I have tried setting the debug flags using the

set
command in cmake but I cam unsure what to add. I have been told things like DEBUG=true but so far i am unable to find the correct flag to set.

c++cmake
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edited Apr 3, 2015 at 15:20
asked Apr 4, 2012 at 6:30
Fantastic Mr Fox's user avatar
Fantastic Mr Fox
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If you want to build for debug (including source information, i.e. -g) when compiling, use

cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
If you want to build a release build, you can use

cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RelWithDebInfo
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answered Apr 4, 2012 at 6:37
Fredrik Jansson's user avatar
Fredrik Jansson
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This isn't working for me. When I try to run gdb, my backtraces consist entirely of memory addresses and question marks with no function names or anything. –
Translunar
Jun 5, 2014 at 21:04
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set the path in the gdb if its not set to the source file directory by using below gdb> directory "directory path" –
ravi.zombie
Aug 13, 2014 at 2:02
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you can use set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS "-g") in CMakeLists.txt –
Chintan Patel
May 15, 2018 at 5:57
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Alternatively you can use the CMAKE GUI to make this change. Doing ccmake with the project will yield a screen similar to this:

enter image description here

Entering Debug in the CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE field will allow you to build with debug flags.

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edited Jun 20, 2020 at 9:12
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CommunityBot
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answered Dec 27, 2018 at 7:18
Fantastic Mr Fox's user avatar
Fantastic Mr Fox
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For a person new to using CMake, ccmake is an excellent solution. I'd suggest that RelWithDebInfo might be more helpful than Debug for the CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE. It would also be good to mention that they should hit g to generate after editing. If you wanted to go the extra mile, you could include all the keystrokes (/ to start searching type to find BUILD_TYPE, Enter to start editing the field...) –
hackerb9
Sep 13, 2021 at 2:01