Reusing custom makefile for static library with cmake

Question

I guess this would be a generic question on including libraries with existing makefiles within cmake; but here\'s my context -

I\'m trying to include scintilla

Answer 1

You could also use imported targets and a custom target like this:

# set the output destination
set(SCINTILLA_LIBRARY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/scintilla/gtk/scintilla.a)
# create a custom target called build_scintilla that is part of ALL
# and will run each time you type make 
add_custom_target(build_scintilla ALL 
                   COMMAND ${CMAKE_MAKE_PROGRAM}
                   WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/scintilla/gtk
                   COMMENT "Original scintilla makefile target")

# now create an imported static target
add_library(scintilla STATIC IMPORTED)
# Import target "scintilla" for configuration ""
set_property(TARGET scintilla APPEND PROPERTY IMPORTED_CONFIGURATIONS NOCONFIG)
set_target_properties(scintilla PROPERTIES
  IMPORTED_LOCATION_NOCONFIG "${SCINTILLA_LIBRARY}")

# now you can use scintilla as if it were a regular cmake built target in your project
add_dependencies(scintilla build_scintilla)

add_executable(foo foo.c)
target_link_libraries(foo scintilla)

# note, this will only work on linux/unix platforms, also it does building
# in the source tree which is also sort of bad style and keeps out of source 
# builds from working.