CMake - "lib" prefix bug in implibs of MSVC

[jppgmx]

Introduction

Recently, I reported an issue in the Boost.Thread module where the msvc linker intended to link a file that doesn't even exist. The file was:

libboost_thread-vc143-mt-gd-x64-1_78.lib

It has also been reported, in the same issue, that the prefix lib* is used for mingw, even though I don't have any mingw installation and only have Visual Studio and msvc.

Solution of Bug

The solution was to add Boost::disable_autolinking in target_link_libraries:

target_link_libraries(ProjName PUBLIC Boost::thread Boost::disable_autolinking)

This solved the problem, but it wasn't supposed to have the lib* prefix when using CMake with msvc, it was to have linked correctly without having to specify Boost::disable_autolinking.

The most likely cause would be a bug of this module that, when treating the prefix of the library on the Windows platform with msvc, ended up accidentally placing this prefix, being that it was supposed to be in mingw.

Extra Information

• OS: Windows 11;
• Arch: x64;
• I'm using Visual Studio 2022;
  • With Windows 10 SDK;
  • With CMake 3.25.1-msvc1
  • With MSVC toolset v143;
• Boost 1.79 downloaded from SourceForge;
• The files of Boost are located in C:\boost_1_79_0.

The following instructions are used:

if(PROJECT_DEBUG)
    set(Boost_DEBUG             ON  )
    set(Boost_USE_DEBUG_LIBS    ON  )
    set(Boost_USE_RELEASE_LIBS  OFF )
    set(Boost_USE_DEBUG_RUNTIME ON  )
else()
    set(Boost_USE_RELEASE_LIBS  ON  )
    set(Boost_USE_DEBUG_LIBS    OFF )
    set(Boost_USE_DEBUG_RUNTIME OFF )
endif()

set(Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED  ON  )
set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS    OFF )
set(Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF )

find_package(Boost 1.79.0 REQUIRED COMPONENTS thread system)

Logs

Configuration log:

1> [CMake] -- Selecting Windows SDK version 10.0.20348.0 to target Windows 10.0.22621.
1> [CMake] -- The CXX compiler identification is MSVC 19.35.32215.0
1> [CMake] -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info
1> [CMake] -- Detecting CXX compiler ABI info - done
1> [CMake] -- Check for working CXX compiler: C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/VC/Tools/MSVC/14.35.32215/bin/Hostx64/x64/cl.exe - skipped
1> [CMake] -- Detecting CXX compile features
1> [CMake] -- Detecting CXX compile features - done
1> [CMake] -- Found JNI: C:/Program Files/Eclipse Adoptium/jdk-17.0.6.10-hotspot/include (Required is at least version "17") found components: AWT JVM 
1> [CMake] -- Found Python: C:/Program Files/WindowsApps/PythonSoftwareFoundation.Python.3.10_3.10.2800.0_x64__qbz5n2kfra8p0/python3.10.exe (found suitable version "3.10.10", minimum required is "3.8") found components: Interpreter 
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1689 ] _boost_TEST_VERSIONS = "1.80.0;1.80;1.79.0;1.79"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1690 ] Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED = "ON"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1691 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS = "OFF"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1692 ] Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME = "OFF"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1693 ] Boost_ADDITIONAL_VERSIONS = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1694 ] Boost_NO_SYSTEM_PATHS = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1726 ] BOOST_ROOT = "C:\boost_1_79_0"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1727 ] ENV{BOOST_ROOT} = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1728 ] BOOST_INCLUDEDIR = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1729 ] ENV{BOOST_INCLUDEDIR} = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1730 ] BOOST_LIBRARYDIR = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1731 ] ENV{BOOST_LIBRARYDIR} = <unset>
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1803 ] _boost_INCLUDE_SEARCH_DIRS = "C:\boost_1_79_0/include;C:\boost_1_79_0;PATHS;C:/local/boost_1_80_0;PATHS;C:/local/boost_1_80;PATHS;C:/local/boost_1_79_0;PATHS;C:/local/boost_1_79;PATHS;C:/boost/include;C:/boost;/sw/local/include"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1804 ] _boost_PATH_SUFFIXES = "boost-1_80_0;boost_1_80_0;boost/boost-1_80_0;boost/boost_1_80_0;boost-1_80;boost_1_80;boost/boost-1_80;boost/boost_1_80;boost-1_79_0;boost_1_79_0;boost/boost-1_79_0;boost/boost_1_79_0;boost-1_79;boost_1_79;boost/boost-1_79;boost/boost_1_79"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1819 ] location of version.hpp: C:/boost_1_79_0/boost/version.hpp
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1859 ] Boost_VERSION = "107900"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1860 ] Boost_VERSION_STRING = "1.79.0"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1861 ] Boost_VERSION_MACRO = "107900"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1862 ] Boost_VERSION_MAJOR = "1"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1863 ] Boost_VERSION_MINOR = "79"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1864 ] Boost_VERSION_PATCH = "0"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1865 ] Boost_VERSION_COUNT = "3"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1889 ] Boost_LIB_PREFIX = ""
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1890 ] Boost_NAMESPACE = "boost"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:953 ] _boost_COMPILER = "-vc143;-vc142;-vc141;-vc140" (guessed)
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:1926 ] _boost_MULTITHREADED = "-mt"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2004 ] _boost_ARCHITECTURE_TAG = "-x64" (detected)
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2008 ] _boost_RELEASE_ABI_TAG = "-"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2009 ] _boost_DEBUG_ABI_TAG = "-gd"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2069 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_RELEASE = "C:\boost_1_79_0/lib;C:\boost_1_79_0/stage/lib;C:\boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:\boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:\boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:\boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib;C:/boost_1_79_0/stage/lib;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_80_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/local/boost_1_80_0/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/local/boost_1_80_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_80_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_80/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/local/boost_1_80/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/local/boost_1_80/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_80/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/local/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/local/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_79/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/local/boost_1_79/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/local/boost_1_79/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_79/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.0;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2070 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_DEBUG = "C:\boost_1_79_0/lib;C:\boost_1_79_0/stage/lib;C:\boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:\boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:\boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:\boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib;C:/boost_1_79_0/stage/lib;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/boost_1_79_0/../lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_80_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/local/boost_1_80_0/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/local/boost_1_80_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_80_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_80/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/local/boost_1_80/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/local/boost_1_80/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_80/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/local/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/local/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/local/boost_1_79/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/local/boost_1_79/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/local/boost_1_79/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/local/boost_1_79/lib64-msvc-14.0;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.3;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.2;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.1;C:/boost/lib64-msvc-14.0;PATHS;C:/boost/lib;C:/boost;/sw/local/lib"
1> [CMake] -- Performing Test CMAKE_HAVE_LIBC_PTHREAD
1> [CMake] -- Performing Test CMAKE_HAVE_LIBC_PTHREAD - Failed
1> [CMake] -- Looking for pthread_create in pthreads
1> [CMake] -- Looking for pthread_create in pthreads - not found
1> [CMake] -- Looking for pthread_create in pthread
1> [CMake] -- Looking for pthread_create in pthread - not found
1> [CMake] -- Found Threads: TRUE  
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2255 ] Searching for THREAD_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_thread-vc143-mt-x64-1_79;boost_thread-vc143-mt-x64;boost_thread-vc143-mt;boost_thread-vc142-mt-x64-1_79;boost_thread-vc142-mt-x64;boost_thread-vc142-mt;boost_thread-vc141-mt-x64-1_79;boost_thread-vc141-mt-x64;boost_thread-vc141-mt;boost_thread-vc140-mt-x64-1_79;boost_thread-vc140-mt-x64;boost_thread-vc140-mt;boost_thread-mt-x64-1_79;boost_thread-mt-x64;boost_thread-mt;boost_thread-mt;boost_thread
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2310 ] Searching for THREAD_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_thread-vc143-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_thread-vc143-mt-gd-x64;boost_thread-vc143-mt-gd;boost_thread-vc142-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_thread-vc142-mt-gd-x64;boost_thread-vc142-mt-gd;boost_thread-vc141-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_thread-vc141-mt-gd-x64;boost_thread-vc141-mt-gd;boost_thread-vc140-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_thread-vc140-mt-gd-x64;boost_thread-vc140-mt-gd;boost_thread-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_thread-mt-gd-x64;boost_thread-mt-gd;boost_thread-mt;boost_thread
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:807 ] Boost_LIBRARY_DIR_DEBUG = "C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:809 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_DEBUG = "C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;NO_DEFAULT_PATH;NO_CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2255 ] Searching for SYSTEM_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_system-vc143-mt-x64-1_79;boost_system-vc143-mt-x64;boost_system-vc143-mt;boost_system-vc142-mt-x64-1_79;boost_system-vc142-mt-x64;boost_system-vc142-mt;boost_system-vc141-mt-x64-1_79;boost_system-vc141-mt-x64;boost_system-vc141-mt;boost_system-vc140-mt-x64-1_79;boost_system-vc140-mt-x64;boost_system-vc140-mt;boost_system-mt-x64-1_79;boost_system-mt-x64;boost_system-mt;boost_system-mt;boost_system
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2310 ] Searching for SYSTEM_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_system-vc143-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_system-vc143-mt-gd-x64;boost_system-vc143-mt-gd;boost_system-vc142-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_system-vc142-mt-gd-x64;boost_system-vc142-mt-gd;boost_system-vc141-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_system-vc141-mt-gd-x64;boost_system-vc141-mt-gd;boost_system-vc140-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_system-vc140-mt-gd-x64;boost_system-vc140-mt-gd;boost_system-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_system-mt-gd-x64;boost_system-mt-gd;boost_system-mt;boost_system
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:807 ] Boost_LIBRARY_DIR_DEBUG = "C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:809 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_DEBUG = "C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;NO_DEFAULT_PATH;NO_CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2255 ] Searching for CHRONO_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_chrono-vc143-mt-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-vc143-mt-x64;boost_chrono-vc143-mt;boost_chrono-vc142-mt-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-vc142-mt-x64;boost_chrono-vc142-mt;boost_chrono-vc141-mt-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-vc141-mt-x64;boost_chrono-vc141-mt;boost_chrono-vc140-mt-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-vc140-mt-x64;boost_chrono-vc140-mt;boost_chrono-mt-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-mt-x64;boost_chrono-mt;boost_chrono-mt;boost_chrono
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2310 ] Searching for CHRONO_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_chrono-vc143-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-vc143-mt-gd-x64;boost_chrono-vc143-mt-gd;boost_chrono-vc142-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-vc142-mt-gd-x64;boost_chrono-vc142-mt-gd;boost_chrono-vc141-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-vc141-mt-gd-x64;boost_chrono-vc141-mt-gd;boost_chrono-vc140-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-vc140-mt-gd-x64;boost_chrono-vc140-mt-gd;boost_chrono-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_chrono-mt-gd-x64;boost_chrono-mt-gd;boost_chrono-mt;boost_chrono
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:807 ] Boost_LIBRARY_DIR_DEBUG = "C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:809 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_DEBUG = "C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;NO_DEFAULT_PATH;NO_CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2255 ] Searching for ATOMIC_LIBRARY_RELEASE: boost_atomic-vc143-mt-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-vc143-mt-x64;boost_atomic-vc143-mt;boost_atomic-vc142-mt-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-vc142-mt-x64;boost_atomic-vc142-mt;boost_atomic-vc141-mt-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-vc141-mt-x64;boost_atomic-vc141-mt;boost_atomic-vc140-mt-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-vc140-mt-x64;boost_atomic-vc140-mt;boost_atomic-mt-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-mt-x64;boost_atomic-mt;boost_atomic-mt;boost_atomic
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:2310 ] Searching for ATOMIC_LIBRARY_DEBUG: boost_atomic-vc143-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-vc143-mt-gd-x64;boost_atomic-vc143-mt-gd;boost_atomic-vc142-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-vc142-mt-gd-x64;boost_atomic-vc142-mt-gd;boost_atomic-vc141-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-vc141-mt-gd-x64;boost_atomic-vc141-mt-gd;boost_atomic-vc140-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-vc140-mt-gd-x64;boost_atomic-vc140-mt-gd;boost_atomic-mt-gd-x64-1_79;boost_atomic-mt-gd-x64;boost_atomic-mt-gd;boost_atomic-mt;boost_atomic
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:807 ] Boost_LIBRARY_DIR_DEBUG = "C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3"
1> [CMake] -- [ C:/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio/2022/Community/Common7/IDE/CommonExtensions/Microsoft/CMake/CMake/share/cmake-3.25/Modules/FindBoost.cmake:809 ] _boost_LIBRARY_SEARCH_DIRS_DEBUG = "C:/boost_1_79_0/lib64-msvc-14.3;NO_DEFAULT_PATH;NO_CMAKE_FIND_ROOT_PATH"
1> [CMake] -- Found Boost: C:/boost_1_79_0 (found suitable version "1.79.0", minimum required is "1.79.0") found components: thread system chrono atomic
1> [CMake] -- Configuring done
1> [CMake] -- Generating done
1> [CMake] -- Build files have been written to: C:/Users/...../out/build/x64-Debug

Build log:

MSBuild version 17.5.0+6f08c67f3 for .NET Framework
  
    Checking Build System
    Building Custom Rule C:/Users/...../CMakeLists.txt
    JsdnInterface.cpp
    JsdnMethods.cpp
    JsdnFxrStart.cpp
    JsdnActivator.cpp
    JsdnDispatch.cpp
    JsdnArgArray.cpp
    JsdnConcurrent.cpp <--- The file that uses Boost
    Generating code...
C:\Users\....\out\build\x64-Debug\LINK : fatal error LNK1104: cannot open file 'libboost_thread-vc143-mt-gd-x64-1_79.lib'

Steps to reproduce

1. Create an empty CMake project with Visual Studio 2022 generator;
2. Download the binaries from SourceForge and set BOOST_ROOT;
3. Add those options listed above;
4. Add find_package (as above), include_directories (${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS}), target_link_libraries (Boost::thread);
5. Wait compile and possibly give the error.

(I tried to be as brief as possible.)

[Kojoley]

Could you please check that CMake adds -DBOOST_DYN_LINK? I couldn't find BOOST_DYN_LINK anywhere in CMake, which means it is a CMake bug. From my understanding it should've add it when you do set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS OFF).

[jppgmx]

I did the test adding:

#ifndef BOOST_DYN_LINK
    #error "Preprocessor not defined"
#endif

Regardless of whether you add Boost::disable_autolinking or not, the macro is not defined.

[Kojoley]

Meh, you would not be able to test BOOST_DYN_LINK from the user code, it is being undefined here

config/include/boost/config/auto_link.hpp

Lines 520 to 522 in a1cf5d5

	#if defined(BOOST_DYN_LINK)
	# undef BOOST_DYN_LINK
	#endif

BOOST_DYN_LINK seems to be an 'internal' macro that a library which uses auto_link.hpp configures, the user controlled macros are: BOOST_ALL_DYN_LINK and BOOST_<WHATEVER>_DYN_LINK (BOOST_THREAD_DYN_LINK in your case). It means that set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS OFF) should either make CMake add BOOST_ALL_DYN_LINK on everything or target_link_libraries(ProjName PUBLIC Boost::thread) should add BOOST_THREAD_DYN_LINK.

There are related tickets on CMake bug tracker:
https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/-/issues/16484
https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/-/issues/17241
https://gitlab.kitware.com/cmake/cmake/-/issues/16699

[jzmaddock]

I'm closing this since it's an old issue and yes, the "lib" prefix on filenames is correct and intentional for linking to static .lib builds rather than dll builds.