cmake-options-configuration.md

CMake Options Visibility Configuration

Starting in CMake Tools 1.16, we will provide users the ability to customize their status bar with related CMake items like presets, kits, variants, build, configure, and launch to allow for users to de-clutter this global status bar as much as they would like to, while also having quick access to commonly performed CMake actions. By default, only Build, Debug, and Run will persist in the status bar. All of the CMake actions for configuring your project will now be available in the CMake Tools side bar under Project Status View.

Users can specify what is shown in the status bar through their settings.json file.

The default settings will be set to the following:

Default Settings Json

"cmake.options.statusBarVisibility": "hidden"
"cmake.options.advanced": {
    "build": {
        "statusBarVisibility": "inherit"
    },
    "launch": {
        "statusBarVisibility": "inherit"
    },
    "debug": {
        "statusBarVisibility": "inherit"
    }
}

These settings mean that by default all settings will be hidden from the status bar, except for Build, Launch, and Debug actions.

To revert to the prior experience and have all of your presets display in the status bar, set your Cmake > Options: Status Bar Visibility setting to visible. This setting is overwritten by Cmake > Options: Advanced, so if you had added to have some options hidden through this, these options will still remain hidden.

Configuring your CMake Status Bar and Project Status View

You can configure settings for each of the following CMake actions in your settings.json to either be visible or hidden in the status bar through the statusBarVisibility variable. Settings that are available to be hidden from the project status view side bar can be configured to be visible or hidden through the projectStatusVisibility variable.

To make options visible in the status bar take up less space, you can configure certain options to be only the respective icon through the icon option in statusBarVisibility, inherit the more general Cmake > Options : Status Bar Visibility setting or the inheritDefault setting through the inherit option in statusBarVisibility, or specify a given character length through the compact option in statusBarVisibility.

If a statusBarVisibility option is set to inherit, it will inherit the more general Cmake > Options : Status Bar Visibility setting if it is not set to hidden. If the more general Cmake > Options : Status Bar Visibility setting is set to hidden, then the inherit option will default to what is set in the inheritDefault setting. The default option for inheritDefault is visible.

If a statusBarVisibility option is set to compact you can then specify an integer length for how many characters you want an option to take up through the statusBarLength option. It will truncate your existing status bar option to that specified character length. The default option for statusBarLength is 20 characters. Note, if the statusBarVisibility option is set specifically for variant, compact will remove the status message completely instead of truncating (there is no corresponding statusBarLength setting).

You can also configure options to be visible or hidden in the Project Status View in the CMake Tools sidebar. The options that allow for this customization are: *folder *configure *build *ctest *debug *launch Note: if you set one of these to hidden, the parent node and it's children will entirely be hidden. For example, if you set build to hidden in projectStatusVisibility, the option to select your build preset will also be hidden

The full level of options for the CMake status can be seen below:

CMake Status Bar and Project Status View Configuration Options in your Settings Json

"cmake.options.statusBarVisibility": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden" 
"cmake.options.advanced": { 

        "folder": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "statusBarLength": 20,
            "projectStatusVisibility": "visible", "hidden" 
        }, 
        "configure": { 
            "projectStatusVisibility": "visible", "hidden" 
        }, 
        "configurePreset": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "statusBarLength": 20
        }, 
        "kit": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "statusBarLength": 20 
        }, 
        "variant": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
        }, 
        "build": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "icon", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "hidden", 
            "projectStatusVisibility": "visible", "hidden" 
        }, 
        "buildPreset": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "statusBarLength": 20 
        }, 
        "buildTarget": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "compact", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "compact", "hidden", 
            "statusBarLength": 20 
        }, 
        "ctest": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "statusBarLength": 20, 
            "color": true, false, 
            "projectStatusVisibility": "visible", "hidden" 
        }, 
        "testPreset": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "statusBarLength": 20
        },
        "launchTarget": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "compact", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "statusBarLength": 20 
        }, 
        "debug": { 
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "projectStatusVisibility": "visible", "hidden" 
        },
        "launch": {
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "projectStatusVisibility": "visible", "hidden" 
        },
        "workflow": {
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "projectStatusVisibility": "visible", "hidden" 
        },
        "workflowPreset": {
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "projectStatusVisibility": "visible", "hidden" 
        },
        "packagePreset": {
            "statusBarVisibility": "visible", "hidden", "inherit", 
            "inheritDefault": "visible", "icon", "compact", "hidden", 
            "projectStatusVisibility": "visible", "hidden" 
        }
}

• folder is the active folder in your workspace. This is where the project is scoped to.
• configure is associated with the CMake Configure action. It can only be found in the Project Status View and can't be seen in the status bar, hence no statusBarVisibility property value.
• configurePreset is associated with the CMake Configure Preset. When selected, the user can modify their active CMake Configure Preset from the list detected in their CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json (if found in project).
• kit is associated with the active kit selected (when CMake Presets aren't present). When selected, the user can modify their active kit. To learn more about kits, please see our kit documentation.
• variant is associated with the active variant (when CMake Presets aren't present). When selected, the user can modify their active variant. Variant status does not show on the Project Status View, but will show in the status bar when set to visible. To learn more about variants, please see our variant documentation.
• build is associated with the CMake Build action. It invokes a CMake build on your build target using your build preset or variant.
• buildPreset is associated with your active CMake Build Preset. When selected, the user can modify their active CMake Build Preset from the list detected in their CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json (if found in project).
• buildTarget is associated with your active CMake Build Target. When selected, the user can specify their active Build Target. This will be the target invoked when the user presses the Build icon in the status bar (if not hidden) or runs CMake: Build Target from the Command Palette.
• ctest is associated with running CTest. When selected, it will invoke CTest on the test preset specified. If there is no test preset specified, it will run all your tests by default.
• testPreset is associated with selecting your active CMake Test Preset. When selected, the user can modify their active CMake Test Preset from the list detected in their CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json (if found in project).
• launchTarget is associated with selecting your active launch target. When selected, you can specify the active launch target.
• debug is associated with the CMake Debug action. It invokes a debugger on the active launch target.
• launch is associated with launching the target. It will run the specified target application in the terminal.
• workflow is associated with CMake Run Workflow action. It will run the specified CMake workflow based on the workflow preset.
• workflowPreset is associated with your active CMake Workflow Preset. When selected, the user can modify their active CMake Workflow Preset from the list detected in their CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json (if found in project).
• packagePreset is associated with your active CMake Package Preset. When selected, the user can modify their active CMake Workflow Preset from the list detected in their CMakePresets.json and CMakeUserPresets.json (if found in project).

To reset your CMake options back to the default, hover over your Cmake > Options: Status Bar Visibility and Cmake > Options: Advanced settings and select the gear icons that appear for more options. From there, select Reset Setting on both options.