cmake-git-version-tracking

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cmake-git-version-tracking

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Embed Git metadata in a C/C++ compatible static library using CMake (e.g. commit ID, author, date, and message).

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# Embed Git metadata in C/C++ projects via CMake
This project embeds up-to-date git metadata in a standalone C/C++ static library via CMake.
It's written responsibly to only trigger rebuilds if git metadata changes (e.g. a new commit is added).
The core capability is baked into single self-contained
[script](git_watcher.cmake).

## Requirements
- CMake >= 3.2
- C Compiler (with C99 standard support)
- Git

## Quickstart via FetchContent
You can use CMake's `FetchContent` module to build the static library `cmake_git_version_tracking`:
```cmake
include(FetchContent)
FetchContent_Declare(cmake_git_version_tracking                   
  GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/andrew-hardin/cmake-git-version-tracking.git
  GIT_TAG 904dbda1336ba4b9a1415a68d5f203f576b696bb
)
FetchContent_MakeAvailable(cmake_git_version_tracking)

target_link_libraries(your_target
  cmake_git_version_tracking
)
```
Then [`#include git.h`](./git.h) and use the provided functions to retrieve git metadata.

## Intended use case
You're continuously shipping prebuilt binaries for an
application. A user discovers a bug and files a bug report.
By embedding up-to-date versioning information, the user
can include this information in their report, e.g.:

```
Commit SHA1: 46a396e (46a396e6c1eb3d)
Dirty: false (there were no uncommitted changes at time of build)
```

This allows you to investigate the _precise_ version of the
application that the bug was reported in.

## Q: What if I want to track `$special_git_field`?
Fork the project and modify [git_watcher.cmake](git_watcher.cmake)
to track new additional fields (e.g. kernel version or build hostname).
Sections that need to be modified are marked with `>>>`.

## Q: Doesn't this already exist?
It depends on your specific requirements. Before writing this, I
found two categories of existing solutions:

- Write the commit ID to the header at configure time (e.g. `cmake <source_dir>`).
  This works well for automated build processes (e.g. check-in code and build artifacts).
  However, any changes made after running `cmake`
  (e.g. `git commit -am "Changed X"`) aren't reflected in the header.

- Every time a build is started (e.g. `make`), write the commit ID to a header.
  The major drawback of this method is that any object file that includes the new
  header will be recompiled -- _even if the state of the git repo hasn't changed_.

## Q: What's the better solution?
We check Git every time a build is started (e.g. `make`) to see if anything has changed,
like a new commit to the current branch. If nothing has changed, then we don't
touch anything- _no recompiling or linking is triggered_. If something has changed, then we
reconfigure the header and CMake rebuilds any downstream dependencies.

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