CMake build support for the Dear ImGui. It can build and install the library, backends and examples.

This work proposed for the Dear ImGui upstream: ocornut/imgui#8896

Building

cmake -D IMGUI_SOURCE_DIR=path.to.imgui -S . -B build

Setting IMGUI_SOURCE_DIR variable on configuration step is mandatory. An example usage might be like this:

cmake -G 'Ninja Multi-Config' -D IMGUI_SOURCE_DIR=imgui -S . -B build
cmake -D IMGUI_ENABLE_FREETYPE=ON -D DearImGui_Backend_SDL2=ON -D DearImGui_Backend_OpenGL3=ON -S . -B build # Options in imconfig.h, like IMGUI_ENABLE_FREETYPE, can be specified
cmake --build build --config Release
cmake --install build --config Release

The commands above assume the dependencies of the backend are installed on the host system. Package managers can be used for that or the user can visit the project site of the used backend and get the source and then follow the build instructions. The vcpkg used on this repository.

vcpkg install
cmake -D VCPKG_MANIFEST_MODE=ON -D IMGUI_SOURCE_DIR=imgui -S . -B build --toolchain $VCPKG_ROOT/scripts/buildsystems/vcpkg.cmake

CMake presets file can be used for easy configuration:

cmake --list-presets # list available presets
cmake --preset Default
cmake --build --preset Default --config Debug
cmake --install build --config Debug

Following backend options are available:

Build options	Targets
(default)	ImGui::Core
DearImGui_Backend_NULL	ImGui::Impl_NULL
DearImGui_Backend_Android	ImGui::Impl_Android
DearImGui_Backend_OpenGL2	ImGui::Impl_OpenGL2
DearImGui_Backend_OpenGL3	ImGui::Impl_OpenGL3
DearImGui_Backend_Vulkan	ImGui::Impl_Vulkan
DearImGui_Backend_Allegro5	ImGui::Impl_Allegro5
DearImGui_Backend_GLFW	ImGui::Impl_GLFW
DearImGui_Backend_FreeGLUT	ImGui::Impl_GLUT
DearImGui_Backend_SDL2	ImGui::Impl_SDL2
DearImGui_Backend_SDLRenderer2	ImGui::Impl_SDLRenderer2
DearImGui_Backend_SDL3	ImGui::Impl_SDL3
DearImGui_Backend_SDLGPU3	ImGui::Impl_SDLGPU3
DearImGui_Backend_SDLRenderer3	ImGui::Impl_SDLRenderer3
DearImGui_Backend_WebGPU	ImGui::Impl_WebGPU
DearImGui_Backend_Win32	ImGui::Impl_Win32
DearImGui_Backend_DirectX9	ImGui::Impl_DirectX9
DearImGui_Backend_DirectX10	ImGui::Impl_DirectX10
DearImGui_Backend_DirectX11	ImGui::Impl_DirectX11
DearImGui_Backend_DirectX12	ImGui::Impl_DirectX12
DearImGui_Backend_OSX	ImGui::Impl_OSX
DearImGui_Backend_Metal	ImGui::Impl_Metal
DearImGui_Backend_Metal4	ImGui::Impl_Metal4

All backend options are OFF by default and all the configuration macros on imconfig.h can be passed as CMake command line with -D variable.

Example programs set as dependent options and will be available when their backends enabled. Libraries and examples can be installed by setting DearImGui_Install and DearImGui_Install_Examples options ON. An uninstall custom target is provided to undo the latest install step.

cmake --build build --target uninstall

Usage

All the include paths are kept as is. Compiled and installed library can be used with:

# project setup
# ...

find_package(ImGui CONFIG REQUIRED)
# ...
target_link_libraries(tgt PUBLIC ImGui::Impl_SDL2 ImGui::Impl_OpenGL3)

With pkg-config command

The build script can be used to generate a pkg-config file:

cmake -D DearImGui_Pkg_Config=ON -S . -B build

This generates a imgui.pc file in build directory which can be installed and used:

c++ -o out main.cpp $(pkg-config --cflags --libs imgui)

Alternative approaches

Some alternative designs are also considered:

• On single-target branch all the targets are (ImGui itself and backends) linked with a single Unofficial::DearImGui::imgui target rather than a target per backend.
• On pre.v1.80 it's tried to add support Dear ImGui versions before v1.80.
• On thirdparties-as-components branch some thirdparty projects can be specified as COMPONENTS option of find_package().

These branches differentiated too much from the main at this point.

• On CMakeForImGuiThirdParties repository it's shown how thirdparty ImGui software benefit from this work.

License

This code licensed under MIT license. The projects it depends have their own licenses and should be reviewed in accordance with their respective licenses.

Help needed

Any kind of feedback, review or input is appreciated and welcome...