README.WIN32

Section 01 -- Basic build instructions.
=======================================

  You should be able to build the library if you have these 
  components installed on your system:

        * Cygwin[1], latest release
        * Microsoft Visual C++ v6.x

  First, make sure Microsoft Visual C++ is accessible from the Cygwin
  shell.  If you can run ``cl.exe'' from the bash command line,
  everything is probably set up for you already. If not, you need to
  add something like this to .bashrc and .bash_profile:

    # the Cygwin path to the Microsoft Visual Studio directory...
    MSVS_HOME="/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Microsoft Visual Studio"
    win_MSVS_HOME=`cygpath -w "$MSVS_HOME"`

    PATH="$PATH:$MSVS_HOME/VC98/Bin:$MSVS_HOME/VC98/Lib"
    PATH="$PATH:$MSVS_HOME/Common/MSDev98/Bin"
    LIB="$win_MSVS_HOME\\VC98\\Lib"
    INCLUDE="$win_MSVS_HOME\\VC98\\Include"

    export PATH LIB INCLUDE


  Configure and build the same way as you would on UNIX-based systems,
  i.e.

        $ [srcdir]/configure
        $ make install

  To specify which C library dime should be linked against, you should
  use the --with-msvcrt=<crt> option.  You have the following choices
  (short aliases on the right):

    singlethread-static        [ /ml  | ml  | libc    ]   (default)
    singlethread-static-debug  [ /mld | mld | libcd   ]
    multithread-static         [ /mt  | mt  | libcmt  ]
    multithread-static-debug   [ /mtd | mtd | libcmtd ]
    multithread-dynamic        [ /md  | md  | msvcrt  ]
    multithread-dynamic-debug  [ /mdd | mdd | msvcrtd ]


  Note that if you encounter any problems when trying to build on
  MSWindows, it is expected that you are able to do a minimum of
  troubleshooting yourself before contacting us.  (If this is not an
  option, please consider using the pre-built binary installation
  packages we provide. Follow the download link from
  <URL:http://www.coin3d.org>.)

  If you are confident that configure and/or build fails due to a
  mistake on our part, or you otherwise feel completely stuck, we will
  be happy to assist.

---
[1] <URL:http://www.cygwin.com>


Section 02 -- What is this ``configure'' thing?
===============================================

  The configure script is a script that first determines what kind of
  system it's being run on, then tries to locate a compiler, and then
  uses the compiler to probe the system for its capabilities.  For
  instance, which optional utility libraries are available?  The
  configure script tries to link with all the potential libraries that
  we might want to use.  If the linking works, the library is there.
  If the link-test fails, then it's not.  Another thing that is often
  probed is whether a library is new enough so that it contains some
  function foo()?  Depending on these tests, the configure script sets
  up a header-file called "config.h" that contains #define settings
  for what the configure script managed to find.  This header is
  included from all the sources that needs system-dependent code
  blocks.  In this way you tune the library on individual features
  instead of basing the compilation on which platform it is that is
  being used.

  The configure script also has the purpose of figuring out how the
  compiler should be used when you build the library.  The result of
  these tests are put into all the Makefile files that are generated
  at the end of the configure run.  The Makefile files are created
  through keyword substitution in the Makefile.in templates you will
  see in the source hierarchy.  After having run configure, all system
  characteristics should be figured out and the Makefiles should be
  set up so you only need to type "make" to get everything built.

  Another feature of this setup is to run the configure script from an
  empty directory.  This will create an an empty directory structure
  with makefiles that will compile the sources out of the source
  directory while putting the object files in the newly created
  directory structure.  This means you can keep your sources in one
  place (even on a read-only medium like a CDROM), and build the
  library in some temporary location that can be scrapped after you
  have built and installed the library.