Skip to content

CMake options

CMakeLists.txt exposes a few cache variables and options that gate the build. All are also documented inline in the CMake file itself.

Cache variables

ASSIGNMENT

Selects which per-assignment checker to compile.

Value Source file
HW1..HW6 src/checks/hw{N}.cpp
Lab1..Lab6 src/checks/lab{N}.cpp
Lab7-1 src/checks/lab7_1.cpp
Lab7-2 src/checks/lab7_2.cpp

Sources:

  • Default: HW1.
  • Environment variable: ASSIGNMENT=... overrides the default.
  • Legacy: HW=N env var maps to ASSIGNMENT=HW${N}.
  • CMake flag: -DASSIGNMENT=....

The value is FORCEd into the cache, so switching assignments requires re-running cmake — a plain cmake --build won't pick up a changed env var.

If the requested checker source doesn't exist yet (e.g. Lab3 while the roadmap is still being authored), CMake emits a WARNING and falls back to src/checks/hw1.cpp. Build and link still succeed but the grader validates HW1 instead. Handy for testing the harness while a new checker is being written.

STUDENT_SRC

Path to the student firmware source. Default: student_work/LABstarter_main.c. Common reference fixtures live under context/code_solutions/.

Both relative and absolute paths are accepted. The path is validated at configure time; a missing file fails fast with a clear error:

STUDENT_SRC='foo/bar.c' does not exist (resolved: /abs/path/foo/bar.c).

cmake -S . -B build -DASSIGNMENT=HW2 \
    -DSTUDENT_SRC=context/code_solutions/myHW_Yingyord_First/HW2/HW2fy_main.c

The file at STUDENT_SRC is run through tools/patch_student_source.py at build time to convert its while(1) into the cooperative-driver loop (details). The patched copy lands at ${BUILD}/student_patched/student.c — inspect it when debugging.

CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE

Defaults to RelWithDebInfo. Common alternatives: Debug, Release.

Config Compile flags appended
Debug -O0 -g
RelWithDebInfo -O2 -g -DNDEBUG
Release -O2 -DNDEBUG

Options

GRADER_BUILD_TESTS

Default OFF. When ON, adds the tests/ subdirectory which builds the GTest/GMock-based unit tests:

cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug -DGRADER_BUILD_TESTS=ON
cmake --build build --target grader_tests -j
ctest --test-dir build --output-on-failure

Automatic detections

  • ccache — find_program(CCACHE_PROGRAM ccache). When found, wired as CMAKE_C_COMPILER_LAUNCHER / CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER_LAUNCHER. No flag needed.
  • Python 3 — find_package(Python3 REQUIRED COMPONENTS Interpreter) for the student-source patcher. CMake fails fast if missing.
  • spdlog — find_package(spdlog REQUIRED). Install libspdlog-dev on Debian/Ubuntu.

Compile-time macros

Defined globally and consumed by validator.cpp, ti_stubs.h, and optionally by student code (#ifdef AUTO_GRADER):

Macro When defined
AUTO_GRADER Always (any time the source is built by this repo).
HW=N ASSIGNMENT=HW<N>; also HW=1 for Lab builds as a legacy fallback.
LAB=N ASSIGNMENT=Lab<N>.
ASSIGNMENT_HW ASSIGNMENT=HW….
ASSIGNMENT_LAB ASSIGNMENT=Lab….

include/ti_stubs.h consumes these to wire the patched while(1) → GRADER_MAIN_LOOP macros under AUTO_GRADER.