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Building Tablr with Conan, vcpkg, and xmake

This guide shows three ways to build Tablr: using Conan (C/C++ package manager), using vcpkg (Windows-centric package manager), and using xmake (primary project build tool). It includes PowerShell commands for Windows.

Prerequisites:

  • Conan installed (https://conan.io)
  • CMake installed
  • A C++17 compiler (MSVC, GCC, or Clang)

From project root:

# Create a build directory and install Conan dependencies
conan install . --output-folder=build --build=missing

# Generate CMake files and build
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --config Release

# (Optional) Run CTest if tests are configured
cmake --build build --target test

Troubleshooting:

  • If conan is not found, install it via pip:
python -m pip install --upgrade conan
  • For profile and settings, use conan profile commands to configure compilers and options.

2) Build with vcpkg (Windows-focused)

Prerequisites:

  • vcpkg (https://github.com/microsoft/vcpkg)
  • CMake
  • A C++17 compiler (Visual Studio recommended)

From project root:

# Bootstrap vcpkg (first time only)
.vcpkg\bootstrap-vcpkg.bat

# Install manifest dependencies
vcpkg install --triplet x64-windows

# Integrate with CMake (optional)
cmake -S . -B build -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=$PWD\vcpkg\scripts\buildsystems\vcpkg.cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build --config Release

Note: Ensure vcpkg.json lists required dependencies. The repository contains vcpkg.json which can be extended with dependencies such as fmt, doctest, etc.

3) Build and test with xmake (primary developer workflow)

Prerequisites:

  • xmake installed (https://xmake.io)
  • A C/C++ compiler

Commands (PowerShell):

# Build library and all targets
xmake build

# Run tests
xmake run tests

# Run an example
xmake run example_basic

xmake automatically compiles sources under src/ and links tests and examples. Use xmake f -m release to set release mode.

CI suggestion

If you don't have Conan or vcpkg locally, use GitHub Actions to run builds in CI. See .github/workflows/ci-conan-vcpkg-xmake.yml in the repository for an example workflow that installs Conan and vcpkg inside the runner and builds the project.

If you want, I can now create the GitHub Actions workflow file that runs: conan install, cmake build, vcpkg bootstrap & install, and xmake build + tests on Windows/Linux/macOS runners.