---
name: "ecm-kde-modules"
section: "7"
platform: "linux"
package: "extra-cmake-modules"
version: "6.31.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/ecm-kde-modules"
---

# ecm-kde-modules(7)

ECM KDE Modules Reference

## NAME

ecm-kde-modules - ECM KDE Modules Reference

## INTRODUCTION

Extra CMake Modules (ECM) provides several modules that provide default settings (like installation directories, compiler flags and other CMake options) aimed at software produced by the KDE modules; these are documented here. ECM also provides modules with more general functionality, documented in **[ecm-modules(7)](/ecm-modules/7.md)** \<#manual:[ecm-modules(7)](/ecm-modules/7.md)\>, and ones that extend the functionality of the **find\_package** command, documented in **[ecm-find-modules(7)](/ecm-find-modules/7.md)** \<#manual:[ecm-find-modules(7)](/ecm-find-modules/7.md)\>.

To use these modules, you need to tell CMake to find the ECM package, and then add either **${ECM\_MODULE\_PATH}** or **${ECM\_KDE\_MODULE\_DIR}** to the **CMAKE\_MODULE\_PATH** variable:

```
find_package(ECM REQUIRED NO_MODULE)
set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH ${ECM_MODULE_DIR})
```

Using **${ECM\_MODULE\_PATH}** will also make the other types of modules available.

## ALL KDE MODULES

### KDECMakeSettings

Changes various CMake settings to what the KDE community views as more sensible defaults.

It is recommended to include this module with the **NO\_POLICY\_SCOPE** flag, otherwise you may get spurious warnings with some versions of CMake.

It is split into three parts, which can be independently disabled if desired.

### Runtime Paths

The default runtime path (used on Unix systems to search for dynamically-linked libraries) is set to include the location that libraries will be installed to (as set in **LIB\_INSTALL\_DIR** or, if the former is not set, **KDE\_INSTALL\_LIBDIR**), and also the linker search path.

**Note:**

**LIB\_INSTALL\_DIR** or alternatively **KDE\_INSTALL\_LIBDIR** needs to be set before including this module. Typically, this is done by including the **KDEInstallDirs** \<#kde-module:KDEInstallDirs\> module.

This section can be disabled by setting **KDE\_SKIP\_RPATH\_SETTINGS** to **TRUE** before including this module.

### Testing

Testing is enabled by default, and an option **BUILD\_TESTING** is provided for users to control this. See the CTest module documentation in the CMake manual for more details.

This section can be disabled by setting **KDE\_SKIP\_TEST\_SETTINGS** to **TRUE** before including this module.

### Build Settings

Various CMake build defaults are altered, such as searching source and build directories for includes first, enabling automoc by default.

When **find\_package(ECM 5.38)** or higher is called, this also selects a layout for the build dir that helps running executables without installing: all executables are built into a toplevel “bin” dir, making it possible to find helper binaries, and to find uninstalled plugins (provided that you use **kcoreaddons\_add\_plugin()** or set **LIBRARY\_OUTPUT\_DIRECTORY** as documented on \<https://community.kde.org/Guidelines\_and\_HOWTOs/Making\_apps\_run\_uninstalled\>).

This section can be disabled by setting **KDE\_SKIP\_BUILD\_SETTINGS** to **TRUE** before including this module.

This section also provides an **uninstall** target that can be individually disabled by setting **KDE\_SKIP\_UNINSTALL\_TARGET** to **TRUE** before including this module.

By default on OS X, X11 and XCB related detections are disabled. However if the need would arise to use these technologies, the detection can be enabled by setting **APPLE\_FORCE\_X11** to **ON**.

A warning is printed for the developer to know that the detection is disabled on OS X. This message can be turned off by setting **APPLE\_SUPPRESS\_X11\_WARNING** to **ON**.

Since pre-1.0.0.

**ENABLE\_CLAZY** option is added (**OFF** by default) when clang is being used. Turning this option on will force clang to load the clazy plugins for richer warnings on Qt-related code.

If clang is not being used, this won’t have an effect. See \<https://commits.kde.org/clazy?path=README.md\>

Since 5.17.0

- •

  **uninstall** target functionality since 1.7.0

- •

  **APPLE\_FORCE\_X11** option since 5.14.0 (detecting X11 was previously the default behavior)

- •

  **APPLE\_SUPPRESS\_X11\_WARNING** option since 5.14.0

- •

  **CMAKE\_AUTORCC** enabled by default when supported by CMake (\>= 3.0) since 5.62.0

Since 6.25.0

Disable **CMAKE\_CXX\_SCAN\_FOR\_MODULES** by default.

### Translations (deprecated)

A fetch-translations target will be set up that will download translations for projects using l10n.kde.org.

**KDE\_L10N\_BRANCH** will be responsible for choosing which l10n branch to use for the translations.

**KDE\_L10N\_AUTO\_TRANSLATIONS** (**OFF** by default) will indicate whether translations should be downloaded when building the project.

Since 5.34.0

**KDE\_L10N\_SYNC\_TRANSLATIONS** (**OFF** by default) will download the translations at configuration time instead of build time.

Since 5.50.0

All **KDE\_L10N\_\*** options have been deprecated since 5.102.0, as translations are meanwhile present inside the source code repositories.

### KDEClangFormat

This module provides a functionality to format the source code of your repository according to a predefined KDE clang-format file.

This module provides the following function:

```
kde_clang_format(<files>)
```

Using this function will create a clang-format target that will format all **\<files\>** passed to the function with the predefined KDE clang-format style. To format the files you have to invoke the target with **make clang-format** or **ninja clang-format**. Once the project is formatted it is recommended to enforce the formatting using a pre-commit hook, this can be done using **KDEGitCommitHooks** \<#kde-module:KDEGitCommitHooks\>.

The **.clang-format** file from ECM will be copied to the source directory. This file should not be added to version control. It is recommended to add it to the **.gitignore** file: **/.clang-format**.

Since 5.79: If the source folder already contains a .clang-format file it is not overwritten. Since version 5.80 this function is called by default in **KDEFrameworkCompilerSettings** \<#kde-module:KDEFrameworkCompilerSettings\>. If directories should be excluded from the formatting a .clang-format file with **DisableFormat: true** and **SortIncludes: false** should be created.

Example usage:

```
include(KDEClangFormat)
file(GLOB_RECURSE ALL_CLANG_FORMAT_SOURCE_FILES *.cpp *.h *.hpp *.c)
kde_clang_format(${ALL_CLANG_FORMAT_SOURCE_FILES})
```

To exclude directories from the formatting add a **.clang-format** file in the directory with the following contents:

```
DisableFormat: true
SortIncludes: false
```

Since 5.64

### KDECompilerSettings

Set useful compile and link flags for C++ (and C) code.

Enables many more warnings than the default, and sets stricter modes for some compiler features.  By default, exceptions are disabled; **kde\_target\_enable\_exceptions()** can be used to re-enable them for a specific target.

**Note:**

It is recommended to include this module with the **NO\_POLICY\_SCOPE** flag, otherwise you may get spurious warnings with some versions of CMake.

Since 5.85 newer settings are controlled by a variable **KDE\_COMPILERSETTINGS\_LEVEL**, taking an ECM version as value. That version can not be greater than the minimum required ECM version. The settings which are default at that version will then be used, but can be overridden by more fine-grained controls (see respective settings). This variable needs to be set before including this module, otherwise defaults to the minimum required ECM version.

### Modern code

The following CMake C standard default variables are set:

For **KDE\_COMPILERSETTINGS\_LEVEL** \>= 5.85:

- •

  **CMAKE\_C\_STANDARD**: **99**

- •

  **CMAKE\_C\_STANDARD\_REQUIRED**: **TRUE**

- •

  **CMAKE\_C\_EXTENSIONS**: **OFF**

Otherwise:

- •

  **CMAKE\_C\_STANDARD**: **90**

- •

  **CMAKE\_C\_STANDARD\_REQUIRED**: not modified

- •

  **CMAKE\_C\_EXTENSIONS**: not modified

If the variable **CMAKE\_C\_STANDARD** is already set when including this module, none of the above variables will be modified.

The following CMake C++ standard default variables are set:

For **KDE\_COMPILERSETTINGS\_LEVEL** \>= 6.13:

- •

  **CMAKE\_CXX\_STANDARD**: **20**

- •

  **CMAKE\_CXX\_STANDARD\_REQUIRED**: **TRUE**

- •

  **CMAKE\_CXX\_EXTENSIONS**: **OFF**

For **KDE\_COMPILERSETTINGS\_LEVEL** \>= 5.85:

- •

  **CMAKE\_CXX\_STANDARD**: **17**

- •

  **CMAKE\_CXX\_STANDARD\_REQUIRED**: **TRUE**

- •

  **CMAKE\_CXX\_EXTENSIONS**: **OFF**

Otherwise:

- •

  **CMAKE\_CXX\_STANDARD**: **11**

- •

  **CMAKE\_CXX\_STANDARD\_REQUIRED**: **TRUE**

- •

  **CMAKE\_CXX\_EXTENSIONS**: not modified.

If the variable **CMAKE\_CXX\_STANDARD** is already set when including this module, none of the above variables will be modified.

The following C++ compiler flags are set:

- •

  **-pedantic** (GNU and Clang compilers, since 5.85)

  Can be disabled by setting **KDE\_SKIP\_PEDANTIC\_WARNINGS\_SETTINGS** to **TRUE** before including this module (default is **FALSE** for **KDE\_COMPILERSETTINGS\_LEVEL** \>= 5.85, **TRUE** otherwise).

- •

  **-Wmissing-include-dirs** (GNU compilers, since 5.85)

  Can be disabled by setting **KDE\_SKIP\_MISSING\_INCLUDE\_DIRS\_WARNINGS\_SETTINGS** to **TRUE** before including this module (default is **FALSE** for **KDE\_COMPILERSETTINGS\_LEVEL** \>= 5.85, **TRUE** otherwise).

- •

  **-Wzero-as-null-pointer-constant** (GNU and Clang compilers, since 5.85)

  Can be disabled by setting **KDE\_SKIP\_NULLPTR\_WARNINGS\_SETTINGS** to **TRUE** before including this module (default is **FALSE** for **KDE\_COMPILERSETTINGS\_LEVEL** \>= 5.85, **TRUE** otherwise).

- •

  **-Werror=undef** (GNU and Clang compilers, since 5.96.0)

- •

  Qt related preprocessor definitions (since 5.85.0):

  - •

    **-DQT\_NO\_CAST\_TO\_ASCII**

  - •

    **-DQT\_NO\_CAST\_FROM\_ASCII**

  - •

    **-DQT\_NO\_URL\_CAST\_FROM\_STRING**

  - •

    **-DQT\_NO\_CAST\_FROM\_BYTEARRAY**

  - •

    **-DQT\_USE\_QSTRINGBUILDER**

  - •

    **-DQT\_NO\_NARROWING\_CONVERSIONS\_IN\_CONNECT**

  - •

    **-DQT\_NO\_KEYWORDS**

  - •

    **-DQT\_NO\_FOREACH**

  - •

    **-DQT\_STRICT\_ITERATORS**

    Strict iterators are not enabled on Windows, because they lead to a link error when application code iterates over a QVector\<QPoint\> for instance, unless Qt itself was also built with strict iterators. See example at \<https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/AUTOSUITE-946\>

  Can be controlled by setting **KDE\_QT\_MODERNCODE\_DEFINITIONS\_LEVEL** to the version of ECM where the wanted set of definitions has been added before including this module (default is **KDE\_COMPILERSETTINGS\_LEVEL**). To disable individual definitions instead use **remove\_definitions()** directly after including this module.

### Functions

This module provides the following functions:

```
kde_source_files_enable_exceptions([file1 [file2 [...]]])
```

Enables exceptions for specific source files.  This should not be used on source files in a language other than C++.

```
kde_target_enable_exceptions(target <INTERFACE|PUBLIC|PRIVATE>)
```

Enables exceptions for a specific target.  This should not be used on a target that has source files in a language other than C++.

```
kde_enable_exceptions()
```

Enables exceptions for C++ source files compiled for the CMakeLists.txt file in the current directory and all subdirectories.

### Variables

Inclusion of this module defines the following variables:

- **ENABLE\_BSYMBOLICFUNCTIONS**

  indicates whether we make use of **-Bsymbolic-functions** for linking. It ensures libraries bind global function references locally rather than at runtime. This option only has an effect on ELF-based systems.

  The option is disabled by default except when using **KDEFrameworkCompilerSettings** \<#kde-module:KDEFrameworkCompilerSettings\> where it’s enabled. Projects can enable it by calling **set(ENABLE\_BSYMBOLICFUNCTIONS ON)** or passing **-DENABLE BSYMBOLICFUNCTIONS=ON** when configuring the build directory.

  Since 5.85

- **ECM\_FORCE\_ASSERTS**

  Enable Q\_ASSERT regardless of **CMAKE\_BUILD\_TYPE**. Off by default.

  Since 6.24

Example usages:

```
# needing some macro/feature only available with ECM 5.80.0
find_package(ECM 5.80.0 NO_MODULE)
# requiring ECM 5.80.0 above will default KDE_COMPILERSETTINGS_LEVEL also to 5.80.0,
# thus not activate any newer settings
include(KDECompilerSettings NO_POLICY_SCOPE)
```

```
# needing some macro/feature only available with ECM 5.87.0
find_package(ECM 5.87.0 NO_MODULE)
# project uses settings default as of KDECompilerSettings in ECM 5.85.0
set(KDE_COMPILERSETTINGS_LEVEL 5.85.0)
include(KDECompilerSettings NO_POLICY_SCOPE)
```

```
# needing some macro/feature only available with ECM 5.87.0
find_package(ECM 5.87.0 NO_MODULE)
# project mainly uses settings default as of KDECompilerSettings in ECM 5.85.0
# with some small twisting
set(KDE_COMPILERSETTINGS_LEVEL 5.85.0)
# not ready yet for pedantic compilers
set(KDE_SKIP_PEDANTIC_WARNINGS_SETTINGS TRUE)
# avoid any Qt definitions
set(KDE_QT_MODERNCODE_DEFINITIONS_LEVEL 5.84.0)
include(KDECompilerSettings NO_POLICY_SCOPE)
```

```
# needing some macro/feature only available with ECM 5.85.0
find_package(ECM 5.85.0 NO_MODULE)
# requiring ECM 5.85.0 above will default KDE_COMPILERSETTINGS_LEVEL also to 5.85.0,
# which again defaults KDE_QT_MODERNCODE_DEFINITIONS_LEVEL also to 5.85.0
include(KDECompilerSettings NO_POLICY_SCOPE)
# project is fine with almost all added Qt definitions as of 5.85.0, but not these ones:
remove_definitions(
    -DQT_NO_KEYWORDS
    -DQT_NO_FOREACH
)
```

Since pre-1.0.0.

### KDEFrameworkCompilerSettings

Set stricter compile and link flags for KDE Frameworks modules.

**Warning:**

Do not use this module for software which is not part of KDE-Frameworks. There is no guarantee for backward-compatibility in newer versions.

The **KDECompilerSettings** \<#kde-module:KDECompilerSettings\> module is included and, in addition, various defines that affect the Qt libraries are set to enforce certain conventions.

For example, constructions like **QString("foo")** are prohibited, instead forcing the use of QLatin1String or QStringLiteral, and some Qt-defined keywords like signals and slots will not be defined.

**Note:**

It is recommended to include this module with the NO\_POLICY\_SCOPE flag, otherwise you may get spurious warnings with some versions of CMake.

Since pre-1.0.0.

### KDEGitCommitHooks

This module provides a functionality to enforce formatting or in the future other QS checks.

This module provides the following function:

```
kde_configure_git_pre_commit_hook(
   CHECKS <check1> [<check2> [...]
   [CUSTOM_SCRIPTS [<script paths> [<script paths> ...]]] # since 5.109
)
```

This function will create a pre-commit hook which contains all the given checks. In addition to that, you can pass in paths to custom scripts that will be run as the pre-commit hook. If a custom hooks directory is set via **core.hooksPath**, a warning is issued.

The created pre-commit script will also execute any custom user-provided  scripts located in .git/hooks/pre-commit.d directory.

Checks:

- •

  **CLANG\_FORMAT** With this check enabled the **git clang-format** tool will be used to make sure that the changed parts are properly formatted. In case the changes are not properly formatted an error message with the command to preview the formatting changes and to format the files in place will be displayed. This tool will reuse the existing **.clang-format** file, in case you want to use the one provided by ECM you can include **include(KDEClangFormat)** which will copy the file to the source dir. It is also recommended to reformat the entire project before enforcing the formatting using this commit hook.

- •

  **JSON\_SCHEMA** Since 5.110, uses the check-jsonschema CLI tool to ensure that all files are valid JSON and match the KPluginMetaData spec. This only applied if the JSON file has a “KPlugin” object in its root. To ignore invalid files, for example for testing error handling, given files can be excluded in the .kde-ci.yml file Define Options.json-validate-ignore with an array of the files you want to ignore

Example usage:

```
include(KDEGitCommitHooks)
kde_configure_git_pre_commit_hook(CHECKS JSON_SCHEMA CLANG_FORMAT)
```

Since 5.79

### KDEInstallDirs

Compatibility wrapper around **KDEInstallDirs5** \<#kde-module:KDEInstallDirs5\>.

Since 5.82.0, prior to that equivalent to **KDEInstallDirs5** \<#kde-module:KDEInstallDirs5\>.

### KDEInstallDirs5

Define KDE standard installation directories for Qt5/KF5 based software.

Note that none of the variables defined by this module provide any information about the location of already-installed KDE software.

Also sets **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX** to the installation prefix of ECM, unless that variable has been already explicitly set by something else (since 5.61 and with CMake \>= 3.7).

Inclusion of this module defines the following variables:

- **KDE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>**

  destination for files of a given type

- **KDE\_INSTALL\_FULL\_\<dir\>**

  corresponding absolute path

where **\<dir\>** is one of (default values in parentheses and alternative, deprecated variable name in square brackets):

- **BUNDLEDIR**

  application bundles (**/Applications/KDE**) \[**BUNDLE\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **EXECROOTDIR**

  executables and libraries (**\<empty\>**) \[**EXEC\_INSTALL\_PREFIX**\]

- **BINDIR**

  user executables (**EXECROOTDIR/bin**) \[**BIN\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **SBINDIR**

  system admin executables (**EXECROOTDIR/sbin**) \[**SBIN\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **LIBDIR**

  object code libraries (**EXECROOTDIR/lib**, **EXECROOTDIR/lib64** or **EXECROOTDIR/lib/\<multiarch-tuple** on Debian) \[**LIB\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **LIBEXECDIR**

  executables for internal use by programs and libraries (**BINDIR** on Windows, **LIBDIR/libexec** otherwise) \[**LIBEXEC\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **CMAKEPACKAGEDIR**

  CMake packages, including config files (**LIBDIR/cmake**) \[**CMAKECONFIG\_INSTALL\_PREFIX**\]

- **QTPLUGINDIR**

  Qt plugins (**LIBDIR/plugins** or qmake-qt5’s **QT\_INSTALL\_PLUGINS**) \[**QT\_PLUGIN\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **PLUGINDIR**

  Plugins (**QTPLUGINDIR**) \[**PLUGIN\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **QTQUICKIMPORTSDIR**

  QtQuick1 imports (**QTPLUGINDIR/imports** or qmake-qt5’s **QT\_INSTALL\_IMPORTS**) \[**IMPORTS\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **QMLDIR**

  QtQuick2 imports (**LIBDIR/qml** or qmake-qt5’s **QT\_INSTALL\_QML**) \[**QML\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **INCLUDEDIR**

  C and C++ header files (**include**) \[**INCLUDE\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **LOCALSTATEDIR**

  modifiable single-machine data (**var**)

- **SHAREDSTATEDIR**

  modifiable architecture-independent data (**com**)

- **DATAROOTDIR**

  read-only architecture-independent data root (**BINDIR/data** on Windows, **share** otherwise) \[**SHARE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX**\]

- **DATADIR**

  read-only architecture-independent data (**DATAROOTDIR**) \[**DATA\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **DOCBUNDLEDIR**

  documentation bundles generated using kdoctools (**DATAROOTDIR/doc/HTML**) \[**HTML\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **KCFGDIR**

  kconfig description files (**DATAROOTDIR/config.kcfg**) \[**KCFG\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **KCONFUPDATEDIR**

  kconf\_update scripts (**DATAROOTDIR/kconf\_update**) \[**KCONF\_UPDATE\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **KSERVICES5DIR or (since 5.89) KSERVICESDIR**

  services for KDE Frameworks 5 (**DATAROOTDIR/kservices5**) \[**SERVICES\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **KSERVICETYPES5DIR or (since 5.89) KSERVICETYPESDIR**

  service types for KDE Frameworks 5 (**DATAROOTDIR/kservicetypes5**) \[**SERVICETYPES\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **KXMLGUI5DIR or (since 5.89) KXMLGUIDIR**

  kxmlgui .rc files (**DATAROOTDIR/kxmlgui5**) \[**KXMLGUI\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **KAPPTEMPLATESDIR**

  KAppTemplate and KDevelop templates (**DATAROOTDIR/kdevappwizard/templates**) \[**KDE\_INSTALL\_KTEMPLATESDIR**\] Since 5.77.

- **KFILETEMPLATESDIR**

  KDevelop file templates (**DATAROOTDIR/kdevfiletemplates/templates**) Since 5.77.

- **KNOTIFY5RCDIR or (since 5.89) KNOTIFYRCDIR**

  knotify description files (**DATAROOTDIR/knotifications5**) \[**KNOTIFYRC\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **ICONDIR**

  icons (**DATAROOTDIR/icons**) \[**ICON\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **LOCALEDIR**

  locale-dependent data (**DATAROOTDIR/locale**) \[**LOCALE\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **SOUNDDIR**

  sound files (**DATAROOTDIR/sounds**) \[**SOUND\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **TEMPLATEDIR**

  templates (**DATAROOTDIR/templates**) \[**TEMPLATES\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **WALLPAPERDIR**

  desktop wallpaper images (**DATAROOTDIR/wallpapers**) \[**WALLPAPER\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **APPDIR**

  application desktop files (**DATAROOTDIR/applications**) Since 1.1.0. \[**XDG\_APPS\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **DESKTOPDIR**

  desktop directories (**DATAROOTDIR/desktop-directories**) \[**XDG\_DIRECTORY\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **MIMEDIR**

  mime description files (**DATAROOTDIR/mime/packages**) \[**XDG\_MIME\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **METAINFODIR**

  AppStream component metadata files (**DATAROOTDIR/metainfo**)

- **QTQCHDIR**

  documentation bundles in QCH format for Qt-extending libraries (**DATAROOTDIR/doc/qch** or qmake-qt5’s **QT\_INSTALL\_DOCS**) Since 5.36.0.

- **QCHDIR**

  documentation bundles in QCH format (**DATAROOTDIR/doc/qch**) Since 5.36.0.

- **MANDIR**

  man documentation (**DATAROOTDIR/man**) \[**MAN\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **INFODIR**

  info documentation (**DATAROOTDIR/info**)

- **DBUSDIR**

  D-Bus (**DATAROOTDIR/dbus-1**)

- **DBUSINTERFACEDIR**

  D-Bus interfaces (**DBUSDIR/interfaces**) \[**DBUS\_INTERFACES\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **DBUSSERVICEDIR**

  D-Bus session services (**DBUSDIR/services**) \[**DBUS\_SERVICES\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **DBUSSYSTEMSERVICEDIR**

  D-Bus system services (**DBUSDIR/system-services**) \[**DBUS\_SYSTEM\_SERVICES\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **SYSCONFDIR**

  read-only single-machine data (**etc**, or **/etc** if **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX** is **/usr**) \[**SYSCONF\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **CONFDIR**

  application configuration files (**SYSCONFDIR/xdg**) \[**CONFIG\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **AUTOSTARTDIR**

  autostart files (**CONFDIR/autostart**) \[**AUTOSTART\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **LOGGINGCATEGORIESDIR**

  Qt logging categories files directory (**DATAROOTDIR/qlogging-categories5**) Since 5.59.0

- **JARDIR**

  Java AAR/JAR files for Android. Since 5.62.0

- **SYSTEMDUNITDIR**

  Systemd Units (**lib/systemd**) \[**SYSTEMD\_UNIT\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]. Since 5.65

- **SYSTEMDUSERUNITDIR**

  Systemd User Units (**lib/systemd/user**) \[**SYSTEMD\_USER\_UNIT\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]. Since 5.65

- **ZSHAUTOCOMPLETEDIR**

  Zsh functions and autocompletion definitions (**zsh/site-functions**) Since 5.101

If **KDE\_INSTALL\_USE\_QT\_SYS\_PATHS** is set to **TRUE** before including this module, the default values for some variables are instead queried from Qt5’s qmake (where mentioned in the parentheses above). If not set, it will default to **TRUE** if Qt5’s qmake is found and it’s **QT\_INSTALL\_PREFIX** is the same as **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX**, otherwise default to **FALSE**. This variable should NOT be set from within CMakeLists.txt files, instead is intended to be set manually when configuring a project which uses KDEInstallDirs (e.g. by packagers).

If **KDE\_INSTALL\_DIRS\_NO\_DEPRECATED** is set to **TRUE** before including this module, the deprecated variables (listed in the square brackets above) are not defined.

In addition, for each **KDE\_INSTALL\_\*** variable, an equivalent **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_\*** variable is defined. If **KDE\_INSTALL\_DIRS\_NO\_DEPRECATED** is set to **TRUE**, only those variables defined by the **GNUInstallDirs** module (shipped with CMake) are defined. If **KDE\_INSTALL\_DIRS\_NO\_CMAKE\_VARIABLES** is set to **TRUE**, no variables with a **CMAKE\_** prefix will be defined by this module (other than **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_DEFAULT\_COMPONENT\_NAME** - see below).

The **KDE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** variables (or their **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** or deprecated counterparts) may be passed to the **DESTINATION** options of **install()** commands for the corresponding file type.  They are set in the CMake cache, and so the defaults above can be overridden by users.

Note that if the **KDE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>**, **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** or deprecated form of the variable are set before **include(KDEInstallDirs)**, they won’t be overwritten by **KDEInstallDirs**. This is useful if you eg. want to use CMake command line variable definitions to set custom values. There are however some other implications you need to be aware of: **GNUInstallDirs** defines **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** variables, before hence **KDEInstallDirs** will not overwrite them if it is included later. In most cases this is unintended and if you need to include **GNUInstallDirs** you should always do that after after you included **KDEInstallDirs**.

If you set custom values to **KDE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** or **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** as described above always both forms of the variable will be affected. The effect of passing multiple forms of the same variable eg. on the command line (such as **KDE\_INSTALL\_BINDIR** and **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_BINDIR**) is undefined and should be avoided.

The variable **KDE\_INSTALL\_TARGETS\_DEFAULT\_ARGS** is also defined (along with the deprecated form **INSTALL\_TARGETS\_DEFAULT\_ARGS**).  This should be used when libraries or user-executable applications are installed, in the following manner:

```
install(TARGETS mylib myapp ${KDE_INSTALL_TARGETS_DEFAULT_ARGS})
```

It MUST NOT be used for installing plugins, system admin executables or executables only intended for use internally by other code.  Those should use **KDE\_INSTALL\_PLUGINDIR**, **KDE\_INSTALL\_SBINDIR** or **KDE\_INSTALL\_LIBEXECDIR** respectively.

Additionally, **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_DEFAULT\_COMPONENT\_NAME** will be set to **${PROJECT\_NAME}** to provide a sensible default for this CMake option.

Note that mixing absolute and relative paths, particularly for **BINDIR**, **LIBDIR** and **INCLUDEDIR**, can cause issues with exported targets. Given that the default values for these are relative paths, relative paths should be used on the command line when possible (eg: use **-DKDE\_INSTALL\_LIBDIR=lib64** instead of **-DKDE\_INSTALL\_LIBDIR=/usr/lib/lib64** to override the library directory).

Since 5.82.0, prior to that available as **KDEInstallDirs** \<#kde-module:KDEInstallDirs\>.

NB: The variables starting **KDE\_INSTALL\_** are available since 1.6.0, unless otherwise noted with the variable.

The **KDE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX\_SCRIPT** option will install a ${CMAKE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX}/prefix.sh file that allows to easily incorporate the necessary environment variables for the prefix into a process.

### KDEInstallDirs6

Define KDE standard installation directories for Qt6/KF6 based software.

Note that none of the variables defined by this module provide any information about the location of already-installed KDE software.

Also sets **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX** to the installation prefix of ECM, unless that variable has been already explicitly set by something else.

Inclusion of this module defines the following variables:

- **KDE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>**

  destination for files of a given type

- **KDE\_INSTALL\_FULL\_\<dir\>**

  corresponding absolute path

where **\<dir\>** is one of (default values in parentheses):

- **BUNDLEDIR**

  application bundles (**/Applications/KDE**)

- **EXECROOTDIR**

  executables and libraries (**\<empty\>**)

- **BINDIR**

  user executables (**EXECROOTDIR/bin**)

- **SBINDIR**

  system admin executables (**EXECROOTDIR/sbin**)

- **LIBDIR**

  object code libraries (**EXECROOTDIR/lib**, **EXECROOTDIR/lib64** or **EXECROOTDIR/lib/\<multiarch-tuple** on Debian)

- **LIBEXECDIR**

  executables for internal use by programs and libraries (**BINDIR** on Windows, **LIBDIR/libexec** otherwise)

- **CMAKEPACKAGEDIR**

  CMake packages, including config files (**LIBDIR/cmake**)

- **QTPLUGINDIR**

  Qt plugins (**LIBDIR/plugins** or qtpaths’s **QT\_INSTALL\_PLUGINS**)

- **PLUGINDIR**

  Plugins (**QTPLUGINDIR**) \[**PLUGIN\_INSTALL\_DIR**\]

- **QMLDIR**

  QtQuick2 imports (**LIBDIR/qml** or qtpaths’s **QT\_INSTALL\_QML**)

- **INCLUDEDIR**

  C and C++ header files (**include**)

- **LOCALSTATEDIR**

  modifiable single-machine data (**var**)

- **SHAREDSTATEDIR**

  modifiable architecture-independent data (**com**)

- **DATAROOTDIR**

  read-only architecture-independent data root (**BINDIR/data** on Windows, **share** otherwise)

- **DATADIR**

  read-only architecture-independent data (**DATAROOTDIR**)

- **DOCBUNDLEDIR**

  documentation bundles generated using kdoctools (**DATAROOTDIR/doc/HTML**)

- **KCFGDIR**

  kconfig description files (**DATAROOTDIR/config.kcfg**)

- **KCONFUPDATEDIR**

  kconf\_update scripts (**DATAROOTDIR/kconf\_update**)

- **KXMLGUIDIR**

  kxmlgui .rc files (**DATAROOTDIR/kxmlgui5**)

- **KAPPTEMPLATESDIR**

  KAppTemplate and KDevelop templates (**DATAROOTDIR/kdevappwizard/templates**)

- **KFILETEMPLATESDIR**

  KDevelop file templates (**DATAROOTDIR/kdevfiletemplates/templates**)

- **KNOTIFYRCDIR**

  knotify description files (**DATAROOTDIR/knotifications6**)

- **ICONDIR**

  icons (**DATAROOTDIR/icons**)

- **LOCALEDIR**

  locale-dependent data (**DATAROOTDIR/locale**)

- **SOUNDDIR**

  sound files (**DATAROOTDIR/sounds**)

- **TEMPLATEDIR**

  templates (**DATAROOTDIR/templates**)

- **WALLPAPERDIR**

  desktop wallpaper images (**DATAROOTDIR/wallpapers**)

- **APPDIR**

  application desktop files (**DATAROOTDIR/applications**)

- **DESKTOPDIR**

  desktop directories (**DATAROOTDIR/desktop-directories**)

- **MIMEDIR**

  mime description files (**DATAROOTDIR/mime/packages**)

- **METAINFODIR**

  AppStream component metadata files (**DATAROOTDIR/metainfo**)

- **QTQCHDIR**

  documentation bundles in QCH format for Qt-extending libraries (**DATAROOTDIR/doc/qch** or qtpaths’s **QT\_INSTALL\_DOCS**)

- **QCHDIR**

  documentation bundles in QCH format (**DATAROOTDIR/doc/qch**)

- **QTMETATYPESDIR**

  Qt metatypes files  (**metatypes** or qtpaths’s **QT\_INSTALL\_ARCHDATA/metatypes**). Since 6.27.

- **MANDIR**

  man documentation (**DATAROOTDIR/man**)

- **INFODIR**

  info documentation (**DATAROOTDIR/info**)

- **DBUSDIR**

  D-Bus (**DATAROOTDIR/dbus-1**)

- **DBUSINTERFACEDIR**

  D-Bus interfaces (**DBUSDIR/interfaces**)

- **DBUSSERVICEDIR**

  D-Bus session services (**DBUSDIR/services**)

- **DBUSSYSTEMSERVICEDIR**

  D-Bus system services (**DBUSDIR/system-services**)

- **SYSCONFDIR**

  read-only single-machine data (**etc**, or **/etc** if **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX** is **/usr**)

- **CONFDIR**

  application configuration files (**SYSCONFDIR/xdg**)

- **AUTOSTARTDIR**

  autostart files (**CONFDIR/autostart**)

- **LOGGINGCATEGORIESDIR**

  Qt logging categories files directory (**DATAROOTDIR/qlogging-categories6**)

- **JARDIR**

  Java AAR/JAR files for Android.

- **SYSTEMDUNITDIR**

  Systemd Units (**lib/systemd**)

- **SYSTEMDUSERUNITDIR**

  Systemd User Units (**lib/systemd/user**)

If **KDE\_INSTALL\_USE\_QT\_SYS\_PATHS** is set to **TRUE** before including this module, the default values for some variables are instead queried from Qt6’s qmake (where mentioned in the parentheses above). If not set, it will default to **TRUE** if Qt6’s qmake is found and it’s **QT\_INSTALL\_PREFIX** is the same as **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX**, otherwise default to **FALSE**. This variable should NOT be set from within CMakeLists.txt files, instead is intended to be set manually when configuring a project which uses KDEInstallDirs (e.g. by packagers).

In addition, for each **KDE\_INSTALL\_\*** variable, an equivalent **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_\*** variable is defined, if such a variable is also defined by the **GNUInstallDirs** module (shipped with CMake). If **KDE\_INSTALL\_DIRS\_NO\_CMAKE\_VARIABLES** is set to **TRUE**, no variables with a **CMAKE\_** prefix will be defined by this module (other than **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_DEFAULT\_COMPONENT\_NAME** - see below).

The **KDE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** variables may be passed to the **DESTINATION** options of **install()** commands for the corresponding file type.  They are set in the CMake cache, and so the defaults above can be overridden by users.

Note that if the **KDE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** or **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** variables are set before **include(KDEInstallDirs)**, they won’t be overwritten by **KDEInstallDirs**. This is useful if you eg. want to use CMake command line variable definitions to set custom values. There are however some other implications you need to be aware of: **GNUInstallDirs** defines **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** variables, before hence **KDEInstallDirs** will not overwrite them if it is included later. In most cases this is unintended and if you need to include **GNUInstallDirs** you should always do that after after you included **KDEInstallDirs**. Be aware that Qt uses **GNUInstallDirs** since Qt6 and hence **find\_package(Qt6 ...)** is equivalent to **include(GNUInstallDirs)** in this case.

If you set custom values to **KDE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** or **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_\<dir\>** as described above always both forms of the variable will be affected. The effect of passing multiple forms of the same variable eg. on the command line (such as **KDE\_INSTALL\_BINDIR** and **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_BINDIR**) is undefined and should be avoided.

The variable **KDE\_INSTALL\_TARGETS\_DEFAULT\_ARGS** is also defined. This should be used when libraries or user-executable applications are installed, in the following manner:

```
install(TARGETS mylib myapp ${KDE_INSTALL_TARGETS_DEFAULT_ARGS})
```

It MUST NOT be used for installing plugins, system admin executables or executables only intended for use internally by other code.  Those should use **KDE\_INSTALL\_PLUGINDIR**, **KDE\_INSTALL\_SBINDIR** or **KDE\_INSTALL\_LIBEXECDIR** respectively.

Additionally, **CMAKE\_INSTALL\_DEFAULT\_COMPONENT\_NAME** will be set to **${PROJECT\_NAME}** to provide a sensible default for this CMake option.

Note that mixing absolute and relative paths, particularly for **BINDIR**, **LIBDIR** and **INCLUDEDIR**, can cause issues with exported targets. Given that the default values for these are relative paths, relative paths should be used on the command line when possible (eg: use **-DKDE\_INSTALL\_LIBDIR=lib64** instead of **-DKDE\_INSTALL\_LIBDIR=/usr/lib/lib64** to override the library directory).

The **KDE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX\_SCRIPT** option will install a ${CMAKE\_INSTALL\_PREFIX}/prefix.sh file that allows to easily incorporate the necessary environment variables for the prefix into a process.

### KDEMetaInfoPlatformCheck

By including this module there will be an automatic check between the supported platforms listed in the metainfo.yaml file and the current platform that is the target of the build

If the current platform that is the target of the build is not supported a CMake **FATAL\_ERROR** will be issued

The check can be ignored by setting **KF\_IGNORE\_PLATFORM\_CHECK** to **ON**.

Since 5.93

### KDEPackageAppTemplates

Packages KApptemplate/KDevelop compatible application templates

This module provides a functionality to package in a tarball and install project templates compatible with the format used by KApptemplate and KDevelop. Useful for providing minimal examples for the usage of the KDE Frameworks.

This module provides the following function:

```
kde_package_app_templates(TEMPLATES <template> [<template> [...]]
                          INSTALL_DIR <directory>)
```

**INSTALL\_DIR** is the directory to install the template package to. In most cases you will want to use the variable **KDE\_INSTALL\_KAPPTEMPLATESDIR** from **KDEInstallDirs** \<#kde-module:KDEInstallDirs\>.

**TEMPLATES** lists subdirectories containing template files; each **\<template\>** directory will be packaged into a file named **\<template\>.tar.bz2** and installed to the appropriate location.

The template is a minimal source tree of an application as if it was an application project by itself, with names (file names or text inside) the text files replaced by the following placeholders when needed:

- **%{PROJECTDIRNAME}**

  name of generated project base folder ex: **%{APPNAMELC}** for KAppTemplate

- **%{APPNAME}**

  project name as entered by user ex: MyKApp

- **%{APPNAMELC}**

  project name in lower case ex: mykapp

- **%{APPNAMEUC}**

  project name in upper case ex: MYKAPP

- **%{CPP\_TEMPLATE}**

  license header for cpp file

- **%{H\_TEMPLATE}**

  license header for h file

- **%{AUTHOR}**

  author name ex: George Ignacious

- **%{EMAIL}**

  author email ex: \<foo@bar.org\>

- **%{VERSION}**

  project version ex: 0.1

Deprecated:

- **%{dest}**

  path of generated project base folder, used in .kdevtemplate with the **ShowFilesAfterGeneration** entry KDevelop \>= 5.1.1 supports relative paths with that entry, making this placeholder obsolete

Multiple templates can be passed at once.

Unless setting KDE\_INSTALL\_APP\_TEMPLATES, this function is skipped when cross-compiling.

Since 5.18

## SEE ALSO

**[ecm(7)](/ecm/7.md)** \<#manual:[ecm(7)](/ecm/7.md)\>, **[ecm-modules(7)](/ecm-modules/7.md)** \<#manual:[ecm-modules(7)](/ecm-modules/7.md)\>, **[ecm-find-modules(7)](/ecm-find-modules/7.md)** \<#manual:[ecm-find-modules(7)](/ecm-find-modules/7.md)\>

## Copyright

KDE Developers