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.
  36 - New classes wxChrono, wxDialUpManager, wxFontEnumerator,
  37   wxWizard, wxStaticLine, etc.
  38 - wxShowTip for showing 'startup tips' to the user.
  39 - wxSocket and wxThread classes rewritten.
  40 - New, consistent drag and drop API (not wxMotif).
  41 - Better-looking dialogs in wxGTK.
  42 - wxSizers reimplemented and used to specify window layout
  43   for some generic dialogs.
  44 - New, more sophisticated wxGrid class (in beta). The old grid
  45   class can still be used.
  46 - Text alignment options in wxStaticText.
  47 - wxImage class extended to read PCX and GIF files.
  48 - Documentation improvements.
  49
  50 Platforms supported
  51 -------------------
  52
  53 wxWindows 2 currently supports the following platforms:
  54
  55 - Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT
  56 - Most Unix variants with Motif/Lesstif
  57 - Most Unix variants with GTK+
  58 - Mac (not covered here: please see the wxWindows web site
  59   for details)
  60
  61 Most popular C++ compilers are supported; see the release notes
  62 (available via docs/html/index.htm) for details.
  63
  64 Files
  65 -----
  66
  67 The distribution is available in a number of formats.
  68 The most convenient is the platform-specific distribution,
  69 but the zip set forms a more complete distribution, for example if
  70 you wish to take part in wxWindows development. Also, add-ons
  71 such as OGL may only be available in zip form.
  72
  73 Zip set
  74 -------
  75
  76 Depending on what you downloaded, you may have one or more of
  77 these ports. You may unarchive any or all of the ports into
  78 the same directory hierarchy. The zip archive set comprises the
  79 following, where x is the minor version and y the release number:
  80
  81 wx2_x_y_gen.zip            Generic source code and samples (required)
  82 wx2_x_y_msw.zip            Windows-specific source code
  83 wx2_x_y_mot.zip            Motif-specific source code
  84 wx2_x_y_gtk.zip            GTK-specific source code
  85 wx2_x_y_stubs.zip          Stubs ('empty port') source. Needs
  86                            wx2_x_y_gen.zip/tgz.
  87 wx2_x_y_doc.zip            Documentation source code (not required)
  88 wx2_x_y_hlp.zip            WinHelp documentation
  89 wx2_x_y_pdf.zip            Acrobat PDF documentation
  90 wx2_x_y_htm.zip            HTML documentation
  91 wx2_x_y_vc.zip             MS VC++ 5/6 project files
  92 wx2_x_y_bc.zip             Borland C++ 5 project files
  93 wx2_x_y_cw.zip             Metrowerks CodeWarrior 4.1 project files
  94 jpeg.zip                   Optional JPEG library
  95 ogl3.zip                   Optional Object Graphics Library
  96 glcanvas.zip               Optional wxGLCanvas class (Motif, GTK, MSW)
  97 tex2rtf2.zip               Tex2RTF documentation tool
  98
  99 wxWindows for GTK distribution
 100 ------------------------------
 101
 102 wxGTK-2.x.y.tgz            wxGTK source distribution. You will
 103                            need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
 104                            from the zip set (above).
 105
 106 wxWindows for Motif distribution
 107 --------------------------------
 108
 109 wxMotif-2.x.y.tgz          wxMotif source distribution. You will
 110                            need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
 111    -- OR --                from the zip set (above).
 112
 113 wx2_x_y_gen.zip
 114 wx2_x_y_msw.zip
 115 wx2_x_y_mot.zip
 116 jpeg.zip
 117
 118 wxWindows for Windows distribution
 119 ----------------------------------
 120
 121 As well as the core source, the Windows setup contains:
 122
 123 - Windows Help versions of the documentation (docs/winhelp);
 124 - wxGLCanvas (OpenGL integration, in utils/glcanvas);
 125 - OGL 3 (Object Graphics Library, in utils/ogl);
 126 - wxTreeLayout (for tree drawing, in utils/wxtree);
 127 - a Dialog Editor binary;
 128 - the JPEG library.
 129
 130 setup.exe               Setup file (Windows 95/98, NT)
 131 setup.*                 Other setup files
 132
 133 Installation
 134 ------------
 135
 136 wxWindows 2 needs to be compiled before you can test out
 137 the samples or write your own applications.
 138 For installation information, please see the install.txt file
 139 in the individual directories:
 140
 141   docs/msw
 142   docs/gtk
 143   docs/motif
 144
 145 Licence information
 146 -------------------
 147
 148 For licensing information, please see the files:
 149
 150   docs/preamble.txt
 151   docs/licence.txt
 152   docs/licendoc.txt
 153   docs/gpl.txt
 154   docs/lgpl.txt
 155
 156 Although this may seem complex, it is there to allow authors of
 157 proprietary/commercial applications to use wxWindows in
 158 addition to those writing GPL'ed applications. In summary,
 159 the licence is L-GPL plus a clause allowing unrestricted
 160 distribution of application binaries. To answer a FAQ, you
 161 don't have to distribute any source if you wish to write
 162 commercial applications using wxWindows.
 163
 164 Documentation
 165 -------------
 166
 167 See docs/changes.txt for a detailed history of changes to wxWindows 2.
 168 See docs/html/index.htm for an HTML index of the major documents.
 169
 170 The Windows help files are located in docs/winhelp.
 171 The PDF help files are located in docs/pdf.
 172
 173 Further information
 174 -------------------
 175
 176 The wxWindows Web site is located at:
 177
 178   http://www.wxwindows.org
 179
 180 The wxGTK Web site (with further wxGTK-specific files and
 181 information) is located at:
 182
 183   http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~wxxt
 184
 185 The main wxWindows ftp site is at:
 186
 187   ftp://www.remstar.com/pub/wxwin
 188
 189 A wxWindows CD-ROM with the latest distribution plus an HTML
 190 front-end and hundreds of MB of compilers, utilities and other
 191 material may be ordered from the CD-ROM page (see the wxWindows
 192 web site) or contact Julian Smart <julian.smart@ukonline.co.uk>.
 193
 194 Good luck!
 195
 196 The wxWindows Team, November 1999
 197