Boost >= 1.74 is now required

Documentation/doc/Documentation/Third_party.txt

@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ or <A HREF="https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/1fe2x6kt(v=vs.140).aspx">`h
 The \stl comes with the compiler, and as such no installation is required.
 
 \subsection thirdpartyBoost Boost
-<b>Version 1.72 or later</b>
+<b>Version 1.74 or later</b>
 
 The \boost libraries are a set of portable C++ source libraries.
 Most of \boost libraries are header-only, but a few of them need to be compiled or
@@ -86,7 +86,6 @@ Version supported are <b>GMP Version 5.0.1 or later, MPFR Version 3.0.0 or later
 
 The \boost library also provides a module for multi precision integers and rational numbers:
 <A HREF="https://www.boost.org/doc/libs/release/libs/multiprecision/doc/html/index.html">\boost multiprecision</A>.
-Versions supported are <b>\boost Version 1.72 or later</b>.
 
 The components \cgal, and `CGAL_Qt6` require either \gmp and \mpfr, or \boost multiprecision
 for multi precision numbers. `CGAL_Core` requires \boost multiprecision.

Documentation/doc/Documentation/advanced/Configuration_variables.txt

@@ -103,21 +103,11 @@ other but never both.
 
 \subsection installation_boost Boost Libraries
 
-\subsubsection inst_boost_1_72_plus Version 1.72 and Later
 Starting from \boost 1.72, the cmake config mode can be used for configuring the \boost version
 to use by setting the environment variable `Boost_DIR` to the path containing the file
 `BoostConfig.cmake`. For example if you manually installed \boost 1.77 with `--prefix=<path>`,
 then you should set `Boost_DIR=<path>/lib/cmake/Boost-1.77.0`.
 
-\subsubsection inst_boost_up_2_1_69 Version 1.69 and Earlier
-
-\warning If you have a version of Boost greater than 1.69 already installed on your system, and you want to configure and compile with an earlier version of Boost, then you will need to set the CMake variable `Boost_NO_BOOST_CMAKE` to `ON` (otherwise the `FindBoost.cmake` module of CMake will start searching for `BoostConfig.cmake`, and ignore the `BOOST_ROOT` variable).
-
-In most cases, if \boost is not automatically found, setting the `BOOST_ROOT`
-variable is enough. If it is not, you can specify the header and library
-directories individually. You can also provide the full pathname to a specific compiled library
-if it cannot be found in the library directory or its name is non-standard.
-
 By default, when \boost binary libraries are needed, the shared versions
 are used if present. You can set the variable
 `CGAL_Boost_USE_STATIC_LIBS` to `ON` if you want to link
@@ -128,17 +118,6 @@ the `.dll` files are found by the dynamic linker, at run time.
 For example, you can add the path to the \boost `.dll` to the
 `PATH` environment variable.
 
-| Variable              | Description                                                           | Type        |
-| :-                    | :-                    | :-             |
-| `BOOST_ROOT`\cgalFootnote{The environment variable can be spelled either \cgalFootnoteCode{BOOST_ROOT} or \cgalFootnoteCode{BOOSTROOT}} | Root directory of your \boost installation | Either CMake or Environment |
-| `Boost_INCLUDE_DIR`   | Directory containing the `boost/version.hpp` file  | CMake |
-| `BOOST_INCLUDEDIR`    | Idem | Environment |
-| `Boost_LIBRARY_DIRS`  | Directory containing the compiled \boost libraries  | CMake |
-| `BOOST_LIBRARYDIR`    | Idem | Environment |
-| `Boost_(xyz)_LIBRARY_RELEASE`  | Full pathname to a release build of the compiled 'xyz' \boost library | CMake |
-| `Boost_(xyz)_LIBRARY_DEBUG` | Full pathname to a debug build of the compiled 'xyz' \boost library | CMake |
-
-
 \subsection installation_gmp GMP and MPFR Libraries
 
 Under Windows, auto-linking is used, so only the <I>directory</I>

Installation/CHANGES.md

@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 
 ## [Release 6.1](https://github.com/CGAL/cgal/releases/tag/v6.1)
 
+### General Changes
+- The minimal supported version of Boost is now 1.74.0.
+
 ### [Algebraic Kernel](https://doc.cgal.org/6.1/Manual/packages.html#PkgAlgebraicKernelD)
 
 -   **Breaking change**: Classes based on the RS Library are no longer provided.

Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_SetupBoost.cmake

@@ -17,9 +17,10 @@ set ( CGAL_Boost_Setup TRUE )
 
 include(${CMAKE_CURRENT_LIST_DIR}/CGAL_TweakFindBoost.cmake)
 
-find_package( Boost 1.72 REQUIRED )
+cmake_policy(VERSION 3.12...3.30)
+find_package( Boost 1.74 REQUIRED )
 
-if(Boost_FOUND AND Boost_VERSION VERSION_LESS 1.72)
+if(Boost_FOUND AND Boost_VERSION VERSION_LESS 1.74)
   if(DEFINED Boost_DIR AND NOT Boost_DIR)
     # Unset that cache variable that is set in the cache by FindBoost
     # (while it was searching for boost-cmake).

Installation/cmake/modules/CGAL_SetupCGAL_CoreDependencies.cmake

@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ set_property(GLOBAL PROPERTY CGAL_Core_FOUND TRUE)
 #
 
 function(CGAL_setup_CGAL_Core_dependencies target)
-  find_package( Boost 1.72 REQUIRED )
+  find_package( Boost 1.74 REQUIRED )
   if (NOT CGAL_DISABLE_GMP AND GMP_FOUND)
     use_CGAL_GMP_support(CGAL_Core INTERFACE)
   endif()