1 wxWindows 2.3 for Motif installation
2 ------------------------------------
6 If you experience problems installing, please re-read these
7 instructions and other related files (todo.txt, bugs.txt and
8 osname.txt for your platform if it exists) carefully before
9 mailing wxwin-users or the author. Preferably, try to fix the
10 problem first and then send a patch to the author.
12 When sending bug reports tell us what version of wxWindows you are
13 using (including the beta) and what compiler on what system. One
14 example: wxMotif 2.3.3, gcc 2.95.4, Redhat 6.1
19 - Prerequisites: Motif 1.2 or above, or Lesstif
20 (not yet tested). Motif 2.0 and above may also be suitable.
22 - Download wxMotif-x.y.z.tgz, where x.y.z is the version number.
23 Download documentation in a preferred format, such as
24 wxWindows-HTML.zip or wxWindows-PDF.zip.
26 - Make a directory such as ~/wx and unarchive the files into this
29 - It is recommended that you install bison and flex; using yacc
30 and lex may require tweaking of the makefiles. You also need
31 libXpm (see comments in the Notes section below) if you want to have
32 XPM support in wxWindows (recommended).
34 - You can now use configure to build wxWindows and the samples.
36 Using configure is the recommended way to build the library. If it doesn't
37 work for you for whatever reason, please report it (together with detailed
38 information about your platform and the (relevant part of) contents of
39 config.log file) to wx-dev@lists.wxwindows.org.
42 COMPILING USING CONFIGURE
43 =========================
48 If you compile wxWindows on Linux for the first time and don't like to read
49 install instructions just do (in the base dir):
51 > ./configure --with-motif
53 > su <type root password>
58 Afterwards you can continue with
61 > su <type root password>
66 If you want to remove wxWindows on Unix you can do this:
68 > su <type root password>
76 If you want to do some more serious cross-platform programming with wxWindows,
77 such as for GTK and Motif, you can now build two complete libraries and use
78 them concurrently. For this end, you have to create a directory for each build
79 of wxWindows - you may also want to create different versions of wxWindows
80 and test them concurrently. Most typically, this would be a version configured
81 with --enable-debug_flag and one without. Note, that only one build can
82 currently be installed, so you'd have to use local version of the library for
83 that purpose. For building three versions (one GTK, one Motif and a debug
84 version of the GTK source) you'd do this:
88 ../configure --with-motif
94 ../configure --with-gtk
100 ../configure --with-gtk --enable-debug_flag
104 * The simplest errors
105 ---------------------
107 You get errors during compilation: The reason is that you probably have a
108 broken compiler. GCC 2.8 and earlier versions and egcs are likely to cause
109 problems due to incomplete support for C++ and optimisation bugs. Best to use
112 You get immediate segfault when starting any sample or application: This is
113 either due to having compiled the library with different flags or options than
114 your program - typically you might have the __WXDEBUG__ option set for the
115 library but not for your program - or due to using a compiler with optimisation
118 * The simplest program
119 ----------------------
121 Now create your super-application myfoo.app and compile anywhere with
123 g++ myfoo.cpp `wx-config --libs --cxxflags` -o myfoo
128 The Unix variants of wxWindows use GNU configure. If you have problems with
129 your make use GNU make instead.
131 If you have general problems with installation, see the wxWindows website at
133 http://www.wxwindows.org/
135 for newest information. If you still don't have any success, please send a bug
136 report to one of our mailing lists (see my homepage) INCLUDING A DESCRIPTION OF
137 YOUR SYSTEM AND YOUR PROBLEM, SUCH AS YOUR VERSION OF MOTIF, WXMOTIF, WHAT
138 DISTRIBUTION YOU USE AND WHAT ERROR WAS REPORTED. I know this has no effect,
144 wxWindows/Motif requires the Motif library to be installed on your system. As
145 an alternative, you may also use the free library "lesstif" which implements
146 most of the Motif API without the licence restrictions of Motif.
148 You can get the newest version of the Lesstif from the lesstif homepage at:
150 http://www.lesstif.org
152 * Additional libraries
153 ----------------------
155 wxWindows/Motif requires a thread library and X libraries known to work with
156 threads. This is the case on all commercial Unix-Variants and all
157 Linux-Versions that are based on glibc 2 except RedHat 5.0 which is broken in
158 many aspects. As of writing this, these Linux distributions have correct glibc
167 You can disable thread support by running
169 ./configure --disable-threads
171 su <type root password>
176 * Building wxMotif on OS/2
177 --------------------------
179 Please send comments and question about the OS/2 installation
180 to Andrea Venturoli <a.ventu@flashnet.it> and patches to
181 the wxWindows mailing list.
183 You'll need OS/2 Warp (4.00FP#6), X-Free86/2 (3.3.3 or newer),
184 Lesstif (0.89.1 or newer), emx (0.9d fix 1), flex (2.5.4),
185 yacc (1.8), unix like shell, e.g. korn shell (5.2.13),
186 Autoconf (2.13), GNU file utilities (3.6),
187 GNU text utilities (1.3), GNU shell utilites (1.12), m4 (1.4),
188 sed (2.05), grep (2.0), Awk (3.0.3), GNU Make (3.76.1).
190 Open an OS/2 prompt and switch to the directory above.
191 First set some global environment variables we need:
193 SET CXXFLAGS=-Zmtd -D__ST_MT_ERRNO__
194 SET CFLAGS=-Zmtd -D__ST_MT_ERRNO__
198 Notice you can choose whatever you want, if you don't like OS2X.
200 Now, run autoconf in the main directory and in the samples, demos
201 and utils subdirectory. This will generate the OS/2 specific
202 versions of the configure scripts. Now run
203 configure --with-motif
206 To verify Lesstif installation, configure will try to compile a
207 sample program that requires X headers/libraries to be either
208 available via C_INCLUDE_PATH and LIBRARY_PATH or you need to
209 explicitly set CFLAGS prior to running configure.
211 If you have pthreads library installed, it will be autodetected
212 and the library will be compiled with thread-support.
214 Note that configure assumes your flex will generate files named
215 "lexyy.c", not "lex.yy.c". If you have a version which does
216 generate "lex.yy.c", you need to manually change the generated
219 * Building wxMotif on SGI
220 -------------------------
222 Using the SGI native compilers, it is recommended that you
223 also set CFLAGS and CXXFLAGS before running configure. These
227 CXXFLAGS="-mips3 -n32"
229 This is essential if you want to use the resultant binaries
230 on any other machine than the one it was compiled on. If you
231 have a 64bit machine (Octane) you should also do this to ensure
232 you don't accidently build the libraries as 64bit (which is
235 The SGI native compiler support has only been tested on Irix 6.5.
237 * Create your configuration
238 ---------------------------
241 ./configure [options]
243 If you want to use system's C and C++ compiler,
244 set environment variables CXX and CC as
248 % ./configure options
250 to see all the options please use:
254 The basic philosophy is that if you want to use different
255 configurations, like a debug and a release version,
256 or use the same source tree on different systems,
257 you have only to change the environment variable OSTYPE.
258 (Sadly this variable is not set by default on some systems
259 in some shells - on SGI's for example). So you will have to
260 set it there. This variable HAS to be set before starting
261 configure, so that it knows which system it tries to
264 Configure will complain if the system variable OSTYPE has
265 not been defined. And Make in some circumstances as well...
271 Given below are the commands to change the default behaviour,
272 i.e. if it says "--disable-threads" it means that threads
273 are enabled by default.
275 Many of the configure options have been thoroughly tested
276 in wxWindows snapshot 6, but not yet all (ODBC not).
278 You have to add --with-motif on platforms, where Motif is
279 not the default (on Linux, configure will default to GTK).
281 --with-motif Use either Motif or Lesstif
282 Configure will look for both.
284 The following options handle the kind of library you want to build.
286 --disable-threads Compile without thread support. Threads
287 support is also required for the
290 --disable-shared Do not create shared libraries.
292 --disable-optimise Do not optimise the code. Can
293 sometimes be useful for debugging
294 and is required on some architectures
295 such as Sun with gcc 2.8.X which
296 would otherwise produce segvs.
298 --enable-profile Add profiling info to the object
299 files. Currently broken, I think.
301 --enable-no_rtti Enable compilation without creation of
302 C++ RTTI information in object files.
303 This will speed-up compilation and reduce
306 --enable-no_exceptions Enable compilation without creation of
307 C++ exception information in object files.
308 This will speed-up compilation and reduce
309 binary size. Also fewer crashes during the
310 actual compilation...
312 --enable-no_deps Enable compilation without creation of
313 dependency information.
315 --enable-permissive Enable compilation without checking for strict
316 ANSI conformance. Useful to prevent the build
317 dying with errors as soon as you compile with
318 Solaris' ANSI-defying headers.
320 --enable-mem_tracing Add built-in memory tracing.
322 --enable-dmalloc Use the dmalloc memory debugger.
323 Read more at www.letters.com/dmalloc/
325 --enable-debug_info Add debug info to object files and
326 executables for use with debuggers
327 such as gdb (or its many frontends).
329 --enable-debug_flag Define __DEBUG__ and __WXDEBUG__ when
330 compiling. This enable wxWindows' very
331 useful internal debugging tricks (such
332 as automatically reporting illegal calls)
333 to work. Note that program and library
334 must be compiled with the same debug
340 Many of the configure options have been thoroughly tested
341 in wxWindows snapshot 6, but not yet all (ODBC not).
343 When producing an executable that is linked statically with wxGTK
344 you'll be surprised at its immense size. This can sometimes be
345 drastically reduced by removing features from wxWindows that
346 are not used in your program. The most relevant such features
349 --without-libpng Disables PNG image format code.
351 --without-libjpeg Disables JPEG image format code.
353 { --without-odbc Disables ODBC code. Not yet. }
355 --disable-resources Disables the use of *.wxr type
358 --disable-threads Disables threads. Will also
361 --disable-sockets Disables sockets.
363 --disable-dnd Disables Drag'n'Drop.
365 --disable-clipboard Disables Clipboard.
367 --disable-serial Disables object instance serialisation.
369 --disable-streams Disables the wxStream classes.
371 --disable-file Disables the wxFile class.
373 --disable-textfile Disables the wxTextFile class.
375 --disable-intl Disables the internationalisation.
377 --disable-validators Disables validators.
379 --disable-accel Disables accel.
381 Apart from disabling certain features you can very often "strip"
382 the program of its debugging information resulting in a significant
388 The following must be done in the base directory (e.g. ~/wxMotif
389 or ~/wxWin or whatever)
391 Now the makefiles are created (by configure) and you can compile
392 the library by typing:
396 make yourself some coffee, as it will take some time. On an old
397 386SX possibly two weeks. During compilation, you'll get a few
398 warning messages depending in your compiler.
400 If you want to be more selective, you can change into a specific
401 directory and type "make" there.
403 Then you may install the library and its header files under
404 /usr/local/include/wx and /usr/local/lib respectively. You
405 have to log in as root (i.e. run "su" and enter the root
410 You can remove any traces of wxWindows by typing
414 If you want to save disk space by removing unnecessary
419 in the various directories will do the work for you.
421 * Creating a new Project
422 ------------------------
424 1) The first way uses the installed libraries and header files
425 automatically using wx-config
427 g++ myfoo.cpp `wx-config --libs` `wx-config --cxxflags` -o myfoo
429 Using this way, a make file for the minimal sample would look
435 $(CXX) -o minimal minimal.o `wx-config --libs`
437 minimal.o: minimal.cpp mondrian.xpm
438 $(CXX) `wx-config --cxxflags` -c minimal.cpp -o minimal.o
443 This is certain to become the standard way unless we decide
446 2) The other way creates a project within the source code
447 directories of wxWindows. For this endeavour, you'll need
448 GNU autoconf version 2.14 and add an entry to your Makefile.in
449 to the bottom of the configure.in script and run autoconf
450 and configure before you can type make.
452 * Further notes by Julian Smart
453 ---------------------------------
455 - You may find the following script useful for compiling wxMotif,
456 especially if installing from zips (which don't preserve file
457 permissions). Make this script executable with the command
458 chmod a+x makewxmotif.
460 -------:x-----Cut here-----:x-----
462 # Sets permissions (in case we extracted wxMotif from zip files)
464 # Call from top-level wxWindows directory.
465 # Note that this uses standard (but commonly-used) configure options;
466 # if you're feeling brave, you may wish to compile with threads:
467 # if they're not supported by the target platform, they will be disabled
470 chmod a+x configure config.sub config.guess
471 ./configure --with-shared --with-motif --without-gtk --with-debug_flag --with-debug_info --enable-debug --without-threads --without-sockets --without-odbc
473 -------:x-----Cut here-----:x-----
475 This script will build wxMotif using shared libraries. If you want to build
476 a static wxWindows library, use --disable-shared.
481 - Solaris compilation with gcc: if the compiler has problems with the variable
482 argument functions, try putting the gcc fixinclude file paths early in the
485 - If you operator-related compile errors or strange memory problems
486 (for example in deletion of string arrays), set wxUSE_GLOBAL_MEMORY_OPERATORS
487 and wxUSE_MEMORY_TRACING to 0 in setup.h, and recompile.
489 - If you get an internal compiler error in gcc, turn off optimisations.
491 - Problems with XtDestroyWidget crashing in ~wxWindow have been
492 reported on SGI IRIX 6.4. This has not yet been resolved, so
493 any advice here would be very welcome. See bugs.txt for a
494 possible temporary workaround (comment out the final
495 XtDestroyWidget from ~wxWindow in window.cpp).
497 - Some compilers, such as Sun C++, may give a lot of warnings about
498 virtual functions being hidden. Please ignore these, it's correct C++ syntax.
499 If you find any incorrect instances, though, such as a
500 missing 'const' in an overridden function, please let us know.
505 - Debugging mode is switched on by default in the makefiles, but using
506 configure will create a release build of the library by default: it's
507 recommended to use --with-debug_info and --with-debug_flag configure
508 switches while developing your application. To compile in non-debug
509 mode, remove the -D__WXDEBUG__ switch in make.env (or if using the
510 configure system, change --with-debug_flag to --without_debug_flag
511 and --with-debug_info to --without-debug_info in the makewxmotif
517 Please send bug reports with a description of your environment,
518 compiler and the error message(s) to the wxwin-developers mailing list at:
520 wx-dev@lists.wxwindows.org
522 Julian Smart, Robert Roebling and Vadim Zeitlin, November 1999.