FindLua — CMake 4.3.3 Documentation

# FindLua

Finds the Lua library:

    find_package(Lua [<version>] [...])

Lua is a embeddable scripting language.

Added in version 3.18: Support for Lua 5.4.

Added in version 4.3: Support for Lua 5.5.

When working with Lua, its library headers are intended to be included in project source code as:

    #include <lua.h>

and not:

    #include <lua/lua.h>

This is because, the location of Lua headers may differ across platforms and may exist in locations other than `lua/`.

## Result Variables

This module defines the following variables:

`Lua_FOUND`

  Added in version 3.3.

  Boolean indicating whether (the requested version of) Lua was found.

`Lua_VERSION`

  Added in version 4.2.

  The version of Lua found.

`Lua_VERSION_MAJOR`

  Added in version 4.2.

  The major version of Lua found.

`Lua_VERSION_MINOR`

  Added in version 4.2.

  The minor version of Lua found.

`Lua_VERSION_PATCH`

  Added in version 4.2.

  The patch version of Lua found.

`LUA_LIBRARIES`

  Libraries needed to link against to use Lua. This list includes both `lua` and `lualib` libraries.

## Cache Variables

The following cache variables may also be set:

`LUA_INCLUDE_DIR`

  The directory containing the Lua header files, such as `lua.h`, `lualib.h`, and `lauxlib.h`, needed to use Lua.

## Deprecated Variables

The following variables are provided for backward compatibility:

`LUA_FOUND`

  Deprecated since version 4.2: Use `Lua_FOUND`, which has the same value.

  Boolean indicating whether (the requested version of) Lua was found.

`LUA_VERSION_STRING`

  Deprecated since version 4.2: Superseded by the `Lua_VERSION`.

  The version of Lua found.

`LUA_VERSION_MAJOR`

  Deprecated since version 4.2: Superseded by the `Lua_VERSION_MAJOR`.

  The major version of Lua found.

`LUA_VERSION_MINOR`

  Deprecated since version 4.2: Superseded by the `Lua_VERSION_MINOR`.

  The minor version of Lua found.

`LUA_VERSION_PATCH`

  Deprecated since version 4.2: Superseded by the `Lua_VERSION_PATCH`.

  The patch version of Lua found.

## Examples

Finding the Lua library and creating an interface imported target that encapsulates its usage requirements for linking to a project target:

    find_package(Lua)

    if(Lua_FOUND AND NOT TARGET Lua::Lua)
      add_library(Lua::Lua INTERFACE IMPORTED)
      set_target_properties(
        Lua::Lua
        PROPERTIES
          INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES "${LUA_INCLUDE_DIR}"
          INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES "${LUA_LIBRARIES}"
      )
    endif()

    target_link_libraries(project_target PRIVATE Lua::Lua)