Highly experimental, unstable code (for determining the

[wxWidgets.git] / src / motif / mdi / README

Motif Multi-Document Interface Version 1.0
------------------------------------------

INTRODUCTION
============

The Motif Multi-Document Interface (MDI) is a collection of C++ classes
that emulates the behavior of the Multi-Document Interface in Microsoft
Windows.  The MDI framework allows a user to view multiple documents (windows)
constrained to a single parent window.


REQUIREMENTS
============

The following are required to build MDI:

   C++ compiler
   X11R5/X11R6
   Motif1.2

   
PLATFORMS
=========

The MDI package is known to compile on the following platforms:

   SGI IRIX 5.2
   SunOS 4.1.3
   Sun Solaris 5.4
   HP-UX 9.05
   AIX 4.1
   Alpha/OSF1 v3.2
   Linux 1.1.90 (gcc version 2.5.8)


INSTALLATION
============

MDI is written in C++.  It does not use any language extensions like
exceptions or templates, so it should compile with most C++ compilers.

To build MDI, you need to set the name of your C++ compiler in the file
"config/MDI.tmpl".  An attempt is made to pick a logical default for your
machine, but if it fails, you will need to edit this file.

After setting your compiler, just type:

   xmkmf
   make Makefiles
   make
      
If successful, the MDI library (libXsw.a) will be created in the "lib"
directory.  Additionally, a short test program (MDItest) will be created
in the "test" directory.

If you are not successful, see the "Possible Problems" section below.  I
have had no luck with imake as it seems to only work on about 1/2 of the
platforms I have tried.  If imake does not work, don't despair.  The MDI
library is really simple to build by hand.  Just follow the following steps
and it will work just fine.  I have given detailed instructions in the
"Possible Problems" section below where I had problems using imake.  If
anyone sees a problem with my Imakefile (I assume there are many), please
let me know.

In order to build the MDI package by hand, do the following:

   1. "cd" into the "lib" directory (cd lib)
   2. Compile all of the source code (CC -g -c *.C).  Your compiler
      name will vary.  Some common compilers are:
         CC:   SGI, Sun, Solaris, HP-UX
         xlC:  AIX RS/6000
         cxx:  Alpha/OSF1
         g++:  Linux
         gcc:  Most other platforms
         
   3. Create the library "libXsw.a" (ar rlv libXsw.a *.o)
   4. Run "ranlib" (not necessary on all machines)
   5. "cd" into the "test" directory (cd ../test)
   6. Compile the source code (see step #2 above)
   7. Link the test program (CC *.o -o MDItest ../lib/libXsw.a \
      -lXm -lXt -lX11).  Again, the compiler name will vary
      
If you still can't get it to work after all of that, email me and I'll give
you a hand.


POSSIBLE PROBLEMS
=================

SunOS 4.1.3
   Kept getting this message when trying to make:
      
      make: Fatal error: Don't know how to make target `XsComponent.o'
      
   I ended up building the library and test case with the following:

      cd lib
      CC -g -c *.C
      ar rlv libXsw.a *.o
      ranlib libXsw.a
      cd ../test
      CC -g -c *.C -I../lib
      CC -g *.o -o MDItest ../lib/libXsw.a -L/usr/lib -lXm -lXt -lX11      


Solaris 5.4
   The generated Makefile had some unsupported options being passed to
   the linker.  I don't know what they were for, so I just removed them.
   All worked fine after that.
   

HP-UX 9.05
   I did not have "xmkmf" on this platform.  To build the library and test
   case, I did the following (paths may vary):

      cd lib
      CC -g -c *.C -I/usr/include/Motif1.2 -I/usr/include/X11R5
      ar rlv libXsw.a *.o
      cd ../test
      CC -g -c *.C -I../lib -I/usr/include/Motif1.2 -I/usr/include/X11R5
      CC -g *.o -o MDItest ../lib/libXsw.a -L/usr/lib/Motif1.2 \
         -L/usr/lib/X11R5 -lXm -lXt -lX11 


AIX 4.1
   Running xmkmf on the top Makefile did not work.  Got the following:

      "./Imakefile", line 8.1: 1506-215 (E) Too many arguments
      specified for macro NamedTargetSubdirs.

   In order to build the library,  I cd'd into both the "lib" and "test"
   directory and did the following there:

      xmkmf
      make
      

Alpha/OSF1 v3.2
   Kept getting this message when trying to make:
      
      Make: Don't know how to make XsComponent.o.  Stop.
      
   I ended up building the library and test case with the following:

      cd lib
      cxx -g -c *.C
      ar rlv libXsw.a *.o
      cd ../test
      cxx -g -c *.C -I../lib
      cxx -g *.o -o MDItest ../lib/libXsw.a -lXm -lXt -lX11      


Linux
   "make Makefiles" did not work correctly.  Just cd'd into both the
   "lib" and "test" directories and type:

      xmkmf
      make

   Also, if you don't have the C++ library (libC.a), you will get some
   undefined symbols like when linking:

      ../lib/libXsw.a(XsComponent.o): Undefined symbol _cout
         referenced from text segment
      ../lib/libXsw.a(XsComponent.o): Undefined symbol
         ostream::operator<<(char const *) referenced from text segment
   
   To get rid of these errors, you will need to recompile the library
   (specifically XsComponent.C) with -DNDEBUG.  This will remove the calls
   to the <iostream> library and will eliminate the need to link with the
   C++ library


DOCUMENTATION
=============

All documentation is written in HTML and can be found in the "doc" directory.
The top-most documentation file is "mdi.html"


AVAILABILITY
===============

The latest version of MDI is available at:

   ftp://itimail.iti-oh.com/pub/project/sws/MDI-<version>.tar.gz
   ftp://itimail.iti-oh.com/pub/project/sws/MDI-<version>.tar.Z
   
The MDI WWW page is located at:

   http://www.iti-oh.com/~sws/mdi.html
   

COPYRIGHT
=========

Copyright (c) 1996  Scott W. Sadler
All rights reserved.

See license conditions in the COPYRIGHT file of the MDI distribution


BUG REPORTS
===========

Please report any bugs, suggestions or criticisms directly to me at the
address below.  I want to make this as quality a software package as
possible: stable, efficient and portable.  It is the feedback from the X
community that makes writing the software worthwhile.

Scott W. Sadler
sws@iti-oh.com
http://www.iti-oh.com/~sws


HISTORY
=======

03-Mar-96   Version 1.0 Released