Allow building with cmake on Windows by gabrieljreed · Pull Request #2090 · AcademySoftwareFoundation/rez

gabrieljreed · 2026-04-15T23:27:09Z

Resolves #1321
Resolves #2123

Premise

Path normalization

On Windows, rez applies path normalization (converting forward slashes to back slashes) to any environment variable whose name matches the pattern in the pathed_env_vars config setting, which defaults to *PATH. This is correct behavior for variables like PATH, PYTHONPATH, and LD_LIBRARY_PATH, which need native Windows path separators. However, CMAKE_MODULE_PATH also matches *PATH, but Cmake requires forward slashes in this variable.

Unterminated string literal in `rez_install_python`

When building rez packages on Windows that use rez_install_python (with nmake), the build fails with a Python SyntaxError: unterminated string literal

File "<string>", line 1
    'import
    ^
SyntaxError: unterminated string literal (detected at line 1)

The root cause is in InstallPython.cmake - the add_custom_command that compiles .py files into .pyc uses single quotes around the Python -c argument.

COMMAND ${py_bin} -c 'import py_compile \; py_compile.compile(...)'

On Unix, make dispatches commands via /bin/sh where single quotes are valid string delimiters. On Windows, nmake dispatches via cmd.exe, where single quotes are literal characters, so Python receives 'import as the start of an unterminated string literal.

Changes

Add a new configuration setting, non_pathed_env_vars, which is an exclusion list that takes priority over pathed_env_vars.
- Any variable matching a pattern in this list is except from path normalization, even if it also matches pathed_env_vars
- Supports the same fnmatch wildcards as pathed_env_vars
- The default value ships with CMAKE_MODULE_PATH out of the box, since this is a known case where we don't want normalization
Fix install_python macro
- Switch from single quoted shell args to cmake double quoted string for the -c argument
- Add VERBATIM keyword to add_custom_command so Cmake handles all platform-specific argument quoting correctly

Tests

I'm able to build the hello_world example package on both Windows and Linux after setting build_system = "cmake"
Add new tests for ActionInterpreter._is_pathed_key and shell.set_env
I was unable to write tests for the rez_install_python cmake macro, but I verified that it worked manually

linux-foundation-easycla · 2026-04-15T23:27:15Z

The committers listed above are authorized under a signed CLA.

✅ login: gabrieljreed / name: Gabriel Reed (8245bc3, b5c0c5c, ce9ff60, d12912b)

herronelou · 2026-06-13T00:11:06Z

This would also help/fix: #1923 #1909

maxnbk

Nicely done contribution.

Apart from this PR, we could use actual tests that use/generate the hello_world package, but I won't consider that a blocker for this particular PR merge.

I made a few suggestions are mostly cosmetic, or affect the way docs generate.

The only open question is the CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH one, or CMAKE_*_PATH, alternatively. I suspect the right thing to do would be the wildcard, since this is a new config value, and if someone needs to override the default config value, the result is effectively the same. I'm not just sure if there are any CMAKE path vars that are supposed to have the same treatment.

maxnbk · 2026-07-20T23:41:09Z

+# This setting identifies environment variables that should NOT have path
+# normalization applied, even if they match a pattern in ``pathed_env_vars``.
+# This is useful for variables like ``CMAKE_MODULE_PATH`` which end in ``PATH``
+# but require forward slashes regardless of the shell. Wildcards are supported.


Suggested change

# but require forward slashes regardless of the shell. Wildcards are supported.

# but require forward slashes regardless of the shell. Wildcards are supported.

# Takes priority over :data:`pathed_env_vars`.

maxnbk · 2026-07-20T23:42:10Z

@@ -558,6 +558,8 @@ def escape_string(self, value, is_path=False):

    @classmethod
    def _is_pathed_key(cls, key):


Suggested change

def _is_pathed_key(cls, key):

def _is_pathed_key(cls, key):

"""Return True if ``key`` is a path-like env var subject to normalization."""

maxnbk · 2026-07-20T23:43:51Z

 ]

+# This setting identifies environment variables that should NOT have path
+# normalization applied, even if they match a pattern in ``pathed_env_vars``.


Suggested change

# normalization applied, even if they match a pattern in ``pathed_env_vars``.

# normalization applied, even if they match a pattern in :data:`pathed_env_vars`.

maxnbk · 2026-07-20T23:46:15Z

+# This is useful for variables like ``CMAKE_MODULE_PATH`` which end in ``PATH``
+# but require forward slashes regardless of the shell. Wildcards are supported.
+non_pathed_env_vars = [
+    "CMAKE_MODULE_PATH"


Should we consider "CMAKE_*_PATH" or an additional "CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH"? It feels to me like it makes sense to do so.

In my testing, I've only needed to set the one variable, but I'm happy to change it to your suggestion for flexibility!

maxnbk · 2026-07-20T23:47:28Z

    "*PATH"
 ]

+# This setting identifies environment variables that should NOT have path


Suggested change

# This setting identifies environment variables that should NOT have path

# This setting identifies environment variables that should not have path

JeanChristopheMorinPerso · 2026-07-25T20:18:49Z

+``CMAKE_MODULE_PATH`` requires forward slashes regardless of shell, and backslash conversion will
+break CMake. You can exclude variables from normalization using the :data:`non_pathed_env_vars`
+config setting, which takes priority over :data:`pathed_env_vars`. By default,
+``CMAKE_MODULE_PATH`` is already excluded. Both settings support ``fnmatch``-style wildcards.


Suggested change

``CMAKE_MODULE_PATH`` is already excluded. Both settings support ``fnmatch``-style wildcards.

``CMAKE_MODULE_PATH`` is already excluded. Both settings support :func:`fnmatch.fnmatch`-style wildcards.

codecov · 2026-07-30T02:34:52Z

Codecov Report

❌ Patch coverage is 66.66667% with 1 line in your changes missing coverage. Please review.
✅ Project coverage is 61.29%. Comparing base (a4160c2) to head (585c224).
⚠️ Report is 1 commits behind head on main.

Files with missing lines	Patch %	Lines
src/rez/rezconfig.py	0.00%	1 Missing ⚠️

Additional details and impacted files

@@           Coverage Diff           @@
##             main    #2090   +/-   ##
=======================================
  Coverage   61.29%   61.29%           
=======================================
  Files         164      164           
  Lines       20568    20571    +3     
  Branches     3575     3576    +1     
=======================================
+ Hits        12607    12609    +2     
- Misses       7089     7090    +1     
  Partials      872      872

☔ View full report in Codecov by Harness.
📢 Have feedback on the report? Share it here.

🚀 New features to boost your workflow:

❄️ Test Analytics: Detect flaky tests, report on failures, and find test suite problems.

- Introduced `non_pathed_env_vars` configuration to exclude specific variables from path normalization - Updated `_is_pathed_key` method to respect the new configuration - Added tests to verify behavior of non-pathed environment variables in Windows shell Signed-off-by: Gabriel Reed <gabrieljreed@gmail.com>

Signed-off-by: Gabriel Reed <gabrieljreed@gmail.com>

- Documentation improvements - Replace default value of non_pathed_env_vars from `CMAKE_MODULE_PATH` to `CMAKE_*_PATH` Signed-off-by: Gabriel Reed <gabrieljreed@gmail.com>

gabrieljreed requested a review from a team as a code owner April 15, 2026 23:27

gabrieljreed force-pushed the fix-cmake-on-windows branch from a548e19 to ce9ff60 Compare April 15, 2026 23:33

thc1006 mentioned this pull request May 7, 2026

Fix rex parent_environ case sensitivity on Windows #2098

Open

doruchan mentioned this pull request Jun 18, 2026

Windows Cmake path issue #2123

Open

maxnbk requested changes Jul 20, 2026

View reviewed changes

JeanChristopheMorinPerso reviewed Jul 25, 2026

View reviewed changes

gabrieljreed force-pushed the fix-cmake-on-windows branch from b08de0c to e73f789 Compare July 29, 2026 21:37

gabrieljreed requested review from JeanChristopheMorinPerso and maxnbk July 29, 2026 21:39

gabrieljreed added 5 commits July 30, 2026 08:30

Fix syntax in install_python macro

0f78c7d

Signed-off-by: Gabriel Reed <gabrieljreed@gmail.com>

Add VERBATIM in install_python macro

eba91b6

Signed-off-by: Gabriel Reed <gabrieljreed@gmail.com>

Update documentation

45957ae

Signed-off-by: Gabriel Reed <gabrieljreed@gmail.com>

PR review updates

585c224

- Documentation improvements - Replace default value of non_pathed_env_vars from `CMAKE_MODULE_PATH` to `CMAKE_*_PATH` Signed-off-by: Gabriel Reed <gabrieljreed@gmail.com>

gabrieljreed force-pushed the fix-cmake-on-windows branch from e73f789 to 585c224 Compare July 30, 2026 15:31

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Uh oh!

Allow building with cmake on Windows - #2090

Allow building with cmake on Windows#2090
gabrieljreed wants to merge 5 commits into
AcademySoftwareFoundation:mainfrom
gabrieljreed:fix-cmake-on-windows

gabrieljreed commented Apr 15, 2026 •

edited by JeanChristopheMorinPerso

Loading

Uh oh!

linux-foundation-easycla Bot commented Apr 15, 2026 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

herronelou commented Jun 13, 2026

Uh oh!

maxnbk left a comment

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Uh oh!

gabrieljreed Jul 29, 2026

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Uh oh!

JeanChristopheMorinPerso Jul 25, 2026

Uh oh!

codecov Bot commented Jul 30, 2026 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

4 participants

	# but require forward slashes regardless of the shell. Wildcards are supported.
	# but require forward slashes regardless of the shell. Wildcards are supported.
	# Takes priority over :data:`pathed_env_vars`.

		@@ -558,6 +558,8 @@ def escape_string(self, value, is_path=False):

		@classmethod
		def _is_pathed_key(cls, key):

	def _is_pathed_key(cls, key):
	def _is_pathed_key(cls, key):
	"""Return True if ``key`` is a path-like env var subject to normalization."""

	# normalization applied, even if they match a pattern in ``pathed_env_vars``.
	# normalization applied, even if they match a pattern in :data:`pathed_env_vars`.

	# This setting identifies environment variables that should NOT have path
	# This setting identifies environment variables that should not have path

	``CMAKE_MODULE_PATH`` is already excluded. Both settings support ``fnmatch``-style wildcards.
	``CMAKE_MODULE_PATH`` is already excluded. Both settings support :func:`fnmatch.fnmatch`-style wildcards.

Uh oh!

Conversation

gabrieljreed commented Apr 15, 2026 • edited by JeanChristopheMorinPerso Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Premise

Path normalization

Unterminated string literal in rez_install_python

Changes

Tests

Uh oh!

linux-foundation-easycla Bot commented Apr 15, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

herronelou commented Jun 13, 2026

Uh oh!

maxnbk left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

gabrieljreed Jul 29, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

maxnbk Jul 20, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

JeanChristopheMorinPerso Jul 25, 2026

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

codecov Bot commented Jul 30, 2026 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Codecov Report

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

4 participants

gabrieljreed commented Apr 15, 2026 •

edited by JeanChristopheMorinPerso

Loading

Unterminated string literal in `rez_install_python`

linux-foundation-easycla Bot commented Apr 15, 2026 •

edited

Loading

codecov Bot commented Jul 30, 2026 •

edited

Loading