Using boost::thread with CMake in MS Visual Studio 2017 results in two compiler errors

Question

I want to use boost::thread in my project and I use CMake as a build tool. However, even a very simple setup results in two compiler errors:

main.cpp

#include <boost/thread.hpp>

int main() 
{
    boost::thread t;
    return 0;
}

CMakeLists.txt

cmake_minimum_required (VERSION 2.6)
project (ThreadTest)

set(Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS OFF) 
set(Boost_USE_MULTITHREADED ON)  
set(Boost_USE_STATIC_RUNTIME OFF) 
find_package(Boost 1.58.0 COMPONENTS random thread) 

set(SOURCE_DIR src)
set(SOURCE_FILES
    ${SOURCE_DIR}/main.cpp
    )

if(Boost_FOUND)
    include_directories(${Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS}) 
    add_executable(test ${SOURCE_FILES})
    target_link_libraries(test ${Boost_LIBRARIES})
endif()

I'm using Boost 1.68.0 which CMake can find and is able to build proper Visual Studio project files.

I tried using boost::random, and it worked.

However, compiling the above program results in two error messages:

E2512: Argument for a feature-test-macro has to be a simple identifier (pointing out to an error in boost file error_code.hpp)
LINK1104: File 'libboost_thread-vc141-mt-x64-1_68.lib' cannot be opened

This is the line in error_code.hpp which throws the error

I looked for the file 'libboost_thread-vc141-mt-x64-1_68.lib' in my boost installation but only found 'boost_1_68_0\lib64-msvc-14.0\boost_thread-vc140-mt-gd-x64-1_68.lib'

The linker settings contain the correct files:

So, my two questions:

Why is there a compilation error in error_code.hpp, which is part of the boost::system module and what can I do about it?
Why does VS want to link the file libboost_thread-vc141-mt-x64-1_68.lib, instead of the correct and available libboost_thread-vc140-mt-x64-1_68.lib?

It looks like you're compiling your code with a different version of your compiler than you used to build boost. That's throwing off boost's #pragma comment(lib, ...) directives. You should really build boost with the same version of your compiler you use for your code. — Miles Budnek
Since 14.0 Boost should be compatible with 14.1 toolchain, you could also disable the #pragma comment(lib) directives with something like target_compile_definitions(test PUBLIC BOOST_ALL_NO_LIB) — Daniel Schepler

Oliver Zendel Oliver Zendel · Accepted Answer · 2019-01-03T16:12:08

I get the same error message in Visual Studio 2017 version 15.9 and Boost 1.69.0; I think that the trouble arises from this VS version introducing some version of __has_cpp_attribute which the boost authors expected only to be present in clang.

I had to change boost\system\detail\config.hpp line 50 from

#if defined(__has_cpp_attribute)

to

#if defined(__clang__) && defined(__has_cpp_attribute)

as the remaining preprocessor define is only relevant to clang anyways.

Changing boost headers is quite messy, but I didn't find a clean solution yet :(. I was hoping /Zc had some switch to deactive this new "feature" (feature testing macro)

Using boost::thread with CMake in MS Visual Studio 2017 results in two compiler errors

3 Answers