docs/readme.txt

   1 wxWindows 2.1
   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 the major improvements:
  25
  26 wxWindows 2.1
  27 =============
  28
  29 - Integration of wxHTML widget and help controller into
  30   wxWindows. wxHTML allows HTML viewing and printing.
  31 - New classes wxChrono, wxDialUpManager, wxFontEnumerator,
  32   TODO
  33 - wxSocket and wxThread classes rewritten.
  34 - Documentation improvements.
  35
  36 Platforms supported
  37 -------------------
  38
  39 wxWindows 2 currently supports the following platforms:
  40
  41 - Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT
  42 - Most Unix variants with Motif/Lesstif
  43 - Most Unix variants with GTK+
  44
  45 Most popular C++ compilers are supported; see the release notes
  46 (available via docs/html/index.htm) for details.
  47
  48 Files
  49 -----
  50
  51 The distribution is available in a number of formats.
  52 The most convenient is the platform-specific distribution,
  53 but the zip set forms a more complete distribution, for example if
  54 you wish to take part in wxWindows development. Also, add-ons
  55 such as OGL may only be available in zip form.
  56
  57 Zip set
  58 -------
  59
  60 Depending on what you downloaded, you may have one or more of
  61 these ports. You may unarchive any or all of the ports into
  62 the same directory hierarchy. The zip archive set comprises the
  63 following:
  64
  65 wx200gen.zip            Generic source code and samples (required)
  66 wx200msw.zip            Windows-specific source code
  67 wx200mot.zip            Motif-specific source code
  68 wx200gtk.zip            GTK-specific source code
  69 wx200stubs.zip          Stubs ('empty port') source. Needs
  70                         wx200gen.zip/tgz.
  71 wx200doc.zip            Documentation source code (not required)
  72 wx200hlp.zip            WinHelp documentation
  73 wx200pdf.zip            Acrobat PDF documentation
  74 wx200htm.zip            HTML documentation
  75 wx200vc.zip             MS VC++ 5/6 project files
  76 wx200bc.zip             Borland C++ 5 project files
  77 wx200cw.zip             Metrowerks CodeWarrior 4.1 project files
  78 jpeg.zip                Optional JPEG library
  79 ogl3.zip                Optional Object Graphics Library
  80 glcanvas.zip            Optional wxGLCanvas class (Motif, GTK, MSW)
  81 tex2rtf2.zip            Tex2RTF documentation tool
  82
  83 wxWindows for GTK distribution
  84 ------------------------------
  85
  86 wxGTK-2.x.x.tgz         wxGTK source distribution. You will
  87                         need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
  88                         from the zip set (above).
  89
  90 wxWindows for Motif distribution
  91 --------------------------------
  92
  93 wxMotif-2.x.x.tgz       wxMotif source distribution. You will
  94                         need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
  95                         from the zip set (above).
  96
  97 wxWindows for Windows distribution
  98 ----------------------------------
  99
 100 As well as the core source, the Windows setup contains:
 101
 102 - Windows Help versions of the documentation (docs/winhelp);
 103 - wxGLCanvas (OpenGL integration, in utils/glcanvas);
 104 - OGL 3 (Object Graphics Library, in utils/ogl);
 105 - wxTreeLayout (for tree drawing, in utils/wxtree);
 106 - a Dialog Editor binary;
 107 - the JPEG library.
 108
 109 setup.exe               Setup file (Windows 95/98, NT)
 110 setup.*                 Other setup files
 111
 112 wxWindows for Mac distribution
 113 ------------------------------
 114
 115 TODO
 116
 117 Installation
 118 ------------
 119
 120 wxWindows 2 needs to be compiled before you can test out
 121 the samples or write your own applications.
 122 For installation information, please see the install.txt file
 123 in the individual directories:
 124
 125   docs/msw
 126   docs/gtk
 127   docs/motif
 128
 129 Licence information
 130 -------------------
 131
 132 For licensing information, please see the files:
 133
 134   docs/preamble.txt
 135   docs/licence.txt
 136   docs/licendoc.txt
 137   docs/gpl.txt
 138   docs/lgpl.txt
 139
 140 Although this may seem complex, it is there to allow authors of
 141 proprietary/commercial applications to use wxWindows in
 142 addition to those writing GPL'ed applications. In summary,
 143 the licence is L-GPL plus a clause allowing unrestricted
 144 distribution of application binaries. To answer a FAQ, you
 145 don't have to distribute any source if you wish to write
 146 commercial applications using wxWindows.
 147
 148 Documentation
 149 -------------
 150
 151 See docs/changes.txt for a detailed history of changes to wxWindows 2.
 152 See docs/html/index.htm for an HTML index of the major documents.
 153
 154 The Windows help files are located in docs/winhelp.
 155 The PDF help files are located in docs/pdf.
 156
 157 Further information
 158 -------------------
 159
 160 The wxWindows Web site is located at:
 161
 162   http://www.wxwindows.org
 163
 164 The wxGTK Web site (with further wxGTK-specific files and
 165 information) is located at:
 166
 167   http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~wxxt
 168
 169 The main wxWindows ftp site is at:
 170
 171   ftp://www.remstar.com/pub/wxwin
 172
 173 A wxWindows CD-ROM with the latest distribution plus an HTML
 174 front-end and hundreds of MB of compilers, utilities and other
 175 material may be ordered from the CD-ROM page (see the wxWindows
 176 web site) or contact Julian Smart <julian.smart@ukonline.co.uk>.
 177
 178 Good luck!
 179
 180 The wxWindows Team, November 1999
 181