1### Generic Build Instructions
2
3#### Setup
4
5To build Google Test and your tests that use it, you need to tell your build
6system where to find its headers and source files. The exact way to do it
7depends on which build system you use, and is usually straightforward.
8
9### Build with CMake
10
11Google Test comes with a CMake build script (
12[CMakeLists.txt](https://github.com/google/googletest/blob/master/CMakeLists.txt))
13that can be used on a wide range of platforms ("C" stands for cross-platform.).
14If you don't have CMake installed already, you can download it for free from
15<http://www.cmake.org/>.
16
17CMake works by generating native makefiles or build projects that can be used in
18the compiler environment of your choice. You can either build Google Test as a
19standalone project or it can be incorporated into an existing CMake build for
20another project.
21
22#### Standalone CMake Project
23
24When building Google Test as a standalone project, the typical workflow starts
25with:
26
27    mkdir mybuild       # Create a directory to hold the build output.
28    cd mybuild
29    cmake ${GTEST_DIR}  # Generate native build scripts.
30
31If you want to build Google Test's samples, you should replace the last command
32with
33
34    cmake -Dgtest_build_samples=ON ${GTEST_DIR}
35
36If you are on a \*nix system, you should now see a Makefile in the current
37directory. Just type 'make' to build gtest.
38
39If you use Windows and have Visual Studio installed, a `gtest.sln` file and
40several `.vcproj` files will be created. You can then build them using Visual
41Studio.
42
43On Mac OS X with Xcode installed, a `.xcodeproj` file will be generated.
44
45#### Incorporating Into An Existing CMake Project
46
47If you want to use gtest in a project which already uses CMake, then a more
48robust and flexible approach is to build gtest as part of that project directly.
49This is done by making the GoogleTest source code available to the main build
50and adding it using CMake's `add_subdirectory()` command. This has the
51significant advantage that the same compiler and linker settings are used
52between gtest and the rest of your project, so issues associated with using
53incompatible libraries (eg debug/release), etc. are avoided. This is
54particularly useful on Windows. Making GoogleTest's source code available to the
55main build can be done a few different ways:
56
57*   Download the GoogleTest source code manually and place it at a known
58    location. This is the least flexible approach and can make it more difficult
59    to use with continuous integration systems, etc.
60*   Embed the GoogleTest source code as a direct copy in the main project's
61    source tree. This is often the simplest approach, but is also the hardest to
62    keep up to date. Some organizations may not permit this method.
63*   Add GoogleTest as a git submodule or equivalent. This may not always be
64    possible or appropriate. Git submodules, for example, have their own set of
65    advantages and drawbacks.
66*   Use CMake to download GoogleTest as part of the build's configure step. This
67    is just a little more complex, but doesn't have the limitations of the other
68    methods.
69
70The last of the above methods is implemented with a small piece of CMake code in
71a separate file (e.g. `CMakeLists.txt.in`) which is copied to the build area and
72then invoked as a sub-build _during the CMake stage_. That directory is then
73pulled into the main build with `add_subdirectory()`. For example:
74
75New file `CMakeLists.txt.in`:
76
77```cmake
78cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8.2)
79
80project(googletest-download NONE)
81
82include(ExternalProject)
83ExternalProject_Add(googletest
84  GIT_REPOSITORY    https://github.com/google/googletest.git
85  GIT_TAG           master
86  SOURCE_DIR        "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/googletest-src"
87  BINARY_DIR        "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/googletest-build"
88  CONFIGURE_COMMAND ""
89  BUILD_COMMAND     ""
90  INSTALL_COMMAND   ""
91  TEST_COMMAND      ""
92)
93```
94
95Existing build's `CMakeLists.txt`:
96
97```cmake
98# Download and unpack googletest at configure time
99configure_file(CMakeLists.txt.in googletest-download/CMakeLists.txt)
100execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -G "${CMAKE_GENERATOR}" .
101  RESULT_VARIABLE result
102  WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/googletest-download )
103if(result)
104  message(FATAL_ERROR "CMake step for googletest failed: ${result}")
105endif()
106execute_process(COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} --build .
107  RESULT_VARIABLE result
108  WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/googletest-download )
109if(result)
110  message(FATAL_ERROR "Build step for googletest failed: ${result}")
111endif()
112
113# Prevent overriding the parent project's compiler/linker
114# settings on Windows
115set(gtest_force_shared_crt ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
116
117# Add googletest directly to our build. This defines
118# the gtest and gtest_main targets.
119add_subdirectory(${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/googletest-src
120                 ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/googletest-build
121                 EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)
122
123# The gtest/gtest_main targets carry header search path
124# dependencies automatically when using CMake 2.8.11 or
125# later. Otherwise we have to add them here ourselves.
126if (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 2.8.11)
127  include_directories("${gtest_SOURCE_DIR}/include")
128endif()
129
130# Now simply link against gtest or gtest_main as needed. Eg
131add_executable(example example.cpp)
132target_link_libraries(example gtest_main)
133add_test(NAME example_test COMMAND example)
134```
135
136Note that this approach requires CMake 2.8.2 or later due to its use of the
137`ExternalProject_Add()` command. The above technique is discussed in more detail
138in [this separate article](http://crascit.com/2015/07/25/cmake-gtest/) which
139also contains a link to a fully generalized implementation of the technique.
140
141##### Visual Studio Dynamic vs Static Runtimes
142
143By default, new Visual Studio projects link the C runtimes dynamically but
144Google Test links them statically. This will generate an error that looks
145something like the following: gtest.lib(gtest-all.obj) : error LNK2038: mismatch
146detected for 'RuntimeLibrary': value 'MTd_StaticDebug' doesn't match value
147'MDd_DynamicDebug' in main.obj
148
149Google Test already has a CMake option for this: `gtest_force_shared_crt`
150
151Enabling this option will make gtest link the runtimes dynamically too, and
152match the project in which it is included.
153
154#### C++ Standard Version
155
156An environment that supports C++11 is required in order to successfully build
157Google Test. One way to ensure this is to specify the standard in the top-level
158project, for example by using the `set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)` command. If this
159is not feasible, for example in a C project using Google Test for validation,
160then it can be specified by adding it to the options for cmake via the
161`DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS` option.
162
163### Tweaking Google Test
164
165Google Test can be used in diverse environments. The default configuration may
166not work (or may not work well) out of the box in some environments. However,
167you can easily tweak Google Test by defining control macros on the compiler
168command line. Generally, these macros are named like `GTEST_XYZ` and you define
169them to either 1 or 0 to enable or disable a certain feature.
170
171We list the most frequently used macros below. For a complete list, see file
172[include/gtest/internal/gtest-port.h](https://github.com/google/googletest/blob/master/googletest/include/gtest/internal/gtest-port.h).
173
174### Multi-threaded Tests
175
176Google Test is thread-safe where the pthread library is available. After
177`#include "gtest/gtest.h"`, you can check the
178`GTEST_IS_THREADSAFE` macro to see whether this is the case (yes if the macro is
179`#defined` to 1, no if it's undefined.).
180
181If Google Test doesn't correctly detect whether pthread is available in your
182environment, you can force it with
183
184    -DGTEST_HAS_PTHREAD=1
185
186or
187
188    -DGTEST_HAS_PTHREAD=0
189
190When Google Test uses pthread, you may need to add flags to your compiler and/or
191linker to select the pthread library, or you'll get link errors. If you use the
192CMake script or the deprecated Autotools script, this is taken care of for you.
193If you use your own build script, you'll need to read your compiler and linker's
194manual to figure out what flags to add.
195
196### As a Shared Library (DLL)
197
198Google Test is compact, so most users can build and link it as a static library
199for the simplicity. You can choose to use Google Test as a shared library (known
200as a DLL on Windows) if you prefer.
201
202To compile *gtest* as a shared library, add
203
204    -DGTEST_CREATE_SHARED_LIBRARY=1
205
206to the compiler flags. You'll also need to tell the linker to produce a shared
207library instead - consult your linker's manual for how to do it.
208
209To compile your *tests* that use the gtest shared library, add
210
211    -DGTEST_LINKED_AS_SHARED_LIBRARY=1
212
213to the compiler flags.
214
215Note: while the above steps aren't technically necessary today when using some
216compilers (e.g. GCC), they may become necessary in the future, if we decide to
217improve the speed of loading the library (see
218<http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/Visibility> for details). Therefore you are recommended
219to always add the above flags when using Google Test as a shared library.
220Otherwise a future release of Google Test may break your build script.
221
222### Avoiding Macro Name Clashes
223
224In C++, macros don't obey namespaces. Therefore two libraries that both define a
225macro of the same name will clash if you `#include` both definitions. In case a
226Google Test macro clashes with another library, you can force Google Test to
227rename its macro to avoid the conflict.
228
229Specifically, if both Google Test and some other code define macro FOO, you can
230add
231
232    -DGTEST_DONT_DEFINE_FOO=1
233
234to the compiler flags to tell Google Test to change the macro's name from `FOO`
235to `GTEST_FOO`. Currently `FOO` can be `FAIL`, `SUCCEED`, or `TEST`. For
236example, with `-DGTEST_DONT_DEFINE_TEST=1`, you'll need to write
237
238    GTEST_TEST(SomeTest, DoesThis) { ... }
239
240instead of
241
242    TEST(SomeTest, DoesThis) { ... }
243
244in order to define a test.
245