With cmake, how would you disable in-source builds?

I have a cmake() shell function in my .bashrc/.zshrc similar to this one:

function cmake() {
  # Don't invoke cmake from the top-of-tree
  if [ -e "CMakeLists.txt" ]
  then
    echo "CMakeLists.txt file present, cowardly refusing to invoke cmake..."
  else
    /usr/bin/cmake $*
  fi
}

I prefer this low ceremony solution. It got rid of my colleagues' biggest complaint when we switched to CMake, but it doesn't prevent people who really want to do an in-source/top-of-tree build from doing so—they can just invoke /usr/bin/cmake directly (or not use the wrapper function at all). And it's stupid simple.

Include a function like this one. It is similar to what you do with these differences:

1. It is encapsulated in a function, which is called when you include the PreventInSourceBuilds.cmake module. Your main CMakeLists.txt must include it:

   set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${CMAKE_MODULE_PATH} ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/CMake)
   include(PreventInSourceBuilds)
   

2. It uses get_filename_component() with REALPATH parameter that resolves symlinks before comparing the paths.

In case the github link changes, here's the module source code (which should be placed in a PreventInSouceBuilds.cmake, in a directory called CMake, in the above example):

#
# This function will prevent in-source builds
function(AssureOutOfSourceBuilds)
  # make sure the user doesn't play dirty with symlinks
  get_filename_component(srcdir "${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}" REALPATH)
  get_filename_component(bindir "${CMAKE_BINARY_DIR}" REALPATH)

  # disallow in-source builds
  if("${srcdir}" STREQUAL "${bindir}")
    message("######################################################")
    message("# ITK should not be configured & built in the ITK source directory")
    message("# You must run cmake in a build directory.")
    message("# For example:")
    message("# mkdir ITK-Sandbox ; cd ITK-sandbox")
    message("# git clone http://itk.org/ITK.git # or download & unpack the source tarball")
    message("# mkdir ITK-build")
    message("# this will create the following directory structure")
    message("#")
    message("# ITK-Sandbox")
    message("#  +--ITK")
    message("#  +--ITK-build")
    message("#")
    message("# Then you can proceed to configure and build")
    message("# by using the following commands")
    message("#")
    message("# cd ITK-build")
    message("# cmake ../ITK # or ccmake, or cmake-gui ")
    message("# make")
    message("#")
    message("# NOTE: Given that you already tried to make an in-source build")
    message("#       CMake have already created several files & directories")
    message("#       in your source tree. run 'git status' to find them and")
    message("#       remove them by doing:")
    message("#")
    message("#       cd ITK-Sandbox/ITK")
    message("#       git clean -n -d")
    message("#       git clean -f -d")
    message("#       git checkout --")
    message("#")
    message("######################################################")
    message(FATAL_ERROR "Quitting configuration")
  endif()
endfunction()

AssureOutOfSourceBuilds()

CMake has two undocumented options: CMAKE_DISABLE_SOURCE_CHANGES and CMAKE_DISABLE_IN_SOURCE_BUILD

cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 2.8)

# add this options before PROJECT keyword
set(CMAKE_DISABLE_SOURCE_CHANGES ON)
set(CMAKE_DISABLE_IN_SOURCE_BUILD ON)

project (HELLO)

add_executable (hello hello.cxx)

-

andrew@manchester:~/src% cmake .
CMake Error at /usr/local/share/cmake-2.8/Modules/CMakeDetermineSystem.cmake:160 (FILE):
  file attempted to write a file: /home/andrew/src/CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log
  into a source directory.

/home/selivanov/cmake-2.8.8/Source/cmMakefile.cxx

bool cmMakefile::CanIWriteThisFile(const char* fileName)
{
  if ( !this->IsOn("CMAKE_DISABLE_SOURCE_CHANGES") )
    {
    return true;
    }
  // If we are doing an in-source build, than the test will always fail
  if ( cmSystemTools::SameFile(this->GetHomeDirectory(),
                               this->GetHomeOutputDirectory()) )
    {
    if ( this->IsOn("CMAKE_DISABLE_IN_SOURCE_BUILD") )
      {
      return false;
      }
    return true;
    }

  // Check if this is subdirectory of the source tree but not a
  // subdirectory of a build tree
  if ( cmSystemTools::IsSubDirectory(fileName,
      this->GetHomeDirectory()) &&
    !cmSystemTools::IsSubDirectory(fileName,
      this->GetHomeOutputDirectory()) )
    {
    return false;
    }
  return true;
}