Where does CMake build libraries

Question

On windows cmake build the libraries in

${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/<< Libname >>/<< Debug or Release >>/Libname.lib

on ubuntu-mate in

${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/Libname.a

is there a way to get this pathes? My use-case for such a FULL_PATH_TO_LIB is as follows:

add_library(${LIB_NAME} STATIC ${SOURCES})
#...
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_BENCH_NAME} 
 debug ${FULL_PATH_TO_LIB}${LIB_NAME}${CMAKE_DEBUG_POSTFIX}${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX })

Just link using **library target**: `target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_BENCH_NAME} debug ${LIB_NAME})`. — Tsyvarev, May 18 '16 at 13:50
That version should be the only one in CMAKE_BINARY_DIR (unless you are compiling multiple versions from the same CMakeLists.txt, at which point they should be separate `add_library()` targets, which again makes any reference to them unambiguous.) CMake does so many nice things automatically for you (like the build type postfixing), why second-guess them? — DevSolar, May 18 '16 at 14:35
Linking by *target name* provides linking to correct library. This is **NOT** a linking by a *library name*. But you may also use [generator expression](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.0/manual/cmake-generator-expressions.7.html): `target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_BENCH_NAME} debug $)`. — Tsyvarev, May 18 '16 at 14:36
@Tsyvarev Actually this is a problem I actually encountered because of some ambiguity with .lib, .lib.a and .dll files I was getting with cmake + mingw under Windows. I solved that by defining a custom add_dependencies macro, and I did need to generate the full filename. — Antonio, May 20 '16 at 11:51
@Antonio: I do not argue against usefulness of full library path at all. I just say that in given case, when linking with library creating within a project, target name is sufficient. — Tsyvarev, May 20 '16 at 11:56

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:31

You can customize the output directory, separately for executables, archive libraries (.a/.lib) and dynamic libraries (.dll/.so), and then use this information to link to a specific file. Here you find a detailed explanation. (You can also set the output directory target-wise)

For example, in your case you would set CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY:

set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/lib/)
add_library(${LIB_NAME} STATIC ${SOURCES})
#...
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_BENCH_NAME} 
 debug ${CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY}${LIB_NAME}${CMAKE_DEBUG_POSTFIX}${CMAKE_STATIC_LIBRARY_SUFFIX })

Where does CMake build libraries

1 Answers1