summaryrefslogtreecommitdiffstats
path: root/Help/prop_tgt/UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID.rst
diff options
context:
space:
mode:
Diffstat (limited to 'Help/prop_tgt/UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID.rst')
-rw-r--r--Help/prop_tgt/UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID.rst53
1 files changed, 53 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/Help/prop_tgt/UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID.rst b/Help/prop_tgt/UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0ee30e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Help/prop_tgt/UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID
+---------------------
+
+The name of a valid C-identifier which is set to a unique per-file
+value during unity builds.
+
+When this property is populated and when :prop_tgt:`UNITY_BUILD`
+is true, the property value is used to define a compiler definition
+of the specified name. The value of the defined symbol is unspecified,
+but it is unique per file path.
+
+Given:
+
+.. code-block:: cmake
+
+ set_target_properties(myTarget PROPERTIES
+ UNITY_BUILD "ON"
+ UNITY_BUILD_UNIQUE_ID "MY_UNITY_ID"
+ )
+
+the ``MY_UNITY_ID`` symbol is defined to a unique per-file value.
+
+One known use case for this identifier is to disambiguate the
+variables in an anonymous namespace in a limited scope.
+Anonymous namespaces present a problem for unity builds because
+they are used to ensure that certain variables and declarations
+are scoped to a translation unit which is approximated by a
+single source file. When source files are combined in a unity
+build file, those variables in different files are combined in
+a single translation unit and the names clash. This property can
+be used to avoid that with code like the following:
+
+.. code-block:: cpp
+
+ // Needed for when unity builds are disabled
+ #ifndef MY_UNITY_ID
+ #define MY_UNITY_ID
+ #endif
+
+ namespace { namespace MY_UNITY_ID {
+ // The name 'i' clashes (or could clash) with other
+ // variables in other anonymous namespaces
+ int i = 42;
+ }}
+
+ int use_var()
+ {
+ return MY_UNITY_ID::i;
+ }
+
+The pseudononymous namespace is used within a truly anonymous namespace.
+On many platforms, this maintains the invariant that the symbols within
+do not get external linkage when performing a unity build.