wxPython/BUILD.unix.txt

   1 Building wxPython on Unix or Unix-like Systems
   2 ----------------------------------------------
   3
   4 The basic steps for building wxPython for Unix or Unix-like systems
   5 are:
   6
   7      1. Compile and/or install glib and gtk+
   8      2. Compile and/or install wxGTK
   9      3. Compile and install wxPython
  10
  11 We'll go into more detail of each of these steps below, but first a
  12 few bits of background information on tools.
  13
  14 I use a tool called SWIG (http://www.swig.org) to help generate the
  15 C++ sources used in the wxPython extension module.  However you don't
  16 need to have SWIG unless you want to modify the *.i files.  If you do
  17 you'll want to have version 1.1-883 of SWIG and you'll need to change
  18 a flag in the setup.py script as described below.
  19
  20 I use the new Python Distutils tool to build wxPython.  It is included
  21 with Python 2.0, but if you want to use Python 1.5.2 or 1.6 then
  22 you'll need to download and install Distutils 1.0 from
  23 http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/
  24
  25 I usually use RedHat Linux when working on the wxGTK version of
  26 wxPython, but I occasionally build and test on Solaris and I hope to
  27 be able to add some other platforms soon.  The compiler I use is
  28 whatever comes with the current version of RedHat I am using.  I find
  29 that there are less portability problems with the RPMs if I don't try
  30 using the latest and greatest compilers all the time.  On the other
  31 platforms I usually stick with as recent a version of GCC that I can
  32 find pre-built for that platform.
  33
  34 Okay, now on the the fun stuff...
  35
  36
  37 1. Compile and/or install glib and gtk+
  38 ---------------------------------------
  39
  40 A. First of all, check and see if you've already got glib/gtk+ on your
  41    system, all the Linux distributions I know of come with it, at
  42    least as an option.  Look for libglib.* and libgtk.* in your system's
  43    standard library directories.  You'll also need the headers and
  44    config scripts in order to build things that use glib/gtk.  Try
  45    running gtk-config:
  46
  47            gtk-config --version
  48
  49    If you have version 1.2.5 or better then you're all set.  You can
  50    skip to step #2.
  51
  52 B. If your system has a binary package mechanism, (RPMs, debs,
  53    whatever...) check and see if binaries for glib abd gtk+ are
  54    available.  Be sure to get the runtime library package as well as
  55    the development package, if they are separate.  Install them with
  56    your package tool, and skip to step #2.
  57
  58 C. If all else fails, you can get the source code for glib and gtk+ at
  59    http://www.gtk.org/.  Fetch the latest of each in the 1.2.x
  60    series.  Compile and install each of them like this:
  61
  62             gzip -d [package].tar.gz | tar xvf -
  63             cd [package]
  64             ./configure
  65             make
  66             make install
  67
  68    The last step will probably have to be done as root.  Also, if your
  69    system needs anything done to update the dynamic loader for shared
  70    libraries, (such as running ldconfig on Linux) then do it after
  71    each library is installed.
  72
  73
  74
  75 2. Compile and/or install wxGTK
  76 -------------------------------
  77
  78 A. You can find the sources and RPMs for wxGTK at
  79    ftp://wesley.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/pub/linux/wxxt/source/, or
  80    just follow the download links from http://wxwindows.org/.  You can
  81    also check out a current snapshot of the sources from the CVS
  82    server.  (Some information about annonymous CVS access is at
  83    http://wxwindows.org/cvs.htm.)  The advantage of using CVS is that
  84    you can easily update as soon as the developers check in new
  85    sources or fixes.  The advantage of using a released version is
  86    that it usually has had more testing done.  You can decide which
  87    method is best for you.
  88
  89 B. You'll usually want to use a version of wxGTK that has the same
  90    version number as the wxPython sources you are using.  (Another
  91    advantage of using CVS is that you'll get both at the same time.)
  92
  93 C. If using the RPMs be sure to get both the wxGTK and wxGTK-devel
  94    RPMs (at a minimum) and then install them as root.
  95
  96         rpm -Uhv wxGTK-2.2.2-0.i386.rpm wxGTK-devel-2.2.2-0.i386.rpm
  97
  98 D. If using the sources (either from the tarball or from CVS) then
  99    configure it like this:
 100
 101         cd wxWindows   # or whatever your top-level directory is called
 102         mkdir build
 103         cd build
 104         ../configure --with-gtk
 105
 106    There are gobs and gobs of options for the configure script, run
 107    ../configure --help to see them all.  I'll describe some that I find
 108    useful here.
 109
 110    If you have OpenGL or compatible libraries installed, then add the
 111    --with-opengl flag.
 112
 113    If you are on Solaris and are using a recent version of GCC, then
 114    you'll probably want to add the --enable-permissive flag so the
 115    compiler won't barf on your broken X11 header files.
 116
 117    To make a debugging version of wxGTK, add the --enable-debug flag.
 118    This sets the -g flag for the compiler and also activates some
 119    special debugging code in wxWindows by defining the __WXDEBUG__
 120    macro.  You'll get some extra asserts, failure logging, etc.
 121
 122    To make a static library and not make a shared library, use the
 123    --disable-shared and --enable-static flags.
 124
 125 E. Now just compile and install.  You need to use GNU make, so if your
 126    system has something else get GNU make and build and install it and
 127    use it instead of your system's default make command.
 128
 129        make
 130        make install
 131
 132    The last step will probably have to be done as root.  Also, if your
 133    system needs anything done to update the dynamic loader for shared
 134    libraries, (such as running ldconfig on Linux) then do it now.
 135
 136 F. You can test your build by changing to one of the directories under
 137    build/samples or build/demos, running make and then running the
 138    executable that is built.
 139
 140
 141
 142 3. Compile and install wxPython
 143 -------------------------------
 144
 145 A. You have the same options (and same advantages/disadvantages) for
 146    getting the wxPython source, either a released snapshot or from
 147    CVS.  The released version file is named wxPython-[version].tar.gz
 148    and is available at http://wxpython.org/download.php.  If you want
 149    to use CVS you'll find wxPython in the wxWindows CVS tree (see
 150    above) in the wxWindows/wxPython directory.
 151
 152 B. As mentioned previouslly, wxPython is built with the standard
 153    Python Distutils tool.  If you are using Python 2.0 or later you
 154    are all set, otherwise you need to download and install Distutils
 155    1.0 from http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/.
 156
 157    On Unix systems Distutils figures out what commands and flags to
 158    use for the compiler and linker by looking in the Makefile that was
 159    used to build Python itself.  Most of the time this works okay.  If
 160    it doesn't, there doesn't seem to be a way to override the values
 161    that Distutils uses without hacking either Distutils itself, or
 162    Python's Makefile.  (Complain to the distutils-sig about this
 163    please.)  For example, on my Solaris system I had to edit
 164    /usr/local/lib/python1.5/config/Makefile and replace
 165
 166          LDSHARED=ld -G
 167
 168    with
 169
 170          LDSHARED=gcc -G
 171
 172    This particular problem has been fixed in Python 1.6 and beyond,
 173    but there may be similar issues on other platforms.
 174
 175    While we're on the subject of how Python was built... Since
 176    wxPython is a C++ extension some platforms and/or compilers will
 177    require that the Python executable was linked with the C++ linker
 178    in order for everything to work correctly.  If you build and
 179    install Python yourself then this is easy to take care of,
 180    otherwise you may have to mess with binary packages or bribe your
 181    system administrator...
 182
 183    In my case on Solaris wxPython applications would core dump on
 184    exit.  The core file indicated that the fault happened after
 185    _exit() was called and the run-time was trying to execute cleanup
 186    code.  After relinking the Python executable the problem went away.
 187    To build Python to link with the C++ linker do this:
 188
 189          cd Python-2.0      # wherever the root of the source tree is
 190          rm python          # in case it's still there from an old build
 191          make LINKCC=g++    # or whatever your C++ command is
 192          make install
 193
 194
 195 C. Change to the root wxPython directory and look at the setup.py
 196    file.  This is the script that configures and defines all the
 197    information that Distutils needs to build wxPython.  There are some
 198    options near the begining of the script that you may want or need
 199    to change based on your system and what options you have selected
 200    up to this point, (sources from tar.gz or from CVS, etc.)  You can
 201    either change these flags directly in setup.py or supply them on
 202    the command-line.
 203
 204         BUILD_GLCANVAS Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 205                        Open GL canvas extension module.  If you don't
 206                        have OpenGL or compatible libraries then you'll
 207                        need to set this to zero.
 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 D. 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.  Depending on the permissions on your
 239    site-packages directory you may need to be root to run the install
 240    command.
 241
 242          python setup.py build
 243          python setup.py install
 244
 245 E. At this point you should be able to change into the wxPython/demo
 246    directory and run the demo:
 247
 248          python demo.py
 249
 250 F. If you would like to make a test build that doesn't overwrite the
 251    installed version of wxPython you can do so with this command
 252    instead of the install command above:
 253
 254          python setup.py build_ext --inplace
 255
 256    This will build the wxPython package in the local wxPython
 257    directory instead of installing it under your Python installation.
 258    To run using this test version just add the base wxPython source
 259    directory to the PYTHONPATH:
 260
 261          export PYTHONPATH=~/projects/wxWindows/wxPython
 262          # or whatever is required for your shell
 263          cd ~/projects/wxWindows/wxPython/demo
 264          python demo.py
 265
 266
 267 That's all folks!
 268
 269
 270 -----------------
 271 robin@alldunn.com