Remove automake ignores.

[flightgear.git] / README.cmake

diff --git a/README.cmake b/README.cmake
index ede3b994ca66527fbf7323e980d269ebffca4d12..c74b4a5582e8a848619f07fd2846007bec3c3f33 100644 (file)
--- a/README.cmake
+++ b/README.cmake
@@ -20,9 +20,19 @@ Note the install prefix is automatically searched for required libraries
 and header files, so if you install PLIB, OpenSceneGraph and SimGear to the
 same prefix, most configuration options are unnecessary.
 
-To specify that a particular dependency is in a non-standard location, most
-libraries support an environment variable - eg PLIBDIR or OSG_ROOT - to
-allow precise selection.
+If for some reason you have a dependency (or several) at a different prefix,
+you can specify one or more via CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH:
+
+    cmake ../flightgear -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="/opt/local;/opt/fgfs"
+
+(note the use of semi-colons to specify multiple prefix paths)
+
+Standard prefixes are searched automatically (/usr, /usr/local, /opt/local)
+
+Most dependencies also expose an environment variable to specify their
+installation directory explicitly eg OSG_DIR or PLIBDIR. Any of the methods
+described above will work, but specifying an INSTALL_PREFIX or PREFIX_PATH is
+usually simpler.
 
 By default, we select a release build. To create a debug build, use
 
@@ -34,7 +44,8 @@ Debug builds will automatically use corresponding debug builds of required
 libraries, if they are available. For example you can install debug builds of
 SimGear and OpenSceneGraph, and a debug FlightGear build will use them.
 
-(Debug builds of libraries have the 'd' suffix by default)
+(Debug builds of libraries have the 'd' suffix by default - Release builds
+have no additional suffix)
 
 Note most IDE projects (eg Xcode and Visual Studio) support building all the
 build types from the same project, so you can omit the CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE option
@@ -51,11 +62,19 @@ configurations, eg
 
 To set an optional feature, do
 
-    cmake ../flightgear -DFEATURE_NAME=ON
+    cmake ../flightgear -DFEATURE_NAME=ON 
+
+(or 'OFF' to disable )
 
-The easiest way to see the features that can be configured, is by running one
-of the cmake GUIs - either ncurses or graphical. You can also check the root
-CMakeLists.txt file.
+To see the variables that can be configured / are currently defined, you can
+run one of the GUI front ends, or the following command:
+
+    cmake ../flighgear -L
+
+Add 'A' to see all the options (including advanced options), or 'H' to see
+the help for each option (similar to running configure --help under autoconf):
+
+    cmake ../flightgear -LH
 
 Build Targets
 
@@ -100,8 +119,9 @@ You can set a property on an individual source file:
 Detecting Features / Libraries
 
 For most standard libraries (Gtk, wxWidget, Python, GDAL, Qt, libXml, Boost),
-cmake provides a standard helper. Check your cmake 'modules' directory to see
-the extensive list. 
+cmake provides a standard helper. To see the available modules, run:
+
+     cmake --help-module-list
 
 In the root CMakeLists file, use a statement like:
 
@@ -113,7 +133,8 @@ might have different names (eg, OPENSCENEGRAPH_LIBRARIES).
 
 If there's no standard helper for a library you need, find a similar one, copy
 it to CMakeModules/FindABC.cmake, and modify the code to fit. Generally this
-is pretty straightforward.
+is pretty straightforward. The built-in modules reside in the Cmake 'share'
+directory, eg /usr/share/cmake/modules on Unix systems.
 
 Note libraries support by pkg-config can be handled directly, with no need
 to create a custom FindABC helper.