CMake 3.27.0-rc3 is ready for testing

June 20, 2023

I am proud to announce the third CMake 3.27 release candidate.
https://cmake.org/download/

Documentation is available at:
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.27

Release notes appear below and are also published at
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/v3.27/release/3.27.html

Some of the more significant changes in CMake 3.27 are:

  • “cmake(1)” now supports interactive debugging of the CMake language.
    See the “–debugger” option.
  • The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2015 and above learned to select
    the Windows SDK version explicitly using a “version=” field in the
    “CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM” variable. See Visual Studio Platform
    Selection.
  • Apple text-based stubs (i.e. “.tbd” files) may now be created for
    shared libraries on macOS. See the “ENABLE_EXPORTS” property.
  • The “SKIP_LINTING” source file property was added to suppress
    target-wide code checks on specific sources.
  • The “COMPILE_ONLY” generator expression was added to specify
    compilation usage requirements without any linking requirements.
  • Compatibility with versions of CMake older than 3.5 is now
    deprecated and will be removed from a future version. Calls to
    “cmake_minimum_required()” or “cmake_policy()” that set the policy
    version to an older value now issue a deprecation diagnostic.
  • The “FindCUDA” module, which has been deprecated since CMake 3.10,
    has been removed by policy “CMP0146”. Port projects to CMake’s
    first-class “CUDA” language support.
  • The “FindPythonInterp” and “FindPythonLibs” modules, which have been
    deprecated since CMake 3.12, have been removed by policy “CMP0148”.
    Port projects to “FindPython3”, “FindPython2”, or “FindPython”.
  • “cmake –build $dir –verbose” will now print the working directory
    and command line used to perform the build.
CMake 3.27 Release Notes
************************

Changes made since CMake 3.26 include the following.


New Features
============


Debugger
--------

* "cmake(1)" now supports interactive debugging of the CMake language.
  See the "--debugger" option.


Presets
-------

* "cmake-presets(7)" files now support schema version "7".

* "cmake-presets(7)" now supports "$penv{}" macro expansion in
  "include" fields.


Generators
----------

* The Makefile and Ninja generators now support using the "--
  dependency-file" linker flag, added by GNU Binutils 2.35 and LLVM's
  LLD 12.0.0, so that files read by the linker will cause a relink if
  they change (typically modified timestamps). See the
  "CMAKE_LINK_DEPENDS_USE_LINKER" variable.

* The Visual Studio Generators for VS 2015 and above learned to select
  the Windows SDK version explicitly using a "version=" field in the
  "CMAKE_GENERATOR_PLATFORM" variable. See Visual Studio Platform
  Selection.


Languages
---------

* The "CXX" language now treats source file extensions ".ccm",
  ".cxxm", and ".c++m" as C++.


File-Based API
--------------

* The "cmake-file-api(7)" "codemodel" version 2 "version" field has
  been updated to 2.6.

* The "cmake-file-api(7)" "codemodel" version 2 "target" object gained
  a new "frameworks" field in the "compileGroups" objects.


Platforms
---------

* Apple text-based stubs (i.e. ".tbd" files) may now be created for
  shared libraries on macOS.  See the "ENABLE_EXPORTS" property.


Commands
--------

* The "add_custom_command()" command gained a new
  "DEPENDS_EXPLICIT_ONLY" option to tell the Ninja Generators not to
  add any dependencies implied by the target to which it is attached.
  The "CMAKE_ADD_CUSTOM_COMMAND_DEPENDS_EXPLICIT_ONLY" variable was
  added to enable "DEPENDS_EXPLICIT_ONLY" on all calls to
  "add_custom_command()" command.

* The "cmake_file_api()" command was added for projects to add "CMake
  file API" queries for the current CMake run.

* The "find_package()" command now searches prefixes specified by
  upper-case "_ROOT" CMake variables and upper-case
  "_ROOT" environment variables. See policy "CMP0144".

* The "install(CODE)" and "install(SCRIPT)" commands now support the
  "$" generator expression.


Variables
---------

* The "CMAKE_DLL_NAME_WITH_SOVERSION" variable and associated
  "DLL_NAME_WITH_SOVERSION" target property were added to optionally
  append the "SOVERSION" to the filename of the ".dll" part of a
  shared library on Windows.

* Variables "CMAKE_VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND",
  "CMAKE_VS_DEBUGGER_COMMAND_ARGUMENTS",
  "CMAKE_VS_DEBUGGER_ENVIRONMENT", and
  "CMAKE_VS_DEBUGGER_WORKING_DIRECTORY" were added to initialize
  corresponding target properties.

* The "CMAKE_VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_MIN_VERSION" variable was
  added to initialize the "VS_WINDOWS_TARGET_PLATFORM_MIN_VERSION"
  target property on all targets when they are created.


Properties
----------

* A "CUDA_CUBIN_COMPILATION" target property was added to Object
  Libraries to support compiling to ".cubin" files instead of host
  object files. Currently only supported with NVIDIA.

* A "CUDA_FATBIN_COMPILATION" target property was added to Object
  Libraries to support compiling to ".fatbin" files instead of host
  object files. Currently only supported with NVIDIA.

* A "CUDA_OPTIX_COMPILATION" target property was added to Object
  Libraries to support compiling to ".optixir" files instead of host
  object files. Currently only supported with NVIDIA.

* The "_CLANG_TIDY", "_CPPCHECK", "_CPPLINT", and
  "_INCLUDE_WHAT_YOU_USE", target properties now support
  "generator expressions".

* The "_LINKER_LAUNCHER" target property now supports "generator
  expressions".

* The "SKIP_LINTING" source file property was added to suppress
  target-wide code checks on specific sources.


Modules
-------

* The "FindCUDAToolkit" module now provides an imported target for
  "cudla", and imported targets for CUPTI's "nvperf" and "pcsampling"
  components.

* The "FindDoxygen" module's "doxygen_add_docs()" command gained a
  "CONFIG_FILE" option to specify a custom doxygen configuration file.

* The "FindOpenGL" module gained support for components "GLES2" and
  "GLES3".

* The "FindwxWidgets" module now provides an imported target.


Generator Expressions
---------------------

* The "COMPILE_ONLY" generator expression was added to specify
  compilation usage requirements without any linking requirements.

* "$    " generator expressions were added for query,
  transformation, and ordering operations on lists.

* "$" generator expressions for decomposition and
  transformation operations learned to process lists of paths element-
  wise.


Autogen
-------

* The "CMAKE_AUTOMOC_EXECUTABLE", "CMAKE_AUTORCC_EXECUTABLE", and
  "CMAKE_AUTOUIC_EXECUTABLE" variables were added to initialize the
  corresponding target properties as targets are created.

* The "AUTOGEN_USE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE" target property and corresponding
  "CMAKE_AUTOGEN_USE_SYSTEM_INCLUDE" variable were added to explicitly
  control whether autogen headers are considered system headers.

* The "INTERFACE_AUTOMOC_MACRO_NAMES" target property was added to
  specify macro names for "moc" as a transitive usage requirement.


CTest
-----

* The "TIMEOUT_SIGNAL_NAME" and "TIMEOUT_SIGNAL_GRACE_PERIOD" test
  properties were added to specify a POSIX signal to send to a test
  process when its timeout is reached.


CPack
-----

* The "CPack Inno Setup Generator" was added to package using Inno
  Setup.


Deprecated and Removed Features
===============================

* Compatibility with versions of CMake older than 3.5 is now
  deprecated and will be removed from a future version.  Calls to
  "cmake_minimum_required()" or "cmake_policy()" that set the policy
  version to an older value now issue a deprecation diagnostic.

* The Extra Generators have been deprecated.  IDEs may use the "cmake-
  file-api(7)" to view CMake-generated project build trees.

* The "FindCUDA" module, which has been deprecated since CMake 3.10,
  has been removed by policy "CMP0146".  Port projects to CMake's
  first-class "CUDA" language support.

* The "FindPythonInterp" and "FindPythonLibs" modules, which have been
  deprecated since CMake 3.12, have been removed by policy "CMP0148".
  Port projects to "FindPython3", "FindPython2", or "FindPython".

* The "Dart" and "FindDart" modules have been deprecated via policy
  "CMP0145".  Port projects to the "CTest" module.

* The "Visual Studio 9 2008" generator is now deprecated and will be
  removed in a future version of CMake.


Other Changes
=============

* "cmake --build $dir --verbose" will now print the working directory
  and command line used to perform the build.

* The "ExternalProject" and "FetchContent" modules now resolve
  relative "GIT_REPOSITORY" paths as relative to the parent project's
  remote, not as a relative local file system path. See "CMP0150".

* The "ExternalProject" "configure" step no longer re-runs on every
  build when the "UPDATE_DISCONNECTED" option is enabled. It will only
  re-run if details of the "download", "update", or "patch" step
  change.

* The "ExternalProject" "update" and "patch" steps now always re-run
  if any of their details change, even if the "UPDATE_DISCONNECTED"
  option is enabled.  If using the "GIT" download method, and the
  "GIT_TAG" is changed to a commit that is not already known locally,
  an error is now issued instead of silently using the previous
  "GIT_TAG".

* The "FindPython", "FindPython2" and "FindPython3" modules now
  support the Windows ARM64 platform.

* The "file(GET_RUNTIME_DEPENDENCIES)" command now case-preserves DLL
  names reported on Windows.  They are still converted to lowercase
  for filter matching.

* The "SYSTEM" target property is now honored for Apple Frameworks.

* Visual Studio Generators, for VS 15.8 (2017) and newer, now build
  custom commands in parallel.  See policy "CMP0147".

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes made since CMake 3.27.0-rc2:

Brad King (11):
  Utilities/Sphinx: Fix flake8 E124 diagnostic in cmake.py
  Utilities/Sphinx: Restore explicit check for Sphinx 2.x or later
  Tests: Find GIT_EXECUTABLE early enough to use in all tests
  Tests: Require git to enable RunCMake.CMP0150 test
  Help: Add 3.27 release note for TARGET_RUNTIME_DLL_DIRS
  ci: Drop unnecessary -stdlib flag from macOS package
  ci: Split macOS 10.10+ and 10.13+ package language standard selection
  ci: Build macOS 10.13+ package as C++17
  FindPostgreSQL: Add support for version 15
  Android: Restore platform id vars with legacy toolchain file
  CMake 3.27.0-rc3

Jannik Beyerstedt (1):
  FindProtobuf: Support new version number scheme

Marc Chevrier (1):
  list(): restore SUBLIST behavior

Markus Ferrell (1):
  Tutorial: Extend literal include to contain full code changes in solution

Matthew Woehlke (2):
  Utilities/Sphinx: Don't ignore flake8 E402
  Utilities/Sphinx: Fix some flake8 gripes

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