wxPython/BUILD.win32.txt

   1 Building wxPython on Win32
   2 --------------------------
   3
   4
   5 Building wxPython for use on win32 systems is a fairly simple process
   6 consisting of just a few steps.  However depending on where you get
   7 your sources from and what your desired end result is, there are
   8 several permutations of those steps.  At a high level the basic steps
   9 are:
  10
  11      1. Get the wxWindows sources
  12      2. Build the wxWindows DLL
  13      3. Get the wxPython sources
  14      4. Build and Install wxPython
  15
  16 We'll go into more detail of each of these steps below, but first a
  17 few bits of background information on tools.
  18
  19 I use a tool called SWIG (http://www.swig.org) to help generate the
  20 C++ sources used in the wxPython extension module.  However you don't
  21 need to have SWIG unless you want to modify the *.i files.  I've made
  22 several modifications to SWIG specific to wxPython's needs and so the
  23 modified sources are included in the wx CVS at .../wxPython/wxSWIG.
  24 If you need to modify the *.i files for wxPython then change to this
  25 directory and run:
  26
  27       nmake -f makefile.vc
  28
  29 Then you'll need to change a flag in the setup.py script as described
  30 below so the wxPython build process will use SWIG if needed.
  31
  32 I use the new Python Distutils tool to build wxPython.  It is included
  33 with Python 2.0, but if you want to use Python 1.5.2 or 1.6 then
  34 you'll need to download and install Distutils 1.0 from
  35 http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/
  36
  37 I use Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 (5.0 with the service packs should work
  38 also) to compile the wxPython C++ sources.  Since I am using Distutils
  39 it should be easier now to build with other win32 compilers such as
  40 the free mingw32 or Borland compilers, but I havn't tried them yet.
  41 If anybody wants to try it I'll take any required patches for the
  42 setup script and for these instructions.
  43
  44 And now on to the fun stuff...
  45
  46
  47
  48 1. Get the wxWindows sources
  49 ----------------------------
  50
  51 A. There are a few possible ways to get sources for wxWindows.  You
  52    can download a released version from http://wxwindows.org/ or you
  53    can get current development sources from the CVS server.  (Some
  54    information about annonymous CVS access is at the
  55    http://wxwindows.org/cvs.htm site.)  The advantage of using CVS is
  56    that you can easily update as soon as the developers check in new
  57    sources or fixes.  The advantage of using a released version is
  58    that it usually has had more thorough testing done.  You can decide
  59    which method is best for you.
  60
  61 B. You'll usually want to use wxWindows sources that have the same
  62    version number as the wxPython sources you are using.  (Another
  63    advantage of using CVS is that you'll get both at the same time.)
  64
  65 C. Once you get the sources be sure to put them in a path without a
  66    space in it (i.e., NOT c:\Program Files\wx) and set an environment
  67    variable named WXWIN to this directory.  For example:
  68
  69          mkdir \wx2
  70          cd \wx2
  71          unzip wxMSW-2.2.2.zip
  72          set WXWIN=c:\wx2
  73
  74    You'll probably want to add that last line to your autoexec.bat or
  75    System Properties depending on the type of system you are on.
  76
  77 D. Change to the wx2\include\wx\msw directory and copy setup0.h to
  78    setup.h and then edit setup.h.  This is how you control which parts
  79    of wxWindows are compiled into or left out of the build, simply by
  80    turning options on or off.  I have the following differences from
  81    the default setup0.h in my setup.h, but you can experiment with
  82    other settings if you like:
  83
  84          WXWIN_COMPATIBILITY_2_2        0
  85          wxDIALOG_UNIT_COMPATIBILITY    0
  86          wxUSE_MEMORY_TRACING           1
  87          wxUSE_CMDLINE_PARSER           0
  88          wxUSE_FSVOLUME                 0
  89          wxUSE_DIALUP_MANAGER           0
  90          wxUSE_TREELAYOUT               0
  91          wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT               1
  92
  93
  94     ** NEW **
  95     Be sure that wxUSE_GLCANVAS is defined to be 0 as wxPython now
  96     keeps its own copy of the glcanvas sources and expects that it is
  97     not in the main library.  This is done to reduce the number of
  98     dependant DLLs on the core library and therefore help reduce
  99     startup time.
 100
 101
 102
 103 2. Build the wxWindows DLL
 104 ---------------------------
 105
 106 A. Although MSVC project files are provided I always use the makefiles
 107    to build wxWindows because by default the flags are compatible with
 108    Python, (and I make sure they stay that way.)  You would have to
 109    edit the project files a bit to make it work otherwise.
 110
 111 B. There are three different types of wxWindows DLLs that can be
 112    produced by the VC makefile simply by providing a flag on the nmake
 113    command-line, I call the three types DEBUG, FINAL, and HYBRID.
 114    Here are some more details:
 115
 116       DEBUG Specified with "FINAL=0" and produces a DLL named
 117             wxmsw[version]d.dll.  This DLL is compiled with full
 118             debugging information and with the __WXDEBUG__ macro set,
 119             which enables some debugging-only code in wxWindows such
 120             as assertions and failure log messages.  The /MDd flag is
 121             used which means that it is linked with the debugging
 122             version of the C runtime library and also that you must
 123             use the debugging version of Python, (python_d.exe and
 124             pythonXX_d.dll) which also means that all extensions
 125             loaded by Python should also have the _d in the name.
 126             With this option you can use the MSVC debugger to trace
 127             though the Python interpreter, as well as the code for the
 128             wxPython extension and the wxWindows DLL.
 129
 130       FINAL Specified with "FINAL=1" and produces a DLL named
 131             wxmsw[version].dll.  This DLL is compiled with optimizations
 132             turned on and without debugging information and without
 133             __WXDEBUG__.  The /MD flag is used which means that you
 134             can use this version with the standard python.exe.  This
 135             is the version that I use when making the binary installer
 136             for win32.
 137
 138      HYBRID Specified with "FINAL=hybrid" and produces a DLL named
 139             wxmsw[version]h.dll.  This DLL is almost the same as the
 140             DEBUG version except the /MD flag is used which means that
 141             you can use the standard python.exe but you still get the
 142             debugging info and the __WXDEBUG__ code enabled.  With the
 143             debugger you can trace through the the code for the
 144             wxPython extension and the wxWindows DLL, but not the
 145             Python interpreter.  You might use this version when you
 146             want to deploy a wxPython app with the __WXDEBUG__ code
 147             enabled.  I use this mode most of the time during
 148             development simply because it's easier than having to
 149             remember to type python_d all the time.
 150
 151    Since different DLL names and object file directories are used you
 152    can build all three types if you like.
 153
 154 C. Change to the wx2\src\msw directory and type the following command,
 155    using the value for FINAL that you want:
 156
 157          nmake -f makefile.vc dll pch FINAL=hybrid
 158
 159    Your machine will then crunch away for possibly a long time,
 160    depending on your hardware, and when it's done you should have a
 161    DLL and some library files in \wx2\lib.
 162
 163 D. You'll either need to add \wx2\lib to the PATH or copy the DLL file
 164    to a directory already on the PATH so the DLL can be found at
 165    runtime.  Another option is to copy the DLL to the directory that
 166    the wxPython pacakge is installed to, for example,
 167    c:\Python22\lib\site-packages\wxPython.
 168
 169 E. You can test your build by changing to one of the directories under
 170    \wx2\samples or \wx2\demos and typing (using the right FINAL flag):
 171
 172         nmake -f makefile.vc FINAL=hybrid WXUSINGDLL=1
 173
 174    and then executing the resulting .exe file.
 175
 176
 177
 178 3. Get the wxPython sources
 179 ---------------------------
 180
 181 A. You have the same options (and same advantages/disadvantages) for
 182    getting the wxPython source, either a released snapshot or from
 183    CVS.  The released version file is named wxPython-[version].tar.gz
 184    and is available at http://wxpython.org/download.php.  You can use
 185    WinZip to unpack it if you don't have tar and gzip.  If you want to
 186    use CVS you'll find wxPython in the wxWindows CVS tree (see above)
 187    in the wxWindows/wxPython directory.
 188
 189
 190
 191 4. Build and Install wxPython
 192 -----------------------------
 193
 194 A. As mentioned previouslly, wxPython is built with the standard
 195    Python Distutils tool.  If you are using Python 2.0 or later you
 196    are all set, otherwise you need to download and install Distutils
 197    1.0 from http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/.
 198
 199 B. Change to the root wxPython directory and look at the setup.py
 200    file.  This is the script that configures and defines all the
 201    information that Distutils needs to build wxPython.  There are some
 202    options near the begining of the script that you may want or need
 203    to change based on what options you have selected up to this point,
 204    (type of DLL built, sources from tar.gz or from CVS, etc.)  You can
 205    either change these flags directly in setup.py or supply them on
 206    the command-line.
 207
 208         BUILD_GLCANVAS Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 209                        Open GL canvas extension module.
 210
 211              BUILD_OGL Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 212                        Object Graphics Library extension module.
 213
 214              BUILD_STC Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 215                        wxStyledTextCtrl (the Scintilla wrapper)
 216                        extension module.
 217
 218               USE_SWIG If you have edited any of the *.i files you
 219                        will need to set this flag to non-zero so SWIG
 220                        will be executed to regenerate the wrapper C++
 221                        and shadow python files.
 222
 223            IN_CVS_TREE If you are using the CVS version of the
 224                        wxWindows and wxPython sources then you will
 225                        need to set this flag to non-zero.  This is
 226                        needed because some source files from the
 227                        wxWindows tree are copied to be under the
 228                        wxPython tree in order to keep Distutils happy.
 229                        With this flag set then setup.py will
 230                        automatically keep these copied sources up to
 231                        date if the original version is ever updated.
 232                        If you are using the tar.gz version of the
 233                        Python sources then these copied sources are
 234                        already present in your source tree.
 235
 236
 237 C. To build and install wxPython you simply need to execute the
 238    setup.py script.  If you have more than one version of Python
 239    installed, be sure to execute setup.py with the version you want to
 240    build wxPython for.
 241
 242    Depending on what kind of wxWindows DLL you built there are
 243    different command-line parameters you'll want to pass to setup (in
 244    addition to possibly one or more of the above):
 245
 246          FINAL:     python setup.py install
 247
 248          DEBUG:     python setup.py build --debug install
 249
 250          HYBRID:    python setup.py HYBRID=1 install
 251
 252    NOTE:  If you get an internal compiler error from MSVC then you
 253    need to edit setup.py and add in the /GX- flag that is normally
 254    commented out.  Just search for "GX-" and uncomment it so it is put
 255    into the cflags list.
 256
 257
 258 D. At this point you should be able to change into the wxPython\demo
 259    directory and run the demo:
 260
 261          python demo.py
 262
 263 E. If you would like to make a test build that doesn't overwrite the
 264    installed version of wxPython you can do so with one of these
 265    commands instead of the install command above:
 266
 267          FINAL:     python setup.py build_ext --inplace
 268
 269          DEBUG:     python setup.py build_ext --debug --inplace
 270
 271          HYBRID:    python setup.py HYBRID=1 build_ext --inplace
 272
 273    This will build the wxPython package in the local wxPython
 274    directory instead of installing it under your Python installation.
 275    To run using this test version just add the base wxPython source
 276    directory to the PYTHONPATH:
 277
 278          set PYTHONPATH=c:\wx2\wxPython
 279          cd c:\wx2\wxPython\demo
 280          python demo.py
 281
 282
 283 That's all folks!
 284
 285
 286 -----------------
 287 robin@alldunn.com
 288