Building wxPython 2.5 for Development and Testing
=================================================
-This file describes how I build wxWindows and wxPython while doing
+This file describes how I build wxWidgets and wxPython while doing
development and testing, and is meant to help other people that want
to do the same thing. I'll assume that you are using either a CVS
-snapshot from http://wxwindows.org/snapshots/, a checkout from CVS, or
+snapshot from http://wxWidgets.org/snapshots/, a checkout from CVS, or
one of the released wxPythonSrc-2.5.* tarballs. I'll also assume that
-you know your way around your system, the compiler, etc. and that you
-know what you are doing! ;-)
+you know your way around your system, the compiler, etc. and most
+importantly, that you know what you are doing! ;-)
If you want to also install the version of wxPython you build to be in
your site-packages dir and be your default version of wxPython, then a
few additional steps are needed, and you may want to use slightly
-different options. See INSTALL.txt for more details. If you only use
-the instructions in this BUILD.txt file then you will end up with a
-separate installation of wxPython and you can switch back and forth
-between this and the release version that you may already have
-installed.
+different options. See the INSTALL_ document for more details. If
+you only use the instructions in this BUILD_ document file then you
+will end up with a separate installation of wxPython and you can
+switch back and forth between this and the release version that you
+may already have installed.
+
+.. _INSTALL: INSTALL.html
+.. _BUILD: BUILD.html
If you want to make changes to any of the ``*.i`` files, (SWIG interface
definition files,) or to regenerate the extension sources or renamer
executable and the wxPython build will use it. See below for an
example.
+In the text below I'll use WXDIR with environment variable syntax
+(either $WXDIR or %WXDIR%) to refer to the top level directory were
+your wxWidgerts and wxPython sources are located. It will equate to
+whereever you checked out the wxWidgets module from CVS, or untarred
+the wxPythonSrc tarball to. You can either substitute the $WXDIR text
+below with your actual dir, or set the value in the environment and
+use it just like you see it below.
+
+If you run into what appears to be compatibility issues between
+wxWidgets and wxPython while building wxPython, be sure you are using
+the wxWidgets sources included with the wxPythonSrc tarball or the CVS
+snapshot, and not a previously installed version or a version
+installed from one of the standard wxWidgets installers. With the
+"unstable" releases (have a odd-numbered minor release value, where
+the APIs are allowed to change) there are often significant
+differences between the W.X.Y release of wxWidgets and the W.X.Y.Z
+release of wxPython.
These platforms are built almost the same way while in development
so I'll combine the descriptions about their build process here.
-First we will build wxWindows and install it to an out of the way
+First we will build wxWidgets and install it to an out of the way
place, then do the same for wxPython.
-1. Create a build directory in the main wxWindows dir, and configure
- wxWindows. If you want to have multiple builds with different
+1. Create a build directory in the main wxWidgets dir, and configure
+ wxWidgets. If you want to have multiple builds with different
configure options, just use different subdirectories. I normally
put the configure command in a script named ".configure" in each
build dir so I can easily blow away everything in the build dir and
rerun the script without having to remember the options I used
before::
- mkdir bld
- cd bld
- ../configure --prefix=/opt/wx/2.5 \
- --with-gtk \
- --with-opengl \
- --disable-monolithic \
- --enable-debug \
- --enable-geometry \
-
+ cd $WXDIR
+ mkdir bld
+ cd bld
+ ../configure --prefix=/opt/wx/2.5 \
+ --with-gtk \
+ --with-opengl \
+ --disable-monolithic \
+ --enable-debug \
+ --enable-geometry \
+ --enable-sound --with-sdl \
+ --enable-display \
+
On OS X of course you'll want to use --with-mac instead of
- --with-gtk. For GTK2 and unicode add:
-
- --enable-gtk2 \
- --enable-unicode \
+ --with-gtk. For GTK2 and unicode add::
+
+ --enable-gtk2 \
+ --enable-unicode \
Notice that I used a prefix of /opt/wx/2.5. You can use whatever
path you want, such as a path in your HOME dir or even one of the
standard prefix paths such as /usr or /usr/local if you like, but
using /opt this way lets me easily have multiple versions and ports
- of wxWindows "installed" and makes it easy to switch between them,
- without impacting any versions of wxWindows that may have been
+ of wxWidgets "installed" and makes it easy to switch between them,
+ without impacting any versions of wxWidgets that may have been
installed via an RPM or whatever. For the rest of the steps below
be sure to also substitute "/opt/wx/2.5" with whatever prefix you
choose for your build.
If you want to use the image and zlib libraries included with
- wxWindows instead of those already installed on your system, (for
+ wxWidgets instead of those already installed on your system, (for
example, to reduce dependencies on 3rd party libraries) then you
can add these flags to the configure command::
--with-zlib=builtin \
-2. To build and install wxWindows you could just use the "make"
- command but there are other libraries besides the main wxWindows
+2. To build and install wxWidgets you could just use the "make"
+ command but there are other libraries besides the main wxWidgets
libs that also need to be built so again I make a script to do it
all for me so I don't forget anything. This time it is called
".make" (I use the leading ". so when I do ``rm -r *`` in my build
the execute bit on .make first!::
.make
- .make install
+ .make install
When it's done you should have an installed set of files under
- /opt/wx/2.5 containing just wxWindows. Now to use this version of
- wxWindows you just need to add /opt/wx/2.5/bin to the PATH and set
+ /opt/wx/2.5 containing just wxWidgets. Now to use this version of
+ wxWidgets you just need to add /opt/wx/2.5/bin to the PATH and set
LD_LIBRARY_PATH (or DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH on OS X) to /opt/wx/2.5/lib.
3. I also have a script to help me build wxPython and it is checked in
- to the CVS as wxWindows/wxPython/b, but probably don't want to use
- it as it's very cryptic and expects that you want to run SWIG, so
- if you don't have the latest patched up version of SWIG then you'll
- probably get stuck. So I'll just give the raw commands instead.
+ to the CVS as wxWidgets/wxPython/b, but you probably don't want to
+ use it as it's very cryptic and expects that you want to run SWIG,
+ so if you don't have the latest patched up version of SWIG then
+ you'll probably get stuck. So I'll just give the raw commands
+ instead.
We're not going to install the development version of wxPython with
these commands, so it won't impact your already installed version
of the latest release. You'll be able test with this version when
you want to, and use the installed release version the rest of the
- time. If do want to install the development verison please read
+ time. If you want to install the development version please read
INSTALL.txt.
If you have more than one version of Python on your system then be
using python2.3.
Make sure that the first wx-config found on the PATH is the one you
- installed above, and then change to the wxWindows/wxPython dir and
+ installed above, and then change to the $WXDIR/wxPython dir and
run the this command::
- cd wxPython
- python2.3 setup.py build_ext --inplace --debug
+ cd $WXDIR/wxPython
+ python2.3 setup.py build_ext --inplace --debug
If your new wx-config script is not on the PATH, or there is some
other version of it found first, then you can add this to the
command line to ensure your new one is used instead::
- WX_CONFIG=/opt/wx/2.5/bin/wx-config
+ WX_CONFIG=/opt/wx/2.5/bin/wx-config
If you are building with GTK2 then add the following flags to the
command line::
- WXPORT=gtk2 UNICODE=1
+ WXPORT=gtk2 UNICODE=1
If you are wanting to have the source files regenerated with swig,
then you need to turn on the USE_SWIG flag and optionally tell it
where to find the new swig executable, so add these flags::
- USE_SWIG=1 SWIG=/opt/swig/bin/swig
+ USE_SWIG=1 SWIG=/opt/swig/bin/swig
- If you get errors about wxGLCanvas or being unable to find libGLU
- or something like that then you can add BUILD_GLCANVAS=0 to the
- setup.py command line to disable the building of the glcanvas
- module.
+ If you get errors about being unable to find libGLU, wxGLCanvas
+ being undeclared, or something similar then you can add
+ BUILD_GLCANVAS=0 to the setup.py command line to disable the
+ building of the glcanvas module.
When the setup.py command is done you should have fully populated
- wxPython and wx packages locally in wxWindows/wxPython/wxPython and
- .../wx, with all the extension modules (``*.so`` files) located in the
- wx package.
+ wxPython and wx packages locally in $WXDIR/wxPython/wxPython and
+ $WXDIR/wxPython/wx, with all the extension modules (``*.so`` files)
+ located in the wx package.
-4. To run code with the development verison of wxPython, just set the
- PYTHONPATH to the wxPython dir in the CVS tree. For example::
+4. To run code with the development version of wxPython, just set the
+ PYTHONPATH to the wxPython dir located in the source tree. For
+ example::
- export LD_LIBRARY=/opt/wx/2.5/lib
- export PYTHONPATH=/myprojects/wxWindows/wxPython
- cd /myprojects/wxWindows/wxPython/demo
- python2.3 demo.py
+ export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/opt/wx/2.5/lib
+ export PYTHONPATH=$WXDIR/wxPython
+ cd $WXDIR/wxPython/demo
+ python2.3 demo.py
OS X NOTE: You need to use "pythonw" on the command line to run
wxPython applications. This version of the Python executable is
part of the Python Framework and is allowed to interact with the
- display. You can also Double Click on a .py or a .pyw file from
- the finder (assuming that PythonLauncher is still associated with
+ display. You can also double click on a .py or a .pyw file from
+ the finder (assuming that the PythonLauncher app is associated with
these file extensions) and it will launch the Framework version of
Python for you. For information about creating Applicaiton Bundles
of your wxPython apps please see the wiki and the mail lists.
to accomodate that. (And send the patches to me.) If you plan on
using VisualStudio.Net (a.k.a. MSVC 7.1) keep in mind that you'll also
have to build Python and any other extension modules that you use with
-that compiler because a different version of the C runtime likbrary is
+that compiler because a different version of the C runtime library is
used. The Python executable that comes from PythonLabs and the
wxPython extensions that I distribute are built with MSVC 6 with all
-the Service Packs applied.
+the Service Packs applied. This policy will change with Python 2.4
+and MSVC 7.1 will be used starting with that version.
-If you want to build a debugable version of wxWindows and wxPython you
+If you want to build a debuggable version of wxWidgets and wxPython you
will need to have also built a debug version of Python and any other
extension modules you need to use. You can tell if you have them
already if there is a _d in the file names, for example python_d.exe
it.
Just like the unix versions I also use some scripts to help me build
-wxWindows, but I use some non-standard stuff to do it. So if you want
-to use them too you'll need to get a copy or 4DOS or 4NT from
-http://www.jpsoft.com/ and also a copy of unix-like cat and sed
-programs. You can also do by hand what my scripts are doing, but
-there are a lof steps involved and I won't be going into details
-here. There is a copy of my build scripts in wxWindows\wxPython\distrib\msw
+wxWidgets, but I use some non-standard stuff to do it. So if you have
+bash (cygwin or probably MSYS too) or 4NT plus unix-like cat and sed
+programs then there is a copy of my wxWidgets build scripts in
+%WXDIR%\\wxPython\\distrib\\msw. Just copy them to
+%WXDIR%\\build\\msw and you can use them to do your build, otherwise
+you can do everything by hand as described below. But if you do work
+by hand and something doesn't seem to be working correctly please
+refer to the build scripts to see what may need to be done
+differently.
+
+The \*.btm files are for 4NT and the others are for bash. They are::
+
+ .make/.make.btm Builds the main lib and the needed contribs
+ .mymake/.mymake.btm Builds just one lib, use by .make
+ .makesetup.mk A makefile that will copy and edit setup.h
+ as needed for the different types of builds
+
+Okay. Here's what you've been waiting for, the instructions! Adapt
+accordingly if you are using the bash shell.
+
+1. Set an environment variable to the root of the wxWidgets source
+ tree. This is used by the makefiles::
+
+ set WXWIN=%WXDIR%
+
+2. Copy setup0.h to setup.h::
+
+ cd %WXDIR%\include\wx\msw
+ copy setup0.h setup.h
+
+3. Edit %WXDIR%\\include\\wx\\msw\\setup.h and change a few settings::
-1. Set an environment variable to the root of the wxWindows source
- tree::
+ wxDIALOG_UNIT_COMPATIBILITY 0
+ wxUSE_DEBUG_CONTEXT 1
+ wxUSE_MEMORY_TRACING 1
+ wxUSE_DIALUP_MANAGER 0
+ wxUSE_GLCANVAS 1
+ wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT 1
+ wxUSE_AFM_FOR_POSTSCRIPT 0
+ wxUSE_DISPLAY 1
- set WXWIN=e:\projects\wxWindows
+ If you are using my build scripts then a few more settings will be
+ changed and then a copy of setup.h is placed in a subdir of
+ %WXWIN%\\lib\vc_dll. If you are doing it by hand and making a
+ UNICODE build, then also change these::
-2. Copy setup0.h to setup.h
+ wxUSE_UNICODE 1
+ wxUSE_UNICODE_MSLU 1
- cd %WXWIN%\include\wx\msw
- copy setup0.h setup.h
+ If you are doing a "hybrid" build (which is the same as the
+ binaries that I release) then also change these::
+ wxUSE_MEMORY_TRACING 0
+ wxUSE_DEBUG_CONTEXT 0
-3. Edit %WXWIN%\include\wx\msw\setup.h and change a few settings.
- Some of them are changed by my build scripts depending on the type
- of build (debug/hybrid, unicode/ansi). I change a few of the other
- defaults to have these values::
- wxDIALOG_UNIT_COMPATIBILITY 0
- wxUSE_DEBUG_CONTEXT 1
- wxUSE_MEMORY_TRACING 1
- wxUSE_DIALUP_MANAGER 0
- wxUSE_GLCANVAS 1
- wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT 1
- wxUSE_AFM_FOR_POSTSCRIPT 0
-
+4. Make sure that %WXDIR%\\lib\\vc_dll directory is on the PATH. The
+ wxWidgets DLLs will end up there as part of the build and so you'll
+ need it on the PATH for them to be found at runtime.
-4. Make a %WXWIN%\BIN directory and add it to the PATH. My build
- scripts will copy the wxWindows DLLs there.
+5. Change to the %WXDIR%\\build\\msw directory
-5. Change to the %WXWIN%\build\msw directory and copy my build scripts
- there.
+ cd %WXDIR%\\build\\msw
-6. Use the .make.btm command to build wxWindows. It needs one
- command-line parameter which controls what kind of build(s) to do.
- Use one of the following::
+6. If using my scripts then use the .make.btm command to build
+ wxWidgets. It needs one command-line parameter which controls what
+ kind of build(s) to do. Use one of the following::
- debug Build debug version
- hybrid Build hybrid version
- both Both debug and hybrid
- debug-uni Build a debug unicode library
- hybrid-uni Hybrid unicode (see the pattern yet? ;-)
- both-uni and finally both unicode libraries
+ debug Build debug version
+ hybrid Build hybrid version
+ both Both debug and hybrid
+ debug-uni Build a debug unicode library
+ hybrid-uni Hybrid unicode (see the pattern yet? ;-)
+ both-uni and finally both unicode libraries
For example::
.make hybrid
- You can also pass additional command line parameters as needed and
- they will all be passed on to the nmake commands, for example to
- clean up the build::
+ You can also pass additional command line parameters as needed and
+ they will all be passed on to the nmake commands, for example to
+ clean up the build::
.make hybrid clean
+ If *not* using my scripts then you can do it by hand by directly
+ executing nmake with a bunch of extra command line parameters.
+ The base set are::
+
+ -f makefile.vc OFFICIAL_BUILD=1 SHARED=1 MONOLITHIC=0 USE_OPENGL=1
+
+ If doing a debug build then add::
+
+ BUILD=debug
+
+ otherwise add these::
+
+ DEBUG_FLAG=1 CXXFLAGS=/D__NO_VC_CRTDBG__ WXDEBUGFLAG=h BUILD=release
+
+ If doing a Unicode build then add these flags::
+
+ UNICODE=1 MSLU=1
+
+ Now, from the %WXDIR%\\build\\msw directory run nmake with your
+ selection of command-line flags as described above. Repeat this
+ same command from the following directories in order to build the
+ contrib libraries::
+
+ %WXDIR%\contrib\build\gizmos
+ %WXDIR%\contrib\build\xrc
+ %WXDIR%\contrib\build\stc
+ %WXDIR%\contrib\build\ogl
+
+ Note, that the ogl lib build will need an additional flag::
+
+ CPPFLAGS="-DwxUSE_DEPRECATED=0"
-7. When that is done it will have built the main wxWindows DLLs and
- also some of the contribs DLLs. There should be a ton of DLLs in
- %WXDIR%\bin and lots of lib files and other stuff in
- %WXDIR%\lib\vc_dll.
+7. When that is all done it will have built the main wxWidgets DLLs
+ and also some of the contribs DLLs. There should be a ton of DLLs
+ and lots of lib files and other stuff in %WXDIR%\\lib\\vc_dll.
8. Building wxPython on Windows is very similar to doing it for the
installed version of the latest release. You'll be able to test
with this version when you want to, and use the installed release
version the rest of the time. If you ever do want to install the
- development verison please refer to INSTALL.txt.
+ development version please refer to INSTALL.txt.
- Change to the wxWindows\wxPython dir and run the this command,
- makeing sure that you use the version of python that you want to
+ Change to the %WXDIR%\\wxPython dir and run the this command,
+ making sure that you use the version of python that you want to
build for (if you have more than one on your system)::
- cd %WXWIN%\wxPython
- python setup.py build_ext --inplace
+ cd %WXDIR%\wxPython
+ python setup.py build_ext --inplace
If you are wanting to have the source files regenerated with swig,
then you need to turn on the USE_SWIG flag and optionally tell it
where to find the new swig executable, so add these flags::
- USE_SWIG=1 SWIG=e:\projects\SWIG-cvs\swig.exe
+ USE_SWIG=1 SWIG=e:\projects\SWIG-cvs\swig.exe
- If you built a Unicode version of wxWindows and want to also build
+ If you built a Unicode version of wxWidgets and want to also build
the Unicode version of wxPython then add this flag::
UNICODE=1
- If you have a debug version of Python and wxWindows and want to
+ If you have a debug version of Python and wxWidgets and want to
build a debug version of wxPython too, add the --debug flag to the
command line. You should then end up with a set of ``*_d.pyd``
files in the wx package and you'll have to run ``python_d.exe`` to
use them. The debug and hybrid(release) versions can coexist.
When the setup.py command is done you should have fully populated
- wxPython and wx packages locally in wxWindows/wxPython/wxPython and
- wxWindows/wxPython/wx, with all the extension modules (``*.pyd``
+ wxPython and wx packages locally in %WXDIR%/wxPython/wxPython and
+ %WXDIR%/wxPython/wx, with all the extension modules (``*.pyd``
files) located in the wx package.
-9. To run code with the development verison of wxPython, just set the
+9. To run code with the development version of wxPython, just set the
PYTHONPATH to the wxPython dir in the CVS tree. For example::
- set PYTHONPATH=e:\projects\wxWindows\wxPython
- cd e:\projects\wxWindows\wxPython
- python demo.py
+ set PYTHONPATH=%WXDIR%\wxPython
+ cd %WXDIR\wxPython\demo
+ python demo.py