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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 - Revised configure system for wxGTK and wxMotif; tmake-based
50 system for generating wxMSW makefiles.
51 - Installer for Windows as alternative to zip archives.
52
53 Platforms supported
54 -------------------
55
56 wxWindows 2 currently supports the following platforms:
57
58 - Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT
59 - Most Unix variants with Motif/Lesstif
60 - Most Unix variants with GTK+
61 - Mac (not covered here: please see the wxWindows web site
62 for details)
63
64 Most popular C++ compilers are supported; see the release notes
65 (available via docs/html/index.htm) for details.
66
67 Files
68 -----
69
70 The distribution is available in a number of formats.
71 The most convenient is the platform-specific distribution,
72 but the zip set forms a more complete distribution, for example if
73 you wish to take part in wxWindows development. Also, add-ons
74 such as OGL may only be available in zip form.
75
76 Zip set
77 -------
78
79 Depending on what you downloaded, you may have one or more of
80 these ports. You may unarchive any or all of the ports into
81 the same directory hierarchy. The zip archive set comprises the
82 following, where x is the minor version and y the release number:
83
84 wx2_x_y_gen.zip Generic source code and samples (required)
85 wx2_x_y_msw.zip Windows-specific source code
86 wx2_x_y_mot.zip Motif-specific source code
87 wx2_x_y_gtk.zip GTK-specific source code
88 wx2_x_y_stubs.zip Stubs ('empty port') source. Needs
89 wx2_x_y_gen.zip/tgz.
90 wx2_x_y_doc.zip Documentation source code (not required)
91 wx2_x_y_hlp.zip WinHelp documentation
92 wx2_x_y_pdf.zip Acrobat PDF documentation
93 wx2_x_y_htm.zip HTML documentation
94 wx2_x_y_vc.zip MS VC++ 5/6 project files
95 wx2_x_y_bc.zip Borland C++ 5 project files
96 wx2_x_y_cw.zip Metrowerks CodeWarrior 4.1 project files
97 jpeg.zip Optional JPEG library
98 ogl3.zip Optional Object Graphics Library
99 glcanvas.zip Optional wxGLCanvas class (Motif, GTK, MSW)
100 tex2rtf2.zip Tex2RTF documentation tool
101
102 wxWindows for GTK distribution
103 ------------------------------
104
105 wxGTK-2.x.y.tgz wxGTK source distribution. You will
106 need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
107 from the zip set (above).
108
109 wxWindows for Motif distribution
110 --------------------------------
111
112 wxMotif-2.x.y.tgz wxMotif source distribution. You will
113 need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
114 -- OR -- from the zip set (above).
115
116 wx2_x_y_gen.zip
117 wx2_x_y_msw.zip
118 wx2_x_y_mot.zip
119 jpeg.zip
120
121 wxWindows for Windows distribution
122 ----------------------------------
123
124 As well as the core source, the Windows setup contains:
125
126 - Windows Help versions of the documentation (docs/winhelp);
127 - wxGLCanvas (OpenGL integration, in utils/glcanvas);
128 - OGL 3 (Object Graphics Library, in utils/ogl);
129 - wxTreeLayout (for tree drawing, in utils/wxtree);
130 - a Dialog Editor binary;
131 - the JPEG library.
132
133 setup.exe Setup file (Windows 95/98, NT)
134 setup.* Other setup files
135
136 Installation
137 ------------
138
139 wxWindows 2 needs to be compiled before you can test out
140 the samples or write your own applications.
141 For installation information, please see the install.txt file
142 in the individual directories:
143
144 docs/msw
145 docs/gtk
146 docs/motif
147
148 Licence information
149 -------------------
150
151 For licensing information, please see the files:
152
153 docs/preamble.txt
154 docs/licence.txt
155 docs/licendoc.txt
156 docs/gpl.txt
157 docs/lgpl.txt
158
159 Although this may seem complex, it is there to allow authors of
160 proprietary/commercial applications to use wxWindows in
161 addition to those writing GPL'ed applications. In summary,
162 the licence is L-GPL plus a clause allowing unrestricted
163 distribution of application binaries. To answer a FAQ, you
164 don't have to distribute any source if you wish to write
165 commercial applications using wxWindows.
166
167 Documentation
168 -------------
169
170 See docs/changes.txt for a detailed history of changes to wxWindows 2.
171 See docs/html/index.htm for an HTML index of the major documents.
172
173 The Windows help files are located in docs/winhelp.
174 The PDF help files are located in docs/pdf.
175
176 Further information
177 -------------------
178
179 The wxWindows Web site is located at:
180
181 http://www.wxwindows.org
182
183 The wxGTK Web site (with further wxGTK-specific files and
184 information) is located at:
185
186 http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~wxxt
187
188 The main wxWindows ftp site is at:
189
190 ftp://www.remstar.com/pub/wxwin
191
192 A wxWindows CD-ROM with the latest distribution plus an HTML
193 front-end and hundreds of MB of compilers, utilities and other
194 material may be ordered from the CD-ROM page (see the wxWindows
195 web site) or contact Julian Smart <julian.smart@ukonline.co.uk>.
196
197 Good luck!
198
199 The wxWindows Team, November 1999
200