How to Convert Complex C# Console Application to C++

BaseLibrary.porter.config is quite simple. It begins with an XML declaration, which specifies that the file contains an XML document.

Then goes the XML root element <porter> which is mandatory for Porter configuration XML document

    <porter>

Next, the default Porter configuration file is imported using <import> element. The default configuration assigns default values to all configuration options.

    <import config="porter.config"/>

And the XML document is finished with closing tag of the root element <porter>:

    </porter>

CommonLibrary.porter.config begins with an XML declaration, which specifies that the file contains an XML document  



Then goes the XML root element <porter> which is mandatory for Porter configuration XML document

    <porter>

Next, the default Porter configuration file is imported using <import> element. The default configuration will assign default values to all configuration options

    <import config="porter.config"/>

Also we need to import a configuration file include_map.config from ported BaseLibrary project that maps public types exported by CommonLibrary library to generated C++ header files in which these types are declared. include_map.config is generated by Porter for each project it ports. Thus, before porting CommonLibrary library project, BaseLibrary project has to be ported first so that Porter generates include_map.config. This is how include_map.config is included in CommonLibrary.porter.config:

    <import config="../../output/BaseLibrary.Cpp/include_map.config" />

Here ../../output is a directory that was passed as an output directory to Porter when BaseLibrary project was ported.

This example assumes that C# project CommonLibrary should be ported into C++ shared/dynamic library project, therefore we assign value ‘true’ to make_shared_lib option:

    <opt name="make_shared_lib" value="true" export_per_member="true"/>

Next, we want Porter to add some commands to the output CMakeLists.txt file. We do that by adding <cmake_commands> element to the configuration file containing raw Cmake commands

    <cmake_commands>
       <![CDATA[

The following commands set the output directory for the library’s binary by setting the corresponding properties on the target ${PROJECT_NAME}:

      set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY   "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../bin")
      set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../bin")

Here ${PROJECT_NAME} is the name of the Cmake project which is equal to the name of the main Cmake executable target.

Because on “DLL-platforms” (i.e. Windows) a DLL shared library is considered by Cmake an executable entity and on “non-DLL-platforms” (i.e. Linux) a shared object is considered by Cmake a library, we set both RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY and LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY properties.

Then the <cmake_commands> element is closed:

      ]]>    
    </cmake_commands>

And last but not least, we need to tell Porter that CommonLibrary project depends on BaseLibrary library. We do it using <lib> element:

    <lib csname="BaseLibrary">
      <cmake_link_template>
        <![CDATA[
          find_package(BaseLibrary.Cpp REQUIRED CONFIG PATHS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../BaseLibrary.Cpp" NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
          target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies INTERFACE BaseLibrary.Cpp)
        ]]>
       </cmake_link_template>
    </lib>

Here ${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies is the name of the Cmake Interface Library target that is defined in the output CMakeLists.txt and is linked to main executable target ${PROJECT_NAME}. Thus libraries linked to ${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies get automatically linked to ${PROJECT_NAME} target.

Finally the XML document is finished with closing tag of the root element <porter>:

    </porter>

LibraryA.porter.config begins with an XML declaration, which specifies that the file contains an XML document

Then goes the XML root element <porter> which is mandatory for Porter configuration XML document

    <porter>

Next, the default Porter configuration file is imported using <import> element. The default configuration will assign default values to all configuration options  

    <import config="porter.config"/>

Because LibraryA has dependency on BaseLibrary and CommonLibrary projects, we need to import configuration files include_map.config from both ported projects. This is how include_map.config files are included in LibraryA.porter.config:

    <import config="../../output/BaseLibrary.Cpp/include_map.config" />
    <import config="../../output/CommonLibrary.Cpp/include_map.config" />

Here ../../output is a directory that was passed as an output directory to Porter when BaseLibrary and CommonLibrary projects were ported.

And last but not least, we need to tell Porter that LibraryA project depends on BaseLibrary and CommonLibrary library. We do it using <lib> element  

    <lib name="CommonLibrary.Cpp" csname="CommonLibrary">
       <cmake_link_template>
         <![CDATA[
           find_package(CommonLibrary.Cpp REQUIRED CONFIG PATHS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../CommonLibrary.Cpp" NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
           target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies INTERFACE CommonLibrary.Cpp)
         ]]>
      </cmake_link_template>
    </lib>
    <lib csname="BaseLibrary">
       <cmake_link_template>
         <![CDATA[
           find_package(BaseLibrary.Cpp REQUIRED CONFIG PATHS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../BaseLibrary.Cpp" NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
           target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies INTERFACE BaseLibrary.Cpp)
         ]]>
      </cmake_link_template>
    </lib>

Finally the XML document is finished with closing tag of the root element <porter>:

    </porter>

LibraryB’s configuration file is much the same as LibraryA’s one described above. One difference is that because this example assumes that LibraryB should be built into a shared dynamic library, this has to be explicitly stated in the configuration file

    <opt name="make_shared_lib" value="true" export_per_member="true"/>

And another difference is that we want to set the output directory for the library binary file just like we did it in ComomnLibary’s configuration file described above

    <cmake_commands>
      <![CDATA[
        set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../bin")
        set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES LIBRARY_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../bin")
      ]]>
    </cmake_commands>

ComplexConsoleApp.porter.config begins with an XML declaration, which specifies that the file contains an XML document

Then goes the XML root element <porter> which is mandatory for Porter configuration XML document

    <porter>

Next, the default Porter configuration file is imported using <import> element. The default configuration will assign default values to all configuration options

    <import config="porter.config"/>

Also we import include_map.config files from all four previously ported library projects

    <import config="../../output/LibraryA.Cpp/include_map.config" />
    <import config="../../output/LibraryB.Cpp/include_map.config" />
    <import config="../../output/BaseLibrary.Cpp/include_map.config" />
    <import config="../../output/CommonLibrary.Cpp/include_map.config" />

Next, we want Porter to add some commands to the output CMakeLists.txt. We do that by adding <cmake_commands> element to the configuration file containing raw Cmake commands

     <cmake_commands>
      <![CDATA[   

The first command sets the output directory for the executable binary by setting the corresponding property on the target ${PROJECT_NAME}

    set_target_properties(${PROJECT_NAME} PROPERTIES RUNTIME_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../bin")

Here ${PROJECT_NAME} is the name of the Cmake project which is equal to the name of the main Cmake executable target.

Then the <cmake_commands> element is closed
      ]]>
     </cmake_commands>

Then, we need to tell Porter that ComplexConsoleApp project depends on four libraries. We do it using <lib> element:

    <lib name="BaseLibrary.Cpp" csname="BaseLibrary">
      <cmake_link_template>
        <![CDATA[
          find_package(BaseLibrary.Cpp REQUIRED CONFIG PATHS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../BaseLibrary.Cpp" NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
          target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies INTERFACE BaseLibrary.Cpp)
        ]]>
     </cmake_link_template>
    </lib>

    <lib name="CommonLibrary.Cpp" csname="CommonLibrary">
       <cmake_link_template>
         <![CDATA[
           find_package(CommonLibrary.Cpp REQUIRED CONFIG PATHS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../CommonLibrary.Cpp" NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
           target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies INTERFACE CommonLibrary.Cpp)
         ]]>
      </cmake_link_template>
    </lib>

    <lib name="LibraryA.Cpp" csname="LibraryA">
      <cmake_link_template>
        <![CDATA[
          find_package(LibraryA.Cpp REQUIRED CONFIG PATHS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../LibraryA.Cpp" NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
          target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies INTERFACE LibraryA.Cpp)           
        ]]>
      </cmake_link_template>
    </lib>

    <lib name="LibraryB.Cpp" csname="LibraryB">
       <cmake_link_template>
        <![CDATA[
          find_package(LibraryB.Cpp REQUIRED CONFIG PATHS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../LibraryB.Cpp" NO_DEFAULT_PATH)
          target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies INTERFACE LibraryB.Cpp)
        ]]>
      </cmake_link_template>
    </lib>

Here ${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies is the name of the Cmake Interface Library target that is defined in the output CMakeLists.txt file and is linked to main executable target ${PROJECT_NAME}. Thus libraries linked to ${PROJECT_NAME}_dependencies get automatically linked to ${PROJECT_NAME} target.

Finally the XML document is finished with closing tag of the root element <porter>

</porter>