Up-to-date, detailed Windows 10 (64 Bit) build instructions. Part A - Using Microsoft Visual Studio 2019.

[brickWallBashing]

Problem

The windows build instructions are insufficient/out of date and there is a need for a new guide with more verbose detailed instructions.

Hi I'm a new (want to be) user who stumbled upon Fritzing a week ago. I thought I'd compile Fritzing from source code, given the paid binary download was the only other option and I have no idea at this stage if Fritzing is for me or not.

I thought this would be a relatively easy process, but it has not been and I've spent a very large chunk of the week trying to repeatedly compile Fritzing, and ultimately failing. I've a lot of patience but the process has felt like a battle. I feel, rightly or wrongly, that the windows build instructions are too vague/out of date/incorrect (bits of), or are only of use to professional programmers. As such they are a road block to new Fritzing users and I suspect a lot of people just move on along onto other more accessible packages.

As a further constructive aside - I think offering a trial version binary (e.g. 1 wk use) to prospective new users would also be a more engaging option, allowing for a brief evaluation which should hopefully lead to more payments for the full version.

Proposed Solution

From the user perspective there is a need for a detailed build instructions guide. I further believe the guide should be Part A - Using Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 (free and accessible) and Part B - Using QtCreator, which I note is the preferred route but there are little instructions on doing this. I've attempted to compile Fritzling with the Part A approach as it was very accessible and I'd never come across QtCreator before. A large chunk of the battle (I mean effort!) is in getting Qt compiled which put me off of Qt(/Creator) - unzipping alone is an 8minute effort (260k files, 26k folders) with a 2.5hr Qt build time (each attempt...).

Such detailed (even verbose) instructions should be tuned a user who is proficient in using computers but who has little to no background in developing complex computer code.

Ultimately, a comprehensive guide consisting of detailed build instructions will lead to more Fritzing users which surely is a good thing for the community?

Please be clear that my words are meant entirely in a positive and encouraging light. I'll happily summarise my command line build attempts in a post(s) below which may, or may not, be useful to such a proposed guide for Part A. At the very least it might be helpful to others, who like myself, are attempting to compile a windows version of Fritzing. If such a post is more appropriately done on the forum rather than on github please just let me know. I'd also like to ask some questions and get some help in a bid to successfully complete a Part A style Fritzing 0.94 build (Windows 10 64bit, Qt 5.15.1 compile, libgit2 1.1.0, boost 1.74.0). Is that too a more appropriate posting for the forum, or on here?

[KjellMorgenstern]

If you have never used Qt Creator, development for Fritzing might be a steep learning curve. Maybe there are smaller projects to get started with. Going to Visual Studio won't help avoid the fact that Fritzing is a cross platform C++/Qt project.

Note, i am not saying Qt is too difficult, I think it's great. Just in combination with Fritzing, it's not beginner friendly, it doesn't follow all modern development standards, and might lead to the difficulties you experienced.

Also, do you really want to develop? Or is your interest more in electronics, and using Fritzing for that? In that case, don't get distracted by the 8€, start soldering, and if you want to document or further improve your project, maybe come back to Fritzing.
Or just trust that it's good and use it from the beginning :-)

[brickWallBashing]

Thanks for the reply. No I am not here to develop, just as user trying to compile the developed code and to use Fritzing. You're correct in that my interest is more in the electronics side. Arduni and Raspberry Pi coding led me to electronics and breadbording to tie things up hardware wise. I'd hoped to use Fritzling for fabrication and to see if it is economic(ish) to get some boards produced. I'm also hoping that the PCB layout design side of things could aid with easy mounting and packaging of the hardware inside 3D printed cases.

BTW I've gone ahead and bought Fritzing :-) Thank you for your continued development efforts. Quite frankly the fee is tiny compared to the electric costs and time i've expended trying to compile the windows version! Furthermore knowing that it goes toward Fritzling development is a good thing.

It would seem that the current build documentation as is, with QTCreator, is sufficiently good enough for those developing Fritzing, but not necessarily the users. So the forum might be the better place to seek help with compiling on windows using Visual Studio, and to leave a detailed guide should I succeed. Given the time I've invested (with some useful learning along the way) I'd like to try to see it through, bar encountering some fundamental blockage. Can I ask would a detailed build guide be frowned upon? I'm really thinking in reference to paid download (quick) vs free compile (much more involved) options and Fritzing development?