# INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE

New in version 3.23.

List of libraries that consumers of this library should not treat as direct link dependencies.

This target property may be set to exclude items from a dependent target's final set of direct link dependencies. This property is processed after the `INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT` target property of all other dependencies of the dependent target, so exclusion from direct link dependence takes priority over inclusion.

The initial set of a dependent target's direct link dependencies is specified by its `LINK_LIBRARIES` target property. Indirect link dependencies are specified by the transitive closure of the direct link dependencies' `INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES` properties. Any link dependency may specify additional direct link dependencies using the `INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT` target property. The set of direct link dependencies is then filtered to exclude items named by any dependency's `INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE` target property.

Excluding an item from a dependent target's direct link dependencies does not mean the dependent target won't link the item. The item may still be linked as an indirect link dependency via the `INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES` property on other dependencies.

The value of `INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE` may use `generator expressions`.

Note

The `INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT_EXCLUDE` target property is intended for advanced use cases such as injection of static plugins into a consuming executable. It should not be used as a substitute for organizing normal calls to `target_link_libraries()`.

See the `INTERFACE_LINK_LIBRARIES_DIRECT` target property documentation for more details and examples.