tools-make/INSTALL

GNUstep makefile package installation
*************************************

Introduction
============

   If you are installing this package as part of the GNUstep core
libraries, read the file GNUstep-HOWTO for more complete instructions on
how to install the entire GNUstep package (including this package).
GNUstep-HOWTO comes with this distribution.

   This should be the first GNUstep package you install. After
installing this package, install ffcall and any other libraries that
GNUstep may need (see the GNUstep-HOWTO). Then install gnustep-base.

   When you configure additional libraries, make sure you use the same
configuration options as with gstep-make.

   Also make sure you've read the machine-specific instructions for your
particular operating system and CPU. These instructions come with the
GNUstep-HOWTO and are also located at the GNUstep web site at
<http://www.gnustep.org>.

Configuration
=============

   The GNUstep packages uses the Autoconf mechanism for configuration;
it checks some host capabilties which are used by all GNUstep software.
To configure just type:

     ./configure

   The GNUstep makefile package needs a root directory.  If the
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT environment variable is set then configure will use
its value as the root directory.  You can also specify the root
directory when you run configure with the prefix paramter; the
following command makes /usr/local/GNUstep the root directory:

     ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/GNUstep

   If you do not have the GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT environment variable set
and you do not specify a root directory when running configure, then
configure will use /usr/GNUstep as the default root directory.

   To see more options you can use with configure, type

     ./configure --help

   Look particularly at the end of the list that configure gives, as
these options are specific to GNUstep. Some of these are described
below.

   With the GNUstep packages you can use various switches, such as
shared and debug, to control compilation. for example, "make shared=no
debug=yes" compiles using static libraries with debugging information.
(Make sure you use the same switches for every package you compile, and
also when you install).

Backend Bundles
---------------

   By default, the gnustep-make package specifies that GUI backends are
built as a bundle and loaded in at runtime. This allows one to switch
backends by simply redefining a user default. If you do not want this
behavior (for instance, if bundles do not work on your platform), it
can be disabled using

     --disable-backend-bundle

   in the arguments to configure.

Alternate Library Setup
-----------------------

   You can specify compilation of alternate libraries by using the
with-library-combo option.

     ./configure --with-library-combo=nx-gnu-gnu

   to compile with Apple's (NexT's) runtime on Darwin, for example. See
the DESIGN document for more examples of the variety of library combos.

Alternate Thread Library
------------------------

   You can specify compilation of an alternate thread library from the
one that is normally used (or if GNUstep does not know what your normal
library is) with the with-thread-lib option.

     ./configure --with-thread-lib="-L/usr/local/lib -lgthread -lglib"

   to use libgthread as your threading library. Note that the
Objective-C runtime (libobjc) must have a compatible threading backend
in order to use this threading library and you must set the appropriate
threading backend by hand in the GNUmakefile if you are using
gnustep-objc. If you also need to set compiler flags, use the CFLAGS
variable when calling configure:

     CFLAGS="-I/usr/local/include" ./configure --with-thread-lib="-L/usr/local/lib -lgthread -lglib"

Warnings for deprecated #import
-------------------------------

   The #import directive, often found in legacy Objective-C code from
the NeXTstep era - and more recently on code from the Apple MacOS X
Cocoa environment - is deprecated.  You should use #include instead
whenever possible, and even if you use #import, you should protect all
your headers against multiple inclusions.  The GCC compiler
automatically emits a warning whenever you use #import.  Because many
users are annoyed by these warnings and want to use #import (usually for
compatibility with other systems), gnustep-make automatically disables
these warnings.  But if you want to make sure your Objective-C code is
not using any deprecated feature, you can configure gnustep-make with
-disable-import:
     ./configure --disable-import
   If you are a legacy or MacOS X user, and wonder why #import is
deprecated, please search the web and the GCC and GNUstep mailing list
archives - there are very precise and sound technical reasons.

Configuring the GNUstep makefile package for a cross-compile target
-------------------------------------------------------------------

   By default when you run configure, it assumes that you want to create
executables for the same host that you are compiling on; however, the
GNUstep makefile package has been designed to support cross-compiling
just as easily as normal compiling.  In order to add a cross-compile
target to the GNUstep makefile package, you must rerun configure for
that target and reinstall the makefile package.  By rerunning
configure, the appropriate target settings are determined, and
reinstalling the makefile package installs the appropriate files for
that target.  The target parameter is used to specify the target
platform for cross-compiling:

     ./configure --target=i386-mingw32
     make install

   Note that configuring and installing for a cross-compile target does
not eliminate or overwrite the files for any other targets that you may
have configured.  So if you wish to setup the GNUstep makefile package
for multiple targets then just perform the above steps multiple times.

     ./configure --target=i386-mingw32
     make install
     ./configure --target=sparc-solaris2.5
     make install
     ./configure --target=alpha-linux-gnu
     make install

Configuring the GNUstep makefile package for a flattened structure
------------------------------------------------------------------

   On systems where you know you are only interested in supporting a
single operating system, cpu type, and library combination, it's
possible to configure GNUstep to use a 'flattened' directory structure.
You do this by supplying the '-enable-flattened' argument to configure.

   In a flattened structure, files are stotred at the top-level rather
than in a `$(GNUSTEP_CPU)/$(GNUSTEP_OS)/$(LIBRARY_COMBO)' subdirectory.

   You lose a lot of versatility with this layout, but it's simpler
(less intimidating) for naive users to handle.

Installation
============

   After you configure the GNUstep makefile package, then you need to
compile the programs that come with the package.  Currently there is
only a single C program which needs to be compiled; all of the other
files are either shell scripts or makefile fragments, so you can
compile and install the makefile package in one step with:

     make install

   After you have installed the GNUstep makefile package, there is still
some minor administration to be performed.  Based upon whether you are
setting up the GNUstep environment for a single user or all users on
your system, perform the appropriate step below.

Setting up the GNUstep
======================

Setting up the GNUstep environment for all users
------------------------------------------------

   The GNUstep environment and thus usage of the makefile package is
based almost solely upon the GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT environment variable.
So essentially the setup involved is to make sure that the variable is
defined for all users.  The GNUstep.sh file within the makefile package
contains all of the environment variable settings required, so you want
to call that shell.  Some systems, like GNU/Linux have an
`/etc/profile.d' directory where scripts can be executed automatically.
Just copy GNUstep.sh to this directory for it to work. For other UNIX
systems, there might be a system wide script that everyone uses, such
as `/etc/bashrc', where you could add lines similar to these:

     # Setup for the GNUstep environment
     . /usr/GNUstep/System/Makefiles/GNUstep.sh

   This will source in the GNUstep.sh file and set the environment
variables; thus making them available for all users. Before executing
this script, you can setup a default path for scripts in the makefiles
package to use for searching for tools and apps by defining the
variable GNUSTEP_PATHLIST (and exporting it). By default, it's set to

     $GNUSTEP_USER_ROOT:$GNUSTEP_LOCAL_ROOT:$GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT

   which might look something like this:

     ~/GNUstep:/usr/GNUstep/Local:/usr/GNUstep/System

   when all is done.

   NB. This path is NOT used by GNUstep tools and applications
themselves ... they use a standard function
NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains() to locate files instead.

Setting up the GNUstep environment for a single user
----------------------------------------------------

   The GNUstep environment and thus usage of the makefile package is
based almost solely upon the GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT environment variable.
So essentially the setup involved is to make sure that the variable is
defined for the user.  The GNUstep.sh file within the makefile package
contains all of the environment variable settings required, so you want
to call that shell when the user logs in to the system.  Most shells
have some file that you read upon login, for example the BASH shell
reads the .bash_profile file in the user's home directory.  So you can
add the following lines to that file:

     # Setup for the GNUstep environment
     if [ -f $GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT/Makefiles/GNUstep.sh ]; then
       . $GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT/Makefiles/GNUstep.sh
     fi

   This will source in the GNUstep.sh file and set the environment
variables; thus making them available for the user.

   The GNUstep.sh file will set up GNUSTEP_USER_ROOT to the GNUstep
subdirectory of the users home directory by default.  This may be
overridden by a user providing a .GNUsteprc file in their home
directory.  It may be overridden on a system-wide basis by supplying a
.GNUsteprc file in the GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ROOT directory.

     # Set up to store GNUstep files directly in my home directory
     GNUSTEP_USER_ROOT=~

   The system-wide .GNUsteprc file can also contain aa line saying
     FORCE_USER_ROOT
   Which will force the value supplied in the system wide file to be
used irrespective of any user specific .GNUsteprc file settings.