Re: [Boost-cmake] Creating "Known Issues": CMake Problems with boost 1.39

Subject: Re: [Boost-cmake] Creating "Known Issues": CMake Problems with boost 1.39
From: Doug Gregor (doug.gregor_at_[hidden])
Date: 2009-05-13 11:41:11

On Wed, May 13, 2009 at 6:41 AM, troy d. straszheim <troy_at_[hidden]> wrote:
> Tan, Tom (Shanghai) wrote:
>>
>> This is a re-post from the boost-users  list, Thanks to Troy d. straszheim
>> who reminded me there that there’s a dedicated list here.
>>
>
> Good to see you over here
>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I used CMake to build boost 1.39 and found at least two problems:
>>
>>  - In the cmakelist.txt file the BOOST_VERSION_MINOR is 38, instead of 39
>>
>
> A known problem.  You can tweak this in the toplevel CMakeLists.txt. Look
> for BOOST_VERSION_MINOR.  I will also sooner or later put up a git branch
> containing all the patches we collect.
>
>>  - The generated boost.test libs have an additional “-s” to the file
>> names, ex. libboost_unit_test_framework-vc90-mt-1_39-s.lib, instead of
>> libboost_unit_test_framework-vc90-mt-1_39.lib. This will cause a linking
>> error while using boost.test. this does not happen to the bjamed results.
>
> In the cmakefiles I see
>
>      # If the STATIC_TAG flag was set, we append "-s" to the name of
>      # the library. This is an unfortunate hack, needed only for the
>      # test library.
>      if (THIS_LIB_STATIC_TAG)
>        set(THIS_LIB_STATIC_TAG "-s")
>
> But I don't remember all the details of the hack, and I wonder if I can just
> create a patched version that removes this.  Can you just refer to
> liblahblah-s from your side?

I think we should use

  if (THIS_LIB_STATIC_TAG AND UNIX)

because this problem is Unix-centric and Test-library centric.
Basically, when you have both a shared and a static library  "foo" in
the same directory, CMake uses -lfoo and we'll pick up whatever the
linker wants (the shared library). Unfortunately, Boost.Test's static
and shared libraries *have different symbols*, which causes linking
problems.

Frankly, I think the Boost.Test library is way out of line here: why
should shared vs. static linking change what features the library
provides?

Other ideas for a fix to this problem would be helpful! I'm stumped.

  - Doug