CMake.js is a Node.js/io.js native addon build tool which works (almost) exactly like node-gyp, but instead of gyp, it is based on CMake build system. It's compatible with the following runtimes:
- Node.js 10+ since CMake.js v6.0.0 (for older runtimes please use CMake.js 5)
- NW.js: all CMake.js based native modules are compatible with NW.js out-of-the-box, there is no nw-gyp like magic required
- Electron (formerly known as atom-shell): out-of-the-box build support, no post build steps required
npm install -g cmake-js
Help:
cmake-js --help
Usage: cmake-js [<command>] [options]
Commands:
install Install Node.js/io.js distribution files if needed
configure Configure CMake project
print-configure Print the configuration command
build Build the project (will configure first if required)
print-build Print the build command
clean Clean the project directory
print-clean Print the clean command
reconfigure Clean the project directory then configure the project
rebuild Clean the project directory then build the project
compile Build the project, and if build fails, try a full rebuild
Options:
--version Show version number [boolean]
-h, --help show this screen [boolean]
-l, --log-level set log level (silly, verbose, info, http, warn,
error), default is info [string]
-d, --directory specify CMake project's directory (where CMakeLists.txt
located) [string]
-D, --debug build debug configuration [boolean]
-c, --cmake-path path of CMake executable [string]
-m, --prefer-make use Unix Makefiles even if Ninja is available (Posix)
[boolean]
-x, --prefer-xcode use Xcode instead of Unix Makefiles [boolean]
-g, --prefer-gnu use GNU compiler instead of default CMake compiler, if
available (Posix) [boolean]
-G, --generator use specified generator [string]
-t, --toolset use specified toolset [string]
-A, --platform use specified platform name [string]
-T, --target only build the specified target [string]
-C, --prefer-clang use Clang compiler instead of default CMake compiler,
if available (Posix) [boolean]
--cc use the specified C compiler [string]
--cxx use the specified C++ compiler [string]
-r, --runtime the runtime to use [string]
-v, --runtime-version the runtime version to use [string]
-a, --arch the architecture to build in [string]
--CD Custom argument passed to CMake in format:
-D<your-arg-here> [string]
-i, --silent Prevents CMake.js to print to the stdio [boolean]
-O, --out Specify the output directory to compile to, default is
projectRoot/build [string]
Requirements:
- CMake
- A proper C/C++ compiler toolchain of the given platform
- Windows:
- Visual C++ Build Tools or a recent version of Visual C++ will do (the free Community version works well)
- Unix/Posix:
- Clang or GCC
- Ninja or Make (Ninja will be picked if both present)
- Windows:
In a nutshell. (For more complete documentation please see the first tutorial.)
- Install cmake-js for your module
npm install --save cmake-js
- Put a CMakeLists.txt file into your module root with this minimal required content:
project (your-addon-name-here)
include_directories(${CMAKE_JS_INC})
file(GLOB SOURCE_FILES "your-source files-location-here")
add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} SHARED ${SOURCE_FILES} ${CMAKE_JS_SRC})
set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES PREFIX "" SUFFIX ".node")
target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} ${CMAKE_JS_LIB})
- Add the following into your package.json scripts section:
"scripts": {
"install": "cmake-js compile"
}
In your module folder you can access cmake-js commands if you install cmake-js globally:
npm install -g cmake-js
Please refer to the --help
for the lists of available commands (they are like commands in node-gyp
).
You can override the project default runtimes via --runtime
and --runtime-version
, such as: --runtime=electron --runtime-version=0.26.0
. See below for more info on runtimes.
CMAKE_JS_VERSION
variable will reflect the actual CMake.js version. So CMake.js based builds could be detected, eg.:
if (CMAKE_JS_VERSION)
add_subdirectory(node_addon)
else()
add_subdirectory(other_subproject)
endif()
You can set npm configuration options for CMake.js.
For all users (global):
npm config set cmake_<key> <value> --global
For current user:
npm config set cmake_<key> <value>
CMake.js will set a variable named "<key>"
to <value>
(by using -D<key>="<value>"
option). User settings will overwrite globals.
UPDATE:
You can set CMake.js command line arguments with npm config using the following pattern:
npm config set cmake_js_G "Visual Studio 56 Win128"
Which sets the CMake generator, basically defaults to:
cmake-js -G "Visual Studio 56 Win128"
Enter at command prompt:
npm config set cmake_BuBu="kittyfck"
Then write to your CMakeLists.txt the following:
message (STATUS ${BuBu})
This will print during configure:
--- kittyfck
You can add custom CMake options by beginning option name with CD
.
In command prompt:
cmake-js compile --CDBUBU="kittyfck"
Then in your CMakeLists.txt:
message (STATUS ${BUBU})
This will print during configure:
--- kittyfck
If any of the runtime
, runtimeVersion
, or arch
configuration parameters is not explicitly configured, sensible defaults will be auto-detected based on the JavaScript environment where CMake.js runs within.
You can configure runtimes for compiling target for all depending CMake.js modules in an application. Define a cmake-js
key in the application's root package.json
file, eg.:
{
"name": "ta-taram-taram",
"description": "pa-param-pam-pam",
"version": "1.0.0",
"main": "app.js",
"cmake-js": {
"runtime": "node",
"runtimeVersion": "0.12.0",
"arch": "ia32"
}
}
Available settings:
- runtime: application's target runtime, possible values are:
node
: Node.jsnw
: nw.jselectron
: Electron
- runtimeVersion: version of the application's target runtime, for example:
0.12.1
- arch: architecture of application's target runtime (eg:
x64
,ia32
,arm64
,arm
). Notice: on non-Windows systems the C++ toolset's architecture's gonna be used despite this setting. If you don't specify this on Windows, then architecture of the main node/io.js runtime is gonna be used, so you have to choose a matching nw.js runtime.
The actual node runtime parameters are detectable in CMakeLists.txt files, the following variables are set:
- NODE_RUNTIME:
"node"
,"nw"
,"electron"
- NODE_RUNTIMEVERSION: for example:
"0.12.1"
- NODE_ARCH:
"x64"
,"ia32"
,"arm64"
,"arm"
To make compatible your NW.js application with any CMake.js based modules, write the following to your application's package.json file:
{
"cmake-js": {
"runtime": "nw",
"runtimeVersion": "nw.js-version-here",
"arch": "whatever-setting-is-appropriate-for-your-application's-windows-build"
}
}
That's it. There is nothing else to do either on the application's or on the module's side, CMake.js modules are compatible with NW.js out-of-the-box. For more complete documentation please see the third tutorial.
To make compatible your Electron application with any CMake.js based modules, write the following to your application's package.json file:
{
"cmake-js": {
"runtime": "electron",
"runtimeVersion": "electron-runtime-version-here",
"arch": "whatever-setting-is-appropriate-for-your-application's-windows-build"
}
}
That's it. There is nothing else to do either on the application's or on the module's side, CMake.js modules are compatible with Electron out-of-the-box.
Currently Electron (V1.4.x+) can only call modules built using CMake.js from the main process. To call such a module from a render process use the Electron remote module in your require statement:
var yourModule = require('electron').remote.require('pathToYourModule/cmakeModuleName.node')
It is important to understand that this setting is to be configured in the application's root package.json file. If you're creating a native module targeting nw.js for example, then do not specify anything in your module's package.json. It's the actual application's decision to specify its runtime, your module's just compatible anything that was mentioned in the About chapter. Actually defining cmake-js
key in your module's package.json file may lead to an error. Why? If you set it up to use nw.js 0.12.1 for example, then when it gets compiled during development time (to run its unit tests for example) it's gonna be compiled against io.js 1.2 runtime. But if you're having io.js 34.0.1 at the command line then, which is binary incompatible with 1.2, then your unit tests will fail for sure. So it is advised to not use cmake-js target settings in your module's package.json, because that way CMake.js will use that you have, and your tests will pass.
Heroku uses the concept of a buildpack to define how an application should be prepared to run in a dyno. The typical buildpack for note-based applications, heroku/nodejs, provides an environment capable of running node-gyp, but not CMake.
The least "painful" way of addressing this is to use heroku's multipack facility:
-
Set the applications' buildpack to https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-multi.git
-
In the root directory of the application, create a file called
.buildpacks
with these two lines:https://github.com/brave/heroku-cmake-buildpack.git https://github.com/heroku/heroku-buildpack-nodejs.git
-
Deploy the application to have the changes take effect
The heroku-buildpack-multi
will run each buildpack in order allowing the node application to reference CMake in the Heroku
build environment.
ABI-stable Node.js API
(N-API) are a set of experimental C
APIs that allow to compile a native module and have it loaded by
different versions of Node.js that provide the N-API. At the moment,
only Node.js v8.0.0 implements and exports N-API symbols under the flag
--napi-modules
:
node --napi-modules index.js
To compile a native module that uses only the
plain C
N-API calls,
follow the directions for plain node
native modules.
To compile a native module that uses the header-only C++ wrapper
classes provided by
node-addon-api
,
you need at the moment to make your package depend on it with
npm install --save-dev node-addon-api
and add it to the include directories of your CMake project file
CMakeLists.txt
:
# Include N-API wrappers
execute_process(COMMAND node -p "require('node-addon-api').include"
WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}
OUTPUT_VARIABLE NODE_ADDON_API_DIR
)
string(REPLACE "\n" "" NODE_ADDON_API_DIR ${NODE_ADDON_API_DIR})
string(REPLACE "\"" "" NODE_ADDON_API_DIR ${NODE_ADDON_API_DIR})
target_include_directories(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE ${NODE_ADDON_API_DIR})
- TUTORIAL 01 Creating a native module by using CMake.js and NAN
- TUTORIAL 02 Creating CMake.js based native addons with Qt Creator
- TUTORIAL 03 Using CMake.js based native modules with NW.js
- TUTORIAL 04 Creating CMake.js based native modules with Boost dependency
I'm working on the Node.js port of the awesome ArrayFire CPU/GPU computing library, please follow its status in its repo: ArrayFire.js.
View changelog.md
- Ivshti (Ivo Georgiev) - Electron support
- Johan (JohanvdWest) - option for supporting pre C++11 compilers
- javedulu option to generate Xcode project (-x, --prefer-xcode)
- Gerhard Berger - Custom CMake parameter support, silent and out parameters
- d3x0r - "G" option for supporting cutom generators, various fixes
- AlessandroA - "T" option for building a specified target
- pirxpilot - various dependency upgrades
- VictorLeach96 - tolset commandline option
- Arnaud Botella - Case sensitive npm config
- Jeremy Apthorp - Support for Electron v4+
- Gregor Jasny - CMake 3.14 support, auto-detect Visual Studio 2019 platform
- Rogério Ribeiro da Cruz - Windows delay load hook, Electron 4+ compatibility
- Jack McKernan, Nik M - VS 2019 support
- Colden Cullen - --cc and --cxx flags