Use CMake's internal RPATH setting

[Stat1cV01D]

Usually when a binary is built CMake links external libraries with a hardcoded path until cmake install is called. At that point CMake switches RPATH to be more generic. You may read more at the dedicated help page.
Let me know if I missed any detail.

Cheers!

[josephbirkner]

Hey @Stat1cV01D, thanks! I generally like this approach much more than the Python loop. BUT, what is important to consider: The Python loop changes the RPATH not just for the main wheel library, but also for each packaged dependency.so. So I would propose to keep your cmake change, but also keep the patchelf call in Python.

[Stat1cV01D]

I see your reason, but I am not sure it is the approach that is usually taken with CMake-based projects. If I use dependent libraries in a wheel, I'd expect them to either be ready for end users (with proper RPATHs) or in a neighboring CMake project that also follows the similar RPATH strategy.

One other way I didn't explore (as it would require more changes) is to make a wheel out of "cmake install"-ed binaries (so not a POST_BUILD command, but more of a install(CODE...)¹). Would this be a better solution or just a sidestep?

Another point for me personally was to remove the dependency on patchelf as I couldn't install it in a constrained environment (not a sudoer).

Footnotes

1. https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/command/install.html#code ↩

[josephbirkner]

@Stat1cV01D Thanks for the explanation. I agree. Will merge this 👍