Integrate the Parser as Submodule

The recommended way to include the Erbsland Configuration Parser in your project is by adding it as a Git submodule. This approach is especially suitable for new projects, as it allows you to lock the parser to a specific version. You can then manually update and test new versions when needed, maintaining better control over dependencies.

We also strongly recommend integrating the parser as a static library, rather than using dynamic linking. This avoids compatibility issues and simplifies distribution and deployment.

Project Structure

A typical project layout using the parser as a submodule might look like this:

<project root>                       # Your project root directory
    ├── erbsland-cpp-configuration   # The Erbsland Configuration Parser as a Git submodule
    │   └── (...)
    ├── <project>                    # Your application source directory
    │   ├── src                      # Application source files
    │   │   └── (...)
    │   └── CMakeLists.txt           # CMake build file for your app
    ├── (...)
    └── CMakeLists.txt               # Top-level CMake configuration file

The CMake Configuration

Below is a minimal example of how to configure your project using CMake:

<project>/CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.25)
project(ExampleProject)

add_subdirectory(erbsland-cpp-configuration)
add_subdirectory(example)

<project>/example/CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.25)
project(Example)

add_executable(example
    src/main.cpp
)

target_compile_features(example PRIVATE cxx_std_20)
target_link_libraries(example PRIVATE erbsland-configuration-parser)

How to Compile

To build your project with this setup, run the following commands from your project root:

$ mkdir cmake-build
$ cmake . -B cmake-build
...
-- Build files have been written to: ~/example/cmake-build

$ cmake --build cmake-build
[  1%] Building CXX object TokenDecoder.cpp.o
[  3%] Building CXX object Core.cpp.o
...
[100%] Linking CXX executable example
[100%] Built target example