fltk/README.macOS.md

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README.macOS.md - Building FLTK under Apple macOS

Contents

Introduction

FLTK supports macOS version 10.3 Panther and above. At the time of writing (Jan. 2019), FLTK compiles and runs fine on the most recent macOS 10.14 Mojave.

FLTK 1.4 supports the following build environments on the macOS platform:

All environments will generate Unix style static libraries and macOS style app bundles.

How to Build FLTK Using CMake and Xcode

This option is best for users who like to develop their apps using Apple's Xcode IDE. There is no need to ever use a command line shell in this configuration.

Prerequisites (CMake, Xcode)

In order to build FLTK, you need to install CMake and Xcode.

"CMake is used to control the software compilation process using simple platform and compiler independent configuration files, and generate native makefiles and workspaces that can be used in the compiler environment of your choice."

Please download and install the Mac OS X version of CMake from www.cmake.org.

Xcode can be downloaded via the App Store.

Downloading and Unpacking (CMake, Xcode)

FLTK 1.4 is currently (as of Jan. 2019) only available as a source code repository via GitHub. You will need to clone the repository to check out the source code onto your machine. This has the great benefit that the source code can be updated later simply by telling git to pull the newest release.

Start your terminal. If you have not set up a developer directory yet, I recomment to use ~/dev and put all your projects there:

# make sure we are in the home directory
cd ~
# create our developer directory and go there
mkdir dev
cd dev

Now create a copy of the source code archive at Github on your local file system:

git clone https://github.com/fltk/fltk.git fltk-1.4.git
cd fltk-1.4.git

Configuring FLTK (CMake, Xcode)

Using you shell in the terminal, make sure that you are in the root directory of your FLTK source code tree.

If you are configuring fltk for the first time, you need to instruct FLTK to create some very basic configuration files. Type:

NOCONFIGURE=1 ./autogen.sh

This script may generate a few error messages which you can sefely ignore.

Now configure your FLTK installation. Stay in your FLTK source-code directory and type

./configure

The configuration script runs a number of tests to find external headers, libraries, and tools. The configuration summary should not show any errors. You can now continue to build FLTK.

For the advanced user, there are a few more optinons to the configure script. Type ./configure --help to get a complete list of options. These should be pretty self-explanatory. Some more details can be found in online documentation.

Building FLTK (CMake, Xcode)

Now this is easy if all the previous steps were successful. Stay in your FLTK source-code directory and type:

make

The entire FLTK toolkit including many test programs will be built for you. No warnings should appear, but "ranlib" may complain about a few modules having no symbols. This is normal and can safely be ignored.

Testing FLTK (CMake, Xcode)

After a successful build, you can test FLTK's capabilities by running

test/demo

Installing FLTK (CMake, Xcode)

If you did not change any of the configuration settings, FLTK will be installed in /usr/local/include, /usr/local/lib, and /usr/local/bin by typing

sudo make install

It is possible to install FLTK without superuser privileges by changing the installation path to a location within the user account by adding the --prefix=PREFIX parameter to the ./configure command.

Creating new Projects (CMake, Xcode)

FLTK provides a neat script named fltk-config that can provide all the flags needed to build FLTK applications using the same flags that were used to build the library itself. Running fltk-config without arguments will print a list of options. The easiest call to compile an FLTK application from a single source file is:

fltk-config --compile myProgram.cxx

fltk-config and our user interface designer fluid will be installed in /usr/local/bin/ by default. I recommend that you add this directory to the shell PATH variable.

How to Build FLTK Using CMake and make

This option is best for users who like to develop their apps without using Apple's Xcode IDE. Users should be comfortable with using bash or tcsh in a terminal window.

Prerequisites (CMake, make)

In order to build FLTK from the command line, you need to install a C++ compiler environment, make and autoconf. Xcode is the easiest way to install all prerequisites, even if you don't plan to use it as your iDE.

Xcode can be downloaded via the App Store.

After downloading and installing, you need to launch the Terminal. Terminal.app is located in the Utilities folder inside the Applications folder. I like to keep the Terminal in the Dock for future use (launch Terminal, right-click or control-click on the Terminal icon that is now in the docking bar, and choose Options->Keep in Dock).

Downloading and Unpacking (CMake, make)

FLTK 1.4 is currently (as of Jan. 2019) only available as a source code repository via GitHub. You will need to clone the repository to check out the source code onto your machine. This has the great benefit that the source code can be updated later simply by telling git to pull the newest release.

Start your terminal. If you have not set up a developer directory yet, I recomment to use ~/dev and put all your projects there:

# make sure we are in the home directory
cd ~
# create our developer directory and go there
mkdir dev
cd dev

Now create a copy of the source code archive at Github on your local file system:

git clone https://github.com/fltk/fltk.git fltk-1.4.git
cd fltk-1.4.git

Configuring FLTK (CMake, make)

Using you shell in the terminal, make sure that you are in the root directory of your FLTK source code tree.

If you are configuring fltk for the first time, you need to instruct FLTK to create some very basic configuration files. Type:

NOCONFIGURE=1 ./autogen.sh

This script may generate a few error messages which you can sefely ignore.

Now configure your FLTK installation. Stay in your FLTK source-code directory and type

./configure

The configuration script runs a number of tests to find external headers, libraries, and tools. The configuration summary should not show any errors. You can now continue to build FLTK.

For the advanced user, there are a few more optinons to the configure script. Type ./configure --help to get a complete list of options. These should be pretty self-explanatory. Some more details can be found in online documentation.

Building FLTK (CMake, make)

Now this is easy if all the previous steps were successful. Stay in your FLTK source-code directory and type:

make

The entire FLTK toolkit including many test programs will be built for you. No warnings should appear, but "ranlib" may complain about a few modules having no symbols. This is normal and can safely be ignored.

Testing FLTK (CMake, make)

After a successful build, you can test FLTK's capabilities by running

test/demo

Installing FLTK (CMake, make)

If you did not change any of the configuration settings, FLTK will be installed in /usr/local/include, /usr/local/lib, and /usr/local/bin by typing

sudo make install

It is possible to install FLTK without superuser privileges by changing the installation path to a location within the user account by adding the --prefix=PREFIX parameter to the ./configure command.

Creating new Projects (CMake, make)

FLTK provides a neat script named fltk-config that can provide all the flags needed to build FLTK applications using the same flags that were used to build the library itself. Running fltk-config without arguments will print a list of options. The easiest call to compile an FLTK application from a single source file is:

fltk-config --compile myProgram.cxx

fltk-config and our user interface designer fluid will be installed in /usr/local/bin/ by default. I recommend that you add this directory to the shell PATH variable.

How to Build FLTK Using autoconf and make

This option is best for users who like to develop their apps without using Apple's Xcode IDE. Users should be comfortable with using bash or tcsh in a terminal window.

Prerequisites (autoconf, make)

In order to build FLTK from the command line, you need to install a C++ compiler environment, make and autoconf. Installing the Xcode command line tools is the easiest way to get all prerequisites in one simple step.

Launch Terminal.app by pressing Command+Spacebar and typing Terminal and pressing return. I like to keep the Terminal in the Dock for future use (launch Terminal, right-click or control-click on the Terminal icon that is now in the docking bar, and choose Options->Keep in Dock).

See if we already have a current C++ compiler installed. Type

clang

If the command line tools are already available, the response will be clang: error: no input files, and you are done. Continue with downloading FLTK.

If the command line tools were not installed yet, a dialog box will pop up, claiimig "The clang command requires the command line developer tools. Would you like to install the tools now?". Simply click on Install and wait for the tools to be installed.

On older versions of macOS, you will have to install Xcode from the App Store and then install the command line tools from within Xcode.

Apple no longer includes autoconf. To installe autoconf, we first need to installe brew by typing this rather cryptic command in the shell:

ruby -e "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install)"

After a few minutes, we can now build and install all other tools from one simple command:

brew install autoconf automake

Downloading and Unpacking (autoconf, make)

FLTK 1.4 is currently (as of Jan. 2019) only available as a source code repository via GitHub. You will need to clone the repository to check out the source code onto your machine. This has the great benefit that the source code can be updated later simply by telling git to pull the newest release.

Start your terminal. If you have not set up a developer directory yet, I recomment to use ~/dev and put all your projects there:

# make sure we are in the home directory
cd ~
# create our developer directory and go there
mkdir dev
cd dev

Now create a copy of the source code archive at Github on your local file system:

git clone https://github.com/fltk/fltk.git fltk-1.4.git
cd fltk-1.4.git

Configuring FLTK (autoconf, make)

Using you shell in the terminal, make sure that you are in the root directory of your FLTK source code tree.

If you are configuring fltk for the first time, you need to instruct FLTK to create some very basic configuration files. Type:

NOCONFIGURE=1 ./autogen.sh

This script may generate a few error messages which you can sefely ignore.

Now configure your FLTK installation. Stay in your FLTK source-code directory and type

./configure

The configuration script runs a number of tests to find external headers, libraries, and tools. The configuration summary should not show any errors. You can now continue to build FLTK.

For the advanced user, there are a few more optinons to the configure script. Type ./configure --help to get a complete list of options. These should be pretty self-explanatory. Some more details can be found in online documentation.

Building FLTK (autoconf, make)

Now this is easy if all the previous steps were successful. Stay in your FLTK source-code directory and type:

make

The entire FLTK toolkit including many test programs will be built for you. No warnings should appear, but "ranlib" may complain about a few modules having no symbols. This is normal and can safely be ignored.

Testing FLTK (autoconf, make)

After a successful build, you can test FLTK's capabilities by running

test/demo

Installing FLTK (autoconf, make)

If you did not change any of the configuration settings, FLTK will be installed in /usr/local/include, /usr/local/lib, and /usr/local/bin by typing

sudo make install

It is possible to install FLTK without superuser privileges by changing the installation path to a location within the user account by adding the --prefix=PREFIX parameter to the ./configure command.

Creating new Projects (autoconf, make)

FLTK provides a neat script named fltk-config that can provide all the flags needed to build FLTK applications using the same flags that were used to build the library itself. Running fltk-config without arguments will print a list of options. The easiest call to compile an FLTK application from a single source file is:

cat << EOF > main.cxx
  #include <FL/Fl_Window.H>
  int main(int argc, char **argv) {
    Fl_Window *win = new Fl_Window(600, 400, "Hello, world!");
    win->show(argc, argv);
    return Fl::run();
  }
EOF
fltk-config --compile main.cxx
./main

fltk-config and our user interface designer fluid will be installed in /usr/local/bin/ by default. I recommend that you add this directory to the shell PATH variable.

3 HOW TO BUILD FLTK USING XCODE3

3.1 Prerequisites

In order to build FLTK from within Xcode 3, you need to have the Xcode 3 developer environment on your computer. If you don't, go to: 'HOW TO BUILD FLTK USING XCODE4'

3.2 Downloading and Unpacking

Download FLTK from here:

https://www.fltk.org/software.php

If you are familiar with "Git" and like to stay current with your version, you will find the Git access parameters at the bottom of that page. You can use the SCM system that is built into Xcode.

Unpack FLTK by double-clicking it and copy the new folder into a convenient location. I have set up a "dev" folder in my home folder for all my projects.

3.3 Configuring FLTK

Launch Xcode. Open the project file in

.../fltk-1.3.xxxx/ide/Xcode4/FLTK.xcodeproj

Use the "Project" pulldown menu to change "Active Build Configuration" to "Release". Change the "Active Architecture" as desired.

3.4 Building FLTK

Use the "Project" pulldown menu to set the "Active Target" to "Demo". Select "Build" from the "Build" menu to create all libraries and test applications.

By default, the Xcode4 project builds applications that run under macOS 10.5 and above. To build applications that also run under older Mac OS versions, select "Edit Project Settings" of the Project menu, then select the Build panel, and modify the "macOS Deployment Target" item.

All frameworks and apps will be located in "./ide/Xcode4/build/Release/".

3.5 Testing FLTK

Select "Build and Run" from the "Build" menu to run the Demo program. Use "Demo" to explore all test programs.

3.6 Uninstalling previous versions of FLTK

Remove FLTK frameworks:

sudo rm -r /Library/Frameworks/fltk*.framework

Remove Fluid and possibly other utilities:

sudo rm -r /Developer/Applications/Utilities/FLTK/

3.7 Installing FLTK

When distributing FLTK applications, the FLTK frameworks should be made part of the application package. For development however, it is very convenient to have the Release-mode Frameworks in a standard location.

For Xcode project template use, all FLTK frameworks should be copied from "./ide/Xcode4/build/Release/" to "/Library/Frameworks/". The FLTK header files for all FLTK frameworks will then be at "/Library/Frameworks/fltk.framework/ Headers/". Add this path to the header search path of your projects.

sudo rm -f -r /Library/Frameworks/fltk* sudo cp -R ide/Xcode4/build/Release/fltk*.framework /Library/Frameworks/

Many FLTK applications will use Fluid, the FLTK User Interface builder, to generate C++ source code from .fl resource files. Add Fluid to the developer tools:

sudo mkdir /Developer/Applications/Utilities/FLTK/ sudo rm -f -r /Developer/Applications/Utilities/FLTK/fluid.app sudo cp -R ide/Xcode4/build/Release/fluid.app /Developer/Applications/Utilities/FLTK/

3.8 Installing Little Helpers

  • Project Templates:

Project Templates are the quickest way to create a new FLTK application from within Xcode. The included project builds an FLTK based Cocoa application written in C++ with support for the Fluid UI designer, image reading, and OpenGL. Unused FLTK sub-Frameworks can simply be removed from the project. The template assumes that Release versions of the FLTK frameworks are installed in /Library/Frameworks as described above.

First, we need to create the Template folder:

sudo mkdir -p /Library/Application\ Support/Developer/Shared/Xcode/Project\ Templates/

Next, we copy the project template over:

sudo cp -r ide/Xcode4/Project\ Templates/* /Library/Application\ Support/Developer/Shared/Xcode/Project\ Templates/

After restarting Xcode, the dialog for "File > New Project..." will offer an FLTK 1.3 user template which is ready to compile.

  • Fluid file handling

This section assumes that a Release version of Fluid is installed in "/Developer/Applications/Utilities/FLTK/" as described above. It will install a new file type which opens Fluid as an editor for files ending in ".fl".

First, we need to create the spec folder:

sudo mkdir -p /Library/Application\ Support/Developer/Shared/Xcode/Specifications/

Next, we copy the Fluid specification over:

sudo cp ide/Xcode4/fluid.pbfilespec /Library/Application\ Support/Developer/Shared/Xcode/Specifications/

Open Xcode preferences and select the File Types tab. Find the "sourcecode.fluid" entry in "file > text > sourcecode" and set the external editor to Fluid. When adding ".fl" files, set the File Type in the Info dialog to "sourcecode.fluid" and Xcode will edit your file in Fluid when double-clicking.

  • More

TODO: Language Definition TODO: Build Rules

3.9 Creating new Projects

If the little helpers above were installed, the menu "File > New Project..." will pop up a dialog that offers a User Template named Fluid. Select it and follow the instructions.

4 HOW TO BUILD FLTK USING XCODE4

4.1 Prerequisites

In order to build FLTK from within Xcode 4, 5, 6, 7, or 8 you need to install the Xcode developer environment via the Apple App Store that comes with Lion and up. If you also want the command line version of gcc, you can use the Download section in the Preferences dialog.

4.2 Downloading and Unpacking

Download FLTK from here:

https://www.fltk.org/software.php

If you are familiar with "Git" and like to stay current with your version, you will find the Git access parameters at the bottom of that page. You can use the SCM system that is built into Xcode.

Unpack FLTK by double-clicking it and copy the new folder into a convenient location. I have set up a "dev" folder in my home folder for all my projects.

4.3 Configuring FLTK

Launch Xcode. Open the project file in

.../fltk-1.3.xxxx/ide/Xcode4/FLTK.xcodeproj

There is nothing else to configure.

4.4 Building FLTK

Use the "Scheme" pulldown menu to change the active target to "Demo" and "My Mac 32-bit" or "My Mac 64-bit". Select "Build for" -> "Running"Run" from the "Product" menu to create all libraries and test applications.

By default, the Xcode4 project builds applications that run under macOS 10.5 and above. To build applications that also run under older Mac OS versions, modify the "macOS Deployment Target" item of the FLTK project build settings.

All frameworks and apps will be located in a private directory. Use "Window"->"Organizer" to find the full path.

4.5 Testing FLTK

Select "Run" from the "Product" menu to run the Demo program. Use "Demo" to explore all test programs.

4.6 Uninstalling previous versions of FLTK

Remove FLTK frameworks:

sudo rm -r /Library/Frameworks/fltk*.framework

Remove Fluid and possibly other utilities:

sudo rm -r /Applications/FLTK/

4.7 Installing FLTK

When distributing FLTK applications, the FLTK frameworks should be made part of the application package. For development however, it is very convenient to have the Release-mode Frameworks in a standard location.

For Xcode project template use, all FLTK frameworks should be built using "Build for Archiving" and then copied from "./(Organizer->Derived Data Path)/Release/" to "/Library/Frameworks/". The FLTK header files for all FLTK frameworks will then be at "/Library/Frameworks/fltk.framework/Headers/". Add this path to the header search path of your projects.

sudo rm -f -r /Library/Frameworks/fltk* sudo cp -R (Organizer->Derived Data Path)/Release/fltk*.framework /Library/Frameworks/

Many FLTK applications will use Fluid, the FLTK User Interface builder, to generate C++ source code from .fl resource files. Add Fluid to the developer tools:

sudo mkdir /Applications/FLTK/ sudo rm -f -r /Applications/FLTK/fluid.app sudo cp -R (Organizer->Derived Data Path)/Release/fluid.app /Applications/FLTK/

(TODO: 4.8   Installing Little Helpers)
(TODO: 4.9   Creating new Projects)

Make an Application Launchable by Dropping Files on its Icon

TODO: update for FLTK 1.4

  • Prepare an Info.plist file for your application derived from file test/editor-Info.plist which allows any file to be dropped on the application icon. You can edit this file in Xcode and change Document types/Item 0/CFBundleTypeExtensions/Item 0 from the current "*" to the desired file extension. Use several items to declare several extensions.

  • Call fl_open_callback() at the beginning of your main() function that sets what function will be called when a file is dropped on the application icon.

  • In Xcode, set the "Info.plist File" build setting of your target application to the Info.plist file you have prepared.

  • Rebuild your application.

DOCUMENT HISTORY

  • Oct 29 2010 - matt: removed warnings
  • Oct 24 2010 - matt: restructured entire document and verified instructions
  • Dec 19 2010 - Manolo: corrected typos
  • Dec 29 2010 - Manolo: removed reference to AudioToolbox.framework that's no longer needed
  • Feb 24 2011 - Manolo: architecture flags are not propagated to the fltk-config script.
  • Apr 17 2012 - matt: added Xcode4 documentation
  • Nov 13 2012 - Manolo: added "MAKE AN APPLICATION LAUNCHABLE BY DROPPING FILES ON ITS ICON"
  • Apr 28 2014 - Manolo: how to build programs that run on various Mac OS X versions
  • Mar 18 2015 - Manolo: removed uses of the Xcode3 project
  • Apr 01 2016 - AlbrechtS: corrected typo, formatted most line breaks < 80 columns
  • Dec 04 2018 - AlbrechtS: fix typo (lowercase fluid.app) for case sensitive macOS
  • Dec 28 2018 - Matt: complete rework for FLTK 1.4