CMake: how to set VTK_DIR?

c++ cmake vtk
Tengis picture Tengis · Nov 4, 2013 · Viewed 14.1k times · Source

This is one part of my CMakeLists.txt

set (VTK_DIR "/usr/include/vtk-5.8")

find_package(VTK REQUIRED)
include(${VTK_USE_FILE})
IF(VTK_FOUND)
  message("found VTK. Version:" ${VTK_VERSION}. VTK_DIR: ${VTK_DIR})
ELSE(VTK_FOUND)
  MESSAGE(FATAL_ERROR
    "Cannot build the executable without VTK. Please set the                                                                                                   
VTK_DIR")
ENDIF(VTK_FOUND)

cmake . tells me:

found VTK. Version:6.0.0.VTK_DIR:/usr/local/lib/cmake/vtk-6.0

Giving the VTK_DIR in the command line does not help either:

cmake -DVTK_DIR:PATH=/usr/include/vtk-5.8 .

Still cmake looks in /usr/local/lib/cmake/vtk-6.0 for VTK.

What is wrong here?

Answer

Peter picture Peter · Nov 4, 2013

VTK_DIR is a cache variable, which keeps its state across CMake invocations. You can set it from the command line, or via one of the CMake GUI interfaces.

Or, if you're certain you want to force it from your CMake file itself, you can use this syntax:

SET(VTK_DIR "/usr/include/vtk-5.8" CACHE PATH "VTK directory override" FORCE)

Related questions

CMake ExternalProject_Add() and FindPackage()

Is there are proper way to find a library (via FindPackage()) which was built with ExternalProject_Add()? The problem is that CMake cannot find the library at CMake-time because the external library gets build at compile time. I know that …

Read More
How do I add a linker or compile flag in a CMake file?

I am using the arm-linux-androideabi-g++ compiler. When I try to compile a simple "Hello, World!" program it compiles fine. When I test it by adding a simple exception handling in that code it works too (after adding -fexceptions .. I guess …

Read More
Debug vs Release in CMake

In a GCC compiled project, How do I run CMake for each target type (debug/release)? How do I specify debug and release C/C++ flags using CMake? How do I express that the main executable will be compiled with …

Read More