CMake 3.13 Release Notes — CMake 4.4.3-dirty Documentation

# CMake 3.13 Release Notes

Changes made since CMake 3.12 include the following.

## New Features

### Generators

- The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2010 and above learned to support the `INTERPROCEDURAL_OPTIMIZATION` target property and supporting `CheckIPOSupported` module.

- The `Xcode` generator learned to configure more Xcode Scheme fields. See the `CMAKE_XCODE_GENERATE_SCHEME` variable.

- The `Green Hills MULTI` generator has been updated:

  - Added support for architecture selection through `CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM`: e.g. `arm`, `ppc`, and `86`.

  - Added support for toolset selection through `CMAKE_GENERATOR_TOOLSET`, e.g. `comp_201205`, `comp_201510`, `comp_201722_beta`.

  - Added support for platform selection through `GHS_TARGET_PLATFORM`, e.g. `integrity`, `linux`, `standalone`, etc.

  - No longer checks that `arm` based compilers are installed but ensures that the correct `gbuild.exe` exists.

  - No longer hard-codes ARM files, BSP, toolset, or OS locations.

### Command-Line

- The `cmake(1)` command gained the `-S <source_dir>` command line option to specify the location of the source directory. This option can be used independently of `-B`.

- The `cmake(1)` command gained the `-B <build_dir>` command line option to specify the location of the build directory. This option can be used independently of `-S`.

- The `cmake(1)` `-E create_symlink` command can now be used on Windows.

### Commands

- The `add_custom_command()` and `add_custom_target()` commands learned to support generator expressions in `WORKING_DIRECTORY` options.

- The `add_link_options()` command was created to add link options in the current directory.

- The `install(TARGETS)` command learned to install targets created outside the current directory.

- The `link_directories()` command gained options to control insertion position.

- The `list(SORT)` command gained options to control the comparison operation used to order the entries.

- The `math()` command gained options for hexadecimal.

- The `target_link_directories()` command was created to specify link directories for targets and their dependents.

- The `target_link_options()` command was created to specify link options for targets and their dependents.

- The `target_link_libraries()` command may now be called to modify targets created outside the current directory. See policy `CMP0079`.

### Variables

- A `CMAKE_AUTOGEN_VERBOSE` variable was added to optionally increase the verbosity of `AUTOMOC`, `AUTOUIC` and `AUTORCC` from within CMake project code.

- A `CMAKE_VS_GLOBALS` variable was added to initialize `VS_GLOBAL_<variable>` target properties on targets as they are created.

### Properties

- The `DEPLOYMENT_ADDITIONAL_FILES` target property was added to tell the `Visual Studio 9 2008` generator to specify additional files for deployment to WinCE devices for remote debugging.

- The `INTERFACE_LINK_DEPENDS` target property was created to specify transitive link dependencies on files.

- The `LINK_DEPENDS` target property learned to support `generator expressions`.

- `LINK_DIRECTORIES` and `INTERFACE_LINK_DIRECTORIES` target properties were added to collect link directories for a target and its dependents. Use the `target_link_directories()` command to set them.

- `LINK_OPTIONS` and `INTERFACE_LINK_OPTIONS` target properties were added to collect link options for a target and its dependents. Use the `target_link_options()` command to set them.

- A `LINK_OPTIONS` directory property was added to collect link options for targets created under the current directory. Use the `add_link_options()` command to set it.

- A `STATIC_LIBRARY_OPTIONS` target property was created to specify archiver options to use when creating static libraries.

- A `VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND_ARGUMENTS` target property was created to set the debugging command line arguments with Visual Studio Generators for VS 2010 and above.

- A `VS_DEBUGGER_ENVIRONMENT` target property was created to set the debugging environment with Visual Studio Generators for VS 2010 and above.

- The `VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND` and `VS_DEBUGGER_WORKING_DIRECTORY` target properties now support generator expressions.

### Modules

- The `FindBoost` module gained a `Boost_ARCHITECTURE` option to specify a Boost architecture-specific library filename fragment.

- The `FindCURL` module learned to find debug and release variants separately.

- The `FindMatlab` module gained new components `ENGINE_LIBRARY` and `DATAARRAY_LIBRARY` to request finding the Matlab C++ Engine and DataArray libraries respectively.

- The `FindMatlab` module now explicitly exports mexFunction in Visual Studio.

- The `FindMatlab` module gained a new `MCC_COMPILER` component to request finding the Matlab Compiler add-on.

- The `FindPkgConfig` module gained an option to create imported targets in global scope.

- The `FindPkgConfig` module gained support for `<` and `>` operators for version checks in addition to the already supported operators `>=`, `<=`, and `=`.

- Modules `FindPython3`, `FindPython2` and `FindPython` gain capability to control order of resource lookup on macOS (Framework) and Windows (Registry).

- The `FindSubversion` module `Subversion_WC_INFO` command gained an `IGNORE_SVN_FAILURE` option to suppress failures, e.g. when the source tree is not under Subversion control.

- The `UseSWIG` module learned to manage target property `INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES` for `SWIG` compilation.

### CTest

- `ctest(1)` gained a `--progress` option to enable a live test progress summary when output goes to a terminal.

### CPack

- The `CPack DEB Generator` learned to split debug symbols into a corresponding .ddeb package when `CPACK_DEBIAN_DEBUGINFO_PACKAGE` is set.

- The `CPack DEB Generator` learned to honor the `SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH` environment variable when packaging files. This is useful for generating reproducible packages.

- CPack gained a new `CPack External Generator` which is used to export the CPack metadata in a format that other software can understand. The intention of this generator is to allow external packaging software to take advantage of CPack's features when it may not be possible to use CPack for the entire packaging process.

## Deprecated and Removed Features

- An explicit deprecation diagnostic was added for policies `CMP0055` through `CMP0063` (`CMP0054` and below were already deprecated). The `cmake-policies(7)` manual explains that the OLD behaviors of all policies are deprecated and that projects should port to the NEW behaviors.

## Other Changes

- The precompiled binaries provided on `cmake.org` now include qthelp-format documentation.

- The `option()` command now honors an existing normal variable of the same name and does nothing instead of possibly creating a cache entry (or setting its type) and removing the normal variable. See policy `CMP0077`.

- The Makefile Generators learned to remove custom command and custom target byproducts during `make clean`.

- The `target_sources()` command now interprets relative source file paths as relative to the current source directory. This simplifies incrementally building up a target's sources from subdirectories. The `CMP0076` policy was added to provide backward compatibility with the old behavior where required.

- The `BundleUtilities` module may no longer be included at configure time. This was always a bug anyway. See policy `CMP0080`.

- The `UseSWIG` module has changed strategy for target naming. See policy `CMP0078`.

- The `LINK_DIRECTORIES` target property now expects absolute paths. See policy `CMP0081`.

- The CPack generators have been moved into their own separate section in the documentation, rather than having the documentation in their internal implementation modules. These internal implementation modules are also no longer available to scripts that may have been incorrectly including them, because they should never have been available in the first place.

## Updates

Changes made since CMake 3.13.0 include the following.

### 3.13.2

- CMake 3.13.0 included a change to pass compiler implicit include directories to the `moc` tool for `AUTOMOC`. This has been reverted due to regressing existing builds and will need further investigation before being re-introduced in a later release.

### 3.13.3

- The `Visual Studio 15 2017` generator has been fixed to work when VS 2019 is installed.

- CMake now checks that at least one of the source or binary directory is specified when running CMake and issues an error if both are missing. This has always been a documented requirement, but the implementation previously accidentally accepted cases in which neither are specified so long as some other argument is given, and silently used the current working directory as the source and build tree.

### 3.13.4

- The error added by 3.13.3 in cases that neither a source or binary directory is specified has been downgraded to a warning. While this was never intended, documented, nor supported behavior, some projects relied on it. The error has been downgraded to a warning for the remainder of the 3.13.x release series to allow a transition period, but it may become a fatal error again in a later release. Scripts relying on the old behavior can be trivially fixed by specifying the path to the source tree (even if just `.`) explicitly and continue to work with all versions of CMake.

### 3.13.5

- In CMake 3.13.0 through 3.13.4, calling `target_link_libraries()` to add `PRIVATE` dependencies to a static library created in another directory (under policy `CMP0079` `NEW` behavior) would incorrectly propagate usage requirements of those dependencies to dependents that link the static library. This has been fixed.