Option to embed Boost JSON (#1701)

andrey-kashcheev · web-flow · commit 5a64c619631d · 2026-06-12T15:46:18.000+02:00
Option to control whether we should use header-only
Boost JSON or as a separate library.
Turn on by default.

Relates-To: DATASDK-97

Signed-off-by: Andrey Kashcheev &lt;ext-andrey.kashcheev@here.com&gt;
diff --git a/.github/workflows/psv_pipelines.yml b/.github/workflows/psv_pipelines.yml
@@ -104,6 +104,22 @@ jobs:
         run: gcc --version && ./scripts/linux/psv/build_psv.sh
         shell: bash
 
+  psv-linux-22-04-gcc11-build-json-lib:
+    name: PSV.Linux.22.04.gcc11.OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON
+    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
+    env:
+      BUILD_TYPE: RelWithDebInfo
+      EXTRA_CMAKE_OPTIONS: -DOLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON=OFF -DOLP_SDK_ENABLE_TESTING=OFF
+    steps:
+      - name: Check out repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v4
+      - name: Install Ubuntu dependencies
+        run: sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -y libboost-all-dev ccache libssl-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev --no-install-recommends
+        shell: bash
+      - name: Compile project with cmake and ccache
+        run: gcc --version && ./scripts/linux/psv/build_psv.sh
+        shell: bash
+
   psv-linux-latest-gcc14-build:
     name: PSV.Linux.latest.gcc14.Tests
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ option(OLP_SDK_NO_EXCEPTION "Disable exception handling" OFF)
 option(OLP_SDK_USE_STD_OPTIONAL "Use std::optional instead of boost::optional with C++17 and above" OFF)
 option(OLP_SDK_USE_STD_ANY "Use std::any instead of boost::any with C++17 and above" OFF)
 option(OLP_SDK_BOOST_THROW_EXCEPTION_EXTERNAL "The boost::throw_exception() is defined externally" OFF)
+option(OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON "Use boost.json in header-only mode." ON)
 option(OLP_SDK_BUILD_EXTERNAL_DEPS "Download and build external dependencies" ON)
 option(OLP_SDK_BUILD_EXAMPLES "Enable examples targets" OFF)
 option(OLP_SDK_MSVC_PARALLEL_BUILD_ENABLE "Enable parallel build on MSVC" ON)
diff --git a/external/boost/CMakeLists.txt b/external/boost/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -34,6 +34,12 @@ endif()
 
 set(PATCH_BOOST_CMD "git apply -v ${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/boost_182_json_noexceptions.diff")
 
+# Skip installation if boost is embedded, otherwise install it to a temporary location and use it from there.
+set(INSTALL_BOOST_CMD ${CMAKE_COMMAND} -E true)
+if (NOT OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    set(INSTALL_BOOST_CMD ${B2_CMD} install --with-json --prefix=${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external_boost_install)
+endif()
+
 configure_file(CMakeLists.txt.boost.in download/CMakeLists.txt @ONLY)
 
 set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE ON)
@@ -52,7 +58,13 @@ if(result)
   message(FATAL_ERROR "Build step for boost failed: ${result}")
 endif()
 
-# We are using boost header only, we don't care about libs
-set(EXTERNAL_BOOST_ROOT ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external_boost PARENT_SCOPE)
-set(EXTERNAL_BOOST_ROOT_INCLUDE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external_boost PARENT_SCOPE)
-set(EXTERNAL_BOOST_ROOT_LIB dummy_path PARENT_SCOPE)
+if (OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    set(EXTERNAL_BOOST_ROOT ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external_boost PARENT_SCOPE)
+    set(EXTERNAL_BOOST_ROOT_INCLUDE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external_boost PARENT_SCOPE)
+    # We are using boost header only, we don't care about libs
+    set(EXTERNAL_BOOST_ROOT_LIB dummy_path PARENT_SCOPE)
+else()
+    set(EXTERNAL_BOOST_ROOT ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external_boost_install PARENT_SCOPE)
+    set(EXTERNAL_BOOST_ROOT_INCLUDE ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external_boost_install/include PARENT_SCOPE)
+    set(EXTERNAL_BOOST_ROOT_LIB ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/external_boost_install/lib PARENT_SCOPE)
+endif ()
diff --git a/external/boost/CMakeLists.txt.boost.in b/external/boost/CMakeLists.txt.boost.in
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ ExternalProject_Add(boost-download
     BUILD_IN_SOURCE     1
     UPDATE_COMMAND      ""
     CONFIGURE_COMMAND   @BOOTSTRAP_CMD@
-    BUILD_COMMAND       "@B2_CMD@" headers
-    INSTALL_COMMAND     ""
+    BUILD_COMMAND       "@B2_CMD@" headers @BOOST_LIBRARIES_ARG@
+    INSTALL_COMMAND     "@INSTALL_BOOST_CMD@"
     TEST_COMMAND        ""
 )
diff --git a/olp-cpp-sdk-authentication/CMakeLists.txt b/olp-cpp-sdk-authentication/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@
 project(olp-cpp-sdk-authentication VERSION 1.25.0)
 set(DESCRIPTION "C++ API library for accessing HERE Account authentication service")
 
-find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
+if (OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
+else ()
+    find_package(Boost COMPONENTS json REQUIRED)
+endif()
 
 file(GLOB_RECURSE AUTHENTICATION_INC "include/*.h*")
 file(GLOB_RECURSE AUTHENTICATION_SRC "src/*.*")
@@ -56,6 +60,14 @@ if(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
         PUBLIC AUTHENTICATION_SHARED_LIBRARY)
 endif()
 
+if (OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME}
+        PRIVATE OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+else ()
+    target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}
+        PRIVATE Boost::json)
+endif()
+
 target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME}
     PRIVATE
         BOOST_ALL_NO_LIB
diff --git a/olp-cpp-sdk-authentication/src/utils/BoostJsonSrc.cpp b/olp-cpp-sdk-authentication/src/utils/BoostJsonSrc.cpp
@@ -17,4 +17,6 @@
  * License-Filename: LICENSE
  */
 
+#if defined(OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
 #include <boost/json/src.hpp>
+#endif
diff --git a/olp-cpp-sdk-core/CMakeLists.txt b/olp-cpp-sdk-core/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -19,7 +19,12 @@
 project(olp-cpp-sdk-core VERSION 1.25.0)
 set(DESCRIPTION "Core network and utility library for the HERE OLP SDK C++")
 
-find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
+if (OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
+else ()
+    find_package(Boost COMPONENTS json REQUIRED)
+endif()
+
 find_package(Threads REQUIRED)
 
 if(OLP_SDK_ENABLE_DEFAULT_CACHE)
@@ -456,6 +461,14 @@ if (OLP_SDK_USE_STD_ANY)
         PUBLIC OLP_SDK_USE_STD_ANY)
 endif()
 
+if (OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME}
+        PRIVATE OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+else ()
+    target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}
+        PRIVATE Boost::json)
+endif()
+
 target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE BOOST_ALL_NO_LIB)
 target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME} PRIVATE BOOST_JSON_NO_LIB)
 
diff --git a/olp-cpp-sdk-core/src/utils/BoostJsonSrc.cpp b/olp-cpp-sdk-core/src/utils/BoostJsonSrc.cpp
@@ -17,4 +17,6 @@
  * License-Filename: LICENSE
  */
 
+#if defined(OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
 #include <boost/json/src.hpp>
+#endif
diff --git a/olp-cpp-sdk-dataservice-read/CMakeLists.txt b/olp-cpp-sdk-dataservice-read/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -22,7 +22,11 @@ file(GLOB_RECURSE INC "include/*.h*")
 file(GLOB_RECURSE SRC "src/*.*")
 
 
-find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
+if (OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
+else ()
+    find_package(Boost COMPONENTS json REQUIRED)
+endif()
 
 add_library(${PROJECT_NAME}
     ${SRC}
@@ -53,6 +57,14 @@ if(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS)
         PUBLIC DATASERVICE_READ_SHARED_LIBRARY)
 endif()
 
+if (OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME}
+        PRIVATE OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+else ()
+    target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}
+        PRIVATE Boost::json)
+endif()
+
 # install component
 file(GLOB API_HEADERS "include/olp/dataservice/read/*.h")
 file(GLOB MODEL_HEADERS "include/olp/dataservice/read/model/*.h")
diff --git a/olp-cpp-sdk-dataservice-read/src/utils/BoostJsonSrc.cpp b/olp-cpp-sdk-dataservice-read/src/utils/BoostJsonSrc.cpp
@@ -17,4 +17,6 @@
  * License-Filename: LICENSE
  */
 
+#if defined(OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
 #include <boost/json/src.hpp>
+#endif
diff --git a/olp-cpp-sdk-dataservice-write/CMakeLists.txt b/olp-cpp-sdk-dataservice-write/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -18,7 +18,11 @@
 project(olp-cpp-sdk-dataservice-write VERSION 1.25.0)
 set(DESCRIPTION "C++ API library for writing data to OLP")
 
-find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
+if (OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    find_package(Boost REQUIRED)
+else ()
+    find_package(Boost COMPONENTS json REQUIRED)
+endif()
 
 set(OLP_SDK_DATASERVICE_WRITE_API_HEADERS
     ./include/olp/dataservice/write/DataServiceWriteApi.h
@@ -189,6 +193,14 @@ target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME}
         BOOST_ALL_NO_LIB
         BOOST_JSON_NO_LIB)
 
+if (OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+    target_compile_definitions(${PROJECT_NAME}
+        PRIVATE OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
+else ()
+    target_link_libraries(${PROJECT_NAME}
+        PRIVATE Boost::json)
+endif()
+
 # Used also in the package config file
 set(PROJECT_LIBS olp-cpp-sdk-core)
 
diff --git a/olp-cpp-sdk-dataservice-write/src/utils/BoostJsonSrc.cpp b/olp-cpp-sdk-dataservice-write/src/utils/BoostJsonSrc.cpp
@@ -17,4 +17,6 @@
  * License-Filename: LICENSE
  */
 
+#if defined(OLP_SDK_EMBED_BOOST_JSON)
 #include <boost/json/src.hpp>
+#endif
