cmake doesn't correctly parse whitespace in command line parameter

Question

When I call cmake like this, everything works:

cmake -G'Android Gradle - Ninja' ..

However, I'm setting up a bash script that lets me specify the target platform, changing the -G argument dynamically.

#!/usr/bin/env bash

CMAKE_GENERATOR="Ninja"
if [[ $TARGET_PLATFORM == "android" ]] ; then
    CMAKE_GENERATOR="'Android Gradle - Ninja'"
fi

cmake -G$CMAKE_GENERATOR ..

This gives me the following error:

CMake Error: Could not create named generator 'Android

Apparently cmake splits the generator name at the whitespace and interprets it as multiple arguments. I've tried multiple combinations of escaping the single/double quotes as well as the whitespaces but can't get it to work. I'm not even sure if this is a cmake or bash issue. Any ideas?

It looks like a question I asked a little while ago: stackoverflow.com/questions/5730881/… — Alain
– Alain, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 13:02
And apologies if I broke any rule by referring to my own previous question... — Alain
– Alain, Commented Apr 7, 2017 at 13:02

Nahuel Fouilleul · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-07 13:13:34Z

4

Quotes are missing in following command:

cmake -G$CMAKE_GENERATOR ..

should be

cmake -G"$CMAKE_GENERATOR" ..

because word splitting occurs after parameter expansion more information in bash documentation

answered Apr 7, 2017 at 13:13

Nahuel Fouilleul

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1 Comment

avf Over a year ago

That did it. Thanks for also linking to an explanation!

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