13 KiB
CMake
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:
cmake -S ~/sdl -B ~/build
cmake --build ~/build
Installation can be done using:
cmake --install ~/build --prefix /usr/local # '--install' requires CMake 3.15, or newer
This will install SDL to /usr/local.
Building SDL tests
You can build the SDL test programs by adding -DSDL_TESTS=ON
to the first cmake command above:
cmake -S ~/sdl -B ~/build -DSDL_TEST=ON -DSDL_TESTS=ON
and then building normally. In this example, the test programs will be built and can be run from ~/build/tests/
.
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_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.
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.
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:
cmake ~/SDL -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
To build it, run:
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_<LANG>_FLAGS
to pass extra flags to the compiler. - Use
CMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS
to pass extra option to the linker for executables. - Use
CMAKE_SHARED_LINKER_FLAGS
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:
cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_C_FLAGS="-march=x86-64-v3" -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS="-march=x86-64-v3"
With Visual C:
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=<OS>
(eitheriOS
ortvOS
)CMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=<SDK>
(examples:iphoneos
,iphonesimulator
,iphoneos12.4
,/full/path/to/iPhoneOS.sdk
,appletvos
,appletvsimulator
,appletvos12.4
,/full/path/to/AppleTVOS.sdk
, etc.)CMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=<semicolon-separated list of CPU architectures>
(example: "arm64;armv7s;x86_64")
Examples
-
for iOS-Simulator, using the latest, installed SDK:
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
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 ~/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 ~/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 ~/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 ~/sdl -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=tvOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=appletvsimulator -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=x86_64
-
for tvOS-Device, using the latest, installed SDK:
cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_SYSTEM_NAME=tvOS -DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT=appletvos -DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=arm64`
-
for QNX/aarch64, using the latest, installed SDK:
cmake ~/sdl -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=~/sdl/build-scripts/cmake-toolchain-qnx-aarch64le.cmake -DSDL_X11=0
SDL-specific CMake options
SDL can be customized through (platform-specific) CMake options. The following table shows generic options that are available for most platforms. At the end of SDL CMake configuration, a table shows all CMake options along with its detected value.
CMake option | Valid values | Description |
---|---|---|
-DSDL_SHARED= |
ON /OFF |
Build SDL shared library (not all platforms support this) (libSDL3.so /libSDL3.dylib /SDL3.dll ) |
-DSDL_STATIC= |
ON /OFF |
Build SDL static library (libSDL3.a /SDL3-static.lib ) |
-DSDL_TEST= |
ON /OFF |
Build SDL test library (libSDL3_test.a /SDL3_test.lib ) |
-DSDL_TESTS= |
ON /OFF |
Build SDL test programs (requires -DSDL_TEST=ON ) |
-DSDL_DISABLE_INSTALL= |
ON /OFF |
Don't create a SDL install target |
-DSDL_DISABLE_INSTALL_DOCS= |
ON /OFF |
Don't install the SDL documentation |
-DSDL_INSTALL_TESTS= |
ON /OFF |
Install the SDL test programs |
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_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 <SDL3/SDL.h>
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)