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How to Use Exclude Regex For Multiple Files In Cmake?

6 minutes read

In CMake, you can use the EXCLUDE regex pattern to exclude specific files or directories from being processed during the configuration and generation of build files. This can be useful when you want to exclude certain files or directories from being included in the build.


To use the EXCLUDE regex pattern for multiple files in CMake, you can specify the files or directories that you want to exclude within the MATCHES pattern. For example, if you want to exclude all files with the extension .txt and the directory excluded_directory, you can use the following syntax:

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FILE(GLOB_RECURSE SRC_FILES 
    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/*.cpp 
    ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/*.h
)

SET(EXCLUDE_FILES ".*\\.txt$" ".*excluded_directory.*")

foreach(EXCLUDE_FILE ${EXCLUDE_FILES})
    LIST(FILTER SRC_FILES EXCLUDE REGEX ${EXCLUDE_FILE})
endforeach()


In the above example, FILE(GLOB_RECURSE is used to gather a list of all .cpp and .h files in the current source directory. The SET(EXCLUDE_FILES) command is used to define the regex patterns that match the files or directories that you want to exclude.


Then, a foreach loop is used to iterate over each regex pattern in the EXCLUDE_FILES list and filter out the files that match the pattern using the LIST(FILTER command.


By following this approach, you can easily exclude multiple files or directories using regex patterns in CMake.


How to write regex expressions to exclude files in CMake?

To exclude files from a CMake project using regex expressions, you can use the EXCLUDE parameter of the file(GLOB ...) command. Here's an example of how you can write a regex expression to exclude files with a certain pattern:

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file(GLOB SOURCES *.cpp)
file(GLOB EXCLUDED_SOURCES *_test.cpp)

list(REMOVE_ITEM SOURCES ${EXCLUDED_SOURCES})


In this example, all .cpp files in the current directory are being included in the SOURCES list using a wildcard *.cpp. The EXCLUDED_SOURCES list is then being populated with files that match the pattern *_test.cpp. Finally, the REMOVE_ITEM command is used to remove the files in the EXCLUDED_SOURCES list from the SOURCES list.


You can adjust the regex pattern in the EXCLUDED_SOURCES line to match the specific files you want to exclude from your project.


How do I limit the files processed by CMake using regex?

To limit the files processed by CMake using regex, you can use the file(GLOB ...) command along with regex pattern matching. Here is an example of how you can limit the files processed by CMake using regex:

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file(GLOB_RECURSE SOURCE_FILES "*.cpp" "*.h")

set(PATTERN "^src/")
foreach(FILE ${SOURCE_FILES})
    if(NOT FILE MATCHES "${PATTERN}")
        list(REMOVE_ITEM SOURCE_FILES ${FILE})
    endif()
endforeach()

add_executable(my_project ${SOURCE_FILES})


In this example, the file(GLOB_RECURSE ...) command is used to search for all .cpp and .h files recursively in the current directory. The regex pattern ^src/ is then applied to match files that are located in a subdirectory called src/. Any files that do not match this pattern are removed from the SOURCE_FILES list. Finally, the add_executable() command is used to compile only the files that match the specified regex pattern.


You can adjust the regex pattern to match your specific requirements and limit the files processed by CMake accordingly.


How to efficiently manage file exclusion using regex in CMake?

To efficiently manage file exclusion using regex in CMake, you can use the file(GLOB) command to retrieve a list of files matching a specified pattern, and then filter out any files that you want to exclude using regular expressions.


Here's an example:

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# List all files matching a pattern
file(GLOB_RECURSE ALL_FILES src/*.cpp)

# Define regular expressions for files to exclude
set(EXCLUDE_REGEX "^.*excluded_file\\.cpp$")

# Filter out excluded files
foreach(FILE ${ALL_FILES})
    if(NOT "${FILE}" MATCHES ${EXCLUDE_REGEX})
        list(APPEND INCLUDED_FILES ${FILE})
    endif()
endforeach()

# Use the included files in your project
add_executable(MyProject ${INCLUDED_FILES})


In this example, we first use file(GLOB_RECURSE) to retrieve all files matching the pattern src/*.cpp. We then define a regular expression EXCLUDE_REGEX that matches the files we want to exclude. We iterate through all files in the ALL_FILES list and use the MATCHES operator to check if each file matches the exclude regex. If a file does not match, we add it to the INCLUDED_FILES list, which can then be used in your project.


How to customize exclusion rules for files with regex in CMake?

To customize exclusion rules for files with regex in CMake, you can use the regex module provided by CMake. Here is an example of how you can use the regex module to exclude files matching a specific pattern:

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# Define a list of files
set(files 
    file1.cpp
    file2.cpp
    file3.cpp
    excluded_file.cpp
)

# Use the regex module to filter out files matching a specific pattern
set(excluded_pattern "excluded.*")

foreach(file ${files})
    string(REGEX MATCH ${excluded_pattern} exclude_file ${file})
    if(NOT exclude_file)
        message("Including file: ${file}")
        # add_custom_target(...)
    else()
        message("Excluding file: ${file}")
    endif()
endforeach()


In this example, the excluded_pattern variable defines the regex pattern that matches the files you want to exclude. The foreach loop iterates over each file in the files list and uses the string(REGEX MATCH) command to check if the file matches the exclusion pattern. If a file does not match the pattern, it is included, otherwise, it is excluded.


You can modify the excluded_pattern variable to define any regex pattern that suits your needs for excluding files in your CMake project.


What are the options for excluding files using regex in CMake?

In CMake, there are several options for excluding files using regex patterns:

  1. Use the EXCLUDE keyword in the file(GLOB) command to exclude files that match a certain regex pattern. For example:
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file(GLOB SOURCES "*.cpp" "*.h" "*.hpp" "*.c" "*.h" "*.cc" "*.cxx" "*.hxx" "*.m" "*.mm" EXCLUDE "*.excluded.cpp" "*.excluded.h")


  1. Use the EXCLUDE parameter in the source_group() command to exclude files matching a regex pattern from a particular source group. For example:
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source_group("Source Files" FILES *.cpp *.cc *.cxx EXCLUDE *.excluded.cpp)


  1. Use the regex module to exclude files that match a certain regex pattern. For example:
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file(GLOB files "*.*")
list(FILTER files EXCLUDE REGEX ".*excluded.*")


These are just a few examples of how you can exclude files using regex patterns in CMake. There are other methods as well, depending on your specific use case.


What is the purpose of using exclude regex for multiple files in CMake?

Using exclude regex for multiple files in CMake allows you to specify a regular expression pattern to exclude certain files from being processed or included in a build process. This can be useful if you want to exclude certain files based on their filenames or paths, for example, excluding test files or configuration files from being compiled or included in the final output.


By using exclude regex, you can customize which files are included or excluded in the build process without having to manually specify each individual file. This can help streamline the build process and ensure that only the necessary files are included, making the build more efficient and reducing unnecessary clutter in the final output.

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