docs/readme.txt

   1 wxWindows 2.1.10
   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 the major improvements:
  25
  26 wxWindows 2.1.10
  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 - Integration of wxHTML widget and help controller into
  34   wxWindows. wxHTML allows HTML viewing and printing.
  35 - New classes wxChrono, wxDialUpManager, wxFontEnumerator,
  36   wxWizard, etc.
  37 - wxSocket and wxThread classes rewritten.
  38 - Documentation improvements.
  39
  40 Platforms supported
  41 -------------------
  42
  43 wxWindows 2 currently supports the following platforms:
  44
  45 - Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT
  46 - Most Unix variants with Motif/Lesstif
  47 - Most Unix variants with GTK+
  48 - Mac (not covered here: please see the wxWindows web site
  49   for details)
  50
  51 Most popular C++ compilers are supported; see the release notes
  52 (available via docs/html/index.htm) for details.
  53
  54 Files
  55 -----
  56
  57 The distribution is available in a number of formats.
  58 The most convenient is the platform-specific distribution,
  59 but the zip set forms a more complete distribution, for example if
  60 you wish to take part in wxWindows development. Also, add-ons
  61 such as OGL may only be available in zip form.
  62
  63 Zip set
  64 -------
  65
  66 Depending on what you downloaded, you may have one or more of
  67 these ports. You may unarchive any or all of the ports into
  68 the same directory hierarchy. The zip archive set comprises the
  69 following:
  70
  71 wx200gen.zip            Generic source code and samples (required)
  72 wx200msw.zip            Windows-specific source code
  73 wx200mot.zip            Motif-specific source code
  74 wx200gtk.zip            GTK-specific source code
  75 wx200stubs.zip          Stubs ('empty port') source. Needs
  76                         wx200gen.zip/tgz.
  77 wx200doc.zip            Documentation source code (not required)
  78 wx200hlp.zip            WinHelp documentation
  79 wx200pdf.zip            Acrobat PDF documentation
  80 wx200htm.zip            HTML documentation
  81 wx200vc.zip             MS VC++ 5/6 project files
  82 wx200bc.zip             Borland C++ 5 project files
  83 wx200cw.zip             Metrowerks CodeWarrior 4.1 project files
  84 jpeg.zip                Optional JPEG library
  85 ogl3.zip                Optional Object Graphics Library
  86 glcanvas.zip            Optional wxGLCanvas class (Motif, GTK, MSW)
  87 tex2rtf2.zip            Tex2RTF documentation tool
  88
  89 wxWindows for GTK distribution
  90 ------------------------------
  91
  92 wxGTK-2.x.x.tgz         wxGTK source distribution. You will
  93                         need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
  94                         from the zip set (above).
  95
  96 wxWindows for Motif distribution
  97 --------------------------------
  98
  99 wxMotif-2.x.x.tgz       wxMotif source distribution. You will
 100                         need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
 101    -- OR --             from the zip set (above).
 102
 103 wx200gen.zip
 104 wx200msw.zip
 105 wx200mot.zip
 106 jpeg.zip
 107
 108 wxWindows for Windows distribution
 109 ----------------------------------
 110
 111 As well as the core source, the Windows setup contains:
 112
 113 - Windows Help versions of the documentation (docs/winhelp);
 114 - wxGLCanvas (OpenGL integration, in utils/glcanvas);
 115 - OGL 3 (Object Graphics Library, in utils/ogl);
 116 - wxTreeLayout (for tree drawing, in utils/wxtree);
 117 - a Dialog Editor binary;
 118 - the JPEG library.
 119
 120 setup.exe               Setup file (Windows 95/98, NT)
 121 setup.*                 Other setup files
 122
 123 Installation
 124 ------------
 125
 126 wxWindows 2 needs to be compiled before you can test out
 127 the samples or write your own applications.
 128 For installation information, please see the install.txt file
 129 in the individual directories:
 130
 131   docs/msw
 132   docs/gtk
 133   docs/motif
 134
 135 Licence information
 136 -------------------
 137
 138 For licensing information, please see the files:
 139
 140   docs/preamble.txt
 141   docs/licence.txt
 142   docs/licendoc.txt
 143   docs/gpl.txt
 144   docs/lgpl.txt
 145
 146 Although this may seem complex, it is there to allow authors of
 147 proprietary/commercial applications to use wxWindows in
 148 addition to those writing GPL'ed applications. In summary,
 149 the licence is L-GPL plus a clause allowing unrestricted
 150 distribution of application binaries. To answer a FAQ, you
 151 don't have to distribute any source if you wish to write
 152 commercial applications using wxWindows.
 153
 154 Documentation
 155 -------------
 156
 157 See docs/changes.txt for a detailed history of changes to wxWindows 2.
 158 See docs/html/index.htm for an HTML index of the major documents.
 159
 160 The Windows help files are located in docs/winhelp.
 161 The PDF help files are located in docs/pdf.
 162
 163 Further information
 164 -------------------
 165
 166 The wxWindows Web site is located at:
 167
 168   http://www.wxwindows.org
 169
 170 The wxGTK Web site (with further wxGTK-specific files and
 171 information) is located at:
 172
 173   http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~wxxt
 174
 175 The main wxWindows ftp site is at:
 176
 177   ftp://www.remstar.com/pub/wxwin
 178
 179 A wxWindows CD-ROM with the latest distribution plus an HTML
 180 front-end and hundreds of MB of compilers, utilities and other
 181 material may be ordered from the CD-ROM page (see the wxWindows
 182 web site) or contact Julian Smart <julian.smart@ukonline.co.uk>.
 183
 184 Good luck!
 185
 186 The wxWindows Team, November 1999
 187