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_mot.zip
 120 jpeg.zip
 121
 122 wxWindows for Windows distribution
 123 ----------------------------------
 124
 125 As well as the core source, the Windows setup contains:
 126
 127 - Windows Help versions of the documentation (docs/winhelp);
 128 - wxGLCanvas (OpenGL integration, in utils/glcanvas);
 129 - OGL 3 (Object Graphics Library, in utils/ogl);
 130 - wxTreeLayout (for tree drawing, in utils/wxtree);
 131 - a Dialog Editor binary;
 132 - the JPEG library.
 133
 134 setup.exe               Setup file (Windows 95/98, NT)
 135 setup.*                 Other setup files
 136
 137 Installation
 138 ------------
 139
 140 wxWindows 2 needs to be compiled before you can test out
 141 the samples or write your own applications.
 142 For installation information, please see the install.txt file
 143 in the individual directories:
 144
 145   docs/msw
 146   docs/gtk
 147   docs/motif
 148
 149 Licence information
 150 -------------------
 151
 152 For licensing information, please see the files:
 153
 154   docs/preamble.txt
 155   docs/licence.txt
 156   docs/licendoc.txt
 157   docs/gpl.txt
 158   docs/lgpl.txt
 159
 160 Although this may seem complex, it is there to allow authors of
 161 proprietary/commercial applications to use wxWindows in
 162 addition to those writing GPL'ed applications. In summary,
 163 the licence is L-GPL plus a clause allowing unrestricted
 164 distribution of application binaries. To answer a FAQ, you
 165 don't have to distribute any source if you wish to write
 166 commercial applications using wxWindows.
 167
 168 Documentation
 169 -------------
 170
 171 See docs/release.txt for some notes about the current release.
 172
 173 See docs/bugs.txt for a bug list: this file is new and will initially
 174   be edited by hand, later generated from a web-based bug database.
 175
 176 See docs/html/index.htm for an HTML index of the major documents.
 177
 178 See docs/changes.txt for a detailed history of changes to wxWindows 2
 179   (not up-to-date).
 180
 181 The Windows help files are located in docs/winhelp.
 182 The PDF help files are located in docs/pdf.
 183
 184 Further information
 185 -------------------
 186
 187 The wxWindows Web site is located at:
 188
 189   http://www.wxwindows.org
 190
 191 The wxGTK Web site (with further wxGTK-specific files and
 192 information) is located at:
 193
 194   http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~wxxt
 195
 196 The main wxWindows ftp site is at:
 197
 198   ftp://www.remstar.com/pub/wxwin
 199
 200 A wxWindows CD-ROM with the latest distribution plus an HTML
 201 front-end and hundreds of MB of compilers, utilities and other
 202 material may be ordered from the CD-ROM page (see the wxWindows
 203 web site) or contact Julian Smart <julian.smart@ukonline.co.uk>.
 204
 205 Good luck!
 206
 207 The wxWindows Team, November 1999
 208