CMake - Link against exe on Windows

Linking against an executable (EXE) is not a typical practice in CMake and is generally discouraged. In CMake, the usual way to link against a library is by creating a static or shared library (DLL) that contains the required functionality, and then linking against that library in other projects or executables.

However, if you have a specific use case where you need to link against an EXE, there is a workaround you can use. In CMake, you can create a custom target to link against the EXE, and then use that custom target as a dependency for your other targets. Here's an example of how you can do it:

Assuming you have an EXE named "myapp.exe" that you want to link against, and you have another CMake target named "mytarget" that needs to link against "myapp.exe":

cmakeCopy code
# Set the path to your myapp.exe

set(MYAPP_PATH "/path/to/myapp.exe")



# Create a custom target to link against myapp.exe

add_custom_target(myapp_target DEPENDS ${MYAPP_PATH})



# Add myapp_target as a dependency for mytarget

add_executable(mytarget mysource.cpp)

add_dependencies(mytarget myapp_target)

In this example, the add_custom_target command creates a custom target named "myapp_target" that depends on the "myapp.exe" file. The add_dependencies command then adds "myapp_target" as a dependency for "mytarget," which effectively links against "myapp.exe" when building "mytarget."

Keep in mind that this approach is not recommended unless you have a specific reason for linking against an EXE, such as when the EXE is a standalone utility or tool that provides some functionality needed by other parts of your project. In most cases, it's better to create libraries (static or shared) and link against them instead.