How to determine architecture in CMake using Ninja in CLion

Question

I have a simple CMake project which uses CMakePresets.json to set up common settings and Ninja as its underlying build system to compile a C++ program. The problem that I'm facing right now is in CLion where it always picks x86 architecture by default instead of x64. If I explicitly tell Ninja to use x64 it will throw the following error:

CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:3 (project):
  Generator
    Ninja
  does not support platform specification, but platform
    x64
  was specified. 

I know that I should run vcvarsall.bat in x64 mode to define proper environment variables but I couldn't find a way to do it automatically in CLion. So calling vcvarsall.bat isn't pleasant since I should manually run vcvarsall.bat. Is there any way to automate this process inside CMake?

This is my CMakePresets.json if anyone curious to know:

{
    "version": 3,
    "configurePresets": [
        {
            "name": "windows-base",
            "description": "Target Windows with the Visual Studio development environment.",
            "hidden": true,
            "generator": "Ninja",
            "binaryDir": "${sourceDir}/Build/${presetName}",
            "installDir": "${sourceDir}/Install/${presetName}",
            "architecture": {
                "value": "x64",
                "strategy": "external"
            },
            "toolset": {
                "value": "host=x64",
                "strategy": "external"
            },
            "cacheVariables": {
                "CMAKE_C_COMPILER": "cl.exe",
                "CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER": "cl.exe"
            }
        },
        {
            "name": "x64-debug",
            "displayName": "Debug",
            "description": "Target Windows (64-bit) with the Visual Studio development environment. (Debug)",
            "inherits": "windows-base",
            "cacheVariables": { "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Debug" }
        },
        {
            "name": "x64-release",
            "displayName": "Release",
            "description": "Target Windows (64-bit) with the Visual Studio development environment. (Release)",
            "inherits": "windows-base",
            "cacheVariables": { "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "Release" }
        },
        {
            "name": "x64-release_with_debug_information",
            "displayName": "Release with Debug Information",
            "description": "Target Windows (64-bit) with the Visual Studio development environment. (RelWithDebInfo)",
            "inherits": "windows-base",
            "cacheVariables": { "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE": "RelWithDebInfo" }
        }
    ],
    "buildPresets": [
        {
            "name": "Debug Preset",
            "configurePreset": "x64-debug"
        },
        {
            "name": "Release Preset",
            "configurePreset": "x64-release"
        },
        {
            "name": "Release with Debug Information Preset",
            "configurePreset": "x64-release_with_debug_information"
        }
    ]
}

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

You need to tell CLion, which toolchain you want to use.