATE TESTING COLOR_OK)
     add_test(NAME ${output_name}
         COMMAND ${output_name}
         WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
@@ -215,9 +233,8 @@ set(LXW_UNIT_SOURCES
     ${LXW_CUSTOM_SOURCES}
 )
 
-if (BUILD_TESTS)
+if(BUILD_TESTS)
     # unit tests
-    add_definitions(-DTESTING -DCOLOR_OK)
     CreateTest(LXW_UNIT_SOURCES unit)
 
     # functional tests
@@ -227,14 +244,10 @@ if (BUILD_TESTS)
     #foreach(source ${LXW_FUNCTIONAL_SOURCES})
     #    get_filename_component(basename ${source} NAME_WE)
     #    add_executable(${basename} ${source})
-    #    target_link_libraries(${basename} xlsxwriter ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
+    #    target_link_libraries(${basename} xlsxwriter)
     #endforeach(source)
 endif()
 
-if(MSVC)
-    add_definitions(-D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS)
-endif()
-
 # EXAMPLES
 # --------
 
@@ -244,7 +257,7 @@ if(BUILD_EXAMPLES)
     foreach(source ${LXW_EXAMPLE_SOURCES})
         get_filename_component(basename ${source} NAME_WE)
         add_executable(${basename} ${source})
-        target_link_libraries(${basename} ${PROJECT_NAME} ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES})
+        target_link_libraries(${basename} ${PROJECT_NAME})
     endforeach(source)
 endif()
 
@@ -263,7 +276,7 @@ if(MSVC)
         ARCHIVE DESTINATION "lib/${MSVC_FOLDER_PREFIX}/\${CMAKE_INSTALL_CONFIG_NAME}"
         RUNTIME DESTINATION "bin/${MSVC_FOLDER_PREFIX}/\${CMAKE_INSTALL_CONFIG_NAME}"
     )
-    if (BUILD_STATIC)
+    if (NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
         install(FILES $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:${PROJECT_NAME}>/${PROJECT_NAME}.pdb
             DESTINATION "lib/{MSVC_FOLDER_PREFIX}/\${CMAKE_INSTALL_CONFIG_NAME}"
         )

Originally created by @Alexhuszagh on GitHub (Oct 23, 2017). Original GitHub issue: https://github.com/jmcnamara/libxlsxwriter/issues/131 Originally assigned to: @jmcnamara on GitHub. CMake has the power to track private and public macro definitions, include directories, linked libraries and linker flags. This allows anyone using libxlsxwriter in a dependent project to simply call `target_link_libraries(${my_target} xlsxwriter)` and it will automatically track all the required definitions, include directories, libraries, and linker flags for compilation. I have patched my own CMakeLists to remedy this as we have started to include more configurations, optional system libraries (like minizip), and others. The diff is available here, and the working version is available on a [downstream branch](https://github.com/Alexhuszagh/libxlsxwriter/tree/cmake). If all is satisfactory, I can submit a PR. This will be useful to simplify compiler and linker flags during compilation, as well as simplify the inclusion of libxlsxwriter in projects using a CMake build system. ```diff diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt index 810287d..a7a463f 100644 --- a/CMakeLists.txt +++ b/CMakeLists.txt @@ -26,10 +26,6 @@ # or using a flag with CMake (`-DZLIB_ROOT:STRING=/usr/include`). # This sets the preferred search path for the ZLIB installation. # -# BUILD_STATIC -# Build static libraries (default on). To build shared -# libraries, pass `-DBUILD_STATIC=OFF` during configuration. -# # BUILD_TESTS # Build unittests (default off). To build the unittests, # pass `-DBUILD_TESTS=ON` during configuration. @@ -50,6 +46,11 @@ # To build in release mode, pass `-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release` # during configuration. # +# CMake sets the creation of static and shared libraries with the +# `BUILD_SHARED_LIBS` option, which can be set as a flag during +# configuration. To build a static library, pass +# `-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF` during configuration. +# # Generators: # CMake also supports custom build generators, such as MakeFiles, # Ninja, Visual Studio, and XCode. For example, to generate @@ -64,7 +65,7 @@ set(CMAKE_LEGACY_CYGWIN_WIN32 1) if(MSVC) cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.4) else() - cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8) + cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.7) endif() SET(PROJECT_NAME "xlsxwriter" CACHE STRING "Optional project and binary name") @@ -77,7 +78,6 @@ enable_testing() SET(ZLIB_ROOT "" CACHE STRING "Optional root for the ZLIB installation") -option(BUILD_STATIC "Build static libxlsxwriter" ON) option(BUILD_TESTS "Build libxlsxwriter tests" OFF) option(BUILD_EXAMPLES "Build libxlsxwriter examples" OFF) option(USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE "Use the C standard library's tmpfile()" OFF) @@ -87,22 +87,22 @@ if(DEFINED ENV{${ZLIB_ROOT}}) endif() if(IOAPI_NO_64) - add_definitions(-DIOAPI_NO_64=1) + list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS IOAPI_NO_64=1) endif() # CONFIGURATIONS # -------------- if(USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE) - add_definitions(-DUSE_STANDARD_TMPFILE) + list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE) endif() -if(BUILD_STATIC) +if(NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS) if(UNIX) set(CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON) elseif(MINGW OR MSYS) set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS} -static -static-libgcc -Wno-char-subscripts -Wno-long-long") - add_definitions(-DUSE_FILE32API) + list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS USE_FILE32API) elseif(MSVC) set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_DEBUG} /MTd /O0 /Fd${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}.pdb") set(CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE "${CMAKE_C_FLAGS_RELEASE} /MT /Ox /Zi /Fd${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}.pdb") @@ -111,46 +111,63 @@ if(BUILD_STATIC) endif() endif() +# INCLUDES +# -------- + enable_language(CXX) list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake) + +# ZLIB find_package(ZLIB REQUIRED "1.0") -include_directories(${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS}) +list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_INCLUDE_DIRS ${ZLIB_INCLUDE_DIRS}) message("zlib version: " ${ZLIB_VERSION}) # LIBRARY # ------- -add_definitions(-DNOCRYPT -DNOUNCRYPT) +list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS NOCRYPT NOUNCRYPT) # Fix for modified zconf.h on Gentoo. if(${CMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM} MATCHES gentoo) - add_definitions(-DOF=_Z_OF) + list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS OF=_Z_OF) +endif() + +# Ensure CRT Secure warnings are disabled +if(MSVC) + list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS _CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS) +endif() + +# Ensure "TESTING" macro is defined if building tests +if(BUILD_TESTS) + list(APPEND LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS TESTING) endif() -include_directories(include include/xlsxwriter) file(GLOB LXW_SOURCES src/*.c) +file(GLOB_RECURSE LXW_HEADERS RELATIVE include *.h) list(APPEND LXW_SOURCES third_party/minizip/ioapi.c third_party/minizip/zip.c) if(MSVC) list(APPEND LXW_SOURCES third_party/minizip/iowin32.c) endif() -if (NOT ${USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE}) - include_directories(third_party/tmpfileplus) +if (NOT USE_STANDARD_TMPFILE) list(APPEND LXW_SOURCES third_party/tmpfileplus/tmpfileplus.c) endif() set(LXW_PROJECT_DIR "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}") set(LXW_LIB_DIR "${LXW_PROJECT_DIR}/lib") - -if(BUILD_STATIC) - add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} STATIC ${LXW_SOURCES}) -else() - add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} SHARED ${LXW_SOURCES}) -endif() - -target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}) +add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} "") +target_sources(${PROJECT_NAME} + PRIVATE ${LXW_SOURCES} + PUBLIC ${LXW_HEADERS} +) +target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} LINK_PUBLIC ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}) +target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE ${LXW_PRIVATE_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS}) +target_include_directories(${PROJECT_NAME} + PRIVATE ${LXW_PRIVATE_INCLUDE_DIRS} + PUBLIC include include/xlsxwriter +) if(MSVC) - if (BUILD_STATIC) + if (NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS) add_custom_command(TARGET ${PROJECT_NAME} POST_BUILD COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E rename ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${PROJECT_NAME}.pdb @@ -173,7 +190,8 @@ macro(CreateTest sources target) set(dependencies ${output_name}) add_executable(${output_name} ${${sources}}) - target_link_libraries(${output_name} ${PROJECT_NAME} ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}) + target_link_libraries(${output_name} ${PROJECT_NAME}) + target_compile_definitions(${output_name} PRIVATE TESTING COLOR_OK) add_test(NAME ${output_name} COMMAND ${output_name} WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR} @@ -215,9 +233,8 @@ set(LXW_UNIT_SOURCES ${LXW_CUSTOM_SOURCES} ) -if (BUILD_TESTS) +if(BUILD_TESTS) # unit tests - add_definitions(-DTESTING -DCOLOR_OK) CreateTest(LXW_UNIT_SOURCES unit) # functional tests @@ -227,14 +244,10 @@ if (BUILD_TESTS) #foreach(source ${LXW_FUNCTIONAL_SOURCES}) # get_filename_component(basename ${source} NAME_WE) # add_executable(${basename} ${source}) - # target_link_libraries(${basename} xlsxwriter ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}) + # target_link_libraries(${basename} xlsxwriter) #endforeach(source) endif() -if(MSVC) - add_definitions(-D_CRT_SECURE_NO_WARNINGS) -endif() - # EXAMPLES # -------- @@ -244,7 +257,7 @@ if(BUILD_EXAMPLES) foreach(source ${LXW_EXAMPLE_SOURCES}) get_filename_component(basename ${source} NAME_WE) add_executable(${basename} ${source}) - target_link_libraries(${basename} ${PROJECT_NAME} ${ZLIB_LIBRARIES}) + target_link_libraries(${basename} ${PROJECT_NAME}) endforeach(source) endif() @@ -263,7 +276,7 @@ if(MSVC) ARCHIVE DESTINATION "lib/${MSVC_FOLDER_PREFIX}/\${CMAKE_INSTALL_CONFIG_NAME}" RUNTIME DESTINATION "bin/${MSVC_FOLDER_PREFIX}/\${CMAKE_INSTALL_CONFIG_NAME}" ) - if (BUILD_STATIC) + if (NOT BUILD_SHARED_LIBS) install(FILES $<TARGET_FILE_DIR:${PROJECT_NAME}>/${PROJECT_NAME}.pdb DESTINATION "lib/{MSVC_FOLDER_PREFIX}/\${CMAKE_INSTALL_CONFIG_NAME}" ) ```

gitea-mirror

2026-05-05 11:41:31 -06:00

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gitea-mirror commented

2026-05-05 11:41:38 -06:00

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@jmcnamara commented on GitHub (Oct 24, 2017):

This allows anyone using libxlsxwriter in a dependent project to simply call target_link_libraries(${my_target} xlsxwriter)

Is this like pkg-config, if you are familiar with it? I have been meaning to add support for that.

Anyway, the patch looks fine. Submit it as a PR and I'll merge it.

@jmcnamara commented on GitHub (Oct 24, 2017): > This allows anyone using libxlsxwriter in a dependent project to simply call target_link_libraries(${my_target} xlsxwriter) Is this like [pkg-config](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pkg-config), if you are familiar with it? I have been meaning to add support for that. Anyway, the patch looks fine. Submit it as a PR and I'll merge it.