Building    {#flatbuffers_guide_building}
========

## Building with CMake

The distribution comes with a `cmake` file that should allow
you to build project/make files for any platform. For details on `cmake`, see
<https://www.cmake.org>. In brief, depending on your platform, use one of
e.g.:

    cmake -G "Unix Makefiles" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
    cmake -G "Visual Studio 10" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
    cmake -G "Xcode" -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release

Then, build as normal for your platform. This should result in a `flatc`
executable, essential for the next steps.
Note that to use clang instead of gcc, you may need to set up your environment
variables, e.g.
`CC=/usr/bin/clang CXX=/usr/bin/clang++ cmake -G "Unix Makefiles"`.

Optionally, run the `flattests` executable from the root `flatbuffers/`
directory to ensure everything is working correctly on your system. If this
fails, please contact us!

Building should also produce two sample executables, `flatsamplebinary` and
`flatsampletext`, see the corresponding `.cpp` files in the
`flatbuffers/samples` directory.

*Note that you MUST be in the root of the FlatBuffers distribution when you
run 'flattests' or `flatsampletext`, or it will fail to load its files.*

## Building for Android

There is a `flatbuffers/android` directory that contains all you need to build
the test executable on android (use the included `build_apk.sh` script, or use
`ndk_build` / `adb` etc. as usual). Upon running, it will output to the log
if tests succeeded or not.

You may also run an android sample from inside the `flatbuffers/samples`, by
running the `android_sample.sh` script. Optionally, you may go to the
`flatbuffers/samples/android` folder and build the sample with the
`build_apk.sh` script or `ndk_build` / `adb` etc.

## Using FlatBuffers in your own projects

For C++, there is usually no runtime to compile, as the code consists of a
single header, `include/flatbuffers/flatbuffers.h`. You should add the
`include` folder to your include paths. If you wish to be
able to load schemas and/or parse text into binary buffers at runtime,
you additionally need the other headers in `include/flatbuffers`. You must
also compile/link `src/idl_parser.cpp` (and `src/idl_gen_text.cpp` if you
also want to be able convert binary to text).

To see how to include FlatBuffers in any of our supported languages, please
view the [Tutorial](@ref flatbuffers_guide_tutorial) and select your appropriate
language using the radio buttons.

### Using in CMake-based projects
If you want to use FlatBuffers in a project which already uses CMake, then a more
robust and flexible approach is to build FlatBuffers as part of that project directly.
This is done by making the FlatBuffers source code available to the main build
and adding it using CMake's `add_subdirectory()` command. This has the
significant advantage that the same compiler and linker settings are used
between FlatBuffers and the rest of your project, so issues associated with using
incompatible libraries (eg debug/release), etc. are avoided. This is
particularly useful on Windows.

Suppose you put FlatBuffers source code in directory `${FLATBUFFERS_SRC_DIR}`.
To build it as part of your project, add following code to your `CMakeLists.txt` file:
```cmake
# Add FlatBuffers directly to our build. This defines the `flatbuffers` target.
add_subdirectory(${FLATBUFFERS_SRC_DIR}
                 ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/flatbuffers-build
                 EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL)

# Now simply link against flatbuffers as needed to your already declared target.
# The flatbuffers target carry header search path automatically if CMake > 2.8.11.
target_link_libraries(own_project_target PRIVATE flatbuffers)
```
When build your project the `flatbuffers` library will be compiled and linked 
to a target as part of your project.

#### Override default depth limit of nested objects
To override [the depth limit of recursion](@ref flatbuffers_guide_use_cpp), 
add this directive:
```cmake
set(FLATBUFFERS_MAX_PARSING_DEPTH 16)
```
to `CMakeLists.txt` file before `add_subdirectory(${FLATBUFFERS_SRC_DIR})` line.

#### For Google Play apps

For applications on Google Play that integrate this library, usage is tracked.
This tracking is done automatically using the embedded version string
(flatbuffer_version_string), and helps us continue to optimize it.
Aside from consuming a few extra bytes in your application binary, it shouldn't
affect your application at all. We use this information to let us know if
FlatBuffers is useful and if we should continue to invest in it. Since this is
open source, you are free to remove the version string but we would appreciate
if you would leave it in.