docs/readme.txt

   1 wxWindows 2.1.11
   2 ----------------
   3
   4 Welcome to wxWindows 2, a sophisticated cross-platform C++
   5 framework for writing advanced GUI applications using (where
   6 possible) the native controls.
   7
   8 In addition to common and advanced GUI facilities such as frames, scrolling
   9 windows, toolbars, tree controls, icons, device contexts, printing,
  10 splitter windows and so on, there are wrappers for common file operations,
  11 and facilities for writing TCP/IP applications, thread handling, and more.
  12 Where certain features are not available on a platform, such as MDI and
  13 tree controls on Unix, they are emulated.
  14
  15 A detailed 1100-page reference manual is supplied in HTML, PDF and
  16 Windows Help form: see the docs hierarchy.
  17
  18 For a quick start, point your Web browser at docs/html/index.htm for a list of
  19 important documents and samples.
  20
  21 Changes in this release
  22 -----------------------
  23
  24 These are some of the major improvements:
  25
  26 wxWindows 2.1.11
  27 ================
  28
  29 - Numerous bug fixes and consistency improvements.
  30 - Further samples.
  31 - Factoring out of some code into base classes, for easier
  32   maintenance.
  33 - Ability to compile library in console (non-GUI) mode.
  34 - Integration of wxHTML widget and help controller into
  35   wxWindows. wxHTML allows HTML viewing and printing (wxGTK
  36   and wxMSW, partial support in wxMotif).
  37 - New classes wxChrono, wxDialUpManager, wxFontEnumerator,
  38   wxWizard, wxStaticLine, etc.
  39 - wxShowTip for showing 'startup tips' to the user.
  40 - wxSocket and wxThread classes rewritten.
  41 - New, consistent drag and drop API (not wxMotif).
  42 - Better-looking dialogs in wxGTK; native message box used
  43   in wxMotif.
  44 - wxSizers reimplemented and used to specify window layout
  45   for some generic dialogs.
  46 - New, more sophisticated wxGrid class (in beta). The old grid
  47   class can still be used.
  48 - Text alignment options in wxStaticText.
  49 - wxImage class extended to read PCX and GIF files.
  50 - Documentation improvements.
  51 - Revised configure system for wxGTK and wxMotif; tmake-based
  52   system for generating wxMSW makefiles.
  53 - Installer for Windows as alternative to zip archives.
  54
  55 Platforms supported
  56 -------------------
  57
  58 wxWindows 2 currently supports the following platforms:
  59
  60 - Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT
  61 - Most Unix variants with Motif/Lesstif
  62 - Most Unix variants with GTK+
  63 - Mac (not covered here: please see the wxWindows web site
  64   for details)
  65
  66 Most popular C++ compilers are supported; see the release notes
  67 (available via docs/html/index.htm) for details.
  68
  69 Files
  70 -----
  71
  72 The distribution is available in a number of formats.
  73 The most convenient is the platform-specific distribution,
  74 but the zip set forms a more complete distribution, for example if
  75 you wish to take part in wxWindows development. Also, add-ons
  76 such as OGL may only be available in zip form.
  77
  78 Zip set
  79 -------
  80
  81 Depending on what you downloaded, you may have one or more of
  82 these ports. You may unarchive any or all of the ports into
  83 the same directory hierarchy. The zip archive set comprises the
  84 following, where x is the minor version and y the release number:
  85
  86 wx2_x_y_gen.zip            Generic source code and samples (required)
  87 wx2_x_y_msw.zip            Windows-specific source code
  88 wx2_x_y_mot.zip            Motif-specific source code
  89 wx2_x_y_gtk.zip            GTK-specific source code
  90 wx2_x_y_stubs.zip          Stubs ('empty port') source. Needs
  91                            wx2_x_y_gen.zip/tgz.
  92 wx2_x_y_doc.zip            Documentation source code (not required)
  93 wx2_x_y_hlp.zip            WinHelp documentation
  94 wx2_x_y_pdf.zip            Acrobat PDF documentation
  95 wx2_x_y_htm.zip            HTML documentation
  96 wx2_x_y_vc.zip             MS VC++ 5/6 project files
  97 wx2_x_y_bc.zip             Borland C++ 5 project files
  98 wx2_x_y_cw.zip             Metrowerks CodeWarrior 4.1 project files
  99 jpeg.zip                   Optional JPEG library
 100 ogl3.zip                   Optional Object Graphics Library
 101 glcanvas.zip               Optional wxGLCanvas class (Motif, GTK, MSW)
 102 tex2rtf2.zip               Tex2RTF documentation tool
 103
 104 wxWindows for GTK distribution
 105 ------------------------------
 106
 107 wxGTK-2.x.y.tgz            wxGTK source distribution. You will
 108                            need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
 109                            from the zip set (above).
 110
 111 wxWindows for Motif distribution
 112 --------------------------------
 113
 114 wxMotif-2.x.y.tgz          wxMotif source distribution. You will
 115                            need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
 116    -- OR --                from the zip set (above).
 117
 118 wx2_x_y_gen.zip
 119 wx2_x_y_msw.zip
 120 wx2_x_y_mot.zip
 121 jpeg.zip
 122
 123 wxWindows for Windows distribution
 124 ----------------------------------
 125
 126 As well as the core source, the Windows setup contains:
 127
 128 - Windows Help versions of the documentation (docs/winhelp);
 129 - wxGLCanvas (OpenGL integration, in utils/glcanvas);
 130 - OGL 3 (Object Graphics Library, in utils/ogl);
 131 - wxTreeLayout (for tree drawing, in utils/wxtree);
 132 - a Dialog Editor binary;
 133 - the JPEG library.
 134
 135 setup.exe               Setup file (Windows 95/98, NT)
 136 setup.*                 Other setup files
 137
 138 Installation
 139 ------------
 140
 141 wxWindows 2 needs to be compiled before you can test out
 142 the samples or write your own applications.
 143 For installation information, please see the install.txt file
 144 in the individual directories:
 145
 146   docs/msw
 147   docs/gtk
 148   docs/motif
 149
 150 Licence information
 151 -------------------
 152
 153 For licensing information, please see the files:
 154
 155   docs/preamble.txt
 156   docs/licence.txt
 157   docs/licendoc.txt
 158   docs/gpl.txt
 159   docs/lgpl.txt
 160
 161 Although this may seem complex, it is there to allow authors of
 162 proprietary/commercial applications to use wxWindows in
 163 addition to those writing GPL'ed applications. In summary,
 164 the licence is L-GPL plus a clause allowing unrestricted
 165 distribution of application binaries. To answer a FAQ, you
 166 don't have to distribute any source if you wish to write
 167 commercial applications using wxWindows.
 168
 169 Documentation
 170 -------------
 171
 172 See docs/release.txt for some notes about the current release.
 173
 174 See docs/bugs.txt for a bug list: this file is new and will initially
 175   be edited by hand, later generated from a web-based bug database.
 176
 177 See docs/html/index.htm for an HTML index of the major documents.
 178
 179 See docs/changes.txt for a detailed history of changes to wxWindows 2
 180   (not up-to-date).
 181
 182 The Windows help files are located in docs/winhelp.
 183 The PDF help files are located in docs/pdf.
 184
 185 Further information
 186 -------------------
 187
 188 The wxWindows Web site is located at:
 189
 190   http://www.wxwindows.org
 191
 192 The wxGTK Web site (with further wxGTK-specific files and
 193 information) is located at:
 194
 195   http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~wxxt
 196
 197 The main wxWindows ftp site is at:
 198
 199   ftp://www.remstar.com/pub/wxwin
 200
 201 A wxWindows CD-ROM with the latest distribution plus an HTML
 202 front-end and hundreds of MB of compilers, utilities and other
 203 material may be ordered from the CD-ROM page (see the wxWindows
 204 web site) or contact Julian Smart <julian.smart@ukonline.co.uk>.
 205
 206 Good luck!
 207
 208 The wxWindows Team, November 1999
 209