Which source code files are part of the block’s library¶

BII_LIB_SRC contains all the source code biicode adds to the library (through CMake add_library)

EXAMPLE: Exclude my_file.cpp from being compiled in the block’s library.

# Remove my_file.cpp from being compiled in library
LIST(REMOVE_ITEM BII_LIB_SRC my_file.cpp)

ADD_BII_TARGETS()

EXAMPLE: Include other_file.cpp to be compiled in the block library.

# Include my_file.cpp to be compiled in library
LIST(APPEND BII_LIB_SRC other_file.cpp)

ADD_BII_TARGETS()

ESSENTIAL TIP: If biicode did not add a file needed to your block’s library, you could specify this dependency in the [dependencies] section of the biicode.conf file. Why? This way you wire the dependency (fixing the dependency graph). If someone depends on your library, biicode will also download the missing file and will add it to BII_LIB_SRC automatically. Otherwise file won’t be downloadedm and their build will fail.

Choose STATIC or SHARED library¶

BII_LIB_TYPE value is empty by default (turns out it is STATIC in most cases). It can be either STATIC or SHARED.

EXAMPLE: Making a shared library (.dll, .so):

SET(BII_LIB_TYPE SHARED)

ADD_BII_TARGETS()

Modify which executable targets are made¶

BII_BLOCK_EXES List of executable targets (mains). Each “exe” matches this pattern: path_to_mainfile.

For example, if the block lasote/game has a main.cpp in a folder named “src”, the variable has an element: “src_main”

EXAMPLE: Prevent biicode from creating an EXE target for (examples/src/my_program.cpp):

LIST(REMOVE_ITEM BII_BLOCK_EXES examples_src_my_program)

ADD_BII_TARGETS()

You can also do this by adding !examples_src_my_program line to [mains] section of biicode.conf.

Which source code files are part of each executable¶

BII_exe_name_SRC contains all source code that will be added to the exe. “exe_name” matches this pattern: path_to_mainfile.

For example, if the block lasote/game has a main.cpp in a folder named “src” the variable is: “BII_src_main_SRC“

EXAMPLE: Exclude my_file.cpp from being compiled with examples/main.cpp executable.

LIST(REMOVE_ITEM BII_examples_main_SRC my_file.cpp)

ADD_BII_TARGETS()

Modify which test targets are made¶

BII_BLOCK_TESTS is a subset of BII_BLOCK_EXES and contains the executables specified in [tests] section of biicode.conf file.

EXAMPLE: Exclude tests/one.cpp from tests.

LIST(REMOVE_ITEM BII_BLOCK_TESTS tests_one)

ADD_BII_TARGETS()

Configure library target¶

BII_LIB_TARGET contains the name of the block’s library target. This target may be an INTERFACE target (no source files) if BII_LIB_SRC is empty before ADD_BIICODE_TARGETS call. For this reason we recommend you to always use BII_BLOCK_TARGET.

BII_BLOCK_TARGET: Use this better, instead of BII_LIB_TARGET. Created to ease target configuration. It always exists and it is always a CMake Interface. Represents the whole block, and it is applied to BII_LIB_TARGET and each target executable.

EXAMPLE: Linking with pthread.

# Link against the always existing BII_BLOCK_TARGET
TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(${BII_BLOCK_TARGET} INTERFACE pthread)
# or link against the library (if it's not an interface we specify PUBLIC attribute to propagate the configuration)
TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(${BII_LIB_TARGET} PUBLIC pthread)

You can also do this by adding pthread to ${BII_LIB_DEPS} before calling ADD_BII_TARGETS()

EXAMPLE: Adding include directories to all targets of this block.

TARGET_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(${BII_BLOCK_TARGET} INTERFACE myincludedir)

# You can also add private include directories to the Lib (if existing)
TARGET_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES(${BII_LIB_TARGET} PRIVATE myincludedir)

You can also do this by adding myincludedir line to [paths] section of biicode.conf.

EXAMPLE: How to activate C++11 for all targets (including lib target).

IF(APPLE)
   TARGET_COMPILE_OPTIONS(${BII_BLOCK_TARGET} INTERFACE "-std=c++11 -stdlib=libc++")
ELSEIF (WIN32 OR UNIX)
   TARGET_COMPILE_OPTIONS(${BII_BLOCK_TARGET} INTERFACE "-std=c++11")
ENDIF(APPLE)

EXAMPLE: Adding compile definitions to all targets (including lib target).

TARGET_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS(${BII_BLOCK_TARGET} PUBLIC "MY_DEFINITION=1")

EXAMPLE: Setting properties to lib target.

SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES(${BII_LIB_TARGET} PROPERTIES COMPILE_DEFINITIONS "IOV_MAX=255")

SET_TARGET_PROPERTIES only allows setting some white-listed properties to BII_BLOCK_TARGET, because it is an interface. Use BII_LIB_TARGET to set target properties.

Configure executable target¶

BII_exe_name_TARGET contains the name of the target for each executable target. Each “exe” matches this pattern: path_to_mainfile.

EXAMPLE: Linking pthread to an executable target (file: examples/one.cpp):

TARGET_LINK_LIBRARIES(${BII_examples_one_TARGET} PUBLIC pthread)

EXAMPLE: Adding compile definitions to an executable target (file: my_main.cpp).

TARGET_COMPILE_DEFINITIONS(${BII_my_main_TARGET} PUBLIC "MY_DEFINITION=1")

When someone depends on your library, biicode only downloads the required files (according to the dependency graph). So you can not assume that ${BII_my_main_TARGET} target will exist. It may seem obvious, but if you reference a target that doesn’t exist build fails. When possible it’s better to not act upon EXE targets. Remember that BII_BLOCK_TARGET will be applied to each target in your block.

It is best to act upon BII_BLOCK_TARGET.