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+.. cmake-manual-description: CMake Generator Expressions
+
+cmake-generator-expressions(7)
+******************************
+
+.. only:: html
+
+ .. contents::
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+Generator expressions are evaluated during build system generation to produce
+information specific to each build configuration.
+
+Generator expressions are allowed in the context of many target properties,
+such as :prop_tgt:`LINK_LIBRARIES`, :prop_tgt:`INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES`,
+:prop_tgt:`COMPILE_DEFINITIONS` and others. They may also be used when using
+commands to populate those properties, such as :command:`target_link_libraries`,
+:command:`target_include_directories`, :command:`target_compile_definitions`
+and others.
+
+This means that they enable conditional linking, conditional
+definitions used when compiling, and conditional include directories and
+more. The conditions may be based on the build configuration, target
+properties, platform information or any other queryable information.
+
+Logical Expressions
+===================
+
+Logical expressions are used to create conditional output. The basic
+expressions are the ``0`` and ``1`` expressions. Because other logical
+expressions evaluate to either ``0`` or ``1``, they can be composed to
+create conditional output::
+
+ $<$<CONFIG:Debug>:DEBUG_MODE>
+
+expands to ``DEBUG_MODE`` when the ``Debug`` configuration is used, and
+otherwise expands to nothing.
+
+Available logical expressions are:
+
+``$<BOOL:...>``
+ ``1`` if the ``...`` is true, else ``0``
+``$<AND:?[,?]...>``
+ ``1`` if all ``?`` are ``1``, else ``0``
+
+ The ``?`` must always be either ``0`` or ``1`` in boolean expressions.
+
+``$<OR:?[,?]...>``
+ ``0`` if all ``?`` are ``0``, else ``1``
+``$<NOT:?>``
+ ``0`` if ``?`` is ``1``, else ``1``
+``$<IF:?,true-value...,false-value...>```
+ ``true-value...`` if ``?`` is ``1``, ``false-value...`` if ``?`` is ``0``
+``$<STREQUAL:a,b>``
+ ``1`` if ``a`` is STREQUAL ``b``, else ``0``
+``$<EQUAL:a,b>``
+ ``1`` if ``a`` is EQUAL ``b`` in a numeric comparison, else ``0``
+``$<CONFIG:cfg>``
+ ``1`` if config is ``cfg``, else ``0``. This is a case-insensitive comparison.
+ The mapping in :prop_tgt:`MAP_IMPORTED_CONFIG_<CONFIG>` is also considered by
+ this expression when it is evaluated on a property on an :prop_tgt:`IMPORTED`
+ target.
+``$<PLATFORM_ID:comp>``
+ ``1`` if the CMake-id of the platform matches ``comp``, otherwise ``0``.
+``$<C_COMPILER_ID:comp>``
+ ``1`` if the CMake-id of the C compiler matches ``comp``, otherwise ``0``.
+``$<CXX_COMPILER_ID:comp>``
+ ``1`` if the CMake-id of the CXX compiler matches ``comp``, otherwise ``0``.
+``$<VERSION_LESS:v1,v2>``
+ ``1`` if ``v1`` is a version less than ``v2``, else ``0``.
+``$<VERSION_GREATER:v1,v2>``
+ ``1`` if ``v1`` is a version greater than ``v2``, else ``0``.
+``$<VERSION_EQUAL:v1,v2>``
+ ``1`` if ``v1`` is the same version as ``v2``, else ``0``.
+``$<VERSION_LESS_EQUAL:v1,v2>``
+ ``1`` if ``v1`` is a version less than or equal to ``v2``, else ``0``.
+``$<VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL:v1,v2>``
+ ``1`` if ``v1`` is a version greater than or equal to ``v2``, else ``0``.
+``$<C_COMPILER_VERSION:ver>``
+ ``1`` if the version of the C compiler matches ``ver``, otherwise ``0``.
+``$<CXX_COMPILER_VERSION:ver>``
+ ``1`` if the version of the CXX compiler matches ``ver``, otherwise ``0``.
+``$<TARGET_POLICY:pol>``
+ ``1`` if the policy ``pol`` was NEW when the 'head' target was created,
+ else ``0``. If the policy was not set, the warning message for the policy
+ will be emitted. This generator expression only works for a subset of
+ policies.
+``$<COMPILE_FEATURES:feature[,feature]...>``
+ ``1`` if all of the ``feature`` features are available for the 'head'
+ target, and ``0`` otherwise. If this expression is used while evaluating
+ the link implementation of a target and if any dependency transitively
+ increases the required :prop_tgt:`C_STANDARD` or :prop_tgt:`CXX_STANDARD`
+ for the 'head' target, an error is reported. See the
+ :manual:`cmake-compile-features(7)` manual for information on
+ compile features and a list of supported compilers.
+``$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:lang>``
+ ``1`` when the language used for compilation unit matches ``lang``,
+ otherwise ``0``. This expression used to specify compile options for
+ source files of a particular language in a target. For example, to specify
+ the use of the ``-fno-exceptions`` compile option (compiler id checks
+ elided):
+
+ .. code-block:: cmake
+
+ add_executable(myapp main.cpp foo.c bar.cpp)
+ target_compile_options(myapp
+ PRIVATE $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:CXX>:-fno-exceptions>
+ )
+
+ This generator expression has limited use because it is not possible to
+ use it with the Visual Studio generators. Portable buildsystems would
+ not use this expression, and would create separate libraries for each
+ source file language instead:
+
+ .. code-block:: cmake
+
+ add_library(myapp_c foo.c)
+ add_library(myapp_cxx bar.cpp)
+ target_compile_options(myapp_cxx PUBLIC -fno-exceptions)
+ add_executable(myapp main.cpp)
+ target_link_libraries(myapp myapp_c myapp_cxx)
+
+ The ``Makefile`` and ``Ninja`` based generators can also use this
+ expression to specify compile-language specific compile definitions
+ and include directories:
+
+ .. code-block:: cmake
+
+ add_executable(myapp main.cpp foo.c bar.cpp)
+ target_compile_definitions(myapp
+ PRIVATE $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:CXX>:COMPILING_CXX>
+ )
+ target_include_directories(myapp
+ PRIVATE $<$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE:CXX>:/opt/foo/cxx_headers>
+ )
+
+Informational Expressions
+=========================
+
+These expressions expand to some information. The information may be used
+directly, eg::
+
+ include_directories(/usr/include/$<CXX_COMPILER_ID>/)
+
+expands to ``/usr/include/GNU/`` or ``/usr/include/Clang/`` etc, depending on
+the Id of the compiler.
+
+These expressions may also may be combined with logical expressions::
+
+ $<$<VERSION_LESS:$<CXX_COMPILER_VERSION>,4.2.0>:OLD_COMPILER>
+
+expands to ``OLD_COMPILER`` if the
+:variable:`CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_VERSION <CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_VERSION>` is less
+than 4.2.0.
+
+Available informational expressions are:
+
+``$<CONFIGURATION>``
+ Configuration name. Deprecated. Use ``CONFIG`` instead.
+``$<CONFIG>``
+ Configuration name
+``$<PLATFORM_ID>``
+ The CMake-id of the platform.
+ See also the :variable:`CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME` variable.
+``$<C_COMPILER_ID>``
+ The CMake-id of the C compiler used.
+ See also the :variable:`CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_ID` variable.
+``$<CXX_COMPILER_ID>``
+ The CMake-id of the CXX compiler used.
+ See also the :variable:`CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_ID` variable.
+``$<C_COMPILER_VERSION>``
+ The version of the C compiler used.
+ See also the :variable:`CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_VERSION` variable.
+``$<CXX_COMPILER_VERSION>``
+ The version of the CXX compiler used.
+ See also the :variable:`CMAKE_<LANG>_COMPILER_VERSION` variable.
+``$<TARGET_FILE:tgt>``
+ Full path to main file (.exe, .so.1.2, .a) where ``tgt`` is the name of a target.
+``$<TARGET_FILE_NAME:tgt>``
+ Name of main file (.exe, .so.1.2, .a).
+``$<TARGET_FILE_DIR:tgt>``
+ Directory of main file (.exe, .so.1.2, .a).
+``$<TARGET_LINKER_FILE:tgt>``
+ File used to link (.a, .lib, .so) where ``tgt`` is the name of a target.
+``$<TARGET_LINKER_FILE_NAME:tgt>``
+ Name of file used to link (.a, .lib, .so).
+``$<TARGET_LINKER_FILE_DIR:tgt>``
+ Directory of file used to link (.a, .lib, .so).
+``$<TARGET_SONAME_FILE:tgt>``
+ File with soname (.so.3) where ``tgt`` is the name of a target.
+``$<TARGET_SONAME_FILE_NAME:tgt>``
+ Name of file with soname (.so.3).
+``$<TARGET_SONAME_FILE_DIR:tgt>``
+ Directory of with soname (.so.3).
+``$<TARGET_PDB_FILE:tgt>``
+ Full path to the linker generated program database file (.pdb)
+ where ``tgt`` is the name of a target.
+
+ See also the :prop_tgt:`PDB_NAME` and :prop_tgt:`PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY`
+ target properties and their configuration specific variants
+ :prop_tgt:`PDB_NAME_<CONFIG>` and :prop_tgt:`PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>`.
+``$<TARGET_PDB_FILE_NAME:tgt>``
+ Name of the linker generated program database file (.pdb).
+``$<TARGET_PDB_FILE_DIR:tgt>``
+ Directory of the linker generated program database file (.pdb).
+``$<TARGET_BUNDLE_DIR:tgt>``
+ Full path to the bundle directory (``my.app``, ``my.framework``, or
+ ``my.bundle``) where ``tgt`` is the name of a target.
+``$<TARGET_BUNDLE_CONTENT_DIR:tgt>``
+ Full path to the bundle content directory where ``tgt`` is the name of a
+ target. For the macOS SDK it leads to ``my.app/Contents``, ``my.framework``,
+ or ``my.bundle/Contents``. For all other SDKs (e.g. iOS) it leads to
+ ``my.app``, ``my.framework``, or ``my.bundle`` due to the flat bundle
+ structure.
+``$<TARGET_PROPERTY:tgt,prop>``
+ Value of the property ``prop`` on the target ``tgt``.
+
+ Note that ``tgt`` is not added as a dependency of the target this
+ expression is evaluated on.
+``$<TARGET_PROPERTY:prop>``
+ Value of the property ``prop`` on the target on which the generator
+ expression is evaluated.
+``$<INSTALL_PREFIX>``
+ Content of the install prefix when the target is exported via
+ :command:`install(EXPORT)` and empty otherwise.
+``$<COMPILE_LANGUAGE>``
+ The compile language of source files when evaluating compile options. See
+ the unary version for notes about portability of this generator
+ expression.
+
+Output Expressions
+==================
+
+These expressions generate output, in some cases depending on an input. These
+expressions may be combined with other expressions for information or logical
+comparison::
+
+ -I$<JOIN:$<TARGET_PROPERTY:INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES>, -I>
+
+generates a string of the entries in the :prop_tgt:`INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES` target
+property with each entry preceded by ``-I``. Note that a more-complete use
+in this situation would require first checking if the INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
+property is non-empty::
+
+ $<$<BOOL:${prop}>:-I$<JOIN:${prop}, -I>>
+
+where ``${prop}`` refers to a helper variable::
+
+ set(prop "$<TARGET_PROPERTY:INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES>")
+
+Available output expressions are:
+
+``$<0:...>``
+ Empty string (ignores ``...``)
+``$<1:...>``
+ Content of ``...``
+``$<JOIN:list,...>``
+ Joins the list with the content of ``...``
+``$<ANGLE-R>``
+ A literal ``>``. Used to compare strings which contain a ``>`` for example.
+``$<COMMA>``
+ A literal ``,``. Used to compare strings which contain a ``,`` for example.
+``$<SEMICOLON>``
+ A literal ``;``. Used to prevent list expansion on an argument with ``;``.
+``$<TARGET_NAME:...>``
+ Marks ``...`` as being the name of a target. This is required if exporting
+ targets to multiple dependent export sets. The ``...`` must be a literal
+ name of a target- it may not contain generator expressions.
+``$<LINK_ONLY:...>``
+ Content of ``...`` except when evaluated in a link interface while
+ propagating :ref:`Target Usage Requirements`, in which case it is the
+ empty string.
+ Intended for use only in an :prop_tgt:`INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES` target
+ property, perhaps via the :command:`target_link_libraries` command,
+ to specify private link dependencies without other usage requirements.
+``$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:...>``
+ Content of ``...`` when the property is exported using :command:`install(EXPORT)`,
+ and empty otherwise.
+``$<BUILD_INTERFACE:...>``
+ Content of ``...`` when the property is exported using :command:`export`, or
+ when the target is used by another target in the same buildsystem. Expands to
+ the empty string otherwise.
+``$<LOWER_CASE:...>``
+ Content of ``...`` converted to lower case.
+``$<UPPER_CASE:...>``
+ Content of ``...`` converted to upper case.
+``$<MAKE_C_IDENTIFIER:...>``
+ Content of ``...`` converted to a C identifier.
+``$<TARGET_OBJECTS:objLib>``
+ List of objects resulting from build of ``objLib``. ``objLib`` must be an
+ object of type ``OBJECT_LIBRARY``.
+``$<SHELL_PATH:...>``
+ Content of ``...`` converted to shell path style. For example, slashes are
+ converted to backslashes in Windows shells and drive letters are converted
+ to posix paths in MSYS shells. The ``...`` must be an absolute path.