# find\_package(VTK) creates ExternalData directory in build (vtk 9.0.0.rc2)

**URL:** https://discourse.vtk.org/t/find-package-vtk-creates-externaldata-directory-in-build-vtk-9-0-0-rc2/3060
**Category:** Support
**Created:** [April 15, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/find-package-vtk-creates-externaldata-directory-in-build-vtk-9-0-0-rc2/3060 "2020-04-15T15:01:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 3
**Page:** 1

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### Author: ![biagas](https://discourse.vtk.org/user_avatar/discourse.vtk.org/biagas/32/7380_2.png) [@biagas](https://discourse.vtk.org/u/biagas)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2020, 3:01pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/find-package-vtk-creates-externaldata-directory-in-build-vtk-9-0-0-rc2/3060/1 "2020-04-15T15:01:42Z")

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I compiled and installed vtk 9.0.0.rc2.  
When I try to build a small program to use the VTK I compiled, an ‘ExternalData’ subdirectory gets added to my build dir when I call find\_package.  
Here’s the simplest CMakeLists.txt:

```auto
cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 3.10)
project(my_test)
set(VTK_DIR /path/to/my/VTK/9.0.0.rc2/lib64/cmake/vtk-9.0)
find_package(VTK 9.0 REQUIRED RenderingOpenGL2 NO_MODULE PATHS ${VTK_DIR})

```

Contents of build directory after calling CMake:

```auto
CMakeCache.txt
CMakeFiles
ExternalData
Makefile
cmake_install.cmake

```

The ExternalData directory contains an ‘Objects’ directory, which is empty.  
So more of an annoyance than anything.

Is there a flag to use when I compile VTK to prevent this directory from being created when I build projects that use VTK?

Thanks,  
Kathleen

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.vtk.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.vtk.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2020, 3:15pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/find-package-vtk-creates-externaldata-directory-in-build-vtk-9-0-0-rc2/3060/2 "2020-04-15T15:15:39Z")

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Ah, we include `vtkExternalData.cmake` from `vtk-config.cmake`. It looks like we don’t need to do that. Thanks for the report.

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<div class="post-metadata">

### Author: ![ben.boeckel](https://discourse.vtk.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/ea5d25/32.png) [@ben.boeckel](https://discourse.vtk.org/u/ben.boeckel)
#### Post date: [April 15, 2020, 3:18pm UTC](https://discourse.vtk.org/t/find-package-vtk-creates-externaldata-directory-in-build-vtk-9-0-0-rc2/3060/3 "2020-04-15T15:18:16Z")

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[https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/-/merge\_requests/6738/diffs](https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk/-/merge_requests/6738/diffs)