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.  If you do
  22 you'll want to have version 1.1-883 of SWIG and you'll need to change
  23 a flag in the setup.py script as described below.
  24
  25 I use the new Python Distutils tool to build wxPython.  It is included
  26 with Python 2.0, but if you want to use Python 1.5.2 or 1.6 then
  27 you'll need to download and install Distutils 1.0 from
  28 http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/
  29
  30 I use Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 (5.0 with the service packs should work
  31 also) to compile the wxPython C++ sources.  Since I am using Distutils
  32 it should be easier now to build with other win32 compilers such as
  33 the free mingw32 or Borland compilers, but I havn't tried them yet.
  34 If anybody wants to try it I'll take any required patches for the
  35 setup script and for these instructions.
  36
  37 And now on to the fun stuff...
  38
  39
  40
  41 1. Get the wxWindows sources
  42 ----------------------------
  43
  44 A. There are a few possible ways to get sources for wxWindows.  You
  45    can download a released version from http://wxwindows.org/ or you
  46    can get current development sources from the CVS server.  (Some
  47    information about annonymous CVS access is at
  48    http://wxwindows.org/cvs.htm.)  The advantage of using CVS is that
  49    you can easily update as soon as the developers check in new
  50    sources or fixes.  The advantage of using a released version is
  51    that it usually has had more testing done.  You can decide which
  52    method is best for you.
  53
  54 B. You'll usually want to use wxWindows sources that have the same
  55    version number as the wxPython sources you are using.  (Another
  56    advantage of using CVS is that you'll get both at the same time.)
  57
  58 C. Once you get the sources be sure to put them in a path without a
  59    space in it (i.e., NOT c:\Program Files\wx) and set an environment
  60    variable named WXWIN to this directory.  For example:
  61
  62          mkdir \wx2
  63          cd \wx2
  64          unzip wxMSW-2.2.2.zip
  65          set WXWIN=c:\wx2
  66
  67    You'll probably want to add that last line to your autoexec.bat or
  68    System Properties depending on the type of system you are on.
  69
  70 D. Change to the wx2\include\wx\msw directory and copy setup0.h to
  71    setup.h and then edit setup.h.  This is how you control which parts
  72    of wxWindows are compiled into or left out of the build, simply by
  73    turning options on or off.  At a minimum you should set the
  74    following:
  75
  76          wxUSE_NEW_GRID                     1
  77          wxUSE_GLOBAL_MEMORY_OPERATORS      0
  78          wxUSE_LIBTIFF                      1
  79          wxDIALOG_UNIT_COMPATIBILITY        0
  80
  81     I also turn off the following as they are not currently used in
  82     wxPython.  There are probably others that can be turned off to
  83     help save space, but I havn't investigated all the potential
  84     configurations yet.  Please note that wxPython doesn't (yet) check
  85     these flags for its own build, so if you turn off something that
  86     wxPython expects then you'll get link errors later on.
  87
  88          wxUSE_DIALUP_MANAGER               0
  89          wxUSE_DYNLIB_CLASS                 0
  90          wxUSE_DOC_VIEW_ARCHITECTURE        0
  91          wxUSE_PLOT                         0
  92          wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT_ARCHITECTURE_IN_MSW 0
  93
  94
  95     ** NEW **
  96     Be sure that wxUSE_GLCANVAS is defined to be 0 as wxPython now
  97     keeps its own copy of the glcanvas sources and expects that it is
  98     not in the main library.  This is reduce the number of dependant
  99     DLLs on the core library and therefore help reduce 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    (The last one is brand new, you'll need my version of the 2.2.2
 115    sources to get the HYBRID capability.)  Here are some more details:
 116
 117       DEBUG Specified with "FINAL=0" and produces a DLL named
 118             wx[version]d.dll.  This DLL is compiled with full
 119             debugging information and with the __WXDEBUG__ set which
 120             enables some debugging-only code in wxWindows such as
 121             assertions and failure log messages.  The /MDd flag is
 122             used which means that it is linked with the debugging
 123             version of the C runtime library and also that you must
 124             use the debugging version of Python, (python_d.exe and
 125             pythonXX_d.dll) which also means that all extensions
 126             loaded by Python should also have the _d in the name.
 127             With this option you can use the MSVC debugger to trace
 128             though the Python interpreter, as well as the code for the
 129             wxPython extension and the wxWindows DLL.
 130
 131       FINAL Specified with "FINAL=1" and produces a DLL named
 132             wx[version].dll.  This DLL is compiled with optimizations
 133             turned on and without debugging information and without
 134             __WXDEBUG__.  The /MD flag is used which means that you
 135             can use this version with the standard python.exe.  This
 136             is the version that I use when making the binary installer
 137             for win32.
 138
 139      HYBRID Specified with "FINAL=hybrid" and produces a DLL named
 140             wx[version]h.dll.  This DLL is almost the same as the
 141             DEBUG version except the /MD flag is used which means that
 142             you can use the standard python.exe but you still get the
 143             debugging info and the __WXDEBUG__ code enabled.  With the
 144             debugger you can trace through the the code for the
 145             wxPython extension and the wxWindows DLL, but not the
 146             Python interpreter.  You might use this version when you
 147             want to deploy a wxPython app with the __WXDEBUG__ code
 148             enabled.  I use this mode most of the time during
 149             development simply because it's easier than having to
 150             remember to type python_d all the time.
 151
 152    Since different DLL names and object file directories are used you
 153    can build all three types if you like.
 154
 155 C. Change to the wx2\src\msw directory and type the following command,
 156    using the value for FINAL that you want:
 157
 158          nmake -f makefile.vc dll pch USE_GLCANVAS=1 FINAL=hybrid
 159
 160    Your machine will then crunch away for possibly a long time,
 161    depending on your hardware, and when it's done you should have a
 162    DLL and some library files in \wx2\lib.
 163
 164 D. You'll either need to add \wx2\lib to the PATH or copy the DLL file
 165    to a directory already on the PATH so the DLL can be found at runtime.
 166
 167 E. You can test your build by changing to one of the directories under
 168    \wx2\samples or \wx2\demos and typing (using the right FINAL flag):
 169
 170         nmake -f makefile.vc FINAL=hybrid WXUSINGDLL=1
 171
 172    and then executing the resulting .exe file.
 173
 174
 175
 176 3. Get the wxPython sources
 177 ---------------------------
 178
 179 A. You have the same options (and same advantages/disadvantages) for
 180    getting the wxPython source, either a released snapshot or from
 181    CVS.  The released version file is named wxPython-[version].tar.gz
 182    and is available at http://wxpython.org/download.php.  You can use
 183    WinZip to unpack it if you don't have tar and gzip.  If you want to
 184    use CVS you'll find wxPython in the wxWindows CVS tree (see above)
 185    in the wxWindows/wxPython directory.
 186
 187
 188
 189 4. Build and Install wxPython
 190 -----------------------------
 191
 192 A. As mentioned previouslly, wxPython is built with the standard
 193    Python Distutils tool.  If you are using Python 2.0c1 or later you
 194    are all set, otherwise you need to download and install Distutils
 195    1.0 from http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/.
 196
 197 B. Change to the root wxPython directory and look at the setup.py
 198    file.  This is the script that configures and defines all the
 199    information that Distutils needs to build wxPython.  There are some
 200    options near the begining of the script that you may want or need
 201    to change based on what options you have selected up to this point,
 202    (type of DLL built, sources from tar.gz or from CVS, etc.)  You can
 203    either change these flags directly in setup.py or supply them on
 204    the command-line.
 205
 206         BUILD_GLCANVAS Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 207                        Open GL canvas extension module.
 208
 209              BUILD_OGL Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 210                        Object Graphics Library extension module.
 211
 212              BUILD_STC Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 213                        wxStyledTextCtrl (the Scintilla wrapper)
 214                        extension module.
 215
 216               USE_SWIG If you have edited any of the *.i files you
 217                        will need to set this flag to non-zero so SWIG
 218                        will be executed to regenerate the wrapper C++
 219                        and shadow python files.
 220
 221            IN_CVS_TREE If you are using the CVS version of the
 222                        wxWindows and wxPython sources then you will
 223                        need to set this flag to non-zero.  This is
 224                        needed because some source files from the
 225                        wxWindows tree are copied to be under the
 226                        wxPython tree in order to keep Distutils happy.
 227                        With this flag set then setup.py will
 228                        automatically keep these copied sources up to
 229                        date if the original version is ever updated.
 230                        If you are using the tar.gz version of the
 231                        Python sources then these copied sources are
 232                        already present in your source tree.
 233
 234
 235 C. To build and install wxPython you simply need to execute the
 236    setup.py script.  If you have more than one version of Python
 237    installed, be sure to execute setup.py with the version you want to
 238    build wxPython for.
 239
 240    Depending on what kind of wxWindows DLL you built there are
 241    different command-line parameters you'll want to pass to setup (in
 242    addition to possibly one or more of the above):
 243
 244          FINAL:     python setup.py install
 245
 246          DEBUG:     python setup.py build --debug install
 247
 248          HYBRID:    python setup.py HYBRID=1 install
 249
 250
 251 D. At this point you should be able to change into the wxPython\demo
 252    directory and run the demo:
 253
 254          python demo.py
 255
 256 E. If you would like to make a test build that doesn't overwrite the
 257    installed version of wxPython you can do so with one of these
 258    commands instead of the install command above:
 259
 260          FINAL:     python setup.py build_ext --inplace
 261
 262          DEBUG:     python setup.py build_ext --debug --inplace
 263
 264          HYBRID:    python setup.py HYBRID=1 build_ext --inplace
 265
 266    This will build the wxPython package in the local wxPython
 267    directory instead of installing it under your Python installation.
 268    To run using this test version just add the base wxPython source
 269    directory to the PYTHONPATH:
 270
 271          set PYTHONPATH=c:\wx2\wxPython
 272          cd c:\wx2\wxPython\demo
 273          python demo.py
 274
 275
 276 That's all folks!
 277
 278
 279 -----------------
 280 robin@alldunn.com
 281