CMake: How to specify directory where ctest should look for executables?

Question

I wanted to integrate ctest to a c++/c project. I use google tests to write unit tests.

Relevant part of my CMakeLists.txt looks like this:

...
####### CREATING EXE #######
add_executable(test_exe main.cpp test.cpp)
target_link_libraries(test_exe GTest::GTest GTest::Main)
set_target_properties (test_exe PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${UNIT_TEST_BIN_OUTPUT_DIR})
add_test(test_exe test_exe)

As you can see i specified the output directory of my executable (UNIT_TEST_BIN_OUTPUT_DIR).

The executable works fine on its own when I use the terminal:

cd <UNIT_TEST_BIN_OUTPUT_DIR>
./test_exe

I want to use ctest to execute my tests. So I go to the "ctest folder" generated by cmake. Here I want to use ctest to execute all test added by "add_test" in cmake.

user@user:~/<dir to cmake>/cmake/unit_tests$ ctest
Test project /<dir to cmake>/cmake/unit_tests
    Start 1: test_exe
Could not find executable test_exe
Looked in the following places:
test_exe
test_exe
Release/test_exe
Release/test_exe
Debug/test_exe
Debug/test_exe
MinSizeRel/test_exe
MinSizeRel/test_exe
RelWithDebInfo/test_exe
RelWithDebInfo/test_exe
Deployment/test_exe
Deployment/test_exe
Development/test_exe
Development/test_exe
Unable to find executable: test_exe
1/1 Test #1: test_exe ......***Not Run   0.00 sec

0% tests passed, 1 tests failed out of 1

Total Test time (real) =   0.00 sec

The following tests FAILED:
      1 - test_exe (Not Run)
Errors while running CTest

If I put the "test_exe" in one of the shown paths it works fine. But I don't want them to be there.

My Question:

Is there a way to tell ctest it should look in UNIT_TEST_BIN_OUTPUT_DIR in order to find the executable?

Answer 1

Documentation for add_test specifies WORKING_DIRECTORY option for long form of the command. Value of this option is used as a directory in which test operates:

add_test(NAME test_exe COMMAND test_exe WORKING_DIRECTORY ${UNIT_TEST_BIN_OUTPUT_DIR})

If you just want the test to find the executable, it is sufficient to use

add_test(NAME test_exe COMMAND test_exe)

This is a long form of add_test command. In this form, CMake checks whether COMMAND is a target name, and, if it is so, replaces it with an absolute path to the executable corresponded to that target. Such way the test can be run from any directory.

Note, that automatic replacement of the target doesn't work for a short form of add_test which you use.