CMake Class Creator

A script that inserts a new c++ class in an existing CMake configuration.

A class is composed of a header file and a source file. That's two files! And sometimes they have to be added to different folders as well! Adding classes and files can be tedious when using CMake. This project automates adding classes or single files to a cmake configuration.

How to install

The recommended way is to use pip: pip install CMake-Class-Creator

Please note that this module depends on a release candidate version op pyparsing, 3.0.0b1. So it is also recommended to install this in a virtual environment.

Easy insertion using references

There are (too many) ways to specify source files for CMake. Usually the sources are list variables defined with the set keyword. Sometimes the sources are defined directly in add_library or add_executable. In modern CMake there is also a target_sources statement.

So, you want to insert a new class, CMake Class Creator somehow must know how to insert it. The easiest way is to define a reference class.

Adding a class using a reference class

Suppose you want to insert a new class 'NewClass' next to 'ExistingClass':

$>cmake_create_class <cmakelists> NewClass -rc ExistingClass

Executing this command will dump the updated cmakelists content to stdout, here you can check if the result is what you expect it to be.

When you approve of the changes, run the same command again with the -i option:

$>cmake_create_class <cmakelists> NewClass -rc ExistingClass -i

Now the file contents of the cmakelists are updated. Your new class has been inserted!

Adding a single file using a reference file

It is also possible to add a single file using the -s option.

When you want to make a header only class for instance:

$>cmake_create_class <cmakelists> New.hpp -s -rc Existing.hpp

Note that since we're dealing with single files, specifying the complete filename including the extension is required. But it is not required to specify the full path. In this example, Existing.hpp may be defined as <path>/Existing.hpp or just Existing.hpp. In case there is a path prefix, this will also be used for New.hpp.

When you approve of the changes, run the same command again with the -i option:

$>cmake_create_class <cmakelists> New.hpp -s -rc Existing.hpp -i

Now the file contents of the cmakelists are updated. Your new file has been inserted!