1999-01-19 06:00:22 -05:00
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<HEAD>
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<TITLE>wxWindows 2 for Windows FAQ</TITLE>
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</HEAD>
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<BODY BGCOLOR=#FFFFFF TEXT=#000000 LINK=#FF0000 VLINK=#000000>
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<font face="Arial, Lucida Sans, Helvetica">
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<table width=100% border=4 cellpadding=5 cellspacing=0>
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<tr>
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<td bgcolor="#660000">
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<font size=+1 face="Arial, Lucida Sans, Helvetica" color="#FFFFFF">
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wxWindows 2 for Windows FAQ
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</font>
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</td>
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</tr>
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</table>
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<P>
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See also <a href="faq.htm">top-level FAQ page</a>.
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<hr>
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1999-01-19 17:14:23 -05:00
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<h3>Which Windows platforms are supported?</h3>
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1999-01-19 06:00:22 -05:00
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1999-02-19 16:54:37 -05:00
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wxWindows 2 can be used to develop and deliver applications on Windows 3.1, Win32s,
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1999-01-19 17:14:23 -05:00
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Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT. A Windows CE version is being looked into (see below).<P>
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wxWindows 2 is designed to make use of WIN32 features and controls. However, unlike Microsoft,
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we have not forgotten users of 16-bit Windows. Most features
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1999-01-19 06:00:22 -05:00
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work under Windows 3.1, including wxTreeCtrl and wxListCtrl using the generic implementation.
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1999-02-19 16:54:37 -05:00
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However, don't expect very Windows-95-specific classes to work, such as wxTaskBarIcon. The wxRegConfig
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1999-01-19 06:00:22 -05:00
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class doesn't work either because the Windows 3.1 registry is very simplistic. Check out the 16-bit
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makefiles to see what other files have been left out.
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<P>
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16-bit compilation is supported under Visual C++ 1.5, and Borland BC++ 4 to 5.
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<P>
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1999-01-19 17:14:23 -05:00
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wxWindows 2 for Windows will also compile on Unix with gcc using TWIN32 from <a href="http://www.willows.com" target=_top>Willows</a>,
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although TWIN32 is still in a preliminary state. The resulting executables are
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Unix binaries that work with the TWIN32 Windows API emulator.<P>
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You can also compile wxWindows 2 for Windows on Unix with Cygwin or Mingw32, resulting
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in executables that will run on Windows. So in theory you could write your applications
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using wxGTK or wxMotif, then check/debug your wxWindows for Windows
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programs with TWIN32, and finally produce an ix86 Windows executable using Cygwin/Mingw32,
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without ever needing a copy of Microsoft Windows. See the Technical Note on the Web site detailing cross-compilation.<P>
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<h3>What about Windows CE?</h3>
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This is under consideration, though we need to get wxWindows Unicode-aware first.
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There are other interesting issues, such as how to combine the menubar and toolbar APIs
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as Windows CE requires. But there's no doubt that it will be possible, albeit
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by mostly cutting down wxWindows 2 API functionality, and adding a few classes here
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and there. Since wxWindows for 2 produces small binaries (less than 300K for
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the statically-linked 'minimal' sample), shoehorning wxWindows 2 into a Windows CE device's limited
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storage should not be a problem.<P>
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1999-01-19 06:00:22 -05:00
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<h3>What compilers are supported?</h3>
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Please see the wxWindows 2 for Windows install.txt file for up-to-date information, but
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currently the following are known to work:<P>
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<ul>
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<li>Visual C++ 1.5, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0
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<li>Borland C++ 4.5, 5.0
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<li>Borland C++Builder 1.0, 3.0
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<li>Watcom C++ 10.6 (WIN32)
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<li>Cygwin b20
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<li>Mingw32
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<li>MetroWerks CodeWarrior 4
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</ul>
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<P>
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There is a linking problem with Symantec C++ which I hope someone can help solve.
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<P>
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<h3>Which is the best compiler to use with wxWindows 2?</h3>
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It's partly a matter of taste, but I (JACS) prefer Visual C++ since the debugger is very
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good, it's very stable, the documentation is extensive, and it generates small executables.
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Since project files are plain text, it's easy for me to generate appropriate project files
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for wxWindows samples.<P>
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Borland C++ is fine - and very fast - but it's hard (impossible?) to use the debugger without using project files, and
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the debugger is nowhere near up to VC++'s quality. The IDE isn't great.<P>
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C++Builder's power isn't really used with wxWindows since it needs integration with its
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own class library (VCL). For wxWindows, I've only used it with makefiles, in which case
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it's almost identical to BC++ 5.0 (the same makefiles can be used).<P>
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You can't beat Cygwin's price (free), and you can debug adequately using gdb. However, it's
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quite slow to compile since it does not use precompiled headers.<P>
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CodeWarrior is cross-platform - you can debug and generate Windows executables from a Mac, but not
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the other way around I think - but the IDE is, to my mind, a bit primitive.<P>
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Watcom C++ is a little slow and the debugger is not really up to today's standards.<P>
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<h3>Is Unicode supported?</h3>
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1999-02-19 16:54:37 -05:00
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Not yet, although there are other internationalisation features.<P>
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However, the issues surrounding Unicode support have been looked into so we know
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what we need to do, and have some header files ready to use containing appropriate
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type definitions. Just about every file in wxWindows will need changes, due to the
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pervasive nature of characters and character arrays. Unicode support is needed
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for the port to Windows CE (see above), and will probably be added in time for version 2.1.<P>
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1999-01-19 17:14:23 -05:00
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<h3>Can you compile wxWindows 2 as a DLL?</h3>
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1999-01-24 09:57:09 -05:00
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Yes (using the Visual C++ or Borland C++ makefile), but be aware that distributing DLLs is a thorny issue
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and you may be better off compiling statically-linked applications, unless you're
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delivering a suite of separate programs, or you're compiling a lot of wxWindows applications
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and have limited hard disk space.<P>
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With a DLL approach, and with different versions and configurations of wxWindows
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needing to be catered for, the end user may end up with a host of large DLLs in his or her Windows system directory,
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negating the point of using DLLs. Of course, this is not a problem just associated with
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wxWindows!
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<P>
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1999-01-24 09:57:09 -05:00
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<H3>How can I reduce executable size?</H3>
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You can compile wxWindows as a DLL (see above, VC++/BC++ only at present). You should also
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compile your programs for release using non-debugging and space-optimisation options, but
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take with VC++ 5/6 space optimisation: it can sometimes cause problems.<P>
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1999-01-24 09:57:09 -05:00
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Statically-linked wxWindows 2 programs are smaller than wxWindows 1.xx programs, because of the way
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wxWindows 2 has been designed to reduce dependencies between classes, and other
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techniques. The linker will not include code from the library that is not (directly or
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indirectly) referenced
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by your application. So for example, the 'minimal' sample is less than 300KB using VC++ 6.<P>
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If you want to distribute really small executables, you can
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use <a href="http://www.icl.ndirect.co.uk/petite/" target=_top>Petite</a>
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by Ian Luck. This nifty utility compresses Windows executables by around 50%, so your 500KB executable
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will shrink to a mere 250KB. With this sort of size, there is reduced incentive to
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use DLLs.<P>
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1999-02-19 16:54:37 -05:00
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<H3>Is wxWindows compatible with MFC?</H3>
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1999-01-19 17:14:23 -05:00
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There is a sample which demonstrates MFC and wxWindows code co-existing in the same
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application. However, don't expect to be able to enable wxWindows windows with OLE-2
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functionality using MFC.<P>
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1999-01-19 06:00:22 -05:00
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1999-02-24 03:02:28 -05:00
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<H3>Why do I sometimes get bizarre crash problems using VC++ 5/6?</H3>
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Some crash problems can be due to inconsistent compiler
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options (and of course this isn't limited to wxWindows).
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If strange/weird/impossible things start to happen please
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check (dumping IDE project file as makefile and doing text comparison
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if necessary) that the project settings, especially the list of defined
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symbols, struct packing, etc. are exactly the same for all items in
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the project. After this, delete everything (including PCH) and recompile.<P>
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VC++ 5's optimization code seems to be broken and can
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cause problems: this can be seen when deleting an object Dialog
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Editor, in Release mode with optimizations on. If in doubt,
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switch off optimisations, although this will result in much
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larger executables. It seems possible that the library can be created with
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strong optimization, so long as the application is not strongly
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optimized. For example, in wxWindows project, set to 'Minimum
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Size'. In Dialog Editor project, set to 'Customize: Favor Small
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Code' (and no others). This will then work.<P>
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1999-01-19 06:00:22 -05:00
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</font>
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</BODY>
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</HTML>
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