Issue
How does CMake's find_library handle so version numbers like in "libFOO.so.3.2"? Some libraries have symbolic links from libFOO.so to the right version, some do not.
Does CMake find a library without the symbolic link when I just use find_library(NAMES FOO)?
What should I do to help CMake figuring out the right library?
Solution
Assuming a linux distribution, the system package manager will generally provide runtime packages and development packages. If you have installed the development package for a library (e.g. libFOO-dev), it will generally include the following three files in your /usr/lib or /usr/local/lib
libFOO.so.3.2.0 (the versioned binary)
libFOO.so.3 (soname = symlink to versioned binary)
libFOO.so (namelink = symlink to soname)
The namelink has no version details in the file name. This will be used to find the library by linker command line option, e.g. -lFOO
You should use the namelink (e.g. FOO) in the find_library cmake command.
The linker will embed the soname file into your binary.
If you have multiple versions of the library installed, be sure to symlink the namelink file to the soname file that you want to use. This is really only an issue if you have multiple major versions of the same library installed. Within a major version, APIs should be backwards compatible.
Answered By - marksisson Answer Checked By - Gilberto Lyons (WPSolving Admin)
