CMake 3.19.0-rc2 is ready for testing

October 28, 2020

I am proud to announce the second CMake 3.19 release candidate.
https://cmake.org/download/

Documentation is available at:
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.19

Release notes appear below and are also published at
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.19/release/3.19.html

Some of the more significant changes in CMake 3.19 are:

  • “cmake(1)” and “cmake-gui(1)” now recognize “CMakePresets.json” and
    “CMakeUserPresets.json” files (see “cmake-presets(7)”).
  • The “Xcode” generator now uses the Xcode “new build system” when
    generating for Xcode 12.0 or higher. See the
    “CMAKE_XCODE_BUILD_SYSTEM” variable. One may use “-T buildsystem=1”
    to switch to the legacy build system.
  • The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2015 and above gained support
    for the Visual Studio Tools for Android. One may now set
    “CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME” to “Android” to generate “.vcxproj” files for
    the Android tools.
  • CMake learned to support “ISPC” as a first-class language that can
    be enabled via the “project()” and “enable_language()” commands.
    “ISPC” is currently supported by the Makefile Generators and the
    “Ninja” generator on Linux, macOS, and Windows using the Intel ISPC
    compiler.
  • “CUDA” language support for Clang now supports separable compilation
    (“CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION”)
  • The “CMake GUI” now has an environment variable editor.
  • The “cmake_path()” command was added for operations on filesystem
    paths.
  • The “file(GENERATE)” command gained a new “TARGET” keyword to
    support resolving target-dependent generator expressions.
  • The “CMAKE_OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES” variable was added to initialize
    the new “OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES” target property and avoid
    unnecessarily building dependencies for a static library.
  • The “CheckCompilerFlag” module has been added to generalize
    “CheckCCompilerFlag” and “CheckCXXCompilerFlag” to more languages.
    It also supports the “CUDA” and “ISPC” languages.
  • The “CheckSourceCompiles” module has been added to generalize
    “CheckCSourceCompiles” and “CheckCXXSourceCompiles” to more
    languages. It also supports the “CUDA” and “ISPC” languages.
  • The “CheckSourceRuns” module has been added to generalize
    “CheckCSourceRuns” and “CheckCXXSourceRuns” to more languages. It
    also supports the “CUDA” language.
  • The “FindCUDAToolkit” module gained support for finding CUDA
    toolkits that do not contain “nvcc”, as well as for finding
    scattered toolkit installations when cross-compiling.
  • Interface Libraries may now have source files added via
    “add_library()” or “target_sources()”. Those with sources will be
    generated as part of the build system.
  • Compatibility with versions of CMake older than 2.8.12 is now
    deprecated and will be removed from a future version. Calls to
    “cmake_minimum_required()” or “cmake_policy()” that set the policy
    version to an older value now issue a deprecation diagnostic.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
CMake 3.19 Release Notes
************************

Changes made since CMake 3.18 include the following.


New Features
============


Presets
-------

* "cmake(1)" and "cmake-gui(1)" now recognize "CMakePresets.json" and
  "CMakeUserPresets.json" files (see "cmake-presets(7)").


Generators
----------

* The "Xcode" generator now uses the Xcode “new build system” when
  generating for Xcode 12.0 or higher. See the
  "CMAKE_XCODE_BUILD_SYSTEM" variable. One may use "-T buildsystem=1"
  to switch to the legacy build system.

* The "Xcode" generator gained support for linking libraries and
  frameworks via the *Link Binaries With Libraries* build phase
  instead of always by embedding linker flags directly.  This behavior
  is controlled by a new "XCODE_LINK_BUILD_PHASE_MODE" target
  property, which is initialized by a new
  "CMAKE_XCODE_LINK_BUILD_PHASE_MODE" variable.

* The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2015 and above gained support
  for the Visual Studio Tools for Android.  One may now set
  "CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME" to "Android" to generate ".vcxproj" files for
  the Android tools.


Languages
---------

* CMake learned to support "ISPC" as a first-class language that can
  be enabled via the "project()" and "enable_language()" commands.
  "ISPC" is currently supported by the Makefile Generators and the
  "Ninja" generator on Linux, macOS, and Windows using the Intel ISPC
  compiler.

* "CUDA" language support for Clang now includes:

  * separable compilation ("CUDA_SEPARABLE_COMPILATION"), and

  * finding scattered toolkit installations when cross-compiling.


File-Based API
--------------

* The "cmake-file-api(7)" “codemodel” version 2 "version" field has
  been updated to 2.2.

* The "cmake-file-api(7)" “codemodel” version 2 “target” object gained
  a new "languageStandard" field in the "compileGroups" objects.


Command-Line
------------

* The "cmake(1)" command-line tool’s "--install" mode gained a "--
  default-directory-permissions" option.

* "cmake(1)" gained a "-E create_hardlink" command-line tool that can
  be used to create hardlinks between files.


GUI
---

* The "CMake GUI" now has an environment variable editor.


Commands
--------

* The "add_test()" command now (officially) supports whitespace and
  other special characters in the name for the test it creates. See
  policy "CMP0110".

* The "cmake_language()" command gained a "DEFER" mode to schedule
  command calls to occur at the end of processing a directory.

* The "cmake_path()" command was added for operations on filesystem
  paths.

* The "configure_file()" command gained a "NO_SOURCE_PERMISSIONS"
  option to suppress copying the input file’s permissions to the
  output file.

* The "execute_process()" command gained a "COMMAND_ERROR_IS_FATAL"
  option to specify a fatal error.

* The "file(ARCHIVE_CREATE)" command gained a "COMPRESSION_LEVEL"
  option to specify the compression level.

* The "file(CHMOD)" and "file(CHMOD_RECURSE)" subcommands were added
  to set permissions of files and directories.

* The "file(DOWNLOAD)" command "" argument is now optional.  If
  it is not specified, the file is not saved.

* The "file(GENERATE)" command gained a new "TARGET" keyword to
  support resolving target-dependent generator expressions.

* The "file()" command gained a new "REAL_PATH" sub-command to compute
  a path with symlinks resolved.

* The "find_package()" command learned to handle a version range.

* The "separate_arguments()" command gained a new "PROGRAM" option. It
  allows the arguments to be treated as a program invocation and will
  resolve the executable to a full path if it can be found.

* The "DIRECTORY" option of the "set_property()", "get_property()",
  and "get_directory_property()" commands now accepts references to
  binary directory paths, such as the value of
  "CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR".

* The "string()" command gained a set of new "JSON" sub commands that
  provide JSON parsing capabilities.


Variables
---------

* The "CMAKE_CLANG_VFS_OVERLAY" variable was added to tell Clang to
  use a VFS overlay to support the Windows SDK when cross-compiling
  from hosts with case-sensitive filesystems.

* The "CMAKE_MFC_FLAG" variable now supports generator expressions.

* The "CMAKE_OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES" variable was added to initialize
  the new "OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES" target property and avoid
  unnecessarily building dependencies for a static library.

* The "CMAKE_PCH_INSTANTIATE_TEMPLATES" variable was added to
  initialize the new "PCH_INSTANTIATE_TEMPLATES" target property.

* The "CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_VERSION_MAXIMUM" variable was
  added to tell the Visual Studio Generators what maximum version of
  the Windows SDK to choose.


Properties
----------

* The "EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL" target property now supports "generator
  expressions".

* The "OPTIMIZE_DEPENDENCIES" target property was added to avoid
  unnecessarily building dependencies for a static library.

* The "PCH_INSTANTIATE_TEMPLATES" target property was added to enable
  template instantiation in the precompiled header. This is enabled by
  default and may significantly improve compile times. Currently only
  supported for Clang (version 11 or later).

* The "WIN32_EXECUTABLE" target property now supports "generator
  expressions".


Modules
-------

* The "CheckCompilerFlag" module has been added to generalize
  "CheckCCompilerFlag" and "CheckCXXCompilerFlag" to more languages.
  It also supports the "CUDA" and "ISPC" languages.

* The "CheckLinkerFlag" module now supports the "CUDA" language.

* The "CheckSourceCompiles" module has been added to generalize
  "CheckCSourceCompiles" and "CheckCXXSourceCompiles" to more
  languages. It also supports the "CUDA" and "ISPC" languages.

* The "CheckSourceRuns" module has been added to generalize
  "CheckCSourceRuns" and "CheckCXXSourceRuns" to more languages. It
  also supports the "CUDA" language.

* The "CMakePackageConfigHelpers" module gained support for version
  ranges.

* The "FindCUDAToolkit" module gained support for finding CUDA
  toolkits that do not contain "nvcc", as well as for finding
  scattered toolkit installations when cross-compiling.

* The "FindPackageHandleStandardArgs" module learned to handle version
  ranges. It also gained the "find_package_check_version()" command to
  check the validity of a version against version-related arguments of
  "find_package()" command.

* The "FindPython3", "FindPython2" and "FindPython" modules gained the
  ability to handle a version range.

* The "FindPython3", "FindPython2" and "FindPython" modules provide,
  respectively, the variable "Python3_LINK_OPTIONS",
  "Python2_LINK_OPTIONS" and "Python_LINK_OPTIONS" for link options.

* The "FindSDL" module now provides:

  * An imported target "SDL::SDL".

  * Result variables "SDL_LIBRARIES" and "SDL_INCLUDE_DIRS".

  * Version variables "SDL_VERSION", "SDL_VERSION_MAJOR",
    "SDL_VERSION_MINOR", and "SDL_VERSION_PATCH".

* The "FindSWIG" module gained the ability to handle a version range.

* The "FindTIFF" module gained a "CXX" component to find the "tiffxx"
  library containing C++ bindings.

* The "FindVulkan" module now provides a "Vulkan::glslc" imported
  target and associated "Vulkan_GLSLC_EXECUTABLE" variable which
  contain the path to the GLSL SPIR-V compiler.

* The "UseSWIG" module gained support for new source file properties
  "OUTPUT_DIR" and "OUTFILE_DIR" to manage output directories on a
  per-source basis.


CTest
-----

* "ctest(1)" now supports the CUDA "compute-sanitizer" checker
  (previously known as "cuda-memcheck") as the
  "CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND". The different tools ("memcheck",
  "racecheck", "synccheck" and "initcheck") supported by "compute-
  sanitizer" can be selected by adding appropriate flags to the
  "CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND_OPTIONS" variable.  The default flags are
  "--tool memcheck --leak-check full".


CPack
-----

* CPack gained the "CPACK_PRE_BUILD_SCRIPTS",
  "CPACK_POST_BUILD_SCRIPTS", and "CPACK_PACKAGE_FILES" variables.

* The "CPack External Generator" gained the
  "CPACK_EXTERNAL_BUILT_PACKAGES" variable.

* The "CPack WIX Generator" gained a "CPACK_WIX_CUSTOM_XMLNS" option
  to specify custom XML namespaces.


Other
-----

* Interface Libraries may now have source files added via
  "add_library()" or "target_sources()".  Those with sources will be
  generated as part of the build system.


Deprecated and Removed Features
===============================

* Compatibility with versions of CMake older than 2.8.12 is now
  deprecated and will be removed from a future version.  Calls to
  "cmake_minimum_required()" or "cmake_policy()" that set the policy
  version to an older value now issue a deprecation diagnostic.

* An explicit deprecation diagnostic was added for policy "CMP0071"
  ("CMP0071" 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.

* macOS SDKs older than 10.5 are no longer supported.

* "cmake-gui(1)" now requires Qt5. Support for compiling with Qt4 has
  been removed.

* The "cmake(1)" command-line option "--warn-unused-vars" has been
  removed and is now silently ignored.  The option has not worked
  correctly since CMake 3.3.


Documentation
=============

The following guides have been added:

* "IDE Integration Guide"

* "Importing and Exporting Guide"


Other Changes
=============

* Building for macOS will now use the latest SDK available on the
  system, unless the user has explicitly chosen a SDK using
  "CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT".  The deployment target or system macOS version
  will not affect the choice of SDK.

* The "CMAKE__COMPILER" variable may now be used to store
  “mandatory” compiler flags like the "CC" and other environment
  variables.

* The "CMAKE__FLAGS_INIT" variable will now be considered during
  the compiler identification check if other sources like
  "CMAKE__FLAGS" or "CFLAGS" are not set.

* The "find_program()" command now requires permission to execute but
  not to read the file found.  See policy "CMP0109".

* An imported target missing its location property fails during
  generation if the location is used.  See policy "CMP0111".

* The following target-based generator expressions that query for
  directory or file name components no longer add a dependency on the
  evaluated target. See policy "CMP0112".

  * "TARGET_FILE_DIR"

  * "TARGET_LINKER_FILE_BASE_NAME"

  * "TARGET_LINKER_FILE_NAME"

  * "TARGET_LINKER_FILE_DIR"

  * "TARGET_SONAME_FILE_NAME"

  * "TARGET_SONAME_FILE_DIR"

  * "TARGET_PDB_FILE_NAME"

  * "TARGET_PDB_FILE_DIR"

  * "TARGET_BUNDLE_DIR"

  * "TARGET_BUNDLE_CONTENT_DIR"

* Makefile Generators no longer repeat custom commands from target
  dependencies.  See policy "CMP0113".

* The "ExternalProject" module handling of step target dependencies
  has been revised.  See policy "CMP0114".

* The "OSX_ARCHITECTURES" target property is now respected for the
  "ASM" language.

* If "CUDA" compiler detection fails with user-specified
  "CMAKE_CUDA_ARCHITECTURES" or "CMAKE_CUDA_HOST_COMPILER", an error
  is raised.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes made since CMake 3.19.0-rc1:

Ben Boeckel (3):
  ci: use a patched sccache on macOS
  ci: update to use CMake 3.18.4
  ci: update to Qt 5.15.1

Ben McMorran (1):
  Help: Add JSON schema for CMakePresets.json

Brad King (12):
  cmake-gui: Attach icons only to main GUI executables
  clang-format: Fix include block order in ctest.cxx and cpack.cxx
  cmConsoleBuf: Factor out cout/cerr console buffer management
  Tests: Add cases for CheckSource{Compiles,Runs} bad arguments
  Fix regression in test/install/package configuration selection
  CMP0111: Clarify that the new error is on a missing property setting
  find_package: Fix regression in searching root prefix
  ci: add Python to PATH on Windows
  FindBoost: Honor Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS when finding upstream BoostConfig
  FindBoost: Honor BOOST_ROOT when finding upstream BoostConfig
  FindRuby: Restore compatibility variable RUBY_VENDORLIB_DIR
  CMake 3.19.0-rc2

Craig Scott (1):
  Help: Cleanup typos and grammar for the 3.19 release

Cristian Adam (1):
  file(CONFIGURE): Allow angle brackets in content

Deniz Bahadir (1):
  add_custom_command: Properly recognize if sources depend on config

Felipe Torrezan (1):
  IAR: Use .o object file extension with IAR-Ilink toolchains

Gusts Kaksis (1):
  Xcode: Fix regression that automatically links libraries in source list

Issam E. Maghni (2):
  bootstrap: add samu as known ninja processors
  bootstrap: add smake as known make processors

Johnny Jazeix (1):
  cmake: Fix '-E cat' command for binary files on Windows

Kyle Edwards (21):
  Help: Fix invalid code-block in cmake(1) manual
  CMake GUI: Disable preset fields instead of hiding them
  Help: Move CMakePresets.json documentation into a separate file
  Help: s/unusedVars/unusedCli/
  Help: Move vendor field into example
  Help: Show multiple ways of doing cacheVariables
  Help: Show environment field
  Help: Add documentation for debug field
  Help: Add inheritance to CMakePresets.json example
  Help: Make architecture and toolset descriptions generic
  Help: Clarify purpose of warnings and errors
  Tests: Add JSON schema validation to CMakePresets.json tests
  CI: Install jsonschema for schema testing
  CMakePresets.json: Properly report macro expansion errors
  CMakePresets.json: Allow boolean for cache variable value
  CMakePresets.json: Add ${sourceDirName} macro
  CMakePresets.json: Split cmakeGeneratorConfig field
  CMakePresets.json: Rework how --preset argument is handled
  Ninja Multi-Config: Don't try to calculate dependencies for "all"
  ccmake: Don't list --preset in --help
  CMake GUI: Add --browse-manual argument

Marc Chevrier (2):
  FindPython: Add support of version 3.10
  cmake_path: Enhance documentation

Michael Hirsch (1):
  CheckSource{Runs,Compiles}: Fix default Fortran source extension

Raul Tambre (1):
  VS: Don't compute CUDA options unless necessary

Robert Bozzetto (1):
  separate_arguments: Fix crash on *_COMMAND with no arguments

Robert Maynard (3):
  cmake: command arguments which use '=' behave consistently
  Modules: Do not implicitly add new functions via old Check Modules
  CUDA: Use MSVC version to determine supported C++ standard levels

Volker Jacht (1):
  VS: Remove flag table entries for Fortran /Z* flags

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