Add CMake target for embedding the Python interpreter

All targets provided by pybind11:

* pybind11::module - the existing target for creating extension modules
* pybind11::embed - new target for embedding the interpreter
* pybind11::pybind11 - common "base" target (headers only)

CMakeLists.txt

@@ -84,18 +84,25 @@ endif()
 
 if(NOT (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.0))  # CMake >= 3.0
   # Build an interface library target:
+  add_library(pybind11 INTERFACE)
+  add_library(pybind11::pybind11 ALIAS pybind11)  # to match exported target
+  target_include_directories(pybind11 INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PYBIND11_INCLUDE_DIR}>
+                                                $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS}>
+                                                $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>)
+  target_compile_options(pybind11 INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PYBIND11_CPP_STANDARD}>)
+
   add_library(module INTERFACE)
-  target_include_directories(module INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PYBIND11_INCLUDE_DIR}>
+  add_library(pybind11::module ALIAS module)
-                                              $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS}>
+  target_link_libraries(module INTERFACE pybind11::pybind11)
-                                              $<INSTALL_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR}>)
   if(WIN32 OR CYGWIN)
     target_link_libraries(module INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PYTHON_LIBRARIES}>)
   elseif(APPLE)
     target_link_libraries(module INTERFACE "-undefined dynamic_lookup")
   endif()
-  target_compile_options(module INTERFACE $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PYBIND11_CPP_STANDARD}>)
 
-  add_library(pybind11::module ALIAS module)  # to match exported target
+  add_library(embed INTERFACE)
+  add_library(pybind11::embed ALIAS embed)
+  target_link_libraries(embed INTERFACE pybind11::pybind11 $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${PYTHON_LIBRARIES}>)
 endif()
 
 if (PYBIND11_INSTALL)
@@ -122,7 +129,7 @@ if (PYBIND11_INSTALL)
           DESTINATION ${PYBIND11_CMAKECONFIG_INSTALL_DIR})
 
   if(NOT (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.0))
-    install(TARGETS module
+    install(TARGETS pybind11 module embed
             EXPORT "${PROJECT_NAME}Targets")
     install(EXPORT "${PROJECT_NAME}Targets"
             NAMESPACE "${PROJECT_NAME}::"

tests/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -233,6 +233,9 @@ if(NOT CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.1)
 
   pybind11_add_build_test(subdirectory_function)
   pybind11_add_build_test(subdirectory_target)
+  if(NOT ${PYTHON_MODULE_EXTENSION} MATCHES "pypy")
+    pybind11_add_build_test(subdirectory_embed)
+  endif()
 
   if(PYBIND11_INSTALL)
     add_custom_target(mock_install ${CMAKE_COMMAND}
@@ -242,6 +245,9 @@ if(NOT CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.1)
 
     pybind11_add_build_test(installed_function INSTALL)
     pybind11_add_build_test(installed_target INSTALL)
+    if(NOT ${PYTHON_MODULE_EXTENSION} MATCHES "pypy")
+      pybind11_add_build_test(installed_embed INSTALL)
+    endif()
   endif()
 endif()
 

tests/test_cmake_build/embed.cpp

@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+#include <pybind11/pybind11.h>
+#include <pybind11/eval.h>
+namespace py = pybind11;
+
+PyObject *make_module() {
+    py::module m("test_cmake_build");
+
+    m.def("add", [](int i, int j) { return i + j; });
+
+    return m.ptr();
+}
+
+int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
+    if (argc != 2)
+        throw std::runtime_error("Expected test.py file as the first argument");
+    auto test_py_file = argv[1];
+
+    PyImport_AppendInittab("test_cmake_build", &make_module);
+    Py_Initialize();
+    {
+        auto m = py::module::import("test_cmake_build");
+        if (m.attr("add")(1, 2).cast<int>() != 3)
+            throw std::runtime_error("embed.cpp failed");
+
+        auto globals = py::module::import("__main__").attr("__dict__");
+        py::module::import("sys").attr("argv") = py::make_tuple("test.py", "embed.cpp");
+        py::eval_file(test_py_file, globals);
+    }
+    Py_Finalize();
+}

tests/test_cmake_build/installed_embed/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
+project(test_installed_embed CXX)
+
+set(CMAKE_MODULE_PATH "")
+find_package(pybind11 CONFIG REQUIRED)
+message(STATUS "Found pybind11 v${pybind11_VERSION}: ${pybind11_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
+
+add_executable(test_cmake_build ../embed.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(test_cmake_build PRIVATE pybind11::embed)
+
+# Do not treat includes from IMPORTED target as SYSTEM (Python headers in pybind11::embed).
+# This may be needed to resolve header conflicts, e.g. between Python release and debug headers.
+set_target_properties(test_cmake_build PROPERTIES NO_SYSTEM_FROM_IMPORTED ON)
+
+add_custom_target(check $<TARGET_FILE:test_cmake_build> ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/../test.py)

tests/test_cmake_build/subdirectory_embed/CMakeLists.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.0)
+project(test_subdirectory_embed CXX)
+
+add_subdirectory(${PYBIND11_PROJECT_DIR} pybind11)
+
+add_executable(test_cmake_build ../embed.cpp)
+target_link_libraries(test_cmake_build PRIVATE pybind11::embed)
+
+add_custom_target(check $<TARGET_FILE:test_cmake_build> ${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/../test.py)

tools/pybind11Config.cmake.in

@@ -21,18 +21,27 @@
 # Exported targets::
 #
 # If pybind11 is found, this module defines the following :prop_tgt:`IMPORTED`
-# target. Python headers, libraries (as needed by platform), and C++ standard
+# interface library targets::
+#
+#   pybind11::module - for extension modules
+#   pybind11::embed - for embedding the Python interpreter
+#
+# Python headers, libraries (as needed by platform), and the C++ standard
 # are attached to the target. Set PythonLibsNew variables to influence
 # python detection and PYBIND11_CPP_STANDARD (-std=c++11 or -std=c++14) to
 # influence standard setting. ::
 #
-#   pybind11::module - the main pybind11 interface library for extension modules (i.e., headers)
-#
 #   find_package(pybind11 CONFIG REQUIRED)
-#   message(STATUS "Found pybind11: ${pybind11_INCLUDE_DIR} (found version ${pybind11_VERSION} & Py${PYTHON_VERSION_STRING})")
+#   message(STATUS "Found pybind11 v${pybind11_VERSION}: ${pybind11_INCLUDE_DIRS}")
+#
+#   # Create an extension module
 #   add_library(mylib MODULE main.cpp)
 #   target_link_libraries(mylib pybind11::module)
 #
+#   # Or embed the Python interpreter into an executable
+#   add_executable(myexe main.cpp)
+#   target_link_libraries(myexe pybind11::embed)
+#
 # Suggested usage::
 #
 # find_package with version info is not recommended except for release versions. ::
@@ -71,21 +80,21 @@ if(NOT (CMAKE_VERSION VERSION_LESS 3.0))
 # Don't include targets if this file is being picked up by another
 # project which has already built this as a subproject
 #-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-if(NOT TARGET ${PN}::module)
+if(NOT TARGET ${PN}::pybind11)
     include("${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/${PN}Targets.cmake")
 
     find_package(PythonLibsNew ${PYBIND11_PYTHON_VERSION} MODULE REQUIRED)
-    set_property(TARGET ${PN}::module APPEND PROPERTY INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES ${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+    set_property(TARGET ${PN}::pybind11 APPEND PROPERTY INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES ${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS})
+    set_property(TARGET ${PN}::embed APPEND PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES})
     if(WIN32 OR CYGWIN)
       set_property(TARGET ${PN}::module APPEND PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES ${PYTHON_LIBRARIES})
     endif()
 
     select_cxx_standard()
-    set_property(TARGET ${PN}::module APPEND PROPERTY INTERFACE_COMPILE_OPTIONS "${PYBIND11_CPP_STANDARD}")
+    set_property(TARGET ${PN}::pybind11 APPEND PROPERTY INTERFACE_COMPILE_OPTIONS "${PYBIND11_CPP_STANDARD}")
 
-    get_property(_iid TARGET ${PN}::module PROPERTY INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES)
+    get_property(_iid TARGET ${PN}::pybind11 PROPERTY INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES)
     get_property(_ill TARGET ${PN}::module PROPERTY INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES)
-    get_property(_ico TARGET ${PN}::module PROPERTY INTERFACE_COMPILE_OPTIONS)
     set(${PN}_INCLUDE_DIRS ${_iid})
     set(${PN}_LIBRARIES ${_ico} ${_ill})
 endif()