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I've tried including boost into a cmake project of mine, and I'm having some difficulty getting the project to compile. Specifically, I would like to use things defined in the boost/filesystem.hpp header.

I've installed boost using apt install libboost-all-dev, and I've tried making the necessary adjustments to the cmake files in the necessary places, recommended by a few posts from this website. However, the following CMakeLists.txt file is not working for me (there are a few, but this is the only one that should reference the new boost headers and libraries):

project(run_backtest) add_subdirectory(markets) set(SOURCE_FILES main.cpp) set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS OFF) set(Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED ON) set(Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF) find_package(Boost 1.65.1 COMPONENTS system filesystem) find_package (Eigen3 3.3 REQUIRED NO_MODULE) include_directories(${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS}) link_directories( ${Boost_LIBRARIES}) find_library(mysqlcppconn 1.1.12 REQUIRED) add_executable(run_backtest ${SOURCE_FILES}) target_link_libraries(run_backtest markets Eigen3::Eigen stdc++fs mysqlcppconn ${Boost_LIBRARIES}) install(TARGETS run_backtest DESTINATION ${MARKETS_INSTALL_BIN_DIR})

I navigate to a directory called ~/markets/build/manual and type in cmake ../... That looks like it works; it prints this out:

taylor@taylor-XPS-13-9365:~/markets/build/manual$ cmake ../.. -- The C compiler identification is GNU 7.4.0 -- The CXX compiler identification is GNU 7.4.0 -- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- Check for working C compiler: /usr/bin/cc -- works -- Detecting C compiler ABI info -- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done -- Detecting C compile features -- Detecting C compile features - done -- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ -- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/bin/c++ -- works -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done -- Detecting CXX compile features -- Detecting CXX compile features - done -- Boost version: 1.65.1 -- Found the following Boost libraries: -- system -- filesystem /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libboost_system.so/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libboost_filesystem.so -- Configuring done -- Generating done -- Build files have been written to: /home/taylor/markets/build/manual

Then make && make install results in some undefined reference to errors. Here's the first one copy/pasted:

../src/markets/libmarkets.a(data_readers.cpp.o): In function `number_of_files_in_directory(boost::filesystem::path)': data_readers.cpp:(.text+0x28b): undefined reference to `boost::filesystem::detail::directory_iterator_construct(boost::filesystem::directory_iterator&, boost::filesystem::path const&, boost::system::error_code*)'

The top of the data_readers.h file looks like this:

. . . #include <string> #include <vector> #include <queue> #include <boost/filesystem.hpp> . . .

Looking at the cmake docs, I've noticed there are a tremendous amount of variables that give the library directory. Perhaps I'm using the worng one?

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    What is the contents of the ${Boost_LIBRARIES} variable? Have you tried printing this to see if the libraries are actually found? Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 15:55
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    You are using Boost_LIBRARIES (list of library names) for link_directories. I think you are supposed to use Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS there. Also you should add REQUIRED to find_package when looking for boost. Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 15:56
  • @squareskittles I added message( ${Boost_LIBRARIES}), and i've added the output of calling cmake ../.. to the body of the question Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 20:01
  • @VTT still no dice. same errors Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 20:09
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    You have checked this question about unresolved reference to the boost::filesystem, haven't you? Also, according to the error message, it is libmarkets.a which cause the linker error, which is built in add_subdirectory(markets) without find_package(Boost) in effect. This is not a very bad - static libraries are not linked at creation - but this smells no good. Commented Sep 24, 2019 at 20:58

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Here i've made a few modifications to your CMakeLists.txt and added a few comments for clarity.

project(run_backtest) add_subdirectory(markets) set(SOURCE_FILES main.cpp) # You shouldn't need these, i got my copy working without them # set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS OFF) # set(Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED ON) # set(Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF) # Here i added 'Required' so that the build will fail if it cannot find boost find_package(Boost 1.65.1 REQUIRED COMPONENTS system filesystem) find_package (Eigen3 3.3 REQUIRED NO_MODULE) # You shouldn't have to use find_library, it's a lower level command # and find_package should encapsulate it's functionality find_package (mysqlcppconn 1.1.12 REQUIRED) add_executable(run_backtest ${SOURCE_FILES}) # Here i replaced the variables (e.g ${BOOST_Libraries}) with Boost::system # This is called an 'alias'. They're added by the Find_Package() call. target_link_libraries(run_backtest markets Eigen3::Eigen stdc++fs mysqlcppconn Boost::system) install(TARGETS run_backtest DESTINATION ${MARKETS_INSTALL_BIN_DIR})
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3 Comments

Thanks that's very helpful (+1)
@Taylor Were you able to get it working with the changes that i suggested? One other thing i thought of, if your compiling targeting x64 and your boost is x32, sometimes that can be the cause of the trouble.
I was able to get it working, but not from your information. Sorry if that sounds mean, but it was my fault...the question was ill-posed, and I posted a follow up question to this that got everything squared away for me.

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