GENERATED

Is this source file generated as part of the build or CMake process.

.. versionchanged:: 3.20 Turning on the GENERATED source file property in one directory allows the associated source file to be used across directories without the need to manually setting that property for other directory scopes, too. Additionally, it may now be set only to boolean values, and may not be turned off once turned on. See policy :policy:CMP0118.

.. versionchanged:: 3.30 Whether or not a source file is generated is an all-or-nothing global property of the source. Consequently, the GENERATED source file property is now visible in all directories. See policy :policy:CMP0163.

Tells the internal CMake engine that a source file is generated by an outside process such as another build step, or the execution of CMake itself. This information is then used to exempt the file from any existence or validity checks.

Any file that is

created by the execution of commands such as :command:add_custom_command which run during the build
listed as one of the BYPRODUCTS of an :command:add_custom_command or :command:add_custom_target command, or
created by a CMake AUTOGEN operation such as :prop_tgt:AUTOMOC, :prop_tgt:AUTORCC, or :prop_tgt:AUTOUIC

will be marked with the GENERATED property.

When a generated file created as the OUTPUT of an :command:add_custom_command command is explicitly listed as a source file for any target in the same directory scope (which usually means the same CMakeLists.txt file), CMake will automatically create a dependency to make sure the file is generated before building that target.

The :ref:Makefile Generators will remove GENERATED files during make clean.

Generated sources may be hidden in some IDE tools, while in others they might be shown. For the special case of sources generated by CMake's :prop_tgt:AUTOMOC, :prop_tgt:AUTORCC or :prop_tgt:AUTOUIC functionality, the :prop_gbl:AUTOGEN_SOURCE_GROUP, :prop_gbl:AUTOMOC_SOURCE_GROUP, :prop_gbl:AUTORCC_SOURCE_GROUP and :prop_gbl:AUTOUIC_SOURCE_GROUP target properties may influence where the generated sources are grouped in the project's file lists.