How to make GTest build /MDd (instead of /MTd) by default, using CMake?

Question

I am trying to integrate GTest with CMake as seamlessly as possible. But the default build type for my test projects are /MDd

Answer 1

We solved the problem by bypassing GTest's own build system and compiling GTest as a CMake object library from its unity build source file gtest-all.cc:

# compile Google Test as an object library
add_library(gtest OBJECT "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/gtest-1.6.0/src/gtest-all.cc")
set_property(TARGET gtest PROPERTY INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES
    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/gtest-1.6.0"
    "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/gtest-1.6.0/include")

That way GTest will always be compiled with the same options that we use for the project. A test executable that uses GTest can then be built in the following way:

add_executable(test_executable ${TESTS_SRC} $)
add_test(NAME test COMMAND test_executable)