CMake Guide

CMake is an open-source, cross-platform family of tools designed to build, test and package software. CMake is used to control the software compilation process using simple platform and compiler independent configuration files, and generates native makefiles and workspaces that can be used in the compiler environment of your choice.

Requirement

1. Open your terminal and execute:

cmake --version

if the CMake version is lower than 3.6, please upgrade.

2. You should use out-of-source builds, this means you need to create a different directory than cocos2d-x to execute the cmake command.

Step by Step

Linux

cd cocos2d-x
mkdir linux-build && cd linux-build
cmake ..
make

Execute make help to see all build targets, make <target> build specified target

Generating a Visual Studio project

cd cocos2d-x
mkdir win32-build && cd win32-build
cmake .. -G"Visual Studio 15 2017" -Tv141

Execute cmake --build . to compile,

cmake --build . --config Debug
cmake --build . --config Release

or open Cocos2d-x.sln in Explorer to use the generated project.

If can't found MSVCR110.dll issue occurs to you, please install this Visual C++ Runtime Libraries, when runing the cpp-tests project

Generating a macOS Project

cd cocos2d-x
mkdir mac-build && cd mac-build
cmake .. -GXcode
open Cocos2d-x.xcodeproj

Generating an iOS Project

Create iOS device project

cd cocos2d-x
mkdir ios-build && cd ios-build
cmake .. -GXcode -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphoneos
open Cocos2d-x.xcodeproj

Create iOS simulator project

cd cocos2d-x
mkdir ios-build && cd ios-build
cmake .. -GXcode -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphonesimulator
open Cocos2d-x.xcodeproj

If you meet the error like this:

CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:28 (project):
  No CMAKE_C_COMPILER could be found.



CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:28 (project):
  No CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER could be found.

Then you can set C/C++ compiler manually like this

cmake .. -GXcode -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphoneos -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=clang++

How do I customize the generated Xcode project?

Xcode project settings that you want to affect both the app project and the Cocos2d-X library project should be passed on the command line when invoking cmake.

Xcode project settings that you want to affect the app project only shoudl be put into the its CMakeLists.txt file.

Any Xcode Build Setting can be changed by setting CMAKE_XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_XXX where XXX is the name found within the Xcode Build Settings page of the target. The following image shows the name of the iOS Deployment Target:

Cocos also provides the function set_xcode_property() to make this easier to set from within a CMakeLists.txt file, where only the XXX part needed to be specified:

set_xcode_property(${APP_NAME} XXX "Value")

Deployment Target

As explained above, pass this on the command line so both the app the Cocos2d-x are built using the same version:

For iOS pass -DCMAKE_XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_IPHONEOS_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=version, where version is 9.0, 10.0, etc.

For macOS pass -DCMAKE_XCODE_ATTRIBUTE_MACOSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET=version, where version is 10.12, 10.13, etc.

Code Signing Development Team

This should be set in the app CMakeLists.txt file. You only need to set the "Development Team" as Xcode will automatically manage the other settings (certificate type, etc.). However the value you set is the 10-digit serial number following the development team name, which you can see in the top-right of the Apple Developer Certificates page.

Set it like this:

set_xcode_property(${APP_NAME} DEVELOPMENT_TEAM "GRLXXXX2K9")

Bundle Identifier, Version numbers and Device Support

All this information is held in the Info.plist file that is part of the app's source files and is therefore not generated by cmake. Therefore you can update these values from the General page of the Xcode target and the values will be preserved the next time you regenerate the project from cmake:

Android Studio

We use the Gradle for Android applications, and Gradle use cmake to build the native code, see gradle.properties: PROP_NDK_MODE, it controls how native builds work.

# android native code build type
# none, native code will never be compiled.
# cmake, native code will be compiled by CMakeLists.txt
# ndk-build, native code will be compiled by Android.mk
PROP_BUILD_TYPE=cmake

If you want to add cmake build arguments, please add it at external Native Build block of app/build.gradle file.

Build Options

CMake Common Build Options

1. -G, generate native build project you specified, for example

   • -GXcode generate Xcode project files.
   • -GVisual Studio 15 2017 generate Visual Studio 2017 project, the default toolset is v141, add -T option to specify toolset, like this -Tv140

2. CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE, specify the build mode, Debug or Release

   • -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release to generate the Release mode project, the default build mode is Debug

3. -H -B, -H specify the CMake project Home directory, -B specify CMake-generated project binary directory. for example

   • -H..\cocos2d-x -Bmsvc_build the generated native project's location will be msvc_build directory.

4. --build <dir>, build a CMake-generated project binary tree, for example

   • cmake --build ./msvc_build, cmake will sellect corresponding build tools.

Tips

1. Use cmake .. to refersh resources and code files, after you modify Resources or CMakeLists.txt.
2. Don't need CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE options when -G Xcode or Visual Studio, CMake scripts will generate both configurations, so you can switch Debug and Release in IDE.

Useful Links

• CMake Official website: cmake.org

• CMake Documentation: cmake.org/documentation

• CMake FAQ: Wiki/CMake_FAQ