[feature] configurePresets.cmakeExecutable in CMakePresets.json should be filled in

[Ext3h]

What is your suggestion?

In CMakePresets.json, you can set configurePresets.cmakeExecutable to set a specific CMake binary.
While this doesn't work at alll with Visual Studio (stupid IDE insists on using built-in, outdated CMake version), it does work for IDEs like Visual Studio Code and similar ones.

This avoids a nasty issue when working a "hybrid" model between IDE with CMake integration mixed with conan commands in the same workspace.

Why you would want to do that?... E.g. because the initial configuration of the CMake cache is something which still behaves somewhat different between doing it within the IDE vs doing it in Conan. Stuff like environment variables required for compiler detection not being correctly set in the CMakePresets.json, and loads of other similar (environment related) issues.

When you have such a workflow, and you are working in a setup where CMake is distributed as a Conan dependency (and not installed system wide like in Conan Center), then you end up with Conan and the IDE trying to use different CMake versions on the same cache with guaranteed conflicts.

Specifying the CMake version conan would use in the presets ensures that configuration of the workspace with Conan, but subsequent work without Conan is possible in the first place.

While at it, also have a look at configurePreset.environment please, that's yet another thing Conan isn't filling in, leaving you in an odd situation where IDEs invoking CMake will do something entirely different from what Conan had prepared as an environment.

Worst case they pick up an entirely different compiler toolchain. E.g. trying to use Ninja together with MSVC and VSCode is something which should work out of the box, but absolutely doesn't when Conan is in the mix so you have to start re-wire commands just to make sure at least VCVars is eventually called before CMake.

Have you read the CONTRIBUTING guide?

• I've read the CONTRIBUTING guide

[memsharded]

Hi @Ext3h

Thanks for your suggestion.
This looks interesting, we knew that there was a gap when tool_requires("cmake/...") for certain cases when we recently added the env environment variables to the CMakePresets. But we didn't think about cmakeExecutable. If this can help for some setups/IDEs, it might be worth checking it. cc @czoido

[Ext3h]

Never mind the rambling about env - looks like something about #11666 doesn't work for me in 1.61 when I inject the generator via profile, and not specify in the recipe itself.

[Ext3h]

Okay, figured that out as well. conf::tools.cmake.cmaketoolchain:toolset_arch is used as the only source of configurePresets.toolset.value.

But that's wrong... settings::compiler.toolset also needs to be included in configurePresets.toolset.value. That's why #13136 popped up / isn't handled by #11666 as is.

It's wrong in both Conan 1.x and 2.x, as far as I can tell.

[czoido]

Hi @Ext3h

Thanks for your suggestion. This looks interesting, we knew that there was a gap when tool_requires("cmake/...") for certain cases when we recently added the env environment variables to the CMakePresets. But we didn't think about cmakeExecutable. If this can help for some setups/IDEs, it might be worth checking it. cc @czoido

Yes, I think it would make sense to add that variable to our presets, I'll make some tests with that.

[czoido]

Closed by #15447

@Ext3h beginning in 2.1.0 Conan will set that field in the CMakePresets, thanks a lot for the feedback.