Help: Document PDB behavior w.r.t. static libraries explicitly (#14600)

Document PDB_NAME and PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY as applying only to shared
libraries and executables.  Add an explicit note to explain why they
do not work for static libraries.

5 files changed, 22 insertions, 7 deletions

diff --git a/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NAME.rst b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NAME.rst
index fa3f2ec..e8fc3be 100644
--- a/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NAME.rst
+++ b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NAME.rst
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 PDB_NAME
 --------
 
-Output name for MS debug symbols ``.pdb`` file from linker.
+Output name for the MS debug symbol ``.pdb`` file generated by the
+linker for an executable or shared library target.
 
-Set the base name for debug symbols file created for an executable or
-shared library target.  If not set, the logical target name is used by
-default.
+This property specifies the base name for the debug symbols file.
+If not set, the logical target name is used by default.
+
+.. include:: PDB_NOTE.txt
 
 This property is not implemented by the :generator:`Visual Studio 6`
 generator.
diff --git a/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NAME_CONFIG.rst b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NAME_CONFIG.rst
index 571f16d..c846b57 100644
--- a/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NAME_CONFIG.rst
+++ b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NAME_CONFIG.rst
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 PDB_NAME_<CONFIG>
 -----------------
 
-Per-configuration name for MS debug symbols ``.pdb`` file.
+Per-configuration output name for the MS debug symbol ``.pdb`` file
+generated by the linker for an executable or shared library target.
 
 This is the configuration-specific version of :prop_tgt:`PDB_NAME`.
 
diff --git a/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NOTE.txt b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NOTE.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e55aba2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_NOTE.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+.. note::
+ This property does not apply to STATIC library targets because no linker
+ is invoked to produce them so they have no linker-generated ``.pdb`` file
+ containing debug symbols.
+
+ The compiler-generated program database files specified by the MSVC
+ ``/Fd`` flag are not the same as linker-generated program database
+ files and so are not influenced by this property.
diff --git a/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY.rst b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY.rst
index 3cc075e..9a863a1 100644
--- a/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY.rst
+++ b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY.rst
@@ -1,12 +1,15 @@
 PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY
 --------------------
 
-Output directory for MS debug symbols ``.pdb`` file from linker.
+Output directory for the MS debug symbols ``.pdb`` file
+generated by the linker for an executable or shared library target.
 
 This property specifies the directory into which the MS debug symbols
 will be placed by the linker.  This property is initialized by the
 value of the :variable:`CMAKE_PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY` variable if it is
 set when a target is created.
 
+.. include:: PDB_NOTE.txt
+
 This property is not implemented by the :generator:`Visual Studio 6`
 generator.
diff --git a/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_CONFIG.rst b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_CONFIG.rst
index 0244646..caec2de 100644
--- a/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_CONFIG.rst
+++ b/Help/prop_tgt/PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_CONFIG.rst
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY_<CONFIG>
 -----------------------------
 
-Per-configuration output directory for MS debug symbols ``.pdb`` files.
+Per-configuration output directory for the MS debug symbol ``.pdb`` file
+generated by the linker for an executable or shared library target.
 
 This is a per-configuration version of :prop_tgt:`PDB_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY`,
 but multi-configuration generators (VS, Xcode) do NOT append a