Help/policy/CMP0114.rst
.. versionadded:: 3.19
:module:ExternalProject step targets fully adopt their steps.
The :command:ExternalProject_Add STEP_TARGETS option, and the
:command:ExternalProject_Add_StepTargets function, can be used to
create build targets for individual steps of an external project.
In CMake 3.18 and below, step targets have some limitations:
Step targets always depend on targets named by the
:command:ExternalProject_Add DEPENDS option even though
not all steps need them. In order to allow step targets to be created
without those dependencies, the :command:ExternalProject_Add
INDEPENDENT_STEP_TARGETS option or the
:command:ExternalProject_Add_StepTargets NO_DEPENDS option may
be used. However, adding such "independent" step targets makes sense
only for specific steps such as download, update, and patch
because they do not need any of the external project's build dependencies.
Furthermore, it does not make sense to create independent step targets
for steps that depend on non-independent steps. Such rules are not
enforced, and projects that do not follow them can generate build systems
with confusing and generator-specific behavior.
Step targets hold copies of the custom commands implementing their
steps that are separate from the copies in the primary target created
by :command:ExternalProject_Add, and the primary target does not
depend on the step targets. In parallel builds that drive the primary
target and step targets concurrently, multiple copies of the steps'
commands may run concurrently and race each other.
Also, prior to policy :policy:CMP0113, the step targets generated
by :ref:Makefile Generators also contain all the custom commands
on which their step depends. This can lead to repeated execution of
those steps even in serial builds.
In CMake 3.19 and above, the :module:ExternalProject module prefers
a revised design to address these problems:
Each step is classified as "independent" if it does not depend
on other targets named by the :command:ExternalProject_Add DEPENDS.
The predefined steps are automatically classified by default:
download, update, and patch steps are independent.configure, build, test, and install steps are not.For custom steps, the :command:ExternalProject_Add_Step command provides
an INDEPENDENT option to mark them as independent. It is an error to
mark a step as independent if it depends on other steps that are not. Note
that this use of the term "independent" refers only to independence from
external targets and is orthogonal to a step's dependencies on other steps.
Step targets created by the :command:ExternalProject_Add STEP_TARGETS
option or the :command:ExternalProject_Add_Step function are now
independent if and only if their steps are marked as independent.
The :command:ExternalProject_Add INDEPENDENT_STEP_TARGETS option
and :command:ExternalProject_Add_StepTargets NO_DEPENDS option
are no longer allowed.
Step targets, when created, are fully responsible for holding the
custom commands implementing their steps. The primary target created
by :command:ExternalProject_Add depends on the step targets, and the
step targets depend on each other. The target-level dependencies match
the file-level dependencies used by the custom commands for each step.
When the :command:ExternalProject_Add UPDATE_DISCONNECTED or
TEST_EXCLUDE_FROM_MAIN option is used, or the
:command:ExternalProject_Add_Step EXCLUDE_FROM_MAIN option is used
for a custom step, some step targets may be created automatically.
These are needed to hold the steps commonly depended upon by the primary
target and the disconnected step targets.
Policy CMP0114 provides compatibility for projects that have not been
updated to expect the new behavior. The OLD behavior for this policy
is to use the above-documented behavior from 3.18 and below. The NEW
behavior for this policy is to use the above-documented behavior preferred
by 3.19 and above.
.. |INTRODUCED_IN_CMAKE_VERSION| replace:: 3.19 .. |WARNS_OR_DOES_NOT_WARN| replace:: warns .. include:: include/STANDARD_ADVICE.rst
.. include:: include/DEPRECATED.rst