= CMake Macro Reference: `boost_add_executable` =

Creates a new executable from source files.

{{{
boost_add_executable(exename
                     source1 source2 ...
                     [COMPILE_FLAGS compileflags]
                     [feature_COMPILE_FLAGS compileflags]
                     [LINK_FLAGS linkflags]
                     [feature_LINK_FLAGS linkflags]
                     [LINK_LIBS linklibs]
                     [feature_LINK_LIBS linklibs]
                     [DEPENDS libdepend1 libdepend2 ...]
                     [feature]
                     [NO_INSTALL])
}}}

where {{{exename}}} is the name of the executable (e.g., "wave"). {{{source1}}},
{{{source2}}}, etc. are the source files used to build the executable, e.g.,
cpp.cpp. If no source files are provided, "{{{exename.cpp}}}" will be
used.

This macro has a variety of options that affect its behavior. In
several cases, we use the placeholder "feature" in the option name to
indicate that there are actually several different kinds of options,
each referring to a different build feature, e.g., shared libraries,
multi-threaded, debug build, etc. For a complete listing of these
features, please refer to the page on [wiki:CMakeBuildFeatures CMake
Build Features].

The options that affect this macro's behavior are:

  COMPILE_FLAGS::
  Provides additional compilation flags that will be
  used when building the executable.

  feature_COMPILE_FLAGS:: 
  Provides additional compilation flags that
  will be used only when building the executable with the given
  feature (e.g., {{{SHARED_COMPILE_FLAGS}}} when we're linking against
  shared libraries). Note that the set of features used to build the
  executable depends both on the arguments given to
  {{{boost_add_executable}}} (see the "feature" argument description,
  below) and on the user's choice of variants to build.

  LINK_FLAGS:: 
   Provides additional flags that will be passed to the
  linker when linking the executable. This option should not be used
  to link in additional libraries; see {{{LINK_LIBS}}} and {{{DEPENDS}}}.

  feature_LINK_FLAGS:: 
  Provides additional flags that will be passed
  to the linker when linking the executable with the given feature
  (e.g., {{{MULTI_THREADED_LINK_FLAGS}}} when we're linking a
  multi-threaded executable).

  LINK_LIBS:: 
  Provides additional libraries against which the
  executable will be linked. For example, one might provide "expat"
  as options to LINK_LIBS, to state that the executable will link
  against the expat library binary. Use LINK_LIBS for libraries
  external to Boost; for Boost libraries, use DEPENDS.

  feature_LINK_LIBS::
  Provides additional libraries to link against
  when linking an executable built with the given feature. 

  DEPENDS:: 
  States that this executable depends on and links against
  a Boostlibrary. The arguments to DEPENDS should be the unversioned
  name of the Boost library, such as "boost_filesystem". Like
  LINK_LIBS, this option states that the executable will link
  against the stated libraries. Unlike LINK_LIBS, however, DEPENDS
  takes particular library variants into account, always linking to
  the appropriate variant of a Boost library. For example, if the
  {{{MULTI_THREADED}}} feature was requested in the call to
  boost_add_executable, DEPENDS will ensure that we only link
  against multi-threaded libraries.

  feature:: 
  States that the executable should always be built using a
  given feature, e.g., SHARED linking (against its libraries) or
  MULTI_THREADED (for multi-threaded builds). If that feature has
  been turned off by the user, the executable will not build.

  NO_INSTALL:: 
  Don't install this executable with the rest of Boost.

  OUTPUT_NAME:: 
  If you want the executable to be generated somewhere
  other than the binary directory, pass the path (including
  directory and file name) via the OUTPUT_NAME parameter.

== Example ==

The Boost.Wave library also includes the {{{wave}}} tool, which
provides a complete C89/C99/C++ preprocessor. It uses the Wave,
Program Options, Filesystem, and Serialization libraries in Boost and
is built with the following invocation of {{{boost_add_executable}}}:

{{{
boost_add_executable(wave cpp.cpp 
  DEPENDS boost_wave boost_program_options boost_filesystem boost_serialization
  )
}}}

This example is from [http://svn.boost.org/svn/boost/branches/CMake/Boost_1_35_0/tools/wave/CMakeLists.txt tools/wave/CMakeLists.txt].

== Where Defined ==
This macro is defined in the Boost Core module in [http://svn.boost.org/svn/boost/branches/CMake/Boost_1_35_0/tools/build/CMake/BoostCore.cmake tools/build/CMake/BoostCore.cmake]