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 - 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