CMake - How to check for a compiler AND linker flag at the same time

Question

In my CMakeLists.txt I want to enable AddressSanitizer if it will compile and link (because I want the static version which might not be installed). Enabling it would be:

string(APPEND CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS " -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fsanitize=address -static-libasan")
string(APPEND CMAKE_LINKER_FLAGS " -fno-omit-frame-pointer -fsanitize=address -static-libasan")

So I tried to use check_cxx_compiler_flag like this:

check_cxx_compiler_flag("-fno-omit-frame-pointer -fsanitize=address -static-libasan" sanitize_compile)
check_linker_flags(CXX "-fno-omit-frame-pointer -fsanitize=address -static-libasan" sanitize_link)

But that will test the flags separately - which won't work. Is there any functionality like check_cxx_compiler_and_linker_flags in CMake without writing it myself?

Answer 1

try_compile can accomplish this.

Create a small CMakeLists.txt project that adds compiler/linker flags:

cmake_minimum_required(3.16)
project(STATIC_ASAN LANGUAGES C)

# Source for minimal executable
file(WRITE main.c [==[
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
  (void)argc; (void)argv;
  return 0;
}
]==])

add_executable(foo main.c)

target_compile_options(foo PRIVATE -fsanitize=address -static-libasan)
target_compile_options(foo PRIVATE -fsanitize=address -static-libasan)

Put this CMakeLists.txt in a directory EX: asan/CMakeLists.txt

Now you can use try_compile in your main CMakeLists.txt

try_compile(STATIC_ASAN_SUPPORTED PROJECT asan
    SOURCE_DIR ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/asan
)

if (STATIC_ASAN_SUPPORTED)
    message(STATUS "Static asan supported")
endif()