A formatter to make your CMake code the real treasure.
You can install gersemi from PyPI:
pip3 install gersemiusage: gersemi [-c] [-i] [--diff] [--print-config {minimal,verbose,default}] [--version]
[-h] [-l INTEGER] [--indent (INTEGER | tabs)] [--unsafe]
[--definitions src [src ...]]
[--list-expansion {favour-inlining,favour-expansion}]
[--warn-about-unknown-commands] [--disable-formatting] [-q] [--color]
[-w (INTEGER | max)] [--cache] [--config CONFIGURATION_FILE]
[src ...]
A formatter to make your CMake code the real treasure.
positional arguments:
src File or directory to format. When directory is provided then
CMakeLists.txt and files with .cmake extension are automatically
discovered. If only `-` is provided, input is taken from stdin
instead.
modes:
-c, --check Check if files require reformatting. Return 0 when there's
nothing to reformat. Return 1 when some files would be
reformatted.
-i, --in-place Format files in-place.
--diff Show diff on stdout for each formatted file instead.
--print-config {minimal,verbose,default}
Print configuration for files. With "minimal" prints source of
outcome configuration (configuration file or defaults) and the
options that differ from defaults. With "verbose" prints source
of outcome configuration (configuration file or defaults), files
for which this configuration is applicable and complete listing
of options. With "default" prints outcome configuration with
default values. Command line arguments are taken into
consideration just as they would be for formatting. When
configuration file is found values in "definitions" are printed
as relative paths, otherwise absolute paths are printed. Output
can be placed in .gersemirc file verbatim.
--version Show version.
-h, --help Show this help message and exit.
outcome configuration:
These arguments control how gersemi formats source code. Values for these arguments
can be stored in .gersemirc file which can be placed in directory next to the source
file or any parent directory. The highest priority has file provided through
--config, then file closest to the source file, then file in parent directory etc.
until root of file system is reached. Arguments from command line can be used to
override parts of that stored configuration or supply them in absence of
configuration file. Precedence: (command line arguments) > (configuration file) >
(defaults)
-l INTEGER, --line-length INTEGER
Maximum line length in characters. [default: 80]
--indent (INTEGER | tabs)
Number of spaces used to indent or 'tabs' for indenting with
tabs [default: 4]
--unsafe Skip default sanity checks.
--definitions src [src ...]
Files or directories containing custom command definitions
(functions or macros). If only - is provided custom definitions,
if there are any, are taken from stdin instead. Commands from
not deprecated CMake native modules don't have to be provided.
See: https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-
modules.7.html
--list-expansion {favour-inlining,favour-expansion}
Switch controls how code is expanded into multiple lines when
it's not possible to keep it formatted in one line. With
"favour-inlining" the list of entities will be formatted in such
way that sublists might still be formatted into single line as
long as it's possible or as long as it doesn't break the "more
than four standalone arguments" heuristic that's mostly focused
on commands like `set` or `list(APPEND)`. With "favour-
expansion" the list of entities will be formatted in such way
that sublists will be completely expanded once expansion becomes
necessary at all. [default: favour-inlining]
--warn-about-unknown-commands, --no-warn-about-unknown-commands
When enabled file which has unknown custom commands will have
warnings issued about that and result won't be cached. See:
"Let's make a deal" section in README. [default: warnings
enabled, same as --warn-about-unknown-commands]
--disable-formatting, --enable-formatting
Completely disable formatting. [default: formatting enabled]
control configuration:
These arguments control how gersemi operates rather than how it formats source code.
Values for these options are not read from configuration file. Default values are
used when the arguments aren't supplied. Precedence: (command line arguments) >
(defaults)
-q, --quiet, --no-quiet
Skip printing non-error messages to stderr.
[default: don't skip, same as --no-quiet]
--color, --no-color If --diff is selected showed diff is colorized. Colorama has to
be installed for this option to work.
[default: don't colorize diff, same as --no-color]
-w (INTEGER | max), --workers (INTEGER | max)
Explicit number of workers or 'max' for maximum possible number
of workers on given machine used to format multiple files in
parallel. [default: max]
--cache, --no-cache Enables cache with data about files that are known to be
formatted to speed up execution.
[default: cache enabled, same as --cache]
--config CONFIGURATION_FILE
Path to configuration file. When present this configuration file
will be used for determining configuration for all sources
instead of automatically found configuration files closest to
each of the sources. [default: omitted]
pre-commit hook
You can use gersemi with a pre-commit hook by adding the following to .pre-commit-config.yaml of your repository:
repos:
- repo: https://github.com/BlankSpruce/gersemi
rev: 0.17.1
hooks:
- id: gersemiUpdate rev to relevant version used in your repository. For more details refer to https://pre-commit.com/#using-the-latest-version-for-a-repository
The key goal is for the tool to "just work" and to have as little configuration as possible so that you don't have to worry about fine-tuning formatter to your needs - as long as you embrace the gersemi style of formatting, similarly as black or gofmt do their job. The basic assumption is that code to format is valid CMake language code - gersemi might be able to format some particular cases of invalid code but it's not guaranteed and it shouldn't be relied upon. Moreover only commands from CMake 3.0 onwards are supported and will be formatted properly - for instance exec_program has been deprecated since CMake 3.0 so it won't be formatted. Changes to code might be destructive and you should always have a backup (version control helps a lot).
gersemi in general will use canonical casing as it's defined in official CMake documentation like FetchContent_Declare. There are a few deliberate exceptions for which lower case name was chosen to provide broader consistency with other CMake commands. In case of unknown commands, not provided through definitions, lower case will be used.
gersemi will try to format the code in a way that respects set character limit for single line and only break line whenever necessary with one exception. The commands that have a group of parameters that aren't attached to any specific keyword (like set or list(APPEND)) will be broken into multiple lines when there are more than 4 arguments in that group. The exception to the rule is made as a heuristic to avoid large local diff when the given command won't fit into maximum line length.
Example:
# Four elements in the list "Oceans_Eleven"
set(Oceans_Eleven Danny Frank Rusty Reuben)
# Five elements in the list "Oceans_Twelve"
set(Oceans_Twelve
Danny
Frank
Rusty
Reuben
Tess
)favour-inlining style example:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18 FATAL_ERROR)
project(example CXX)
message(STATUS "This is example project")
message(
STATUS
"Here is yet another but much much longer message that should be displayed"
)
# project version
set(VERSION_MAJOR 0)
set(VERSION_MINOR 1)
set(VERSION_PATCH 0)
add_compile_options(
-Wall
-Wpedantic
-fsanitize=address
-fconcepts
-fsomething-else
)
if(NOT ${SOME_OPTION})
add_compile_options(-Werror)
endif()
# foobar library
add_library(foobar)
add_library(example::foobar ALIAS foobar)
target_sources(
foobar
PUBLIC
include/some_subdirectory/header.hpp
include/another_subdirectory/header.hpp
PRIVATE
src/some_subdirectory/src1.cpp
src/some_subdirectory/src1.cpp
src/another_subdirectory/src1.cpp
src/another_subdirectory/src2.cpp
src/another_subdirectory/src3.cpp
)
target_include_directories(
foobar
INTERFACE
$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>
)
target_link_libraries(
foobar
PUBLIC example::dependency_one example::dependency_two
PRIVATE
example::some_util
external::some_lib
external::another_lib
Boost::Boost
)
include(GNUInstallDirs)
set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR})
# example executable
add_executable(app main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(app PRIVATE example::foobar Boost::Boost)
# tests
include(CTest)
include(GTest)
enable_testing()
add_subdirectory(tests)
# some helper function - see more details in "Let's make a deal" section
function(add_test_executable)
set(OPTIONS
QUIET
VERBOSE
SOME_PARTICULARLY_LONG_KEYWORD_THAT_ENABLES_SOMETHING
)
set(ONE_VALUE_ARGS NAME TESTED_TARGET)
set(MULTI_VALUE_ARGS SOURCES DEPENDENCIES)
cmake_parse_arguments(
THIS_FUNCTION_PREFIX
${OPTIONS}
${ONE_VALUE_ARGS}
${MULTI_VALUE_ARGS}
)
# rest of the function
endfunction()
add_test_executable(
NAME foobar_tests
TESTED_TARGET foobar
SOURCES
some_test1.cpp
some_test2.cpp
some_test3.cpp
some_test4.cpp
some_test5.cpp
QUIET
DEPENDENCIES googletest::googletest
)
add_custom_command(
OUTPUT ${SOMETHING_TO_OUTPUT}
COMMAND ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E cat foobar
COMMAND cmake -E echo foobar
COMMAND
cmake -E echo "something quite a bit longer"
WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/something
DEPENDS
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/something
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/something_else
COMMENT "example custom command"
)In this style lines are broken in one of these cases:
- there is at least one multi-value argument present a single command invocation, either keyworded one like
PUBLICintarget_link_librariesor standalone one like list of files inadd_library, which has more than one value - there are more than one multi-value arguments present in the command invocation like
target_link_librarieswithPUBLICandPRIVATEarguments. - character limit for single line is reached
One-value arguments (like NAME in add_test) will be inlined unless that'd violate character limit. Structure or control flow commands (if, while, function, foreach etc.) are exempted from these special rules and follow the same formatting as favour-inlining. This style is more merge or git blame friendly because usually multi-value arguments are changed one element at a time and with this style such change will be visible as one line of code per element.
favour-expansion style example:
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.18 FATAL_ERROR)
project(example CXX)
message(STATUS "This is example project")
message(
STATUS
"Here is yet another but much much longer message that should be displayed"
)
# project version
set(VERSION_MAJOR 0)
set(VERSION_MINOR 1)
set(VERSION_PATCH 0)
add_compile_options(
-Wall
-Wpedantic
-fsanitize=address
-fconcepts
-fsomething-else
)
if(NOT ${SOME_OPTION})
add_compile_options(-Werror)
endif()
# foobar library
add_library(foobar)
add_library(example::foobar ALIAS foobar)
target_sources(
foobar
PUBLIC
include/some_subdirectory/header.hpp
include/another_subdirectory/header.hpp
PRIVATE
src/some_subdirectory/src1.cpp
src/some_subdirectory/src1.cpp
src/another_subdirectory/src1.cpp
src/another_subdirectory/src2.cpp
src/another_subdirectory/src3.cpp
)
target_include_directories(
foobar
INTERFACE
$<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/include>
$<INSTALL_INTERFACE:include>
)
target_link_libraries(
foobar
PUBLIC
example::dependency_one
example::dependency_two
PRIVATE
example::some_util
external::some_lib
external::another_lib
Boost::Boost
)
include(GNUInstallDirs)
set(CMAKE_ARCHIVE_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
set(CMAKE_LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR})
set(CMAKE_RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}/${CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR})
# example executable
add_executable(app main.cpp)
target_link_libraries(
app
PRIVATE
example::foobar
Boost::Boost
)
# tests
include(CTest)
include(GTest)
enable_testing()
add_subdirectory(tests)
# some helper function - see more details in "Let's make a deal" section
function(add_test_executable)
set(OPTIONS
QUIET
VERBOSE
SOME_PARTICULARLY_LONG_KEYWORD_THAT_ENABLES_SOMETHING
)
set(ONE_VALUE_ARGS
NAME
TESTED_TARGET
)
set(MULTI_VALUE_ARGS
SOURCES
DEPENDENCIES
)
cmake_parse_arguments(
THIS_FUNCTION_PREFIX
${OPTIONS}
${ONE_VALUE_ARGS}
${MULTI_VALUE_ARGS}
)
# rest of the function
endfunction()
add_test_executable(
NAME foobar_tests
TESTED_TARGET foobar
SOURCES
some_test1.cpp
some_test2.cpp
some_test3.cpp
some_test4.cpp
some_test5.cpp
QUIET
DEPENDENCIES googletest::googletest
)
add_custom_command(
OUTPUT
${SOMETHING_TO_OUTPUT}
COMMAND
${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E cat foobar
COMMAND
cmake -E echo foobar
COMMAND
cmake -E echo "something quite a bit longer"
WORKING_DIRECTORY ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/something
DEPENDS
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/something
${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/something_else
COMMENT "example custom command"
)It's possible to provide reasonable formatting for custom commands. However on language level there are no hints available about supported keywords for given command so gersemi has to generate specialized formatter. To do that custom command definition is necessary which should be provided with --definitions. There are limitations though since it'd probably require full-blown CMake language interpreter to do it in every case so let's make a deal: if your custom command definition (function or macro) uses cmake_parse_arguments and does it in obvious manner such specialized formatter will be generated. Name casing used in command definition will be considered canonical for custom command (in the example below canonical casing will be Seven_Samurai). For instance this definition is okay (you can find other examples in tests/custom_command_formatting/):
function(Seven_Samurai some standalone arguments)
set(options KAMBEI KATSUSHIRO)
set(oneValueArgs GOROBEI HEIHACHI KYUZO)
set(multiValueArgs SHICHIROJI KIKUCHIYO)
cmake_parse_arguments(
THIS_FUNCTION_PREFIX
"${options}"
"${oneValueArgs}"
"${multiValueArgs}"
${ARGN}
)
# rest of the function definition...
endfunction()With this definition available it's possible to format code like so:
Seven_Samurai(
three
standalone
arguments
KAMBEI
KATSUSHIRO
GOROBEI foo
HEIHACHI bar
KYUZO baz
SHICHIROJI foo bar baz
KIKUCHIYO bar baz foo
)Otherwise gersemi will fallback to only fixing indentation of command name and it's closing parenthesis while preserving original formatting of arguments:
# before formatting of unknown command
watch_david_fincher_movies(
"Se7en"
"The Game"
"Fight Club"
"Zodiac" "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
)
# after
watch_david_fincher_movies(
"Se7en"
"The Game"
"Fight Club"
"Zodiac" "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
)If you find these limitations too strict let me know about your case.
When source code has custom commands but their definitions aren't known gersemi will warn about that. Warnings can be suppressed with --no-warn-about-unknown-commands/warn_about_unknown_commands: false.
How to format custom commands for which path to definition can't be guaranteed to be stable? (e.g external dependencies not managed by CMake)
You can provide stub definitions that will be used only as an input for gersemi. Example:
# ./.gersemirc
definitions: [./src/cmake/stubs, ...] # ... other paths that might contain actual definitions
line_length: 120
list_expansion: favour-expansion# ./src/cmake/stubs/try_to_win_best_picture_academy_award.cmake
# A stub for some external command out of our control
function(try_to_win_best_picture_academy_award)
# gersemi: hints { CAST: pairs, SUMMARY: command_line }
set(options FOREIGN_LANGUAGE)
set(oneValueArgs GENRE YEAR)
set(multiValueArgs DIRECTORS CAST SUMMARY)
cmake_parse_arguments(_ "${options}" "${oneValueArgs}" "${multiValueArgs}" ${ARGN})
endfunction()If your definition should be ignored for purposes of generating specialized formatter you can use # gersemi: ignore at the beginning of the custom command:
function(harry_potter_and_the_philosophers_stone some standalone arguments)
# gersemi: ignore
set(options HARRY)
set(oneValueArgs HERMIONE)
set(multiValueArgs RON)
cmake_parse_arguments(
THIS_FUNCTION_PREFIX
"${options}"
"${oneValueArgs}"
"${multiValueArgs}"
${ARGN}
)
# rest of the definition...
endfunction()
# no reformatting
harry_potter_and_the_philosophers_stone(HARRY
HERMIONE foo
RON foo bar baz)It should be still preferred simply to not provide that definition instead.
If your definition has # gersemi: hints at the beginning then after hints you can provide YAML formatted pairs <keyword>: <specialized_formatting> to indicate how to treat specific multi-value arguments. <specialized_formatting> can be:
pairs: arguments after the keyword will be grouped into pairs, similar to howset_target_properties(PROPERTIES)is handledcommand_line: arguments after the keyword will be treated like a sequence of words in command line, similar to howadd_custom_command(COMMAND)is handled
Example:
function(movie_description_without_hints)
set(options "")
set(oneValueArgs DIRECTOR)
set(multiValueArgs CAST SUMMARY)
cmake_parse_arguments(THIS_FUNCTION_PREFIX "${options}" "${oneValueArgs}" "${multiValueArgs}" ${ARGN})
endfunction()
function(movie_description_with_hints)
# gersemi: hints { CAST: pairs, SUMMARY: command_line }
set(options "")
set(oneValueArgs DIRECTOR)
set(multiValueArgs CAST SUMMARY)
cmake_parse_arguments(THIS_FUNCTION_PREFIX "${options}" "${oneValueArgs}" "${multiValueArgs}" ${ARGN})
endfunction()
movie_description_without_hints(
Oppenheimer
DIRECTOR "Christopher Nolan"
CAST
"J. Robert Oppenheimer"
"Cillian Murphy"
"Kitty Oppenheimer"
"Emily Blunt"
"General Leslie Groves"
"Matt Damon"
SUMMARY
Oppenheimer
is
an
epic
biographical
thriller
directed
by
Christopher
Nolan.
)
movie_description_with_hints(
Oppenheimer
DIRECTOR "Christopher Nolan"
CAST
"J. Robert Oppenheimer" "Cillian Murphy"
"Kitty Oppenheimer" "Emily Blunt"
"General Leslie Groves" "Matt Damon"
SUMMARY
Oppenheimer is an epic biographical thriller directed by Christopher
Nolan.
)Gersemi can be disallowed to format block of code using pair of comments # gersemi: off/# gersemi: on. Example:
the_hobbit(
BURGLAR "Bilbo Baggins"
WIZARD Gandalf
DWARVES
"Thorin Oakenshield"
Fili
Kili
Balin
Dwalin
Oin
Gloin
Dori
Nori
Ori
Bifur
Bofur
Bombur
)
# gersemi: off
the_fellowship_of_the_ring (
RING_BEARER Frodo GARDENER Samwise
Merry Pippin Aragon
Boromir
Gimli
Legolas
Gandalf
)
# gersemi: onPair of comments should be in the same scope, so the following is not supported:
# gersemi: off
the_godfather()
function(how_to_make_a_successful_movie args)
step_one_have_a_good_scenario()
# gersemi: on
step_two_make_the_movie()
endfunction()Bug or style inconsitencies reports are always welcomed. In case of style enhancement or feature proposals consider providing rationale (and maybe some example) having in mind the deliberate choice mentioned above. As long as it's meant to improve something go for it and be prepared to defend your point.
Entire test suite can be run with just:
tox
Selecting functional tests can be done like so:
tox -e tests -- -k <test_pattern>
If you are familiar with pytest then you can pass relevant arguments after --.