CGAL users discussion list

[Chris Marsh <>]

I can only speak from experience in that for my custom built CGAL with a custom boost install, the instructions I linked works. Perhaps you are finding CGAL prior to setting the BOOST no system root?  That being said I've seen some strange differences between cmake on different machines, so I share your frustration. I guess as long as it works ....

On 8 August 2017 at 14:34, Michael Bieri <> wrote:

I built it a long time ago, and as far as I know, I also used the b2 engine. I see no CMake stuff in that boost directory.

So currently, it just works but I do not really understand what's going on.

On Tue, Aug 8, 2017 at 10:26 PM, Chris Marsh <> wrote:

Ah could be; I've never build boost with the cmake builder and only have used the b2 engine. I guess it behaves differently? Good to know.

On 8 August 2017 at 14:23, Michael Bieri <> wrote:

Ok, I think I finally got it when setting one more variable, Boost_NO_BOOST_CMAKE:

set(Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS TRUE)
set(Boost_NO_BOOST_CMAKE TRUE)

set(BOOST_ROOT "/my/boost/boost_1_54_0")

find_package(Boost REQUIRED)

Best regards,

Michael

On Tue, Aug 8, 2017 at 10:10 PM, Michael Bieri <> wrote:

Ok, I tried to do this, but I get the following result when running it with --trace:

/my/project/CMakeLists.txt(25):  set(Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS TRUE )

/my/project/CMakeLists.txt(26):  set(BOOST_ROOT /my/boost )

/my/project/CMakeLists.txt(27):  find_package(Boost REQUIRED )

/usr/share/cmake/Modules/FindBoost.cmake(163):  if(NOT Boost_NO_BOOST_CMAKE )

/usr/share/cmake/Modules/FindBoost.cmake(166):  if($ENV{Boost_DIR} STREQUAL  )

/usr/share/cmake/Modules/FindBoost.cmake(167):  if(NOT $ENV{BOOST_ROOT} STREQUAL  )

/usr/share/cmake/Modules/FindBoost.cmake(168):  set(ENV{Boost_DIR} $ENV{BOOST_ROOT} )

/usr/share/cmake/Modules/FindBoost.cmake(177):  find_package(Boost QUIET NO_MODULE )

/usr/lib64/boost/BoostConfigVersion.cmake(12):  if(${PACKAGE_FIND_VERSION_MAJOR}.${PACKAGE_FIND_VERSION_MINOR}.${PACKAGE_FIND_VERSION_PATCH} STREQUAL 1.41.0 )

/usr/lib64/boost/BoostConfig.cmake(20):  set(Boost_VERSION 1.41.0 )

/usr/lib64/boost/BoostConfig.cmake(21):  set(Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS /usr/include )

/usr/lib64/boost/BoostConfig.cmake(22):  set(Boost_INCLUDE_DIR /usr/include CACHE FILEPATH Boost include directory )

/usr/lib64/boost/BoostConfig.cmake(24):  set(Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS /usr/lib64 )

This will then again lead to the same error as before.

It seems that cmake absolutely wants to go into /usr/share/cmake/Modules/FindBoost.cmake and then /usr/lib64/boost/BoostConfig.cmake, no matter wheter I set Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS TRUE. 

Best regards,

Michael

On Tue, Aug 8, 2017 at 10:00 PM, Chris Marsh <> wrote:

In your project cmake.

And I would not manually set these variables

Boost_DIR /usr/lib64/boost                                                
Boost_INCLUDE_DIR /usr/include

I would let the find_pacakge call do that for you.

On 8 August 2017 at 13:56, Michael Bieri <> wrote:

Just in the cmake file of my project, or in the cmake file for building CGAL?

On Tue, Aug 8, 2017 at 9:48 PM, Chris Marsh <> wrote:

You put them before the find_package(Boost REQUIRED) call in your cmake file. You will not need to recompile boost.

For example:

set(Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS TRUE)

set(BOOST_ROOT "/my/boost/boost_1_54_0")

find_package(Boost REQUIRED)

message(STATUS "Found boost incl: ${Boost_INCLUDE_DIR}")

message(STATUS "Boost libs to link: ${Boost_LIBRARIES}")

message(STATUS "Found boost lib: ${Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS}")

should print your custom boost library path

On 8 August 2017 at 13:37, Michael Bieri <> wrote:

Hi Chris

Thanks for your answer. Where exactly should I put those lines, and do I need to recompile CGAL afterwards?

Best regards,

Michael

On Tue, Aug 8, 2017 at 9:29 PM, Chris Marsh <> wrote:

When compiling against a custom boost with cmake, you can use this in your cmake file to specify the boost directory

set(Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS TRUE)

set(BOOST_ROOT "/my/boost/boost_1_54_0")

the FindBoost.cmake file will then pickup your custom directory 

On 8 August 2017 at 13:14, Michael Bieri <> wrote:

Hello

I'm currently installing CGAL on different platforms. Normally, it works just fine. But I have one computer where Boost is not installed into the system, but just compiled in a directory. This Boost works properly in combination with other things I'm building, just not with CGAL.

I can compile CGAL using the following Boost-related settings, displayed with ccmake:

 Boost_DEBUG OFF                                                            
 Boost_INCLUDE_DIR /my/boost/boost_1_54_0        
 Boost_LIBRARY_DIR /my/boost/boost_1_54_0/stage/lib
 Boost_SYSTEM_LIBRARY_DEBUG /my/boost/boost_1_54_0/stage/lib
 Boost_SYSTEM_LIBRARY_RELEASE /my/boost/boost_1_54_0/stage/lib
 Boost_THREAD_LIBRARY_DEBUG /my/boost/boost_1_54_0/stage/lib
 Boost_THREAD_LIBRARY_RELEASE /my/boost/boost_1_54_0/stage/lib
 CGAL_Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS   OFF


Now, I'd like to compile one of my examples. I get the following error: 

*******************************************************

CMake Error at /usr/lib64/boost/Boost.cmake:536 (message):
  The imported target "boost_date_time-static" references the file

     "/usr/lib64/lib64/libboost_date_time.a"

  but this file does not exist.  Possible reasons include:

  * The file was deleted, renamed, or moved to another location.

  * An install or uninstall procedure did not complete successfully.

  * The installation package was faulty and contained

     "/usr/lib64/boost/Boost.cmake"

  but not all the files it references.

*******************************************************

The error itself is not a surprise, because it's a very old Boost there.

Boost-related settings for cmake in my project folder are:

Boost_DEBUG OFF                                                            
Boost_DIR /usr/lib64/boost                                                
Boost_INCLUDE_DIR /usr/include

Whe I change the variables to my own Boost in ccmake, it will also throw the above error and not save the changes.

So I really, really wonder: How do I set Boost properly to compile my own code? (I also tried with environment variables as given in the installation manual, Section 15.7.)

Best regards,

Michael