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wxWidgets/docs/contributing/about-platform-toolkit-and-library-names.md
Maarten Bent 01edac992d Update library naming convention documentation
2021-06-06 22:25:23 +02:00

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wxWidgets naming conventions

Being a cross platform development library, it is naturally desirable (at least to me ;) for wxWidgets to be exploited in a fully cross platform development environment -- a single invocation of make should be sufficient to build target executables for a variety of host platforms when desired.

Since this is now in fact possible for at least the most commonly used platforms, wxWidgets has been structured to allow multiple, simultaneous installations of the library. Common files are shared, platform and port specific files and libraries are arranged so as to be unambiguous when installed together.

To manage this sanely we need a sufficiently descriptive and logical labelling convention for file and install path names -- this document (at least at its time of writing) describes the system we have adopted.

It is not fine grained enough to include every possible build configuration for wxWidgets, but is encompassing enough to maintain a relatively complete set of cross platform build tools on a single machine and to provide an obvious slot for new ports to slip into.

The libraries use the following naming convention. When an item of the name is empty, '_' or '-' are omitted.

UNIX libraries (using configure):

libwx_$(toolkit)$(widgetset)$(unicode)_$(flavour)_$(name)-$(version)-$(host).$(lib_extension)

Windows libraries (using VS solution or makefile.gcc/vc):

wx$(toolkit)$(widgetset)$(version)$(unicode)$(debug)_$(flavour)_$(name)_$(compiler)_$(arch)_$(vendor).$(lib_extension)

Where:

$toolkit can currently be one of the following:

  • base
  • msw
  • gtk, gtk2, gtk3, gtk4
  • osx_cocoa, osx_iphone
  • motif
  • x11
  • dfb
  • qt

$widgetset may be one of:

  • univ

or empty if the widget set is the same as the toolkit.

$version is a string encoding the major and minor version number, separated by a dot on UNIX and without separator on Windows. Windows shared libraries of development versions (odd minor releases) contain the full version (major, minor, release). On UNIX, the $so_version contains the release number.

Eg. for wxWidgets 3.1.5, $version is 315 for Windows shared libraries, 31 for Windows static libraries, and 3.1 for UNIX libraries. And the $so_version for UNIX libraries is .5 and .5.0.0.

The rationale for this is that under UNIX-like systems it is desirable that differently 'minor numbered' releases can be installed together, meaning your old 2.2 apps can continue to work even if you migrate development to the next stable or unstable release (eg. 2.3, 2.4), but binary compatibility is maintained between point releases (those with the same major.minor number).

A known break in binary compatibility should be addressed by updating the library soname (see the notes in configure.in for details on this).

$unicode is set to 'u' when Unicode is enabled (default on), and is empty when disabled. In the setup.h and wx-config names, the full 'unicode' name is used.

$debug is set to 'd' for the libraries using debug version of CRT and is empty for release libraries. It is only really useful for the libraries created with MSVC projects and makefiles, as MSVC debug and release CRT are not ABI-compatible, but is also used by makefile.gcc under MSW for consistency with makefile.vc. When using configure under MSW or UNIX, it is always empty.

$flavour is an optional name to identify the build. It is empty by default.

$name is the name of the library. It is empty for the 'base' library.

$compiler is the used compiler, for example 'vc' or 'gcc'. It is only added to shared libraries on Windows.

$arch is used by MSVC solutions. It is empty for 32-bit builds and 'x64' for 64-bit builds. It is only added to shared libraries.

$vendor is an optional name appended to the library name. It is only added to shared libraries on Windows. It defaults to 'custom'.

$host is empty for a 'native' library, (that is one where the host system is the same as the build system) or set to the value returned by the autoconf ${host_alias} variable in configure for libraries that are cross compiled.

$lib_extension is system specific and most usually set to '.a' for a static UNIX library, '.so.$so_version' for a shared UNIX library, '.lib' for a static MSVC library or '.dll' for a shared MSVC library.

type is used to indicate a shared or static build. For MSVC, type is 'lib' for shared libraries and 'dll' for static libraries. On UNIX, type is empty for shared libraries and 'static' for static libraries.

setup.h

The installed location of the library specific setup.h is also determined by the values of these items. On UNIX they will be found in:

$(prefix)/lib/wx/include/$(host)-$(toolkit)$(widgetset)-$(unicode)-$(type)-$(version)-$(flavour)/wx/setup.h

which will be in the include search path returned by the relevant wx-config for that library (or presumably set in the relevant make/project files for platforms that do not use wx-config).

For MSVC and gcc/vc makefile, the file is found in:

$(prefix)/lib/$(compiler)_$(arch)_$(type)/$(toolkit)$(widgetset)$(unicode)$(debug)/wx/setup.h

wx-config

The port specific wx-config file for each library shall be named:

$(prefix)/lib/wx/config/$(host)-$(toolkit)$(widgetset)-$(unicode)-$(type)-$(version)-$(flavour)

${prefix}/bin/wx-config shall exist as a link to (or copy of) one of these port specific files (on platforms which support it) and as such it defines the default build configuration for wxApps on the system. It may be modified by the system user at any time.