How to Get Target Install Location From Cmake?

To get the target install location from CMake, you can use the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX variable. This variable is typically set by the user or the build system to specify the installation directory for the target. You can access this variable in your CMakeLists.txt file to determine where the target should be installed. Additionally, you can use the INSTALL command in CMake to specify the target install location directly within your build script. This allows you to easily control where the target should be installed when the project is built and installed on the system.

What is the recommended approach for obtaining the install location of a CMake target?

The recommended approach for obtaining the install location of a CMake target is to use the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX variable. This variable specifies the base directory where CMake will install files and targets. By default, the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX is set to /usr/local on Unix-like systems and C:/Program Files on Windows.

You can use the DESTINATION argument in install() command to specify the directory where a target should be installed. For example:

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install(TARGETS my_target
        DESTINATION ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin)

This will install the my_target executable to the ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}/bin directory. You can also use other variables like ${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR} or ${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR} to specify the installation directories for libraries and header files, respectively.

How do I extract the target install path from CMake output?

One way to extract the target install path from CMake output is to use regular expressions in a script or programming language like Python. Here's an example Python script that extracts the install path from CMake output:

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import re

# CMake output containing the target install path
cmake_output = """
-- Install configuration: "Release"
-- Installing: /path/to/install/dir
"""

# Regular expression pattern to extract the target install path
pattern = re.compile(r"-- Installing: (.+)$")

# Search for the pattern in the CMake output
match = re.search(pattern, cmake_output)

if match:
    install_path = match.group(1)
    print("Target install path:", install_path)
else:
    print("Target install path not found in CMake output")

This script uses a regular expression pattern to search for the line containing the target install path in the CMake output. If a match is found, it extracts and prints the install path. You can modify the regular expression pattern based on the specific format of the CMake output you are working with.

What function can I use to access the install location of a CMake target in a CMake configuration script?

You can use the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX variable in CMake to access the install location of a CMake target in a CMake configuration script. This variable specifies the root directory where CMake should install files. You can use this variable in combination with the install command to specify the destination directory for installing files created by a CMake target.

What is the method for accessing the target install location in CMake scripts?

In CMake scripts, the target install location can be accessed using the DESTINATION keyword when defining the installation rules for a target. For example, when installing a target named my_target, the DESTINATION keyword can be used to specify the installation directory like this:

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install(TARGETS my_target
    RUNTIME DESTINATION bin
    LIBRARY DESTINATION lib
    ARCHIVE DESTINATION lib
)

This will install the built target my_target into the bin, lib, and lib directories, depending on the target type.

How to find the target install location from CMake?

To find the target install location from CMake, you can use the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX variable. This variable is used to specify the root directory where your project will be installed when running make install.

Here's a simple example of how you can use CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX to find the target install location in your CMakeLists.txt file:

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# Set the install prefix
set(CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX /path/to/installation/directory)

# Use CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX to find the target install location
message("Target install location: ${CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX}")

By setting CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX to the desired installation directory and then using it in the message command, you can easily determine the target install location from CMake.