README.MinGW

Date:	28-Feb-2007
Update: 19-Feb-2015
Author: Nicola Pero <nicola.pero@meta-innovation.com>
        after Richard Frith-Macdonald <rfm@gnu.org>,
	Germán Arias <germanandre@gmx.es> and others.


PURPOSE
-------

This document is intended to provide a step by step instruction on how
to use GNUstep on recent Windows operating systems.

It will get as far as explaining how to build a GNUstep application
and create a standalone version that can be shipped standalone to
Windows end users.

The recommended way to get GNUstep working on Windows is to use MinGW
and MSYS to get a Unix-like environment where you can easily build
your GNUstep software (this is what is described in this file).

Software built in the MinGW/MSYS environment is native Windows
software that you can then run without having to rely on the environment
you used to build.

So, this document is divided in two parts.

In the first part ("STEP BY STEP INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS"), we will
describe how to get MinGW/MSYS up and running, and how to build
GNUstep software in this environment.

In the second part ("HOW TO SHIP YOUR GNUSTEP APPLICATION TO WINDOWS
USERS"), we'll show an example of how to package (and use) the .exes,
.dlls and resources (that you can build using the environment
described in the first part) as Windows standalone binaries.


INTRODUCTION TO MINGW
---------------------

MinGW is a collection of header files and import libraries that allow
one to use GCC and produce native Windows32 programs that do not rely
on any 3rd-party DLLs.

MSYS is a very much cut down version of the Cygwin environment ...
providing a minimal set of tools needed to build programs using
MingGW.  If you wish to build for MinGW by cross-compiling from a
Cygwin environment, please read README.Cygwin instead.


PRELIMINARIES
-------------

One way to vastly simplify installing GNUstep, is to use the Windows-based
GNUstep installer. Get it from:

http://www.gnustep.org/windows/installer.html

If you have already installed this, you can skip to the end and just
start compiling and packaging applications!  Although you may want to
read the rest of the instructions for other helpful information.



A. STEP BY STEP INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
-----------------------------------------

1. Install MinGW
================

Download MinGW-Get-Setup.exe from 

 http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/Installer/

Then start it up. Set the installation path to

C:\xxx\

Where \xxx\ is the top-level path you want to use, I use Nicola/GNUstep so
I install it into C:\Nicola\GNUstep\. We will refer to this path as MINGWPATH.


2. Install necessary packages
=============================

MinGW create an access on the desktop to the "MinGW installer", a package
manager you can use to install packages available to MinGW. To build GNUstep
you will need many packages.

At MinGW Installer select "All packages" and then install the following
packages (bin and dev packages when correspond):

(I'm really not sure if all them are necessary)

mingw32-autoconf
mingw32-binutils
mingw32-bzip2
mingw32-gcc
mingw32-gcc-g++
mingw32-gcc-objc
mingw32-gdb
mingw32-gmp
mingw32-libbz2
mingw32-libgmp
mingw32-libiconv
mingw32-libintl
mingw32-libpthread-old
mingw32-libpthreadgc
mingw32-libtool
mingw32-libunistring
mingw32-libz
mingw32-make
mingw32-pkginfo
mingw32-pthreads-w32
mingw32-w32api
msys-base
msys-bash
msys-console
msys-crypt
msys-diffutils
msys-libcrypt
msys-libgmp
msys-libiconv
msys-libminires
msys-m4
msys-minires
msys-zlib


3. Additional Useful Tools
==========================

You will need install GNUstep from Subversion, so you need a Subversion
client. I used:

http://www.sliksvn.com/pub/Slik-Subversion-1.6.9-win32.msi

and then install subversion in a random directory.


You will need and editor, for example Emacs. Get a Windows version for
MinGW from:

https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/

To install it, simply unpack it in your MINGWPATH, you can now
execute the binary in 'MINGWPATH/bin'.


3. Additional Windows steps
===========================

You may need to edit /MINGWPATH/include/winsock2.h to change the size of the
sa_data field in the sockaddr structure from 14 to 22 ... this is because
some versions of Windows have changed the layout of this structure.
This modification may be needed to be able to correctly determine the
network interface details for your machine.


On Windows Vista and later, an additional problem has been reported
where 'make install' would sometimes fail because of permission
problems.  The problem is discussed here --

http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/gnustep-dev/2010-06/msg00055.html

you may have to install the additional MinGW files, as explained
there.


4. Mount your MINGWPATH directory
=================================

With Emacs create a file called "fstab" in C:\MINGWPATH\msys\x.x\etc and add
a line like:

  C:\MINGWPATH  /mingw

Remember MINGWPATH is the path where you installed mingw (We assume you
install it at your C: drive, if not change it). "mingw" is the name to
refer to your MINGWPATH directory inside MSYS console, you can use any other
name, but remember it because we will need this later. We will refer to this
name as MOUNTDIR.


5. Launch the MSYS console
==========================

Launch the console at C:\MINGWPATH\msys\x.x\msys.bat (double click).


6. Installing gnustep-make
==========================

Get gnustep-make:

svn co http://svn.gna.org/svn/gnustep/tools/make/trunk make

Then install it (avoid warning about conftest.exe):

cd make
./configure
make
make install


7. Special recommendation
=========================

In next steps don't use "make -j", because can cause problems.


8. Installing libffi
====================

Download libffi-x.x.x.tar.gz from https://sourceware.org/libffi/.
Unpack it, compile and install:

cd libffi-x.x.x
./configure --prefix=/MOUNTDIR
make
make install
mv /MOUNTDIR/lib/libffi-x.x.x/include/* /MOUNTDIR/include/

(if you get a popup about contest.exe failing, just ignore it)
NB. The headers have to be moved manually because the package won't install
them in the right place.


9. Install ICU
==============

Download latest ICU from http://site.icu-project.org/ (zip package).
Unpack it, compile and install as fallow:

cd icu/source
./runConfigureICU --disable-release MinGW --prefix=/MOUNTDIR
make
make install


10. Install GNUtls
==================

Download the latest version from the official page (windows binary). Copy
this at your MINGWPATH directory and unpack it.


11. Install pkg-config
======================

The best option is install pkg-config lite from:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/pkgconfiglite/files/

Download latest version, unpack it an copy the files at corresponding
directories in your MINGWPATH directory.


12. Install xml2
================

There are available binary packages of xml, but all these don't provide an
m4 file to be used with pkg-config. And since gnustep-base use pkg-config to
detect xml we need install it from source. So download the latest version
from http://xmlsoft.org/ and install it:

cd libxml2-x.x.x
./configure --prefix=/MOUNTDIR
make
make install


13. Fix problem with mingwrt
============================

(I you are using mingw32-mingwrt-3.21.1 or above skip this step.
Run MinGW Installer to see what version are you using.)

Launch Emacs and open the file /MINGWPATH/include/unistd.h

And comment the line 95 (#include <parts/time.h>) and all the function
nanosleep (from line 104 to 117). Save the file. 


14. Source GNUstep.sh
=====================

Probably you will need source the GNUstep script:

. /local/share/GNUstep/Makefiles/GNUstep.sh


15. Install gnnustep-base
=========================

Get gnustep-base:

svn co http://svn.gna.org/svn/gnustep/libs/base/trunk base

Then compile and install it:

cd base
./configure
make
make install


16. Install jpeg
================

Download the latest version from http://ijg.org/. Then compile and install it
as fallow:

cd jpeg-xx
autoheader
./configure --prefix=/MOUNTDIR
make
make install


17. Install libtiff
===================

Download latest version from http://www.libtiff.org/. Then compile and
install it:

cd tiff-x.x.x
./configure --prefix=/MOUNTDIR
make
make install


18. Install libpng
==================

Download latest version from http://libpng.org/pub/png/libpng.html.
Then compile and install it:

cd lpngXXX
cp scripts/pnglibconf.h.prebuild pnglibconf.h
cp scripts/makefile.msys makefile

Launch Emacs and edit the makefile to set prefix as "prefix=/MOUNTDIR", then:

make
make install


19. Install libungif
====================

From http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/ download

  libungif-4.1.4-1.exe

Execute it and install the package into your MINGWPATH directory.


20. Install libao
=================

Download libao from http://xiph.org/ao/. And install it:

cd libao-x.x.x
./cofigure --prefix=/MOUNTDIR
make
make install


21. Install Aspell
==================

Download the windows port http://aspell.net/win32/. And
install it in your MINGWPATH directory (directly in your MINGWPATH directory,
not under the Aspell directory).

Download also the dev package, unpack it and copy the libraries and headers
to the corresponding directories at your MINWGPATH directory.

Download also the installers for the dictionaries you want use, extract and
install them into your MINGWPATH directory (directly in your MINGWPATH
directory, not under the Aspell directory).

Now you need change the name of some libraries, go to directory MINGWPATH/lib
and change the name of these files:

aspell-15.def   ---->  aspell.def
aspell-15.lib   ---->  aspell.lib
libaspell-15-dll.lib  ---->  libaspell-dll.lib


22. Add path to icu libraries
=============================

FIXME: Why this is needed?

Edit the file /MINGWPATH/msys/etc/profile and add the path to ICU libs:

export PATH=$PATH:/MOUNTDIR/lib


23. Install gnustep-gui
=======================

Get gnustep-gui:

svn co http://svn.gna.org/svn/gnustep/libs/gui/trunk gui

Then compile and install it:

cd gui
./configure
make
make install


24. Install gnustep-back
========================

Get gnustep-back:

svn co http://svn.gna.org/svn/gnustep/libs/back/trunk back

Then compile and install it:

cd back
./configure
make
make install


25. Install gnustep-back with cairo graphics (optional but highly recommended)
==============================================================================

Download fallowing packages:

http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/dependencies/cairo_1.10.2-2_win32.zip
http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/dependencies/cairo-dev_1.10.2-2_win32.zip
http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/dependencies/libpng_1.4.3-1_win32.zip
http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/dependencies/freetype_2.4.2-1_win32.zip
http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/dependencies/freetype-dev_2.4.2-1_win32.zip
http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/dependencies/fontconfig_2.8.0-2_win32.zip
http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/dependencies/fontconfig-dev_2.8.0-2_win32.zip


Copy these packages at your MINGWPATH directory and unpack them. Now move some
headers:

mv /MOUNTDIR/include/cairo/* /MOUNTDIR/include/
mv /MOUNTDIR/include/freetype2/freetype/ /MOUNTDIR/include/

Now we need recompile gnustep-back to use cairo backend:

cd back
make distclean
./configure --enable-graphics=cairo --with-name=cairo LIBS=-lcairo
make
make install

Now set defaults to use this backend:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain GSBackend cairo


26. Install WinUXTheme (optional)
=================================

Get WinUXTheme:

svn co http://svn.gna.org/svn/gnustep/plugins/themes/WinUXTheme/ winuxtheme

Then compile and install it:

cd winuxtheme
make
make install

Set it:

defaults write NSGlobalDomain GSTheme WinUXTheme


27. Source the gnustep script when launch the console
=====================================================

Edit the file /MINGWPATH/msys/etc/x.x/profile and add this line to source the
gnustep script:

. /local/share/GNUstep/Makefiles/GNUstep.sh


28. Set up the spell chequer service
====================================

The spell chequer service need be configured. So we need launch it once
to configure it. Run the command:

/local/lib/GNUstep/Services/GSspell.service/GSspell.exe


29. Testing your gui installation
=================================

Get the examples:

svn co http://svn.gna.org/svn/gnustep/tests/examples/trunk/ examples

Go in a simple gui application (examples/gui a very good starting
point), compile and run it. :-). Ink and PowerPaint should work fine
on Windows, test these.

Additionally, you might want to compile and run Gorm or other GNUstep
applications.  Gorm (and hopefully other GNUstep applications too)
should compile and run out of the box.


Troubleshooting
---------------

Issues with updating:
Before attempting to update your GNUstep installation, be sure to stop/kill
all running GNUstep programs or services (i.e. gdomap, gdnc, gpbs) since
Windows cannot overwrite files that are currently in use.

Where we specify specific versions of packages to be used, we have
tested with those versions - later or earlier versions may work, but
may well not.  Generally earlier versions should be assumed not to
work.



B. HOW TO SHIP YOUR GNUSTEP APPLICATION TO WINDOWS USERS
--------------------------------------------------------

You probably want to ship your Windows application as a standalone
.zip file that Windows users can easily download and use.

We will explain what to do with an example: that of packaging
Gomoku.app.  We will first build the application (creating
Gomoku.app), then we'll add to to it all the GNUstep DLLs and
resources that are needed to run the application, and we'll end up
with a single directory, Gomoku.app, that contains a program
(Gomoku.exe) and a bunch of DLLs and various other resources required
to run the program.

The end user just needs to get this directory (from a .zip or .tgz
file, for example) and can double-click on Gomoku.exe to start the
program (no GNUstep installation required).


1. Build the application
========================

Build your application (Gomoku.app in this example) in your
MinGW/GNUstep environment.  Generally, this means getting the source
code and typing 'make' in it.  If you're trying to follow the
Gomoku.app example, the source code is here:

http://www.gnustep.it/nicola/Applications/Gomoku/index.html

Once you have built it, make sure you can run your application from
within mingw by using 'openapp', as in 'openapp ./Gomoku.app'.

2. Copy your application somewhere
==================================

Now take your built application and copy it somewhere -- we'll be
working on it!  Eg, I just copy it in my home directory.

cp -R /home/Nico/Gomoku-1.2.8/Gomoku.app /home/Nico/


3. Copy DLLs into your application
==================================

Now search for MinGW/GNUstep DLL files in /MOUNTDIR/bin, /MOUNTDIR/lib and
/local/bin, and copy them all into Gomoku.app:

cp $(find /MOUNTDIR/bin -name *.dll) /home/Nico/Gomoku.app/
cp $(find /MOUNTDIR/lib -name *.dll) /home/Nico/Gomoku.app/
cp $(find /local/bin -name *.dll) /home/Nico/Gomoku.app/


4. Copy config files into your application
==========================================

Now copy the "etc" directory in /MOUNTDIR to Gomoku.app:

cp -R /MOUNTDIR/etc /home/Nico/Gomoku.app/


5. Copy your GNUstep Library folder
===================================

Now copy all of the GNUstep resources into the application --

mkdir -p /home/Nicola/Gomoku.app/GNUstep/
cp -R /local/lib/GNUstep/* /home/Nico/Gomoku.app/GNUstep/

I put them all into Gomoku.app/GNUstep/, which means that later on
I'll set up the GNUstep.conf file to map GNUSTEP_*_LIBRARY to that
directory.


6. Copy key GNUstep binary programs
===================================

cp /local/bin/gpbs.exe /home/Nicola/Gomoku.app
cp /local/bin/gdnc.exe /home/Nicola/Gomoku.app
cp /local/bin/gdomap.exe /home/Nicola/Gomoku.app
cp /local/bin/make_services.exe /home/Nicola/Gomoku.app
cp /local/bin/defaults.exe /home/Nicola/Gomoku.app

I put them all into Gomoku.app, which means that later
on I'll set up the GNUstep.conf file to map GNUSTEP_*_TOOLS to that
directory.


7. Add a GNUstep.conf
=====================

You need to add a Gomoku.app/GNUstep.conf file to tell gnustep-base
where to find things inside Gomoku.app -- here is the one I use (which
matches the locations where I copied things in the previous steps) --

GNUSTEP_USER_CONFIG_FILE=.GNUstep.conf
GNUSTEP_USER_DIR=GNUstep
GNUSTEP_USER_DEFAULTS_DIR=GNUstep/Defaults

GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_APPS=./GNUstep/Apps
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ADMIN_APPS=./GNUstep/Apps
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_TOOLS=./
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_ADMIN_TOOLS=./
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_LIBRARY=./GNUstep
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_HEADERS=./GNUstep/Headers
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_LIBRARIES=./GNUstep/Libraries
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_DOC=./GNUstep/Documentation
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_DOC_MAN=./GNUstep/Documentation/man
GNUSTEP_SYSTEM_DOC_INFO=./GNUstep/Documentation/info

GNUSTEP_NETWORK_APPS=./GNUstep/Apps
GNUSTEP_NETWORK_ADMIN_APPS=./GNUstep/Apps
GNUSTEP_NETWORK_TOOLS=./
GNUSTEP_NETWORK_ADMIN_TOOLS=./
GNUSTEP_NETWORK_LIBRARY=./GNUstep
GNUSTEP_NETWORK_HEADERS=./GNUstep/Headers
GNUSTEP_NETWORK_LIBRARIES=./GNUstep/Libraries
GNUSTEP_NETWORK_DOC=./GNUstep/Documentation
GNUSTEP_NETWORK_DOC_MAN=./GNUstep/Documentation/man
GNUSTEP_NETWORK_DOC_INFO=./GNUstep/Documentation/info

GNUSTEP_LOCAL_APPS=./GNUstep/Apps
GNUSTEP_LOCAL_ADMIN_APPS=./GNUstep/Apps
GNUSTEP_LOCAL_TOOLS=./
GNUSTEP_LOCAL_ADMIN_TOOLS=./
GNUSTEP_LOCAL_LIBRARY=./GNUstep
GNUSTEP_LOCAL_HEADERS=./GNUstep/Headers
GNUSTEP_LOCAL_LIBRARIES=./GNUstep/Libraries
GNUSTEP_LOCAL_DOC=./GNUstep/Documentation
GNUSTEP_LOCAL_DOC_MAN=./GNUstep/Documentation/man
GNUSTEP_LOCAL_DOC_INFO=./GNUstep/Documentation/info

So, just copy and paste this code into a GNUstep.conf file that you
put into /home/Nico/Gomoku.app/GNUstep.conf.


8. Add a GlobalDefaults.plist
=============================

You need to add a Gomoku.app/GlobalDefaults.plist file to tell GNUstep
the defaults you want use (the theme, backend, etc.), and save this file
with write/read permission only for the owner (chmod 600). For example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//GNUstep//DTD plist 0.9//EN" "http://www.gnustep.org/plist-0_9.xml">
<plist version="0.9">
  <dict>
	<key>GSTheme</key>
	<string>WinUXTheme</string>
	<key>GSBackend</key>
	<string>cairo</string>
  </dict>
</plist>


8. Now the application should be working
========================================

At this stage, everything should be working "standalone".

By that we mean that if you give your Gomoku.app/ to a Windows user
(with no GNUstep installed on their machine), they should be able to
run it by just double-clicking on the Gomoku executable inside of the
Gomoku.app/ directory! :-)

Try it out and make sure that it works.


9. Cleanup
==========

If you look at your Gomoku.app/ directory, you will see that it is
really big.  We mass-copied stuff from the GNUstep/MinGW directories;
but generally, you want to make sure you remove anything that you
don't strictly need.  So go in there and remove anything that you
don't need.

First thing, you should remove the MSYS libraries, which we never use --

rm Gomoku.app/msys-1.0.dll
rm Gomoku.app/msysltdl-3.dll
rm Gomoku.app/libW11.dll
rm Gomoku.app/libperl.dll
rm Gomoku.app/librle3.dll

Then, remove any additional library that your application doesn't use;
for example, I removed --

rm Gomoku.app/Renaissance.dll
rm Gomoku.app/ProjectCenter.dll

Finally, remove Apps and other stuff that you might have copied from
the general GNUstep installation --

rm -Rf Gomoku.app/GNUstep/Apps
rm -Rf Gomoku.app/GNUstep/Frameworks/ProjectCenter.framework

Generally, you may want to build the whole stuff making sure you only
include what you strictly need.


10. Stripping
=============

The resulting directory might still be pretty big.  If you are trying
to distribute it over the internet, your users will probably
appreciate if you stripped it, removing symbols.  Just run 'strip'
on all the .exe and .dll files in your application.

strip $(find /home/Nico/Gomoku.app/ -name '*.exe')
strip $(find /home/Nico/Gomoku.app/ -name '*.dll')

That will reduce the size a lot.  If you're not distributing it over
the internet, you might be happy leaving the symbols in though.


11. Checking Licenses
====================

Finally, before deployment, you need to realize that you are shipping
a lot of GNUstep (and non-GNUstep) software with your application.

This is fine, just make sure you are aware of the licenses, and that
you comply with them.


PACKAGING/WINDOWS TODOS
-----------------------

The gdnc, gpbs processes are somehow a bit of a pain.  They are
automatically started when you start your application, but they are
not automatically stopped when you quit it.  This might have bad
consequences, eg, if you are using your application from a USB flash
disk, Windows doesn't let you unplug the USB disk while gdnc/gpbs are
running, because they are running from the disk!

Also, it's not clear what happens if you have two or three such
GNUstep apps downloaded from the web and you try to run them at the
same time.  What about gdomap etc ?