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IDE Integration

GPBT provides two macros for controlling how targets appear in IDEs and how they can be referenced in CMake.

Organising targets into IDE folders​

gpSetFolder(folderPath)

Sets the FOLDER property on the current target. Most IDEs (Visual Studio, Xcode, CLion) use this to organise targets into a tree in the solution or project navigator.

gpStartModule("rhi/d3d12")
  gpSetFolder("Engine/RHI")
  gpAddDependency(PUBLIC rhi/base)
gpEndModule()

The path uses / as a separator and creates nested folders automatically:

Engine/
  RHI/
    gp-rhi-d3d12    <- appears here in Visual Studio
    gp-rhi-base
  Runtime/
    gp-core

If gpSetFolder() is not called, the target appears at the root of the solution tree.

tip

Group thirdparty and build-tool targets under a _Build or External folder to keep them out of the way when navigating source targets. This is a common convention that makes large solution files much easier to work in.

Adding CMake aliases​

gpAddAlias(aliasName)

Creates an additional CMake alias for the current target. GPBT always creates a default alias following the gp::<name> pattern. Use gpAddAlias() when you need an extra alias for a find_package() consumer or a specific naming convention.

gpStartModule("math/linear-algebra")
  gpAddAlias("gp::math")         # short alias for common use
  gpAddAlias("MyEngine::Math")   # consumer-facing alias for downstream projects
gpEndModule()

All aliases point to the same underlying CMake target, so there's no overhead to having multiple.