How to add the path of data file in CMakeLists?

Question

I have a cmake project with a data file. In order to execute the output file I need to copy paste the data file in the build directory. The tree structure of project looks like this: After running cmake the output file is stored in /build/src/main.o and data file is copied in /build/data/xaa.h5 . I do not want to copy the data file every time. Is there a way that main.o file access the data file which is stored in data/xaa.h5? I tried the file_configure, but something is not quite correct! Here is top level cmakelists

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.1)

set(CMAKE_USER_MAKE_RULES_OVERRIDE "cmake/platform.cmake")

# C language only needed due to regression in FindHDF5.
project(H5XX LANGUAGES C CXX)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
set(CMAKE_CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF)

set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")

find_package(Boost 1.40.0 QUIET REQUIRED COMPONENTS unit_test_framework)
find_package(HDF5 COMPONENTS C REQUIRED)

include_directories(SYSTEM ${HDF5_INCLUDE_DIRS})
include_directories(SYSTEM ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS})
include_directories(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR})

set(H5XX_INCLUDE_DIR "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/h5xx")
add_subdirectory(data)
add_subdirectory(src)

and this is from the directory data:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)

configure_file( xaa.h5 ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/xaa.h5 COPYONLY)

I want to read the data from the file and then print it

#include <boost/multi_array.hpp>
#include <h5xx/h5xx.hpp>
#include <iostream>

using array_2d_t = boost::multi_array<float, 2>;

template <typename T> void print_array(T const& array)
{
    for (auto const& row : array) 
        { for (auto v : row)
            printf("%5f ", v);
        printf("\n");
    }
}

array_2d_t read_frame(int frame_no) {
    h5xx::file xaa("xaa.h5", h5xx::file::mode::in);

    h5xx::group   g(xaa, "particles/lipids/box/positions");
    h5xx::dataset ds(g, "value");

    array_2d_t arr(boost::extents[11214][3]);

    std::vector<float> offsets{frame_no, 0, 0}, counts{1, 11214, 3};
    h5xx::slice slice(offsets, counts);

    h5xx::read_dataset(ds, arr, slice);
    return arr;
}

int main()
{
    print_array(read_frame(9));
}

You haven't shown us what you're trying to do with the data file other than copy it. — Stephen Newell, Oct 25 '21 at 14:30
@StephenNewell I want to read from the data file and then print it. Added the code which can do this. — Mahesh, Oct 25 '21 at 14:49
Why not update your code to take a path to the file, then cmake can pass that along? — Stephen Newell, Oct 25 '21 at 15:57

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Oct 25 '21 at 14:58

0

In cmake, you can generally do things during build or before the build. The way you set it up is to do the job of copying before the build. Cmake generally can't handle dependency tracking very well at that time, and the file is likely to be copied any time there's any change to CMakeLists or its dependencies. Instead, do the copying at build time by having the file be a proper target, that will be copied only if the source file changes.

answered Oct 25 '21 at 14:58

Kuba hasn't forgotten Monica

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Hi, Kuba. Looking for a new job on Qt/QML? Ping me on LinkedIn. – karlphillip Oct 27 '21 at 20:14

score -1 · Accepted Answer · answered Oct 25 '21 at 14:21

-1

May be you can try the file https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/file.html, instead of file_configure.

answered Oct 25 '21 at 14:21

As can be seen in the documention, the `file` command has many ways for being called. Could you elaborate, which way do you suggest instead of call to `configure_file`? – Tsyvarev Oct 25 '21 at 15:14

How to add the path of data file in CMakeLists?

2 Answers2