1 ### Generic Build Instructions
5 To build GoogleTest and your tests that use it, you need to tell your build
6 system where to find its headers and source files. The exact way to do it
7 depends on which build system you use, and is usually straightforward.
11 GoogleTest comes with a CMake build script
12 ([CMakeLists.txt](https://github.com/google/googletest/blob/master/CMakeLists.txt))
13 that can be used on a wide range of platforms ("C" stands for cross-platform.).
14 If you don't have CMake installed already, you can download it for free from
15 <http://www.cmake.org/>.
17 CMake works by generating native makefiles or build projects that can be used in
18 the compiler environment of your choice. You can either build GoogleTest as a
19 standalone project or it can be incorporated into an existing CMake build for
22 #### Standalone CMake Project
24 When building GoogleTest as a standalone project, the typical workflow starts
28 git clone https://github.com/google/googletest.git -b release-1.11.0
29 cd googletest # Main directory of the cloned repository.
30 mkdir build # Create a directory to hold the build output.
32 cmake .. # Generate native build scripts for GoogleTest.
35 The above command also includes GoogleMock by default. And so, if you want to
36 build only GoogleTest, you should replace the last command with
39 cmake .. -DBUILD_GMOCK=OFF
42 If you are on a \*nix system, you should now see a Makefile in the current
43 directory. Just type `make` to build GoogleTest. And then you can simply install
44 GoogleTest if you are a system administrator.
48 sudo make install # Install in /usr/local/ by default
51 If you use Windows and have Visual Studio installed, a `gtest.sln` file and
52 several `.vcproj` files will be created. You can then build them using Visual
55 On Mac OS X with Xcode installed, a `.xcodeproj` file will be generated.
57 #### Incorporating Into An Existing CMake Project
59 If you want to use GoogleTest in a project which already uses CMake, the easiest
60 way is to get installed libraries and headers.
62 * Import GoogleTest by using `find_package` (or `pkg_check_modules`). For
63 example, if `find_package(GTest CONFIG REQUIRED)` succeeds, you can use the
64 libraries as `GTest::gtest`, `GTest::gmock`.
66 And a more robust and flexible approach is to build GoogleTest as part of that
67 project directly. This is done by making the GoogleTest source code available to
68 the main build and adding it using CMake's `add_subdirectory()` command. This
69 has the significant advantage that the same compiler and linker settings are
70 used between GoogleTest and the rest of your project, so issues associated with
71 using incompatible libraries (eg debug/release), etc. are avoided. This is
72 particularly useful on Windows. Making GoogleTest's source code available to the
73 main build can be done a few different ways:
75 * Download the GoogleTest source code manually and place it at a known
76 location. This is the least flexible approach and can make it more difficult
77 to use with continuous integration systems, etc.
78 * Embed the GoogleTest source code as a direct copy in the main project's
79 source tree. This is often the simplest approach, but is also the hardest to
80 keep up to date. Some organizations may not permit this method.
81 * Add GoogleTest as a git submodule or equivalent. This may not always be
82 possible or appropriate. Git submodules, for example, have their own set of
83 advantages and drawbacks.
84 * Use CMake to download GoogleTest as part of the build's configure step. This
85 approach doesn't have the limitations of the other methods.
87 The last of the above methods is implemented with a small piece of CMake code
88 that downloads and pulls the GoogleTest code into the main build.
90 Just add to your `CMakeLists.txt`:
96 # Specify the commit you depend on and update it regularly.
97 URL https://github.com/google/googletest/archive/e2239ee6043f73722e7aa812a459f54a28552929.zip
99 # For Windows: Prevent overriding the parent project's compiler/linker settings
100 set(gtest_force_shared_crt ON CACHE BOOL "" FORCE)
101 FetchContent_MakeAvailable(googletest)
103 # Now simply link against gtest or gtest_main as needed. Eg
104 add_executable(example example.cpp)
105 target_link_libraries(example gtest_main)
106 add_test(NAME example_test COMMAND example)
109 Note that this approach requires CMake 3.14 or later due to its use of the
110 `FetchContent_MakeAvailable()` command.
112 ##### Visual Studio Dynamic vs Static Runtimes
114 By default, new Visual Studio projects link the C runtimes dynamically but
115 GoogleTest links them statically. This will generate an error that looks
116 something like the following: gtest.lib(gtest-all.obj) : error LNK2038: mismatch
117 detected for 'RuntimeLibrary': value 'MTd_StaticDebug' doesn't match value
118 'MDd_DynamicDebug' in main.obj
120 GoogleTest already has a CMake option for this: `gtest_force_shared_crt`
122 Enabling this option will make gtest link the runtimes dynamically too, and
123 match the project in which it is included.
125 #### C++ Standard Version
127 An environment that supports C++11 is required in order to successfully build
128 GoogleTest. One way to ensure this is to specify the standard in the top-level
129 project, for example by using the `set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 11)` command. If this
130 is not feasible, for example in a C project using GoogleTest for validation,
131 then it can be specified by adding it to the options for cmake via the
132 `DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS` option.
134 ### Tweaking GoogleTest
136 GoogleTest can be used in diverse environments. The default configuration may
137 not work (or may not work well) out of the box in some environments. However,
138 you can easily tweak GoogleTest by defining control macros on the compiler
139 command line. Generally, these macros are named like `GTEST_XYZ` and you define
140 them to either 1 or 0 to enable or disable a certain feature.
142 We list the most frequently used macros below. For a complete list, see file
143 [include/gtest/internal/gtest-port.h](https://github.com/google/googletest/blob/master/googletest/include/gtest/internal/gtest-port.h).
145 ### Multi-threaded Tests
147 GoogleTest is thread-safe where the pthread library is available. After
148 `#include "gtest/gtest.h"`, you can check the
149 `GTEST_IS_THREADSAFE` macro to see whether this is the case (yes if the macro is
150 `#defined` to 1, no if it's undefined.).
152 If GoogleTest doesn't correctly detect whether pthread is available in your
153 environment, you can force it with
155 -DGTEST_HAS_PTHREAD=1
159 -DGTEST_HAS_PTHREAD=0
161 When GoogleTest uses pthread, you may need to add flags to your compiler and/or
162 linker to select the pthread library, or you'll get link errors. If you use the
163 CMake script, this is taken care of for you. If you use your own build script,
164 you'll need to read your compiler and linker's manual to figure out what flags
167 ### As a Shared Library (DLL)
169 GoogleTest is compact, so most users can build and link it as a static library
170 for the simplicity. You can choose to use GoogleTest as a shared library (known
171 as a DLL on Windows) if you prefer.
173 To compile *gtest* as a shared library, add
175 -DGTEST_CREATE_SHARED_LIBRARY=1
177 to the compiler flags. You'll also need to tell the linker to produce a shared
178 library instead - consult your linker's manual for how to do it.
180 To compile your *tests* that use the gtest shared library, add
182 -DGTEST_LINKED_AS_SHARED_LIBRARY=1
184 to the compiler flags.
186 Note: while the above steps aren't technically necessary today when using some
187 compilers (e.g. GCC), they may become necessary in the future, if we decide to
188 improve the speed of loading the library (see
189 <http://gcc.gnu.org/wiki/Visibility> for details). Therefore you are recommended
190 to always add the above flags when using GoogleTest as a shared library.
191 Otherwise a future release of GoogleTest may break your build script.
193 ### Avoiding Macro Name Clashes
195 In C++, macros don't obey namespaces. Therefore two libraries that both define a
196 macro of the same name will clash if you `#include` both definitions. In case a
197 GoogleTest macro clashes with another library, you can force GoogleTest to
198 rename its macro to avoid the conflict.
200 Specifically, if both GoogleTest and some other code define macro FOO, you can
203 -DGTEST_DONT_DEFINE_FOO=1
205 to the compiler flags to tell GoogleTest to change the macro's name from `FOO`
206 to `GTEST_FOO`. Currently `FOO` can be `ASSERT_EQ`, `ASSERT_FALSE`, `ASSERT_GE`,
207 `ASSERT_GT`, `ASSERT_LE`, `ASSERT_LT`, `ASSERT_NE`, `ASSERT_TRUE`,
208 `EXPECT_FALSE`, `EXPECT_TRUE`, `FAIL`, `SUCCEED`, `TEST`, or `TEST_F`. For
209 example, with `-DGTEST_DONT_DEFINE_TEST=1`, you'll need to write
211 GTEST_TEST(SomeTest, DoesThis) { ... }
215 TEST(SomeTest, DoesThis) { ... }
217 in order to define a test.