Re: [boost] "I want everything" should build "out of the box" (on Windows)

Subject: Re: [boost] "I want everything" should build "out of the box" (on Windows)
From: KSpam (keesling_spam_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-07-29 15:22:08

> >>> FWIW, CMake has an option to provide an initial cache file (using -C
> >>> cache-filename). So, you can place those configuration details into
> >>> your own initial cache file, and ask CMake to start with that
> >>> configuration (configuring whatever else it needs) if you need to
> >>> re-configure your tree.
> >>
> >> Does initial cache use the same syntax as the ordinary cache,
> >
> > Yes.
>
> Hmm, does not work for me:
>
>         $ cp CMakeCache.txt initial
>         $ cmake -C initial .
>         loading initial cache file initial
>         CMake Error: Error in cmake code at
>         /tmp/x/initial:17:
>         Parse error.  Expected a command name, got unquoted argument with
> text "//Path". CMake Error: Error processing file:initial
>         -- Configuring incomplete, errors occurred!
>         $ cmake --version
>         cmake version 2.6-patch 2
>
> Am I doing something wrong?

The cmake file(s) that can be passed in via the "-C" option do not have the 
same syntax as CMakeCache.txt.  Instead they have the normal CMake syntax 
(which I find easier to work with).  For instance, you could have a file 
initial.cmake:

        # Contents of initial.cmake
        set(CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX "my/path/for/install" CACHE STRING "Where to put 
installed files" FORCE)

This file could then be used:

        cmake -C initial.cmake my/path/to/source/tree

> OK. Regardless of the reason for the above error -- which might well be my
> error -- I think I now understand the attractive parts of CMake
> configuration framework, and will make use of that understanding.

I would like to add that although the GUI and the easy to modify configuration 
of CMake is very nice, it is a very small fraction of the CMake configuration 
framework.  Perhaps the more important feature is the ability to find third-
party libraries on any number of host system configurations "automagically".  
I would expect that this feature is also one of the more difficult to 
duplicate.

Respectfully,
Justin