cmake-finders

Collection of modern CMake find modules.

Features

• Find modules are based on CMake 3.x targets (no CMake 2.x global variables)
• find_package_handle_standard_args used to check for all required variables (including version variable)
• Uses pkg-config by default to discover system-wide libraries
• Sets VERSION target property according to meta data provided by pkg-config or a known header file
• Sets INTERFACE_COMPILE_OPTIONS target property according to CFLAGS provided by pkg-config
• Attempts to find a corresponding dll dynamic library for a discovered lib import library (Windows only)
  • The import library will be retained via the Libx264_IMPLIB target property
  • The DLL will be retained via the IMPORTED_LOCATION target property
  • Target TYPE will be STATIC if just an import library exists, or SHARED otherwise
• Attempts to set the IMPORTED_SONAME target property (macOS and Linux only)
• Sets description text and URL for use with the FeatureSummary module

Installation

Copy desired find modules into a directory in a CMake project (e.g. cmake), then add this directory to existing CMAKE_MODULE_PATH:

list(APPEND CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/cmake")

Appending ensures that any pre-existing module paths are retained, also path variables should be contained in double quotes to avoid unintended list tokenisation due to space characters.

Note: CMake will iterate through all existing module paths in order, with the earliest discovered find module "winning". If you need to ensure your own find modules take precedence, create a new list prepending your own module path to the existing one, then overwrite the variable with this new list.

Contributions

This repository is open for contributions: To add CMake find modules, use one of the existing modules as a template and adjust appropriately.

Acceptance Criteria

• Every finder must be formatted using cmake-format (the included cmake-format file will ensure compliance)
• Every finder must be linted using cmake-lint, C0103 and C0301 are acceptable to be disabled
• Every finder must have a full doc header including a license note
• File names for find modules are case-sensitive: To use find_package(MyLib) the find module must be named FindMyLib.cmake
• Variables used within the finder are case-sensitive as well, i.e. use MyLib_FOUND, MyLib_VERSION, etc.
• Target name should match package name, i.e. MyLib::MyLib. For modules with multiple components use the package name as the namespace, i.e. MyLib::MyComponent
• Unset helper variables at the end of the find modules
• A version variable must be set (if no proper semver can be found, set it to 0.0.0 with an accompanying warning)
• If a package is only available for a specific operating system, OS-specific features can be omitted (e.g. searching for a DLL as part of a finder for a Linux-only library)
• Try to use the shortest possible description text for FeatureSummary, usually the first sentence of the official distribution's description or subtitle will suffice

Reasonable exceptions to these critera are possible - as an example: If a library is part of a wider known software package, it makes sense to use that package as the namespace (e.g. VLC::LibVLC).