CMake: target_include_directories() prints an error when I try to add the source directory itself, or one of its subdirectories

Question

I am writing a C++ library (header-only) and am using CMake to generate my (Visual Studio) project and solution files. I'm also writing a test suite, which is part of the same CMake project.

My problem occurs when I call target_include_directories() on the target that represents my header-only library, so that consumers of my library may find its header files. I get the following error message (even though generation is NOT aborted).

CMake Error in CMakeLists.txt:
  Target "Fonts" INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES property contains path:

    "D:/Projects/GPC/fonts/include"

  which is prefixed in the source directory.

(D:/Projects/GPC/Fonts being the top-level directory of my library project. Btw the problem remains if I move my header files to the top directory.)

The offending line in my CMakeLists.txt is this (adapted for simplicity):

target_include_directories(Fonts INTERFACE "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include")

I do not understand what I'm doing wrong. Without target_include_directories(), code of consumer projects simply can't include my header files (unless in installed form, but I haven't gotten to that yet, and in any case I want to be able to use my library from its build tree, without installation.)

I feel like I'm missing something basic here; yet I've searched for hours without finding a solution or explanation.

Answer 1

The origin of the problem is not the target_include_directories command itself, but the attempt to install a target that has a public or interface include directory prefixed in the source path.

While it is perfectly fine and desirable to use absolute paths when building the library from scratch, a third party library that pulls in a prebuilt version of that library will probably want to use a different include path. After all, you do not want all of your users to mirror the directory structure of your build machine, just to end up in the right include path.

CMake's packaging mechanism provides support for both of these use cases: You may pull in a library directly from the build tree (that is, check out the source, build it, and point find_package() to the directory), or from an install directory (run make INSTALL to copy built stuff to the install directory and point find_package() to that directory). The latter approach needs to be relocatable (that is, I build and install on my machine, send you the resulting directory and you will be able to use it on your machine from a different directory structure), while the former is not.

This is a very neat feature, but you have to account for it when setting up the include directories. Quoting the manual for target_include_directories:

Include directories usage requirements commonly differ between the build-tree and the install-tree. The BUILD_INTERFACE and INSTALL_INTERFACE generator expressions can be used to describe separate usage requirements based on the usage location. Relative paths are allowed within the INSTALL_INTERFACE expression and are interpreted relative to the installation prefix. For example:

target_include_directories(mylib PUBLIC  
    $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include/mylib>  
    $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include/mylib>  # <prefix>/include/mylib
)

The BUILD_INTERFACE and INSTALL_INTERFACE generator expressions do all the magic:

$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:...>

Content of ... when the property is exported using install(EXPORT), and empty otherwise.

$<BUILD_INTERFACE:...>

Content of ... when the property is exported using export(), or when the target is used by another target in the same buildsystem. Expands to the empty string otherwise.