wxPython/BUILD.win32.txt

   1 Building wxPython on Win32
   2 --------------------------
   3
   4
   5 Building wxPython for use on win32 systems is a fairly simple process
   6 consisting of just a few steps.  However depending on where you get
   7 your sources from and what your desired end result is, there are
   8 several permutations of those steps.  At a high level the basic steps
   9 are:
  10
  11      1. Get the wxWindows sources
  12      2. Build the wxWindows DLL
  13      3. Get the wxPython sources
  14      4. Build and Install wxPython
  15
  16 We'll go into more detail of each of these steps below, but first a
  17 few bits of background information on tools.
  18
  19 I use a tool called SWIG (http://www.swig.org) to help generate the
  20 C++ sources used in the wxPython extension module.  However you don't
  21 need to have SWIG unless you want to modify the *.i files.  If you do
  22 you'll want to have version 1.1-883 of SWIG and you'll need to apply
  23 the patches and updates in wxPython/SWIG and rebuild it.  Then you'll
  24 need to change a flag in the setup.py script as described below so the
  25 wxPython build process will use SWIG if needed.
  26
  27 I use the new Python Distutils tool to build wxPython.  It is included
  28 with Python 2.0, but if you want to use Python 1.5.2 or 1.6 then
  29 you'll need to download and install Distutils 1.0 from
  30 http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/
  31
  32 I use Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 (5.0 with the service packs should work
  33 also) to compile the wxPython C++ sources.  Since I am using Distutils
  34 it should be easier now to build with other win32 compilers such as
  35 the free mingw32 or Borland compilers, but I havn't tried them yet.
  36 If anybody wants to try it I'll take any required patches for the
  37 setup script and for these instructions.
  38
  39 And now on to the fun stuff...
  40
  41
  42
  43 1. Get the wxWindows sources
  44 ----------------------------
  45
  46 A. There are a few possible ways to get sources for wxWindows.  You
  47    can download a released version from http://wxwindows.org/ or you
  48    can get current development sources from the CVS server.  (Some
  49    information about annonymous CVS access is at
  50    http://wxwindows.org/cvs.htm.)  The advantage of using CVS is that
  51    you can easily update as soon as the developers check in new
  52    sources or fixes.  The advantage of using a released version is
  53    that it usually has had more testing done.  You can decide which
  54    method is best for you.
  55
  56 B. You'll usually want to use wxWindows sources that have the same
  57    version number as the wxPython sources you are using.  (Another
  58    advantage of using CVS is that you'll get both at the same time.)
  59
  60 C. Once you get the sources be sure to put them in a path without a
  61    space in it (i.e., NOT c:\Program Files\wx) and set an environment
  62    variable named WXWIN to this directory.  For example:
  63
  64          mkdir \wx2
  65          cd \wx2
  66          unzip wxMSW-2.2.2.zip
  67          set WXWIN=c:\wx2
  68
  69    You'll probably want to add that last line to your autoexec.bat or
  70    System Properties depending on the type of system you are on.
  71
  72 D. Change to the wx2\include\wx\msw directory and copy setup0.h to
  73    setup.h and then edit setup.h.  This is how you control which parts
  74    of wxWindows are compiled into or left out of the build, simply by
  75    turning options on or off.  I have the following differences from
  76    the default setup0.h in my setup.h, but you can experiment with
  77    other settings if you like:
  78
  79          wxDIALOG_UNIT_COMPATIBILITY   0
  80          wxUSE_GLOBAL_MEMORY_OPERATORS 0
  81          wxUSE_DEBUG_NEW_ALWAYS        0
  82          wxUSE_CMDLINE_PARSER          0
  83          wxUSE_DIALUP_MANAGER          0
  84          wxUSE_DYNAMIC_LOADER          0
  85          wxUSE_TREELAYOUT              0
  86          wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT              1
  87
  88
  89     ** NEW **
  90     Be sure that wxUSE_GLCANVAS is defined to be 0 as wxPython now
  91     keeps its own copy of the glcanvas sources and expects that it is
  92     not in the main library.  This is done to reduce the number of
  93     dependant DLLs on the core library and therefore help reduce
  94     startup time.
  95
  96
  97
  98 2. Build the wxWindows DLL
  99 ---------------------------
 100
 101 A. Although MSVC project files are provided I always use the makefiles
 102    to build wxWindows because by default the flags are compatible with
 103    Python, (and I make sure they stay that way.)  You would have to
 104    edit the project files a bit to make it work otherwise.
 105
 106 B. There are three different types of wxWindows DLLs that can be
 107    produced by the VC makefile simply by providing a flag on the nmake
 108    command-line, I call the three types DEBUG, FINAL, and HYBRID.
 109    (The last one is brand new, you'll need my version of the 2.2.2
 110    sources to get the HYBRID capability.)  Here are some more details:
 111
 112       DEBUG Specified with "FINAL=0" and produces a DLL named
 113             wx[version]d.dll.  This DLL is compiled with full
 114             debugging information and with the __WXDEBUG__ set which
 115             enables some debugging-only code in wxWindows such as
 116             assertions and failure log messages.  The /MDd flag is
 117             used which means that it is linked with the debugging
 118             version of the C runtime library and also that you must
 119             use the debugging version of Python, (python_d.exe and
 120             pythonXX_d.dll) which also means that all extensions
 121             loaded by Python should also have the _d in the name.
 122             With this option you can use the MSVC debugger to trace
 123             though the Python interpreter, as well as the code for the
 124             wxPython extension and the wxWindows DLL.
 125
 126       FINAL Specified with "FINAL=1" and produces a DLL named
 127             wx[version].dll.  This DLL is compiled with optimizations
 128             turned on and without debugging information and without
 129             __WXDEBUG__.  The /MD flag is used which means that you
 130             can use this version with the standard python.exe.  This
 131             is the version that I use when making the binary installer
 132             for win32.
 133
 134      HYBRID Specified with "FINAL=hybrid" and produces a DLL named
 135             wx[version]h.dll.  This DLL is almost the same as the
 136             DEBUG version except the /MD flag is used which means that
 137             you can use the standard python.exe but you still get the
 138             debugging info and the __WXDEBUG__ code enabled.  With the
 139             debugger you can trace through the the code for the
 140             wxPython extension and the wxWindows DLL, but not the
 141             Python interpreter.  You might use this version when you
 142             want to deploy a wxPython app with the __WXDEBUG__ code
 143             enabled.  I use this mode most of the time during
 144             development simply because it's easier than having to
 145             remember to type python_d all the time.
 146
 147    Since different DLL names and object file directories are used you
 148    can build all three types if you like.
 149
 150 C. Change to the wx2\src\msw directory and type the following command,
 151    using the value for FINAL that you want:
 152
 153          nmake -f makefile.vc dll pch FINAL=hybrid
 154
 155    Your machine will then crunch away for possibly a long time,
 156    depending on your hardware, and when it's done you should have a
 157    DLL and some library files in \wx2\lib.
 158
 159 D. You'll either need to add \wx2\lib to the PATH or copy the DLL file
 160    to a directory already on the PATH so the DLL can be found at runtime.
 161
 162 E. You can test your build by changing to one of the directories under
 163    \wx2\samples or \wx2\demos and typing (using the right FINAL flag):
 164
 165         nmake -f makefile.vc FINAL=hybrid WXUSINGDLL=1
 166
 167    and then executing the resulting .exe file.
 168
 169
 170
 171 3. Get the wxPython sources
 172 ---------------------------
 173
 174 A. You have the same options (and same advantages/disadvantages) for
 175    getting the wxPython source, either a released snapshot or from
 176    CVS.  The released version file is named wxPython-[version].tar.gz
 177    and is available at http://wxpython.org/download.php.  You can use
 178    WinZip to unpack it if you don't have tar and gzip.  If you want to
 179    use CVS you'll find wxPython in the wxWindows CVS tree (see above)
 180    in the wxWindows/wxPython directory.
 181
 182
 183
 184 4. Build and Install wxPython
 185 -----------------------------
 186
 187 A. As mentioned previouslly, wxPython is built with the standard
 188    Python Distutils tool.  If you are using Python 2.0c1 or later you
 189    are all set, otherwise you need to download and install Distutils
 190    1.0 from http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/.
 191
 192 B. Change to the root wxPython directory and look at the setup.py
 193    file.  This is the script that configures and defines all the
 194    information that Distutils needs to build wxPython.  There are some
 195    options near the begining of the script that you may want or need
 196    to change based on what options you have selected up to this point,
 197    (type of DLL built, sources from tar.gz or from CVS, etc.)  You can
 198    either change these flags directly in setup.py or supply them on
 199    the command-line.
 200
 201         BUILD_GLCANVAS Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 202                        Open GL canvas extension module.
 203
 204              BUILD_OGL Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 205                        Object Graphics Library extension module.
 206
 207              BUILD_STC Set to zero if you don't want to build the
 208                        wxStyledTextCtrl (the Scintilla wrapper)
 209                        extension module.
 210
 211               USE_SWIG If you have edited any of the *.i files you
 212                        will need to set this flag to non-zero so SWIG
 213                        will be executed to regenerate the wrapper C++
 214                        and shadow python files.
 215
 216            IN_CVS_TREE If you are using the CVS version of the
 217                        wxWindows and wxPython sources then you will
 218                        need to set this flag to non-zero.  This is
 219                        needed because some source files from the
 220                        wxWindows tree are copied to be under the
 221                        wxPython tree in order to keep Distutils happy.
 222                        With this flag set then setup.py will
 223                        automatically keep these copied sources up to
 224                        date if the original version is ever updated.
 225                        If you are using the tar.gz version of the
 226                        Python sources then these copied sources are
 227                        already present in your source tree.
 228
 229
 230 C. To build and install wxPython you simply need to execute the
 231    setup.py script.  If you have more than one version of Python
 232    installed, be sure to execute setup.py with the version you want to
 233    build wxPython for.
 234
 235    Depending on what kind of wxWindows DLL you built there are
 236    different command-line parameters you'll want to pass to setup (in
 237    addition to possibly one or more of the above):
 238
 239          FINAL:     python setup.py install
 240
 241          DEBUG:     python setup.py build --debug install
 242
 243          HYBRID:    python setup.py HYBRID=1 install
 244
 245    NOTE:  If you get an internal compiler error from MSVC then you
 246    need to edit setup.py and add in the /GX- flag that is normally
 247    commented out.  Just search for "GX-" and uncomment it so it is put
 248    into the cflags list.
 249
 250
 251 D. At this point you should be able to change into the wxPython\demo
 252    directory and run the demo:
 253
 254          python demo.py
 255
 256 E. If you would like to make a test build that doesn't overwrite the
 257    installed version of wxPython you can do so with one of these
 258    commands instead of the install command above:
 259
 260          FINAL:     python setup.py build_ext --inplace
 261
 262          DEBUG:     python setup.py build_ext --debug --inplace
 263
 264          HYBRID:    python setup.py HYBRID=1 build_ext --inplace
 265
 266    This will build the wxPython package in the local wxPython
 267    directory instead of installing it under your Python installation.
 268    To run using this test version just add the base wxPython source
 269    directory to the PYTHONPATH:
 270
 271          set PYTHONPATH=c:\wx2\wxPython
 272          cd c:\wx2\wxPython\demo
 273          python demo.py
 274
 275
 276 That's all folks!
 277
 278
 279 -----------------
 280 robin@alldunn.com
 281