Overview

Starting with netCDF-C 4.3.0, we are happy to announce the inclusion of CMake support. CMake will allow for building netCDF on a wider range of platforms, include Microsoft Windows with Visual Studio. CMake support also provides robust unit and regression testing tools. We will also maintain the standard autotools-based build system in parallel.

In addition to providing new build options for netCDF-C, we will also provide pre-built binary downloads for the shared versions of netCDF for use with Visual Studio.

Requirements

The following packages are required to build netCDF-C using CMake.

netCDF-C Source Code
CMake version 2.8.12 or greater.
Optional Requirements:
- HDF5 Libraries for netCDF4/HDF5 support.
- libcurl for DAP support.

The CMake Build Process

There are four steps in the Build Process when using CMake

Configuration: Before compiling, the software is configured based on the desired options.
Building: Once configuration is complete, the libraries are compiled.
Testing: Post-build, it is possible to run tests to ensure the functionality of the netCDF-C libraries.
Installation: If all tests pass, the libraries can be installed in the location specified during configuration.

For users who prefer pre-built binaries, installation packages are available at Installing and Using netCDF-C Libraries in Windows

Configuration

The output of the configuration step is a project file based on the appropriate configurator specified. Common configurators include:

Unix Makefiles
Visual Studio
CodeBlocks
... and others

Common CMake Options

Option	Autotools	CMake
Specify Install Location	–prefix=PREFIX	-D"CMAKE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX=PREFIX"
Enable/Disable netCDF-4	–enable-netcdf-4 –disable-netcdf-4	-D"ENABLE\_NETCDF\_4=ON" -D"ENABLE\_NETCDF\_4=OFF"
Enable/Disable DAP	–enable-dap –disable-dap	-D"ENABLE\_DAP=ON" -D"ENABLE\_DAP=OFF"
Enable/Disable Utilities	–enable-utilities –disable-utilities	-D"BUILD\_UTILITIES=ON" -D"BUILD\_UTILITIES=OFF"
Specify shared/Static Libraries	–enable-shared –enable-static	-D"BUILD\_SHARED\_LIBS=ON" -D"BUILD\_SHARED\_LIBS=OFF"
Enable/Disable Tests	–enable-testsets –disable-testsets	-D"ENABLE\_TESTS=ON" -D"ENABLE\_TESTS=OFF"
Specify a custom library location	Use CFLAGS and LDFLAGS	-D"CMAKE\_PREFIX\_PATH=/usr/custom_libs/"

A full list of basic options can be found by invoking cmake [Source Directory] -L. To enable a list of basic and advanced options, one would invoke cmake [Source Directory] -LA.

Configuring your build from the command line.

The easiest configuration case would be one in which all of the dependent libraries are installed on the system path (in either Unix/Linux or Windows) and all the default options are desired. From the build directory (often, but not required to be located within the source directory):

$ cmake [Source Directory]

If you have libraries installed in a custom directory, you may need to specify the CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH variable to tell cmake where the libraries are installed. For example:

$ cmake [Source Directory] -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/usr/custom_libraries/

Building

The compiler can be executed directly with 'make' or the appropriate command for the configurator which was used.

$ make

Building can also be executed indirectly via cmake:

$ cmake –build [Build Directory]

Testing

Testing can be executed several different ways:

$ make test

or

$ ctest

or

$ cmake –build [Build Directory] –target test

Installation

Once netCDF has been built and tested, it may be installed using the following commands:

$ make install

or

$ cmake –build [Build Directory] –target install

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