# CMake [www.cmake.org](https://www.cmake.org/) The CMake build system is supported on the following platforms: * FreeBSD * Linux * Microsoft Visual C * MinGW and Msys * macOS, iOS, and tvOS, with support for XCode * Android * Emscripten * FreeBSD * Haiku * Nintendo 3DS * Playstation 2 * Playstation Vita * QNX 7.x/8.x * RiscOS ## Building SDL Assuming the source tree of SDL is located at `~/sdl`, this will configure and build SDL in the `~/build` directory: ```sh cmake -S ~/sdl -B ~/build cmake --build ~/build ``` Installation can be done using: ```sh cmake --install ~/build --prefix /usr/local # '--install' requires CMake 3.15, or newer ``` This will install SDL to /usr/local. ## Including SDL in your project SDL can be included in your project in 2 major ways: - using a system SDL library, provided by your (*nix) distribution or a package manager - using a vendored SDL library: this is SDL copied or symlinked in a subfolder. The following CMake script supports both, depending on the value of `MYGAME_VENDORED`. ```cmake cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.5) project(mygame) # Create an option to switch between a system sdl library and a vendored SDL library option(MYGAME_VENDORED "Use vendored libraries" OFF) if(MYGAME_VENDORED) # This assumes you have added SDL as a submodule in vendored/SDL add_subdirectory(vendored/SDL EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL) else() # 1. Look for a SDL3 package, # 2. look for the SDL3-shared component, and # 3. fail if the shared component cannot be found. find_package(SDL3 REQUIRED CONFIG REQUIRED COMPONENTS SDL3-shared) endif() # Create your game executable target as usual add_executable(mygame WIN32 mygame.c) # Link to the actual SDL3 library. target_link_libraries(mygame PRIVATE SDL3::SDL3) ``` ### A system SDL library For CMake to find SDL, it must be installed in [a default location CMake is looking for](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/find_package.html#config-mode-search-procedure). The following components are available, to be used as an argument of `find_package`. | Component name | Description | |----------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | SDL3-shared | The SDL3 shared library, available through the `SDL3::SDL3-shared` target | | SDL3-static | The SDL3 static library, available through the `SDL3::SDL3-static` target | | SDL3_test | The SDL3_test static library, available through the `SDL3::SDL3_test` target | | SDL3 | The SDL3 library, available through the `SDL3::SDL3` target. This is an alias of `SDL3::SDL3-shared` or `SDL3::SDL3-static`. This component is always available. | | Headers | The SDL3 headers, available through the `SDL3::Headers` target. This component is always available. | ### Using a vendored SDL This only requires a copy of SDL in a subdirectory + `add_subdirectory`. Alternatively, use [FetchContent](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/module/FetchContent.html). Depending on the configuration, the same targets as a system SDL package are available. ## CMake configuration options ### Build optimized library By default, CMake provides 4 build types: `Debug`, `Release`, `RelWithDebInfo` and `MinSizeRel`. The main difference(s) between these are the optimization options and the generation of debug info. To configure SDL as an optimized `Release` library, configure SDL with: ```sh cmake ~/SDL -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ``` To build it, run: ```sh cmake --build . --config Release ``` ### Shared or static By default, only a shared SDL library is built and installed. The options `-DSDL_SHARED=` and `-DSDL_STATIC=` accept boolean values to change this. ### Pass custom compile options to the compiler - Use [`CMAKE__FLAGS`](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/variable/CMAKE_LANG_FLAGS.html) to pass extra flags to the compiler. - Use [`CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS`](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/variable/CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS.html) to pass extra option to the linker for executables. - Use [`CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS`](https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/variable/CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS.html) to pass extra options to the linker for shared libraries. #### Examples - build a SDL library optimized for (more) modern x64 microprocessor architectures. With gcc or clang: ```sh cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS="-march=x86-64-v3" -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-march=x86-64-v3" ``` With Visual C: ```sh cmake .. -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS="/ARCH:AVX2" -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="/ARCH:AVX2" ``` ### iOS/tvOS CMake 3.14+ natively includes support for iOS and tvOS. SDL binaries may be built using Xcode or Make, possibly among other build-systems. When using a recent version of CMake (3.14+), it should be possible to: - build SDL for iOS, both static and dynamic - build SDL test apps (as iOS/tvOS .app bundles) - generate a working SDL_build_config.h for iOS (using SDL_build_config.h.cmake as a basis) To use, set the following CMake variables when running CMake's configuration stage: - `CMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=` (either `iOS` or `tvOS`) - `CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=` (examples: `iphoneos`, `iphonesimulator`, `iphoneos12.4`, `/full/path/to/iPhoneOS.sdk`, `appletvos`, `appletvsimulator`, `appletvos12.4`, `/full/path/to/AppleTVOS.sdk`, etc.) - `CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=` (example: "arm64;armv7s;x86_64") #### Examples - for iOS-Simulator, using the latest, installed SDK: ```bash cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphonesimulator -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=x86_64 ``` - for iOS-Device, using the latest, installed SDK, 64-bit only ```bash cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphoneos -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=arm64 ``` - for iOS-Device, using the latest, installed SDK, mixed 32/64 bit ```cmake cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphoneos -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES="arm64;armv7s" ``` - for iOS-Device, using a specific SDK revision (iOS 12.4, in this example): ```cmake cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphoneos12.4 -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=arm64 ``` - for iOS-Simulator, using the latest, installed SDK, and building SDL test apps (as .app bundles): ```cmake cmake ~/sdl -DSDL_TESTS=1 -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=iOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=iphonesimulator -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=x86_64 ``` - for tvOS-Simulator, using the latest, installed SDK: ```cmake cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=tvOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=appletvsimulator -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=x86_64 ``` - for tvOS-Device, using the latest, installed SDK: ```cmake cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=tvOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=appletvos -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=arm64` ``` - for QNX/aarch64, using the latest, installed SDK: ```cmake cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=~/sdl/build-scripts/cmake-toolchain-qnx-aarch64le.cmake -DSDL_X11=0 ``` ## Help, it doesn't work! Below, a SDL3 CMake project can be found that builds 99.9% of time (assuming you have internet connectivity). When you have a problem with building or using SDL, please modify it until it reproduces your issue. ```cmake cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.16) project(sdl_issue) # !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! # !!!!!! !!!!!! # !!!!!! This CMake script is not using "CMake best practices". !!!!!! # !!!!!! Don't use it in your project. !!!!!! # !!!!!! !!!!!! # !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! # 1. Try system SDL3 package first find_package(SDL3 QUIET) if(SDL3_FOUND) message(STATUS "Using SDL3 via find_package") endif() # 2. Try using a vendored SDL library if(NOT SDL3_FOUND AND EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/SDL/CMakeLists.txt") add_subdirectory(SDL) message(STATUS "Using SDL3 via add_subdirectory") set(SDL3_FOUND TRUE) endif() # 3. Download SDL, and use that. if(NOT SDL3_FOUND) include(FetchContent) set(SDL_SHARED TRUE CACHE BOOL "Build a SDL shared library (if available)") set(SDL_STATIC TRUE CACHE BOOL "Build a SDL static library (if available)") FetchContent_Declare( SDL GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL.git GIT_TAG main # Replace this with a particular git tag or git hash GIT_SHALLOW TRUE GIT_PROGRESS TRUE ) message(STATUS "Using SDL3 via FetchContent") FetchContent_MakeAvailable(SDL) set_property(DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/_deps/sdl-src" PROPERTY EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL TRUE) endif() file(WRITE main.c [===========================================[ /** * Modify this source such that it reproduces your problem. */ /* START of source modifications */ #include int main(int argc, char *argv[]) { if (SDL_Init(SDL_INIT_EVERYTHING) < 0) { SDL_Log("SDL_Init failed (%s)", SDL_GetError()); return 1; } SDL_Window *window = NULL; SDL_Renderer *renderer = NULL; if (SDL_CreateWindowAndRenderer(640, 480, 0, &window, &renderer) < 0) { SDL_Log("SDL_CreateWindowAndRenderer failed (%s)", SDL_GetError()); SDL_Quit(); return 1; } SDL_SetWindowTitle(window, "SDL issue"); while (1) { int finished = 0; SDL_Event event; while (SDL_PollEvent(&event)) { if (event.type == SDL_EVENT_QUIT) { finished = 1; break; } } if (finished) { break; } SDL_SetRenderDrawColor(renderer, 80, 80, 80, SDL_ALPHA_OPAQUE); SDL_RenderClear(renderer); SDL_RenderPresent(renderer); } SDL_DestroyRenderer(renderer); SDL_DestroyWindow(window); SDL_Quit(); } /* END of source modifications */ ]===========================================]) add_executable(sdl_issue main.c) target_link_libraries(sdl_issue PRIVATE SDL3::SDL3) # target_link_libraries(sdl_issue PRIVATE SDL3::SDL3-shared) # target_link_libraries(sdl_issue PRIVATE SDL3::SDL3-static) ```