Re: [boost] [cmake] Pull request announcement

Subject: Re: [boost] [cmake] Pull request announcement
From: Bjorn Reese (breese_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-09-15 12:11:08

On 09/14/18 13:44, Mike Dev via Boost wrote:

> This will not address
> 	- Testing
[...]
> In short: all the difficult stuff is left out ;)
> The goal is not to present a solution that can replace b2 but to have
> a minimal starting point upon which individual library authors or the
> community as a whole can make iterative improvements. If and when BCM
> (or an alternative) is accepted into boost, individual libraries can
> then easily switch to this full-fledged solution and of course any
> author can create a more complete CMake solution for his library at
> any time (as some already have).

In my experience, we want to have both an integration and standalone
CMake file. This split is necessary to avoid problems with multiple
instances of enable_testing() when using one library from another.

   * The integration file builds only what is necessary for integration
     into other projects. This is similar to what you are proposing.

   * The standalone file builds everything including test and
     documentation. This reuses the integration file to build the library
     itself.

If we place your proposed CMake file in the library root, and dependent
libraries start using that location, then it becomes difficult to later
have the standalone CMake file in the library root, which is the more
natural choice. So we should be cautious about where we place these
files.