CMake for Tink HOW-TO

Incorporating Tink into your project

If you are developing a project that uses Tink, you might incorporate the library using one of the following approaches. At the moment, only the in-tree dependency is supported, although all of them should work.

In-tree dependency

Tink can be embedded directly in your CMake project and statically linked in your executable. This is the approach we currently recommend. Assuming the Tink source tree has been copied in the third_party/tink directory of your project, your top-level CMake script should look like this:

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.13)
project(YourProject CXX)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON)
set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)

add_subdirectory(third_party/tink)

add_executable(your_app your_app.cc)
target_link_libraries(your_app tink::static)

NOTES:

  • You need at least CMake 3.13 to build Tink and its dependencies.
  • Tink defines the C++ standard to use via the TINK_CXX_STANDARD variable, which is 14 by default. If you want to propagate to the value of CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD to Tink use set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON).

Include Tink headers in your_app.cc as follows:

#include "tink/config.h"
#include "tink/json_keyset_reader.h"

// ...

NOTE: tink::static provides the tink/... include path. It is just a shortcut for your convenience, and you might still refer to Tink headers using a filesystem path, such as third_party/tink/cc/..., if you prefer or need to.

You can see a full example in examples/cc/helloworld/hello_world.cc.

Generate the build directory as you normally would and invoke your build system of choice:

$ ls
CMakeLists.txt your_app.cc third_party/
$ mkdir build && cd build
$ cmake ..
$ make
$ ./your_app

If you have the option, we recommend using Ninja to build your project:

$ cmake -DCMAKE_GENERATOR=Ninja ..
$ ninja

Developing Tink with CMake

If you are developing Tink, Bazel is the primary build system, but you should test all your changes with CMake too. Build Tink as a regular CMake project, but enable tests and build the shared library as well:

$ ls
tink/
$ mkdir tink-build && cd tink-build
$ cmake ../tink -DTINK_BUILD_TESTS=ON -DCMAKE_GENERATOR=Ninja
$ ninja
$ CTEST_OUTPUT_ON_FAILURE=1 ninja test
$ ninja package

This combination of options ensures that the entire CMake configuration is evaluated.

WARNING: When editing a BUILD.bazel file, remember to keep it in sync with the corresponding CMakeLists.txt file.