several permutations of those steps. At a high level the basic steps
are:
- 1. Get the wxWindows sources
+ 1. Get the sources
2. Build the wxWindows DLL
- 3. Get the wxPython sources
- 4. Build and Install wxPython
+ 3. Build and Install wxPython
We'll go into more detail of each of these steps below, but first a
few bits of background information on tools.
I use a tool called SWIG (http://www.swig.org) to help generate the
C++ sources used in the wxPython extension module. However you don't
-need to have SWIG unless you want to modify the *.i files. If you do
-you'll want to have version 1.1-883 of SWIG and you'll need to change
-a flag in the setup.py script as described below.
+need to have SWIG unless you want to modify the *.i files. I've made
+several modifications to SWIG specific to wxPython's needs and so the
+modified sources are included in the wx CVS at.../wxPython/wxSWIG.
+But because of the size and since most people won't need it my SWIG is
+not included in the wxPythonSrc tarball. You'll need to get it from
+CVS or a CVS snapshot.
+
+If you need to modify the *.i files for wxPython then change to this
+directory and run:
+
+ nmake -f makefile.vc
+
+Then you'll need to change a flag in the setup.py script as described
+below so the wxPython build process will use SWIG if needed.
I use the new Python Distutils tool to build wxPython. It is included
with Python 2.0, but if you want to use Python 1.5.2 or 1.6 then
If anybody wants to try it I'll take any required patches for the
setup script and for these instructions.
+
+
+UNICODE
+-------
+
+To build the version of wxWindows/wxPython that uses the unicode
+version of the Win32 APIs, just follow the steps below with these
+changes:
+
+ a. You'll need the MSLU runtime DLL and import lib. The former can
+ be downloaded from Microsoft, the latter is part of the latest
+ Platform SDK from Microsoft (see msdn.microsoft.com for
+ details). An alternative implementation of import lib can be
+ downloaded from http://libunicows.sourceforge.net
+
+ b. Add "UNICODE=1 MSLU=1" to the nmake command line when building
+ wxWindows.
+
+ c. Add "UNICODE=1" to the setup.py commandline when building
+ wxPython.
+
+ d. See the notes in CHANGES.txt about unicode.
+
+
And now on to the fun stuff...
-1. Get the wxWindows sources
-----------------------------
-A. There are a few possible ways to get sources for wxWindows. You
- can download a released version from http://wxwindows.org/ or you
- can get current development sources from the CVS server. (Some
- information about annonymous CVS access is at
- http://wxwindows.org/cvs.htm.) The advantage of using CVS is that
- you can easily update as soon as the developers check in new
- sources or fixes. The advantage of using a released version is
- that it usually has had more testing done. You can decide which
- method is best for you.
+1. Get the sources
+------------------
+
+A. You can either use a tarball with the released version of the
+ source code for wxWindows/wxPython, or you can get current
+ development sources from the CVS repository. (Some information
+ about annonymous CVS access is at the http://wxwindows.org/cvs.htm
+ site.) The advantage of using CVS is that you can easily update as
+ soon as the developers check in new sources or fixes. The
+ advantage of using a released version is that it usually has had
+ more thorough testing done. You can decide which method is best
+ for you. The released version file is named
+ wxPythonSrc-[version].tar.gz and is available from the wxPython
+ website at http://wxpython.org/download.php. You can use WinZip to
+ unpack it if you don't have tar and gzip.
-B. You'll usually want to use wxWindows sources that have the same
- version number as the wxPython sources you are using. (Another
- advantage of using CVS is that you'll get both at the same time.)
-C. Once you get the sources be sure to put them in a path without a
+B. Once you get the sources be sure to put them in a path without a
space in it (i.e., NOT c:\Program Files\wx) and set an environment
- variable named WXWIN to this directory. For example:
+ variable named WXWIN to the top level directory. For example:
- mkdir \wx2
- cd \wx2
- unzip wxMSW-2.2.2.zip
- set WXWIN=c:\wx2
+ set WXWIN=c:\wx\wxPythonSrc-2.4.0.4
- You'll probably want to add that last line to your autoexec.bat or
+ You'll probably want to add that line to your autoexec.bat or
System Properties depending on the type of system you are on.
-D. Change to the wx2\include\wx\msw directory and copy setup0.h to
+
+C. Change to the %WXWIN%\include\wx\msw directory and copy setup0.h to
setup.h and then edit setup.h. This is how you control which parts
of wxWindows are compiled into or left out of the build, simply by
- turning options on or off. At a minimum you should set the
- following:
+ turning options on or off. I have the following differences from
+ the default setup0.h in my setup.h, but you can experiment with
+ other settings if you like:
- wxUSE_NEW_GRID 1
- wxUSE_GLOBAL_MEMORY_OPERATORS 0
- wxUSE_LIBTIFF 1
- wxDIALOG_UNIT_COMPATIBILITY 0
- I also turn off the following as they are not currently used in
- wxPython. There are probably others that can be turned off to
- help save space, but I havn't investigated all the potential
- configurations yet. Please note that wxPython doesn't (yet) check
- these flags for its own build, so if you turn off something that
- wxPython expects then you'll get link errors later on.
-
- wxUSE_DIALUP_MANAGER 0
- wxUSE_DYNLIB_CLASS 0
- wxUSE_DOC_VIEW_ARCHITECTURE 0
- wxUSE_PLOT 0
- wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT_ARCHITECTURE_IN_MSW 0
+ WXWIN_COMPATIBILITY_2_2 0
+ wxDIALOG_UNIT_COMPATIBILITY 0
+ wxUSE_DEBUG_CONTEXT 1
+ wxUSE_MEMORY_TRACING 1
+ wxUSE_CMDLINE_PARSER 0
+ wxUSE_FSVOLUME 0
+ wxUSE_DIALUP_MANAGER 0
+ wxUSE_DYNAMIC_LOADER 0
+ wxUSE_TREELAYOUT 0
+ wxUSE_MS_HTML_HELP 0
+ wxUSE_POSTSCRIPT 1
** NEW **
Be sure that wxUSE_GLCANVAS is defined to be 0 as wxPython now
keeps its own copy of the glcanvas sources and expects that it is
- not in the main library. This is reduce the number of dependant
- DLLs on the core library and therefore help reduce startup time.
+ not in the main library. This is done to reduce the number of
+ dependant DLLs on the core library and therefore help reduce
+ startup time.
Python, (and I make sure they stay that way.) You would have to
edit the project files a bit to make it work otherwise.
+
B. There are three different types of wxWindows DLLs that can be
produced by the VC makefile simply by providing a flag on the nmake
command-line, I call the three types DEBUG, FINAL, and HYBRID.
- (The last one is brand new, you'll need my version of the 2.2.2
- sources to get the HYBRID capability.) Here are some more details:
+ Here are some more details:
DEBUG Specified with "FINAL=0" and produces a DLL named
- wx[version]d.dll. This DLL is compiled with full
- debugging information and with the __WXDEBUG__ set which
- enables some debugging-only code in wxWindows such as
- assertions and failure log messages. The /MDd flag is
- used which means that it is linked with the debugging
- version of the C runtime library and also that you must
- use the debugging version of Python, (python_d.exe and
- pythonXX_d.dll) which also means that all extensions
- loaded by Python should also have the _d in the name.
- With this option you can use the MSVC debugger to trace
- though the Python interpreter, as well as the code for the
- wxPython extension and the wxWindows DLL.
+ wxmsw[version]d.dll. This DLL is compiled with full
+ debugging information and with the __WXDEBUG__ macro set,
+ which enables some debugging-only code in wxWindows such
+ as assertions and failure log messages. The /MDd flag is
+ used which means that it is linked with the debugging
+ version of the C runtime library and also that you must
+ use the debugging version of Python, (python_d.exe and
+ pythonXX_d.dll) which also means that all extensions
+ loaded by Python should also have the _d in the name.
+ With this option you can use the MSVC debugger to trace
+ though the Python interpreter, as well as the code for the
+ wxPython extension and the wxWindows DLL.
FINAL Specified with "FINAL=1" and produces a DLL named
- wx[version].dll. This DLL is compiled with optimizations
+ wxmsw[version].dll. This DLL is compiled with optimizations
turned on and without debugging information and without
__WXDEBUG__. The /MD flag is used which means that you
- can use this version with the standard python.exe. This
- is the version that I use when making the binary installer
- for win32.
+ can use this version with the standard python.exe.
HYBRID Specified with "FINAL=hybrid" and produces a DLL named
- wx[version]h.dll. This DLL is almost the same as the
- DEBUG version except the /MD flag is used which means that
- you can use the standard python.exe but you still get the
- debugging info and the __WXDEBUG__ code enabled. With the
- debugger you can trace through the the code for the
- wxPython extension and the wxWindows DLL, but not the
- Python interpreter. You might use this version when you
- want to deploy a wxPython app with the __WXDEBUG__ code
- enabled. I use this mode most of the time during
- development simply because it's easier than having to
- remember to type python_d all the time.
+ wxmsw[version]h.dll. This DLL is almost the same as the
+ FINAL version except the __WXDEBUG__ is used which means
+ that you will get extra runtime assertions and validations
+ from wxWindows. If any of these fail then they are turned
+ into a Python exception that you can catch and deal with
+ in your code. This is the version that I use when making
+ the binary installer for win32.
+
Since different DLL names and object file directories are used you
can build all three types if you like.
-C. Change to the wx2\src\msw directory and type the following command,
+
+C. Change to the %WXWIN%\src\msw directory and type the following command,
using the value for FINAL that you want:
- nmake -f makefile.vc dll pch FINAL=hybrid
+ nmake -f makefile.vc dll FINAL=hybrid
Your machine will then crunch away for possibly a long time,
depending on your hardware, and when it's done you should have a
- DLL and some library files in \wx2\lib.
+ DLL and some library files in %WXWIN%\lib.
-D. You'll either need to add \wx2\lib to the PATH or copy the DLL file
- to a directory already on the PATH so the DLL can be found at runtime.
-E. You can test your build by changing to one of the directories under
- \wx2\samples or \wx2\demos and typing (using the right FINAL flag):
-
- nmake -f makefile.vc FINAL=hybrid WXUSINGDLL=1
+D. You'll either need to add %WXWIN%\lib to the PATH or copy the DLL
+ file to a directory already on the PATH so the DLL can be found at
+ runtime. Another option is to copy the DLL to the directory that
+ the wxPython pacakge is installed to, for example,
+ c:\Python22\lib\site-packages\wxPython.
- and then executing the resulting .exe file.
+E. You can test your build by changing to one of the directories under
+ %WXWIN%\samples or %WXWIN\demos and typing (using the right FINAL flag):
+ nmake -f makefile.vc FINAL=hybrid WXUSINGDLL=1
-3. Get the wxPython sources
----------------------------
+ and then executing the resulting .exe file.
-A. You have the same options (and same advantages/disadvantages) for
- getting the wxPython source, either a released snapshot or from
- CVS. The released version file is named wxPython-[version].tar.gz
- and is available at http://wxpython.org/download.php. You can use
- WinZip to unpack it if you don't have tar and gzip. If you want to
- use CVS you'll find wxPython in the wxWindows CVS tree (see above)
- in the wxWindows/wxPython directory.
-4. Build and Install wxPython
+3. Build and Install wxPython
-----------------------------
A. As mentioned previouslly, wxPython is built with the standard
- Python Distutils tool. If you are using Python 2.0c1 or later you
+ Python Distutils tool. If you are using Python 2.0 or later you
are all set, otherwise you need to download and install Distutils
1.0 from http://www.python.org/sigs/distutils-sig/.
+
B. Change to the root wxPython directory and look at the setup.py
file. This is the script that configures and defines all the
information that Distutils needs to build wxPython. There are some
either change these flags directly in setup.py or supply them on
the command-line.
- BUILD_GLCANVAS Set to zero if you don't want to build the
- Open GL canvas extension module.
+ BUILD_GLCANVAS Set to zero if you don't want to build the
+ Open GL canvas extension module.
- BUILD_OGL Set to zero if you don't want to build the
- Object Graphics Library extension module.
+ BUILD_OGL Set to zero if you don't want to build the
+ Object Graphics Library extension module.
- BUILD_STC Set to zero if you don't want to build the
- wxStyledTextCtrl (the Scintilla wrapper)
- extension module.
+ BUILD_STC Set to zero if you don't want to build the
+ wxStyledTextCtrl (the Scintilla wrapper)
+ extension module.
- USE_SWIG If you have edited any of the *.i files you
- will need to set this flag to non-zero so SWIG
- will be executed to regenerate the wrapper C++
- and shadow python files.
+ USE_SWIG If you have edited any of the *.i files you
+ will need to set this flag to non-zero so SWIG
+ will be executed to regenerate the wrapper C++
+ and shadow python files.
- IN_CVS_TREE If you are using the CVS version of the
- wxWindows and wxPython sources then you will
- need to set this flag to non-zero. This is
- needed because some source files from the
- wxWindows tree are copied to be under the
- wxPython tree in order to keep Distutils happy.
- With this flag set then setup.py will
- automatically keep these copied sources up to
- date if the original version is ever updated.
- If you are using the tar.gz version of the
- Python sources then these copied sources are
- already present in your source tree.
+ etc.
C. To build and install wxPython you simply need to execute the
different command-line parameters you'll want to pass to setup (in
addition to possibly one or more of the above):
- FINAL: python setup.py install
+ FINAL: python setup.py install
- DEBUG: python setup.py build --debug install
+ DEBUG: python setup.py build --debug install
- HYBRID: python setup.py HYBRID=1 install
+ HYBRID: python setup.py HYBRID=1 install
+
+ NOTE: If you get an internal compiler error from MSVC then you
+ need to edit setup.py and add in the /GX- flag that is normally
+ commented out. Just search for "GX-" and uncomment it so it is put
+ into the cflags list.
+
+ If you would like to install to someplace besides the Python
+ site-packages directory (such as to your home directory) then you
+ can add "--root=<path>" after the "install" command. To use
+ wxPython like this you'll need to ensure that the directory
+ containing wxPyrthon is contained in in the PYTHONPATH environment
+ variable.
D. At this point you should be able to change into the wxPython\demo
directory and run the demo:
- python demo.py
+ python demo.py
+
E. If you would like to make a test build that doesn't overwrite the
installed version of wxPython you can do so with one of these
commands instead of the install command above:
- FINAL: python setup.py build_ext --inplace
+ FINAL: python setup.py build_ext --inplace
- DEBUG: python setup.py build_ext --debug --inplace
+ DEBUG: python setup.py build_ext --debug --inplace
- HYBRID: python setup.py HYBRID=1 build_ext --inplace
+ HYBRID: python setup.py HYBRID=1 build_ext --inplace
This will build the wxPython package in the local wxPython
directory instead of installing it under your Python installation.
To run using this test version just add the base wxPython source
directory to the PYTHONPATH:
- set PYTHONPATH=c:\wx2\wxPython
- cd c:\wx2\wxPython\demo
- python demo.py
+ set PYTHONPATH=%WXDIR%\wxPython
+ cd %WXDIR%\wxPython\demo
+ python demo.py
That's all folks!