Minimal Cmake Pdf Jun 2026

add_custom_target(pdf DEPENDS $PDF_OUTPUT)

When generating PDF documents from source files (e.g., Markdown, LaTeX, or ReStructuredText), a "minimal CMake" approach focuses on simplicity, portability, and avoiding external scripts. The goal is to produce a pdf target using only built-in CMake commands and a reliable PDF engine. minimal cmake pdf

set(VERSION "1.2.3") set(CONFIG_TEX $CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR/version.tex) file(GENERATE OUTPUT $CONFIG_TEX CONTENT "\\newcommand\\docversion$VERSION") where you want a simple

: For complex projects involving bibliographies ( bibtex ) or glossaries, you can use specialized modules like UseLATEX.cmake or UseLatexMk.cmake which handle multiple compilation passes automatically. Procedural Steps to Build atrelinski/CMake-Example - GitHub no fragile pipelines

The pattern is ideal for documentation that lives alongside code, where you want a simple, cross‑platform way to say “build the PDF if you have the tools” – no extra scripting, no fragile pipelines, just CMake doing what it does best: finding executables and running them.

To keep the build minimal when PDF tools are missing, mark the target as OPTIONAL :