Is this what I'm supposed to do on the CMake part of "Development Environment" page of Vulkan docs? | Vulkan API Discord | Page 1

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 10:30 AM

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So I have this file structure. It's the workspace I was told to clone in the documentation, then I created my project's folder called "Result3D", inside I created a CMake folder and inside I moved the FindVulkan.cmake file from attachments/CMake/. Then, I created a CMakeLists.txt file inside my project folder, and pasted this code inside:

find_package (Vulkan REQUIRED)

# set up Vulkan C++ module (enabled when ENABLE_CPP20_MODULE=ON)
add_library(VulkanCppModule)
add_library(Vulkan::cppm ALIAS VulkanCppModule)

target_compile_definitions(VulkanCppModule PUBLIC
        VULKAN_HPP_DISPATCH_LOADER_DYNAMIC=1
        VULKAN_HPP_NO_STRUCT_CONSTRUCTORS=1
)

target_include_directories(VulkanCppModule PRIVATE "${Vulkan_INCLUDE_DIR}")

target_link_libraries(VulkanCppModule PUBLIC Vulkan::Vulkan)

set_target_properties(VulkanCppModule PROPERTIES CXX_STANDARD 20)

target_sources(VulkanCppModule
        PUBLIC
        FILE_SET cxx_modules TYPE CXX_MODULES
        BASE_DIRS "${Vulkan_INCLUDE_DIR}"
        FILES "${Vulkan_INCLUDE_DIR}/vulkan/vulkan.cppm"
)

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I'm asking this, because the CMake part in the docs are pretty much chinese for me as I never worked with CMake

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 10:54 AM

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the cmake part is copy pasta, anything else and you are on your own

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 10:56 AM

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lilac fractal the cmake part is copy pasta, anything else and you are on your own

maybe, but it still was pretty difficult to understand where and what things to copy paste

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so

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is this correct or?

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 10:59 AM

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neat zodiac maybe, but it still was pretty difficult to understand where and what things to ...

you copy the entire cmake file

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:02 AM

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lilac fractal you copy the entire cmake file

Oh wait you mean the only thing I had to do is copy this file here to my project folder??

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 11:05 AM

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if you want your own project structure then you delete everything after

function (add_shaders_target TARGET)

then you write your own target_sources and target_link_libraries

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:08 AM

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okay so this is what it should be

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as far as I understand

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:09 AM

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neat zodiac Oh wait you mean the only thing I had to do is copy this file here to my project...

the CMakeLists.txt contains the code from here

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I didn't create my own project directory I know I just don't wanna complicate anything for now

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 11:14 AM

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yeah easiest is to follow exactly then delete all the add_chapter function calls at the bottom except the one you are on

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it will then look for a file named ${CHAPTER_NAME}.cpp

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:16 AM

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lilac fractal yeah easiest is to follow exactly then delete all the add_chapter function calls...

wait but all these calls are chapters I wasn't there yet, I'm only at dev environment

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 11:17 AM

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cuz you are supposed to clone the repo, if you want a blank project then you need to delete them or it'll try to compile files that dont exist

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:18 AM

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okay so I'll just delete all chapter calls

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and the add_chapter function itself right?

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:19 AM

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lilac fractal cuz you are supposed to clone the repo, if you want a blank project then you nee...

I see. But is that the only thing I need for a blank project?

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Because I already struggle with setting this shi up and I'm afraid of creating even more complications yk

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 11:20 AM

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neat zodiac and the add_chapter function itself right?

well you can paste back the one you are doing later unless you want to write your own

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:21 AM

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oooh okay

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and now

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after I did this

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do I just move the CMakeLists to my project folder?

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and that's all? I run cmake -B build?

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 11:23 AM

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you have nothing to build

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:24 AM

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neat zodiac do I just move the CMakeLists to my project folder?

so I do just that?

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 11:25 AM

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i mean that's all you can do right now

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you can't build an empty project

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:26 AM

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ooooooh

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:26 AM

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lilac fractal you can't build an empty project

but I thought I have to build the cloned repo

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wait

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why do they even say to clone the repo

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and now just explain the creation of a blank project

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anyways

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thanks I can finally continue now

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 11:28 AM

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neat zodiac but I thought I have to build the cloned repo

you can do that, but you were asking if you could copy to your project folder and build that, which is a different question

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:28 AM

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okay I see

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 11:38 AM

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lilac fractal you can do that, but you were asking if you could copy to your project folder an...

but now I copied the code from a random chapter renamed it and they say to remove everything from main.cpp

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but where is that file?

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there's no main.cpp

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 12:08 PM

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then there's nothing to delete so ignore it

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 12:09 PM

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neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 12:09 PM

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lilac fractal then there's nothing to delete so ignore it

okay perfect

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but

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I have this error with glfw now..

lilac fractal Mar 2, 2026, 12:18 PM

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I'm going to consider that a separate issue and I'm not going to be here to walk you through the entire tutorial so I'm leaving it for somoene to chip in

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 12:19 PM

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okay I'll leave it in setup for someone, thanks for your help

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 4:34 PM

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Can you post the include paths of your project (from the IDEs project page)?

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 4:36 PM

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silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 4:37 PM

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Well, that seems to miss some stuff. glfw is not part of the SDK, hence why the include is not working. Where did you install GLFW3?

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 4:38 PM

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through vcpkg, I thought if I'm using a package manager I don't need to bother about include paths

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 4:39 PM

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That's correct. So GLFW3 is instlled via vcpkg?

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 4:39 PM

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yes

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 4:41 PM

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Can you check if there is a GLFW folder in "YOUR VCPKG DIRECTORY\installed\platform (e.g. -windows)}include"?

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And what IDE is this? VSCode? If so, did you setup the VCPKG variables like mentioned here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/vcpkg/get_started/get-started-vscode?pivots=shell-powershell#4---set-up-environment-variables

Install and use packages with CMake in Visual Studio Code

Tutorial guides the user through the process of installing and using packages with CMake and Visual Studio Code.

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 4:43 PM

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silent pier Can you check if there is a GLFW folder in "YOUR VCPKG DIRECTORY\installed\platf...

There's no "installed" folder but I think you meant packages, and yes there is glfw3

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 4:43 PM

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silent pier And what IDE is this? VSCode? If so, did you setup the VCPKG variables like ment...

I'll go through it okay

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 4:48 PM

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Btw. if you wanna go a different route, that doesn't require vcpkg, maybe take a look at my https://www.howtovulkan.com/ tutorial

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I tried to make it work out of the box if you have the Vulkan SDK installed

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 4:50 PM

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I'll stick up with this one

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don't wanna change routes

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so

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I did this

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all this point

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and now I add the packages to vcpkg config?

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Okay so here is my project structure and the vcpkg.json file

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 4:54 PM

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I don't think you need to re-add

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The env variable is there so VSCode can find your vcpkg packages.

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 4:55 PM

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oh yeah right, so basically it already takes the packages from vcpkg directory and I don't need them specified in the vcpkg.json file. Do I clear it then?

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and also what do I do next?

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 4:56 PM

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I don't think you need to clea them.

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With that setup, the glfw3 include should work

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 4:56 PM

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well, not really apparently

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and yes the vulkan_raii does this too

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for some reason only now

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 4:56 PM

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Did you restart VSCode?

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Might be required for it to pick up changes to env variables

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 4:57 PM

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that was extremely obvious Idk why I didn't do it

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I think it's different now

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before it just said that there's no such library

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I think

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:07 PM

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Env variables in VSCode can be tricky to set up, can you check if anything from here helps: https://code.visualstudio.com/remote/advancedcontainers/environment-variables

Environment variables

Use environment variables in containers

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If not, try reinstalling the glfw vcpkg package

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If none of that works, you can download glfw3 instead and have the include/library path point to that instead

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:40 PM

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silent pier Env variables in VSCode can be tricky to set up, can you check if anything from ...

wait I don't understand, what do I do with that

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I mean

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my problem right now, is VSCode not accessing libraries correctly right?

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:41 PM

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Yes, I did post the wrong link, sry.

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:41 PM

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oh that makes sense

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:41 PM

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Can you open a terminal in VSCode and output the value of the VCPKG_ROOT env variable?

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:42 PM

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wait, how?..

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what's the command

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:46 PM

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Get-Item Env:Vulkan_SDK

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If you're using Windows Terminal (not CMD)

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:47 PM

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Oh wait!!! It's pointing to another vcpkg but not the one I installed with all packages

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:48 PM

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Do you also have the non-Code Visual Studio installed?

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:48 PM

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yees

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:48 PM

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If so, that comes with it's own variant of vcpkg

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Then you're better off using that Visual Studio instead of Code. Makes things easier.

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With all the issues surrounding vcpkg we'll probably remove it from the tutorial

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I don't like it myself, as it has caused me all sorts of issues too

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:49 PM

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silent pier Then you're better off using that Visual Studio instead of Code. Makes things ea...

Is it reaaally easier? Because I don't wanna change IDE..

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considering that visual studio is scary

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I mean there's so much more in comparison with vscode

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:50 PM

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Yes, it's easier to do C/C++ in the "big" Visual Studio

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And no, it's not that much different

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:51 PM

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so. Do I just open Vulkan-Tutorial folder in it?

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:51 PM

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depends on what you want to do? Do you wanna start from scratch?

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:51 PM

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and, tf is solution supposed to be. Is it like their fancy term to say "project"?

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:52 PM

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A solution can contain multiple projects

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:52 PM

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silent pier depends on what you want to do? Do you wanna start from scratch?

well I want to make a blank project but also keep up with the tutorial to yk, have something

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:52 PM

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If you run the CMake for the tutorial, CMake will generate a solution to use with Visual Studio

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If you want to start from scratch, create a new project and select the C++ template

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:53 PM

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and then?

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:55 PM

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You start writing code.

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:55 PM

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yes but do I need to redo ALL of the setup tutorial?

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:56 PM

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Best is to start with the CMakeLists.txt from the tutorial. That does all of the project setup for you.

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:56 PM

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Also, my libraries are installed on the other vcpkg so that probably means I have to move the packages

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 5:57 PM

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silent pier Best is to start with the CMakeLists.txt from the tutorial. That does all of the...

so I just move the file to my project inside visual studio and run cmake -B build?

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 5:57 PM

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No, you do the generation step first

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Best download CMake's official GUI

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 6:17 PM

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silent pier Best download CMake's official GUI

noow?

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I have to enter the source code of the tutorial?

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 6:18 PM

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select the CMakeLists.txt

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 6:23 PM

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silent pier select the CMakeLists.txt

okay, so I selected the path to the cmakelists file because I can't select the file itself and then selected the path to my visual studio blank project (rigth?)

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now generate?

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 6:24 PM

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Yes, or read the help for cmake-gui. I do love helping with Vulkan things, but tooling is out of scope (as I do all of this in my spare time).

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 6:44 PM

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CMake Error: The source "C:/Users/samir/Bureau/Vulkan/Vulkan-Tutorial/attachments/CMakeLists.txt" does not match the source "C:/Users/samir/Bureau/Vulkan/Vulkan-Tutorial/Result3D/CMakeLists.txt" used to generate cache. Re-run cmake with a different source directory.

I get this after changing the source for some reason. So at first it was wrong I think, I got an error and I realised that it might be because I chosed a cmakelists file inside my project folder, but there was nothing else like the other cmake files it needs so I then chosed the cmakelists file that was in the attachments folder and now it says that they don't match

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but I changed them? Why is he still about the old source path

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 6:47 PM

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CMake does cache things. Delete the cache (somewhere under files afair)

neat zodiac Mar 2, 2026, 6:48 PM

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silent pier CMake does cache things. Delete the cache (somewhere under files afair)

okay you're right, it did work now. But it gives the error I mentioned again

silent pier Mar 2, 2026, 6:48 PM

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Too bad. I prob. can't help any further. @nimble marten might be able to help.

#Is this what I'm supposed to do on the CMake part of "Development Environment" page of Vulkan docs?