[wxWidgets.git] / docs / html / faqmsw.htm

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wxWindows 2 for Windows FAQ
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<P>

See also <a href="faq.htm">top-level FAQ page</a>.
<hr>

<h3>Which Windows platforms are supported?</h3>

wxWindows can be used to develop and deliver applications on Windows 3.1, Win32s,
Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT. A Windows CE version is being looked into (see below).<P>

wxWindows 2 is designed to make use of WIN32 features and controls. However, unlike Microsoft,
we have not forgotten users of 16-bit Windows. Most features
work under Windows 3.1, including wxTreeCtrl and wxListCtrl using the generic implementation.
However, don't expect very Windows-specific classes to work, such as wxTaskBarIcon. The wxRegConfig
class doesn't work either because the Windows 3.1 registry is very simplistic. Check out the 16-bit
makefiles to see what other files have been left out.
<P>
16-bit compilation is supported under Visual C++ 1.5, and Borland BC++ 4 to 5.
<P>

wxWindows 2 for Windows will also compile on Unix with gcc using TWIN32 from <a href="http://www.willows.com" target=_top>Willows</a>,
although TWIN32 is still in a preliminary state. The resulting executables are
Unix binaries that work with the TWIN32 Windows API emulator.<P>

You can also compile wxWindows 2 for Windows on Unix with Cygwin or Mingw32, resulting
in executables that will run on Windows. So in theory you could write your applications
using wxGTK or wxMotif, then check/debug your wxWindows for Windows
programs with TWIN32, and finally produce an ix86 Windows executable using Cygwin/Mingw32,
without ever needing a copy of Microsoft Windows. See the Technical Note on the Web site detailing cross-compilation.<P>

<h3>What about Windows CE?</h3>

This is under consideration, though we need to get wxWindows Unicode-aware first.
There are other interesting issues, such as how to combine the menubar and toolbar APIs
as Windows CE requires. But there's no doubt that it will be possible, albeit
by mostly cutting down wxWindows 2 API functionality, and adding a few classes here
and there. Since wxWindows for 2 produces small binaries (less than 300K for
the statically-linked 'minimal' sample), shoehorning wxWindows 2 into a Windows CE device's limited
storage should not be a problem.<P>

<h3>What compilers are supported?</h3>

Please see the wxWindows 2 for Windows install.txt file for up-to-date information, but
currently the following are known to work:<P>

<ul>
<li>Visual C++ 1.5, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0
<li>Borland C++ 4.5, 5.0
<li>Borland C++Builder 1.0, 3.0
<li>Watcom C++ 10.6 (WIN32)
<li>Cygwin b20
<li>Mingw32
<li>MetroWerks CodeWarrior 4
</ul>
<P>

There is a linking problem with Symantec C++ which I hope someone can help solve.
<P>

<h3>Which is the best compiler to use with wxWindows 2?</h3>

It's partly a matter of taste, but I (JACS) prefer Visual C++ since the debugger is very
good, it's very stable, the documentation is extensive, and it generates small executables.
Since project files are plain text, it's easy for me to generate appropriate project files
for wxWindows samples.<P>

Borland C++ is fine - and very fast - but it's hard (impossible?) to use the debugger without using project files, and
the debugger is nowhere near up to VC++'s quality. The IDE isn't great.<P>

C++Builder's power isn't really used with wxWindows since it needs integration with its
own class library (VCL). For wxWindows, I've only used it with makefiles, in which case
it's almost identical to BC++ 5.0 (the same makefiles can be used).<P>

You can't beat Cygwin's price (free), and you can debug adequately using gdb. However, it's
quite slow to compile since it does not use precompiled headers.<P>

CodeWarrior is cross-platform - you can debug and generate Windows executables from a Mac, but not
the other way around I think - but the IDE is, to my mind, a bit primitive.<P>

Watcom C++ is a little slow and the debugger is not really up to today's standards.<P>

<h3>Is Unicode supported?</h3>

No, although there are other internationalisation features.<P>

However, the issues surrounding Unicode support have been looked into so we know
what we need to do, and have some header files ready to use containing appropriate
type definitions. Just about every file in wxWindows will need changes, due to the
pervasive nature of characters and character arrays. Unicode support is needed
for the port to Windows CE (see above).<P>

<h3>Can you compile wxWindows 2 as a DLL?</h3>

Yes (using the Visual C++ makefile), but be aware that distributing DLLs is a thorny issue
and you may be better off compiling statically-linked applications, unless you're
delivering a suite of separate programs, or you're compiling a lot of wxWindows applications
and have limited hard disk space.<P>

With a DLL approach, and with different versions and configurations of wxWindows
needing to be catered for, the end user may end up with a host of large DLLs in his or her Windows system directory,
negating the point of using DLLs. Of course, this is not a problem just associated with
wxWindows!
<P>


<H3>Will wxWindows be compatible with MFC?</H3>

There is a sample which demonstrates MFC and wxWindows code co-existing in the same
application. However, don't expect to be able to enable wxWindows windows with OLE-2
functionality using MFC.<P>


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Commit	Line	Data
ce3ed50d JS	1	<HTML>
	2
	3	<HEAD>
	4	<TITLE>wxWindows 2 for Windows FAQ</TITLE>
	5	</HEAD>
	6
	7	<BODY BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF TEXT=#000000 LINK=#FF0000 VLINK=#000000>
	8
	9	<font face="Arial, Lucida Sans, Helvetica">
	10
	11	<table width=100% border=4 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0>
	12	<tr>
	13	<td bgcolor="#660000">
	14	<font size=+1 face="Arial, Lucida Sans, Helvetica" color="#FFFFFF">
	15	wxWindows 2 for Windows FAQ
	16	</font>
	17	</td>
	18	</tr>
	19	</table>
	20
	21	<P>
	22
	23	See also <a href="faq.htm">top-level FAQ page</a>.
	24	<hr>
	25
b953bdc2	26	<h3>Which Windows platforms are supported?</h3>
ce3ed50d	27
b953bdc2 JS	28	wxWindows can be used to develop and deliver applications on Windows 3.1, Win32s,
	29	Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT. A Windows CE version is being looked into (see below).<P>
	30
	31	wxWindows 2 is designed to make use of WIN32 features and controls. However, unlike Microsoft,
	32	we have not forgotten users of 16-bit Windows. Most features
ce3ed50d	33	work under Windows 3.1, including wxTreeCtrl and wxListCtrl using the generic implementation.
b953bdc2	34	However, don't expect very Windows-specific classes to work, such as wxTaskBarIcon. The wxRegConfig
ce3ed50d JS	35	class doesn't work either because the Windows 3.1 registry is very simplistic. Check out the 16-bit
	36	makefiles to see what other files have been left out.
	37	<P>
	38	16-bit compilation is supported under Visual C++ 1.5, and Borland BC++ 4 to 5.
	39	<P>
	40
b953bdc2 JS	41	wxWindows 2 for Windows will also compile on Unix with gcc using TWIN32 from <a href="http://www.willows.com" target=_top>Willows</a>,
	42	although TWIN32 is still in a preliminary state. The resulting executables are
	43	Unix binaries that work with the TWIN32 Windows API emulator.<P>
	44
	45	You can also compile wxWindows 2 for Windows on Unix with Cygwin or Mingw32, resulting
	46	in executables that will run on Windows. So in theory you could write your applications
	47	using wxGTK or wxMotif, then check/debug your wxWindows for Windows
	48	programs with TWIN32, and finally produce an ix86 Windows executable using Cygwin/Mingw32,
	49	without ever needing a copy of Microsoft Windows. See the Technical Note on the Web site detailing cross-compilation.<P>
	50
	51	<h3>What about Windows CE?</h3>
	52
	53	This is under consideration, though we need to get wxWindows Unicode-aware first.
	54	There are other interesting issues, such as how to combine the menubar and toolbar APIs
	55	as Windows CE requires. But there's no doubt that it will be possible, albeit
	56	by mostly cutting down wxWindows 2 API functionality, and adding a few classes here
	57	and there. Since wxWindows for 2 produces small binaries (less than 300K for
	58	the statically-linked 'minimal' sample), shoehorning wxWindows 2 into a Windows CE device's limited
	59	storage should not be a problem.<P>
	60
ce3ed50d JS	61	<h3>What compilers are supported?</h3>
	62
	63	Please see the wxWindows 2 for Windows install.txt file for up-to-date information, but
	64	currently the following are known to work:<P>
	65
	66	<ul>
	67	<li>Visual C++ 1.5, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0
	68	<li>Borland C++ 4.5, 5.0
	69	<li>Borland C++Builder 1.0, 3.0
	70	<li>Watcom C++ 10.6 (WIN32)
	71	<li>Cygwin b20
	72	<li>Mingw32
	73	<li>MetroWerks CodeWarrior 4
	74	</ul>
	75	<P>
	76
	77	There is a linking problem with Symantec C++ which I hope someone can help solve.
	78	<P>
	79
	80	<h3>Which is the best compiler to use with wxWindows 2?</h3>
	81
	82	It's partly a matter of taste, but I (JACS) prefer Visual C++ since the debugger is very
	83	good, it's very stable, the documentation is extensive, and it generates small executables.
	84	Since project files are plain text, it's easy for me to generate appropriate project files
	85	for wxWindows samples.<P>
	86
	87	Borland C++ is fine - and very fast - but it's hard (impossible?) to use the debugger without using project files, and
	88	the debugger is nowhere near up to VC++'s quality. The IDE isn't great.<P>
	89
	90	C++Builder's power isn't really used with wxWindows since it needs integration with its
	91	own class library (VCL). For wxWindows, I've only used it with makefiles, in which case
	92	it's almost identical to BC++ 5.0 (the same makefiles can be used).<P>
	93
	94	You can't beat Cygwin's price (free), and you can debug adequately using gdb. However, it's
	95	quite slow to compile since it does not use precompiled headers.<P>
	96
	97	CodeWarrior is cross-platform - you can debug and generate Windows executables from a Mac, but not
	98	the other way around I think - but the IDE is, to my mind, a bit primitive.<P>
	99
	100	Watcom C++ is a little slow and the debugger is not really up to today's standards.<P>
	101
	102	<h3>Is Unicode supported?</h3>
	103
	104	No, although there are other internationalisation features.<P>
	105
	106	However, the issues surrounding Unicode support have been looked into so we know
	107	what we need to do, and have some header files ready to use containing appropriate
	108	type definitions. Just about every file in wxWindows will need changes, due to the
	109	pervasive nature of characters and character arrays. Unicode support is needed
b953bdc2	110	for the port to Windows CE (see above).<P>
ce3ed50d	111
b953bdc2	112	<h3>Can you compile wxWindows 2 as a DLL?</h3>
ce3ed50d	113
b953bdc2 JS	114	Yes (using the Visual C++ makefile), but be aware that distributing DLLs is a thorny issue
	115	and you may be better off compiling statically-linked applications, unless you're
	116	delivering a suite of separate programs, or you're compiling a lot of wxWindows applications
	117	and have limited hard disk space.<P>
	118
	119	With a DLL approach, and with different versions and configurations of wxWindows
	120	needing to be catered for, the end user may end up with a host of large DLLs in his or her Windows system directory,
	121	negating the point of using DLLs. Of course, this is not a problem just associated with
	122	wxWindows!
	123	<P>
	124
	125
	126	<H3>Will wxWindows be compatible with MFC?</H3>
	127
	128	There is a sample which demonstrates MFC and wxWindows code co-existing in the same
	129	application. However, don't expect to be able to enable wxWindows windows with OLE-2
	130	functionality using MFC.<P>
ce3ed50d JS	131
	132
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	135	</BODY>
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	137	</HTML>