ViennaTools · tobre1 · Jan 6, 2026 · Dec 23, 2025 · Jan 2, 2026 · Dec 23, 2025
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,18 @@ cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.20 FATAL_ERROR)
 project(
   ViennaPS
   LANGUAGES CXX C
-  VERSION 4.1.3)
+  VERSION 4.2.0)
+
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# Include guards
+# --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+if(PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR STREQUAL PROJECT_BINARY_DIR)
+  message(
+    FATAL_ERROR
+      "In-source builds not allowed. Please make a new directory (called a build directory) and run CMake from there."
+  )
+endif()
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Library switches
@@ -25,7 +36,7 @@ option(VIENNAPS_PACKAGE_PYTHON "Build python bindings with intent to publish whe
 
 set(VIENNAPS_LOOKUP_DIRS
     ""
-    CACHE STRING "Directories to account for when searching installed dependencies")
+    CACHE STRING "Directories to account for when searching installed dependencies (VTK or embree)")
 
 list(APPEND CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH ${VIENNAPS_LOOKUP_DIRS})
 
@@ -67,21 +78,14 @@ endif()
 add_library(${PROJECT_NAME} INTERFACE)
 add_library(ViennaTools::${PROJECT_NAME} ALIAS ${PROJECT_NAME})
 
-target_compile_features(${PROJECT_NAME} INTERFACE cxx_std_17)
+target_compile_features(${PROJECT_NAME} INTERFACE cxx_std_20)
 set_target_properties(
   ${PROJECT_NAME}
-  PROPERTIES CXX_STANDARD 17
+  PROPERTIES CXX_STANDARD 20
              CXX_EXTENSIONS OFF
              CXX_STANDARD_REQUIRED ON
              WINDOWS_EXPORT_ALL_SYMBOLS ON)
 
-if(MSVC)
-  # https://learn.microsoft.com/cpp/c-runtime-library/math-constants TODO: In case C++20 is adopted
-  # any time soon: https://cppreference.com/w/cpp/numeric/constants
-
-  target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} INTERFACE _USE_MATH_DEFINES=1)
-endif()
-
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # Include directories
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -101,7 +105,7 @@ include("cmake/cpm.cmake")
 
 CPMAddPackage(
   NAME ViennaCore
-  VERSION 1.8.0
+  VERSION 1.9.0
   GIT_REPOSITORY "https://github.com/ViennaTools/ViennaCore"
   EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL ${VIENNAPS_BUILD_PYTHON}
   OPTIONS "VIENNACORE_USE_GPU ${VIENNAPS_USE_GPU}")
@@ -111,17 +115,16 @@ CPMAddPackage(
   VERSION 1.13.0
   GIT_REPOSITORY "https://github.com/TheLartians/PackageProject.cmake")
 
-CPMFindPackage(
+CPMAddPackage(
   NAME ViennaRay
-  VERSION 3.9.1
+  VERSION 3.10.0
   GIT_REPOSITORY "https://github.com/ViennaTools/ViennaRay"
   EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL ${VIENNAPS_BUILD_PYTHON}
   OPTIONS "VIENNARAY_USE_GPU ${VIENNAPS_USE_GPU}")
 
 CPMFindPackage(
   NAME ViennaLS
-  VERSION 5.3.0
-  GIT_TAG master
+  VERSION 5.4.0
   GIT_REPOSITORY "https://github.com/ViennaTools/ViennaLS"
   EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL ${VIENNAPS_BUILD_PYTHON})
 
@@ -150,8 +153,7 @@ if(VIENNAPS_PRECOMPILE_HEADERS)
 
   target_link_libraries(${LIB_NAME} PRIVATE ${PROJECT_NAME})
   target_compile_definitions(${LIB_NAME} PRIVATE VIENNAPS_USE_PRECOMPILED)
-  target_sources(${LIB_NAME} PRIVATE "lib/specializationsMain.cpp" "lib/specializationsModels.cpp"
-                                     "lib/specializationsGeometries.cpp")
+  target_sources(${LIB_NAME} PRIVATE "lib/specializations.cpp")
 
   set_target_properties(
     ${LIB_NAME}
@@ -174,8 +176,7 @@ endif()
 # Setup GPU
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-# If CUDA or OptiX is not found in ViennaCore, VIENNACORE_PTX_DIR is not set
-if(VIENNAPS_USE_GPU AND VIENNACORE_PTX_DIR)
+if(VIENNAPS_USE_GPU)
   message(STATUS "[ViennaPS] Enabled GPU Support")
   add_subdirectory(gpu)
 else()

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ To install ViennaPS for Python, simply run:
 pip install ViennaPS
 ```
 
-To use ViennaPS in C++, clone the repository and follow the installation steps below.
+To use ViennaPS in C++ follow the CMake instructions below. A ready-to-use CMake template is also available for a quick start: [ViennaPS CMake Template](https://viennatools.github.io/ViennaPS/inst/#cmake-template).
 
 For full documentation, visit [ViennaPS Documentation](https://viennatools.github.io/ViennaPS/).
 
@@ -45,17 +45,17 @@ ViennaPS is also available on the [Python Package Index (PyPI)](https://pypi.org
 
 * Linux (g++ / clang)
 
-* macOS (XCode)
+* macOS (clang)
 
 * Windows (Visual Studio)
 
 ### System Requirements
 
-* C++17 Compiler with OpenMP support
+* C++20 Compiler with OpenMP support
 
 ### ViennaTools Dependencies (installed automatically)
 
-ViennaPS is part of the ViennaTools ecosystem and depends on several lightweight, header-only ViennaTools libraries. During configuration, CMake will look for them and fetch them automatically as part of the ViennaPS build. No separate installation step is required:
+ViennaPS is part of the ViennaTools ecosystem and depends on several lightweight, header-only ViennaTools libraries. During configuration, CMake will look for them and fetch them automatically as part of the ViennaPS build. No separate installation step is required for these dependencies:
 
 * [ViennaCore](https://github.com/ViennaTools/viennacore) 
 * [ViennaLS](https://github.com/ViennaTools/viennals) 
@@ -85,19 +85,9 @@ Alternatively (or additionally), you can use `CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH` if that better
 > [!NOTE]  
 > __For more detailed installation instructions and troubleshooting tips, have a look at the ViennaPS [documentation](https://viennatools.github.io/ViennaPS/inst/).__
 
-ViennaPS is a header-only library, so no formal installation is required. However, following the steps below helps organize and manage dependencies more effectively:
+ViennaPS is a header-only library, so no formal installation is required. To use ViennaPS in your C++ project, refer to the [Integration in CMake projects](#integration-in-cmake-projects) section below.
 
-```bash
-git clone https://github.com/ViennaTools/ViennaPS.git
-cd ViennaPS
-
-cmake -B build && cmake --build build
-cmake --install build --prefix "/path/to/your/custom/install/"
-```
-
-This will install the necessary headers and CMake files to the specified path. If `--prefix` is not specified, it will be installed to the standard path for your system, usually `/usr/local/` on Linux-based systems.
-
-## Building the Python package
+## Building the Python package locally
 
 The Python package can be built and installed using the `pip` command:
 
@@ -132,7 +122,7 @@ We recommend using [CPM.cmake](https://github.com/cpm-cmake/CPM.cmake) to consum
 
 * Installation with CPM
   ```cmake
-  CPMAddPackage("gh:viennatools/viennaps@4.1.3")
+  CPMAddPackage("gh:viennatools/viennaps@4.2.0")
   ```
 
 * With a local installation
@@ -145,6 +135,8 @@ We recommend using [CPM.cmake](https://github.com/cpm-cmake/CPM.cmake) to consum
     target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME} PUBLIC ViennaTools::ViennaPS)
     ```
 
+    > Note: If you installed ViennaPS to a custom location, GPU kernels can not be built, since the CMake configuration does not support this setup. If you need GPU support, please use CPM.cmake.
+
 ### Shared Library
 
 In order to save build time during development, dynamically linked shared libraries can be used if ViennaPS was built with them. This is done by precompiling the most common template specialisations. In order to use shared libraries, use
@@ -157,7 +149,7 @@ If ViennaPS was built with shared libraries and you use ViennaPS in your project
 
 ## GPU Acceleration (Experimental)
 
-As of version 3.4.0, ViennaPS supports GPU acceleration for the ray tracing part of the library. This feature is still experimental and may not work on all systems. Details on how to enable GPU functionality can be found in the [documentation](https://viennatools.github.io/ViennaPS/inst/gpu.html).
+As of version 3.4.0, ViennaPS supports GPU acceleration for the ray tracing part of the library. This feature is still experimental. Details on how to enable GPU functionality can be found in the [documentation](https://viennatools.github.io/ViennaPS/inst/gpu.html).
 
 ## Basic Examples
 

diff --git a/assets/CMake-Example.zip b/assets/CMake-Example.zip
diff --git a/cmake/ViennaPSUtils.cmake b/cmake/ViennaPSUtils.cmake
@@ -1,9 +1,8 @@
 function(viennaps_add_executable target_name source_file)
+  add_executable(${target_name} ${source_file})
+  target_link_libraries(${target_name} PRIVATE ViennaPS)
   if(VIENNAPS_USE_GPU)
-    add_gpu_executable(${target_name} ${source_file})
-  else()
-    add_executable(${target_name} ${source_file})
-    target_link_libraries(${target_name} PRIVATE ViennaPS)
+    add_dependencies(${target_name} ${VIENNAPS_GPU_DEPENDENCIES})
   endif()
 endfunction()
 

diff --git a/cmake/generate_ptx.cmake b/cmake/generate_ptx.cmake
diff --git a/examples/DRAMWiggling/DRAMWiggling.cpp b/examples/DRAMWiggling/DRAMWiggling.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,4 @@
-#include <gds/psGDSReader.hpp>
-#include <geometries/psMakePlane.hpp>
-#include <models/psHBrO2Etching.hpp>
-#include <process/psProcess.hpp>
-#include <psDomain.hpp>
-#include <psUtil.hpp>
+#include <viennaps.hpp>
 
 using namespace viennaps;
 

diff --git a/examples/boschProcess/boschProcessEmulate.cpp b/examples/boschProcess/boschProcessEmulate.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,4 @@
-#include <geometries/psMakeTrench.hpp>
-#include <models/psDirectionalProcess.hpp>
-#include <models/psGeometricDistributionModels.hpp>
-#include <models/psIsotropicProcess.hpp>
-#include <process/psProcess.hpp>
-#include <psUtil.hpp>
+#include <viennaps.hpp>
 
 using namespace viennaps;
 constexpr int D = 2;

diff --git a/examples/boschProcess/boschProcessSimulate.cpp b/examples/boschProcess/boschProcessSimulate.cpp
@@ -1,9 +1,4 @@
-#include <geometries/psMakeTrench.hpp>
-#include <models/psIsotropicProcess.hpp>
-#include <models/psMultiParticleProcess.hpp>
-#include <models/psSingleParticleProcess.hpp>
-#include <process/psProcess.hpp>
-#include <psUtil.hpp>
+#include <viennaps.hpp>
 
 using namespace viennaps;
 constexpr int D = 2;