Using CMake with GNU Make: How can I see the exact commands?

cmake gnu-make
Nils picture Nils · Apr 19, 2010 · Viewed 169.5k times · Source

I use CMake with GNU Make and would like to see all commands exactly (for example how the compiler is executed, all the flags etc.).

GNU make has --debug, but it does not seem to be that helpful are there any other options? Does CMake provide additional flags in the generated Makefile for debugging purpose?

Answer

richq picture richq · Apr 20, 2010

When you run make, add VERBOSE=1 to see the full command output. For example:

cmake .
make VERBOSE=1

Or you can add -DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE:BOOL=ON to the cmake command for permanent verbose command output from the generated Makefiles.

cmake -DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE:BOOL=ON .
make

To reduce some possibly less-interesting output you might like to use the following options. The option CMAKE_RULE_MESSAGES=OFF removes lines like [ 33%] Building C object..., while --no-print-directory tells make to not print out the current directory filtering out lines like make[1]: Entering directory and make[1]: Leaving directory.

cmake -DCMAKE_RULE_MESSAGES:BOOL=OFF -DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE:BOOL=ON .
make --no-print-directory

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