CMake .. produces output in parent directory

Question

I'm trying to build BoringSSL by Google. The BUILDING file instructions clearly indicate that the output should go under the build directory.

I have a directory project, and under it I've created build. There is a CMakeLists.txt file under project, and I would like it to build inside the build directory. However, when I run cmake .. from inside build, the makefile is produced in the project directory instead of the current build directory.

Most instructions I found seem to indicate that the output of cmake goes into the current directory, regardless of where CMakeLists.txt is located. What am I doing incorrectly?

Answer 1

I made the following files/directory:

.
`-- project
    |-- build
    `-- CMakeLists.txt

With CMakeLists.txt content:

PROJECT(TEST)
CMAKE_MINIMUM_REQUIRED(VERSION 2.8)

Then I went into the ./project/build folder and ran cmake ..

[~/project/build] cmake ..
-- The C compiler identification is Intel 13.1.0.20130313
-- The CXX compiler identification is Intel 13.1.0.20130313
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/local/bin/icc
-- Check for working C compiler: /usr/local/bin/icc -- works
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info
-- Detecting C compiler ABI info - done
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/local/bin/icpc
-- Check for working CXX compiler: /usr/local/bin/icpc -- works
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
-- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
-- Configuring done
-- Generating done
-- Build files have been written to: ~/project/build

And all the generated files were in the ./project/build folder.

Try opening up your CMakeCache.txt file (it should be generated in the directory you ran CMake from) and check out variables like TEST_BINARY_DIR and CMAKE_CACHEFILE_DIR. They should set to your build directory for example.

Answer 2

Turns out that since I ran cmake in the top level project directory, running it again from inside build didn't produce a new output. Removing CMakeCache.txt from project should solve the problem.