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Feature to auto-add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt #2132
Description
Hi team!
I am looking to write an extension which will allow any added source file to be detected and automatically added to your CMakeLists.txt file in whichever way is prefered (i.e. whether the file get added to a specific variable or straight to e.g. the add_executable command).
This feature is common in many IDEs and, since CMake best practices recommends not to glob files, it makes sense to automatically add these files to the CMakeLists.txt file if the IDE has the ability, so that the user does not have to edit the CMakeLists.txt each time a file is added.
My question is, would this be a feature that could potentially be added to cmake-tools itself? Or should I look at making this its own separate extension?
I'm just not too sure if this falls within the scope of "CMake Tools", although I really think it would be a nice feature to have that many people using this extension would happily enable!
Let me know and I'll work on this as an update to the current extension and create a PR when finished.
Cheers, Gary
Activity
andreeis commentedon Sep 23, 2021
Gary Allen (@gvcallen), thank you for the feature idea. We think it would fit best in CMake Tools instead of a distinct new extension. It would be great if you have time to prototype this feature. Once in good shape, we can review, test and integrate it.
gvcallen commentedon Oct 6, 2021
Andreea Isac (@andreeis) I've started investigation into this feature by checking how it behaviours in other IDEs.
I believe the most non-intrusive way would be to receive an activation event from VS when a new C++ file is created, but I can't seem to find such an activation event in the VS extension docs.
Am I missing something or is this yet to be implemented? Activation Events
andreeis commentedon Oct 6, 2021
Gary Allen (@gvcallen), thank you for looking into this. Since we recommend adding this functionality as part of the CMake Tools (as opposed to a distinct new extension), you don't need to use activation events. CMake Tools is already activated when you are working in your project.
You can experiment with "vscode.workspace.onDidCreateFiles". You can add this new listener in src/cmake-tools.ts, function _init(), along the similar "vscode.workspace.onDidOpenTextDocument" and "vscode.workspace.onDidSaveTextDocument".
gvcallen commentedon Oct 6, 2021
Andreea Isac (@andreeis) thanks for the reply. Not sure why I forgot about the fact that simply having a CMakeLists.txt means the extension is already activated!
This info is a perfect starting point for me. I will send any updates through onto this thread. Appreciate thte help!
gvcallen commentedon Oct 6, 2021
I have had a look at how CLion and QtCreator implement this feature and quite frankly was a bit disappointed.
I remember Qt used to implement this, but it in fact does not anymore. I believe they simply used to add new files to a hard-coded variable PROJECT_SOURCES, which I don't think was configurable. This method can of course only go so far.
CLion is a bit more sophisticated. It however does not auto-add the file, but rather asks the user with a nice dialog box where they would like for it to be added. It detects all add_executable and add_library commands, as well as any variables passed in to those commands, and lists them in the dialog as options. The default-selected variable when multiple variables are passed to this command seems to be that which is closest to the command.
CLion however breaks down when target_sources is used, as well as when a custom macro is used. Neither of these are detected and presented as options. Furthermore, it fails to keep my desired formatting when adding the file. I imagine that it will break down for any complicated use cases and therefore is quite restrictive.
I have decided to employ the following scheme. Andreea Isac (@andreeis) you can let me know if you have any objections. It might seem quite complicated but I believe it will be relatively robust and flexibile, as well as expandible if users desire even more flexibility in the future.
CMake tools will detect a list of "prompts" in CMakeLists.txt files, and these prompts will be used as guidance as to where to insert the filename. The prompts will also have a priority order in which they are checked. These are listed below from highest to lowest priority:
"Command prompts":
"Visibility prompts":
"Source prompts":
The process will be as follows:
A future refined for the "manual" mode would be to allow the user to pick e.g. which variable the file is added to as CLion does, however this would require GUI input which I'm not too comfortable so can maybe be added in the future
Let me know if you disagree with anything, and hopefully I'll be able to start on this within the next week or so!
andreeis commentedon Nov 1, 2021
Gary Allen (@gvcallen), this is excellent, thank you for starting to think about this.
For (1), let's also consider when a file is deleted, not only when it is created.
I understand overall and the logic sounds good. It would be great if you follow up with some examples, code snippets of relevant pieces of CMakeLists.txt, which target is selected and how that impacts "manual mode" (what you describe in (5))... No UI mock windows, not needed, only text examples to make this design more clear.
We are excited to see this feature take shape.
rtxa commentedon Apr 30, 2022
Gary Allen (@gvcallen) Hi Gary,
I wonder what is your status with this feature request and if you are still working on it. Seems to me a great idea but of course requires to be worked out. I don't know if you already checked how VS2019 or 2022 works with CMake projects, anyway it should not be so different from the other IDEs and your draft logic seems fine to me. This really should be implemented into CMake Tools.
kouhe3 commentedon Jun 13, 2022
hi.
I think this is a great idea. I sometimes move source file locations and sometimes rename files.
It would be great if cmakelist could be updated automatically.
gvcallen commentedon Jun 19, 2022
Hi all, sorry for the inactivity. I haven't forgotten about this. I've got a break now from other work so will see if I can plan a bit more and get into the implementation of things. rtxa thanks for that link - I think the way its done in VS is catered for in my previous draft but if there's anything you think is missing let me know!
rajeshpachaikani commentedon Jul 20, 2022
I've seen similar behavior already implemented in a vscode based ROS IDE. When we create new file in src or include directory the ide pop-up ask whether the file must be added to an executable in CMakeLists.txt
stevenbrix commentedon Dec 21, 2022
would be great to have this for any extension (not just .cpp)
aierlma commentedon Mar 30, 2023
I'm not sure if I missed something, but has this feature been added yet or is it still unreleased? I really like this feature but I can't use it in vscode
21 remaining items
[WIP] Add new file to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (microsoft#2132)
Add new files directly to CMakeLists.txt (#2132) (#4454)