Re: [boost] CMake and Boost Build tests

Subject: Re: [boost] CMake and Boost Build tests
From: Deniz Bahadir (dbahadir_at_[hidden])
Date: 2017-07-27 15:41:30

Am 27.07.2017 um 16:45 schrieb paul via Boost:
> On Wed, 2017-07-26 at 22:48 -0400, Edward Diener via Boost wrote:
>> On 7/26/2017 3:42 PM, paul via Boost wrote:
>>>
[...]
>>>
>>> For a compile/link test:
>>>
>>> add_library(footest STATIC EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL footest.cpp)
>>> add_test(NAME footest COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} --build . --target footest
>>> --
>>> config $<CONFIGURATION> WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR})
>> Why am I adding a library when all I am trying to do is see whether
>> source file(s) can be compiled to their object files successfully ( the
>> compile test ) or whether source file(s) can be compiled to their object
>> files successfully then linked as an executable without linking errors (
>> the link test ) ?
> 
> You have to add a target to be built, and then the test will invoke this
> target. Tests in cmake are just commands that can do anything, and in this
> case we instruct cmake to build a target. The reason its a library and not an
> executable is so that a `main` function is not needed.
> 
> Of course, this will test both compiling and linking together, as there is no
> separation for this in cmake.

CMake has support for "object-libraries", which are targets that just 
compile source-files into object-files
I have not tried it but I would think the following would be possible to 
only test compilation without linking:

```cmake

add_library(OBJECT footest EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
     footest.cpp
     # ... further source-files can go here ...
)
add_test(NAME footest
     COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} --build . --target footest --config 
$<CONFIGURATION>
     WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}
)

```

HTH,
Deniz