list — CMake 3.8.1 Documentation

# list

List operations.

    list(LENGTH <list> <output variable>)
    list(GET <list> <element index> [<element index> ...]
         <output variable>)
    list(APPEND <list> [<element> ...])
    list(FILTER <list> <INCLUDE|EXCLUDE> REGEX <regular_expression>)
    list(FIND <list> <value> <output variable>)
    list(INSERT <list> <element_index> <element> [<element> ...])
    list(REMOVE_ITEM <list> <value> [<value> ...])
    list(REMOVE_AT <list> <index> [<index> ...])
    list(REMOVE_DUPLICATES <list>)
    list(REVERSE <list>)
    list(SORT <list>)

`LENGTH` will return a given list’s length.

`GET` will return list of elements specified by indices from the list.

`APPEND` will append elements to the list.

`FILTER` will include or remove items from the list that match the mode’s pattern. In `REGEX` mode, items will be matched against the given regular expression. For more information on regular expressions see also the `string()` command.

`FIND` will return the index of the element specified in the list or -1 if it wasn’t found.

`INSERT` will insert elements to the list to the specified location.

`REMOVE_AT` and `REMOVE_ITEM` will remove items from the list. The difference is that `REMOVE_ITEM` will remove the given items, while `REMOVE_AT` will remove the items at the given indices.

`REMOVE_DUPLICATES` will remove duplicated items in the list.

`REVERSE` reverses the contents of the list in-place.

`SORT` sorts the list in-place alphabetically.

The list subcommands `APPEND`, `INSERT`, `FILTER`, `REMOVE_AT`, `REMOVE_ITEM`, `REMOVE_DUPLICATES`, `REVERSE` and `SORT` may create new values for the list within the current CMake variable scope. Similar to the `set()` command, the LIST command creates new variable values in the current scope, even if the list itself is actually defined in a parent scope. To propagate the results of these operations upwards, use `set()` with `PARENT_SCOPE`, `set()` with `CACHE INTERNAL`, or some other means of value propagation.

NOTES: A list in cmake is a `;` separated group of strings. To create a list the set command can be used. For example, `set(var a b c d e)` creates a list with `a;b;c;d;e`, and `set(var "a b c d e")` creates a string or a list with one item in it. (Note macro arguments are not variables, and therefore cannot be used in LIST commands.)

When specifying index values, if `<element index>` is 0 or greater, it is indexed from the beginning of the list, with 0 representing the first list element. If `<element index>` is -1 or lesser, it is indexed from the end of the list, with -1 representing the last list element. Be careful when counting with negative indices: they do not start from 0. -0 is equivalent to 0, the first list element.