如何在CMake中检查clang-tidy的版本？是否存在原生版本变量或可行替代方案？

Great question! Unfortunately, CMake doesn't provide native built-in variables (like the familiar CMAKE_MAJOR_VERSION/CMAKE_MINOR_VERSION for CMake itself) that directly expose the clang-tidy version out of the box. But don't worry—there are straightforward workarounds to extract this information for your workflow.

Recommended Workaround: Parse Version via execute_process #

The most reliable method is to call clang-tidy --version directly from CMake, then parse the output to extract major, minor, and patch version numbers. Here's a complete, reusable CMake code snippet:

# Locate the clang-tidy executable first
find_program(CLANG_TIDY_EXECUTABLE NAMES clang-tidy)

if(CLANG_TIDY_EXECUTABLE)
    # Capture the version output from clang-tidy
    execute_process(
        COMMAND ${CLANG_TIDY_EXECUTABLE} --version
        OUTPUT_VARIABLE CLANG_TIDY_VERSION_OUTPUT
        ERROR_QUIET
        OUTPUT_STRIP_TRAILING_WHITESPACE
    )

    # Use regex to extract major, minor, patch versions from the output
    # Matches patterns like "clang-tidy version 17.0.6 (git hash...)"
    string(REGEX MATCH "clang-tidy version ([0-9]+)\\.([0-9]+)\\.([0-9]+)"
           CLANG_TIDY_VERSION_MATCH ${CLANG_TIDY_VERSION_OUTPUT})
    
    # Set custom version variables for your workflow
    set(CLANG_TIDY_MAJOR_VERSION ${CMAKE_MATCH_1})
    set(CLANG_TIDY_MINOR_VERSION ${CMAKE_MATCH_2})
    set(CLANG_TIDY_PATCH_VERSION ${CMAKE_MATCH_3})
    set(CLANG_TIDY_VERSION "${CLANG_TIDY_MAJOR_VERSION}.${CLANG_TIDY_MINOR_VERSION}.${CLANG_TIDY_PATCH_VERSION}")

    # Optional: Print the version for verification
    message(STATUS "Detected clang-tidy version: ${CLANG_TIDY_VERSION}")
else()
    message(WARNING "clang-tidy was not found on your system")
endif()

How This Works: #

1. find_program: Locates the clang-tidy executable across your system paths.
2. execute_process: Runs clang-tidy --version and captures the output.
3. Regex Parsing: Uses CMake's string(REGEX MATCH) to pull out the semver components from the output string.
4. Custom Variables: Creates your own version variables (mirroring CMake's native version variable pattern) that you can use to conditionally enable checks, set rules, or adjust your workflow.

Alternative: Use find_program with Version Checks (CMake 3.20+) #

If you're using CMake 3.20 or newer, you can leverage find_program's version-related arguments to validate if clang-tidy meets a minimum version requirement, without explicitly parsing each component:

find_program(CLANG_TIDY_EXECUTABLE NAMES clang-tidy
             VERSION_GREATER_EQUAL 16.0.0
             OUTPUT_VARIABLE CLANG_TIDY_VERSION_OUTPUT)

if(CLANG_TIDY_EXECUTABLE)
    message(STATUS "Found compatible clang-tidy version")
else()
    message(FATAL_ERROR "clang-tidy 16.0.0 or newer is required")
endif()

Note that this method doesn't expose individual major/minor/patch variables, but it's useful if you only need to enforce a minimum version for your project.

Key Notes #

• Regex Flexibility: The regex pattern in the first example works for most standard clang-tidy outputs, but if you encounter a non-standard version string (e.g., from a custom build), you may need to adjust the regex to match your specific output format.
• Integration with CMAKE_LANG_CLANG_TIDY: Once you have the version variables, you can use them to conditionally set CMAKE_CXX_CLANG_TIDY (or equivalent for C/CUDA) with version-specific check flags, like enabling new rules introduced in newer clang-tidy releases.

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Quang Thinh Ha