microsoft / microsoft/vscode-cmake-tools

Detect and support pre-configured build directories

Open
#477 2 comments 5 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub
enhancement Feature: configure
Dominant language
TypeScript
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Forks
546
Avg merge
2d 16h
Merged PRs (30d)
32

Description

### Brief Issue Summary

Allow Usage of a pre-configured build directory.

### Expected:

1. Configure project via `cmake`/`ccmake`/`cmake-gui`
2. Open project source folder in VSC
3. (optional) Set the build directory in the configuration if non-default
4. CMake Tools picks up the CMakeCache.txt and determines the used variant and Kit or shows something useful if this is not possible automatically
5. Intellisense/Include directories etc. work (requires setting the compilation database and possibly a reconfigure with the `CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS` define)

### Apparent Behavior:

- No sign that the CMakeCache is deteced
- Choosing a Kit matching the one used manually deletes the preconfigured build dir (see #392)

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

Research direction

Start by tracing how CMake Tools discovers or selects a build directory and reads CMakeCache.txt after configuration through cmake, ccmake, or cmake-gui. Check the existing Kit selection behavior described in #392 and how the compilation database is configured. Done means a pre-configured directory is detected or clearly reported, is not deleted when its Kit is selected, and supports IntelliSense include information.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
cmake, typescript
Domain
build-system, developer-experience, tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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