(cmake) build directory: use "as is" or normalised for calling cmake?

[René J.V. Bertin]

Hi,

A quick existential question: how to use the build directory of cmake projects? Chdir into it "as is" (as entered by the user) before calling CMake, or normalise/canonicalise/expand it first? That would be the cross-platform consistent thing to do (on Mac it's near impossible to avoid what [t]csh calls chasing symlinks) and would avoid build problems with certain projects like KDevelop itself.

KDevelop code ends up including auto-generated files via clever relative links which break on Linux when symlinks on the path aren't expanded.

I guess you can argue one shouldn't use symlinks to shortcut into hidden build directories and that normalising such paths can break user expectactions At some point in the distant past I actually would have believed that, for reasons long forgotten; nowadays I am used to the simplicity of "chdir takes you to the actual location no matter via what detour or shortcut".

This all sounded clearer in my head...

R.