Please forgive me if this is a frequently asked question. A search of google
and this site has not been able to turn up the relevent info.

I'm brand new to MingW (though not to C/C++ programming)--so new I have to
run MingW in a DOS box (what? A Windows 32 compiler that runs, not in
Windows, but DOS? Whoa....).

So one question I have is, anyone know of a MingW or similar GNU-compatible
C++ compiler that uses the Windows GUI instead of the DOS command line?
I've heard of DEV++ and Gnuwin32 but am not sure if either are what I'm
looking for.

That's actually a side question. I have been attempting to compile the pov
v. 3.6 source code with the version 3.4.2 MingW compiler. I, naturally, am
having problems figuring it all out.

For example, what is an "error 1"? None of the MingW documentation I've
looked at gives me even a hint what that means.

I did find the main makefile.gcc under the windowsmakefiles directory. I got
that "config.h" error due to my version of MingW being different from the
one the makefile is meant for. I am compiling the console version of povray
(for now), so I need to modify the one in the sourcewindowsconsole
directory.

First problem I haven't figured out; what number to put in the
__GNUC_MINOR__
line. I don't know how to determine what number to put here. How do I get
the version number, and what is "GNUC"? It's not gcc or gpp, so it's not
the c compiler is it?

For now I've simply commented that out and it seems to compile ok until I
get to the POVMSEND.CPP file, where I get a bunch of errors starting at
line 892 of POVMSEND.CPP where I get the message "error: expected ')'
before "COMPILOR_MINOR_VER", and other errors cascade from there. I'm going
to guess it's because I commented out that ___GNUC_MINOR__ section in the
makefile.

So how do I fix it? I'm not supposed to actually modify POVMSEND.CPP itself,
right? Not if I'm trying to compile standard POV.

How do I get this thing to compile? :)

Best info I found until now was on this page:
http://users.ox.ac.uk/~sjoh2038/coding/compile_povray.html
Which is about compiling povray v. 3.5 (not 3.6). I followed the
instructions on that page, and was able to compile most of the libraries
(zlib, libPNG, etc.) without having to make any modifications (no idea yet
how well the compiled code works), but was not able to get libtiff to
compile. There was no provided makefile.gcc file and I don't know how to
create a working one. Any help?

Or do I even need to worry about that as the main povray makefile.gcc seems
to include compiling libtiff? Or does it?

Yes I did remember to customize DISTRIBUTION_MESSAGE in the optout.h file.
:)

So what's the next step to compiling this?

Oh, incidentally, I'm planning to customize the code to add some new
features I've been wanting, which is why just the precompiled binaries
won't do. :)

Thanks to all in advance and hope I wasn't too tedious...I never expected
compiling povray to be *this* difficult! (Well it's hard for a windows32
c++ newbie like me).

I do think I got *most* of the way ok...

Post a reply to this message

Boumboum34 wrote:
> I'm brand new to MingW (though not to C/C++ programming)--so new I have to
> run MingW in a DOS box (what? A Windows 32 compiler that runs, not in
> Windows, but DOS? Whoa....).

Uh... maybe I'm missing something, but what's wrong with Visual Studio?

VC++ 2005 Express is free and should do the job.

http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/visualc/default.aspx

-Ryan

Post a reply to this message

On Wed, 20 Apr 2005 17:38:14 EDT, "Boumboum34" <boumboum34[at]yahoo[dot]com>
wrote:
> I'm brand new to MingW (though not to C/C++ programming)--so new I have to
> run MingW in a DOS box (what? A Windows 32 compiler that runs, not in
> Windows, but DOS? Whoa....).

You can even run Windows compiler on Apple using Unix environment :-)

> That's actually a side question. I have been attempting to compile the pov
> v. 3.6 source code with the version 3.4.2 MingW compiler. I, naturally, am
> having problems figuring it all out.
>
> For example, what is an "error 1"?

Would you like to quote complete error output. This "error 1" is out of
context.

> I did find the main makefile.gcc under the windowsmakefiles directory. I got
> that "config.h" error due to my version of MingW being different from the
> one the makefile is meant for.

The makefiles are unrelated to MinGW version. They are in GNU make format.
Error in compiling config.h is not error of make tool.

> I am compiling the console version of povray
> (for now), so I need to modify the one in the sourcewindowsconsole
> directory.
>
> First problem I haven't figured out; what number to put in the
> __GNUC_MINOR__
> line. I don't know how to determine what number to put here. How do I get
> the version number, and what is "GNUC"? It's not gcc or gpp, so it's not
> the c compiler is it?

You have version of GCC mentioned in %MINGW%/doc/MinGW/MinGW_PACKAGES.rtf
document.

> For now I've simply commented that out and it seems to compile ok until I
> get to the POVMSEND.CPP file, where I get a bunch of errors starting at
> line 892 of POVMSEND.CPP where I get the message "error: expected ')'
> before "COMPILOR_MINOR_VER", and other errors cascade from there. I'm going
> to guess it's because I commented out that ___GNUC_MINOR__ section in the
> makefile.

Yes.

> So how do I fix it? I'm not supposed to actually modify POVMSEND.CPP itself,
> right? Not if I'm trying to compile standard POV.
> (...)
> So what's the next step to compiling this?

You have to adjust config.h

ABX

Post a reply to this message

<"Boumboum34" <boumboum34[at]yahoo[dot]com>> wrote:

> I'm brand new to MingW (though not to C/C++ programming)--so new I have to
> run MingW in a DOS box (what? A Windows 32 compiler that runs, not in
> Windows, but DOS? Whoa....).

Well, its a compiler, not a GUI.

That "DOS" is the command line interface for windows. There is nothing wrong
with it. That it looks like DOS doesn't mean you cou only run DOS programs 
from there, or your compiled binaries will be 16bit or something...

Lutz-Peter

Post a reply to this message

Thanks for the responses. The reference to the MinGW_PACKAGES.rtf file made
the difference. I've got the console version compiled and working nicely.
:) Now on to play with patching.. :)

Ryan wrote:
> Uh... maybe I'm missing something, but what's wrong with Visual Studio?

I forgot to mention, I'm using an old Pentium II laptop running Windows 98
(hey, it's all I can afford, ok? Especially after 2 pentium 4 laptops both
got stolen within 6 months). Neither Visual Studio .NET nor the Intel C++
compilers will run on my machine (both require XP if I recall, which also
doesn't run on my machine).

MingW does, as does cygwin.


Lutz-Peter Hooge wrote:
> That "DOS" is the command line interface for windows. There is nothing wrong
> with it. That it looks like DOS doesn't mean you cou only run DOS programs
> from there, or your compiled binaries will be 16bit or something...

Yes I know. I'm an old DOS user from the pre-windows 3.1 days (heck, I
remember usin MS-DOS 2.01). :) It's just that...well...I'd gotten used to
the Windows 98 GUI environment and...finding myself suddenly forced back
into the old DOS command line environment is rather a pain, even when I'm
using DOSKEY. All the stuff I'm used to with Windows GUI programs just
isn't available in a DOS box. Having to type out the long file and path
names is a pain compared to just clicking on a list, for example. The lack
of a scroll for DOS windows bugs me a lot too. I haven't figured out how to
pipe the compiler messages to a file for later reading. The ">" switch
redirects the MAKE tool messages but not the compiler messages....*sigh*
With a windows GUI I could just scroll up. Begin to see why I'm searching
for a GUI version of the otherwise excellent GNU tools?

It's the same reason I use the Windows GUI version of povray instead of the
console version, which still works well, as you know.

Post a reply to this message

"Boumboum34" <boumboum34[at]yahoo[dot]com> wrote:

> So one question I have is, anyone know of a MingW or similar GNU-compatible
> C++ compiler that uses the Windows GUI instead of the DOS command line?
> I've heard of DEV++ and Gnuwin32 but am not sure if either are what I'm
> looking for

I have had good results with Bloodshed's Dev-C++, but note that I have never
attempted to compile POV with it. You can download a version with its own
MingW setup, or you can download the GUI alone and point it to your MingW
directory.

http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html

It also operates a package system which you can use from the GUI, or
alternatively you can download packages from

http://devpaks.org/

I don't know exactly what you'd need to do to get POV-Ray to compile with
this, since it uses a project system and generates its own makefiles.
Perhaps it will be really simple, or quite complex, but as I say I've not
attempted to compile POV-Ray with Dev-C++.

Post a reply to this message

Ryan Lamansky wrote:
> Boumboum34 wrote:
> 
>> I'm brand new to MingW (though not to C/C++ programming)--so new I 
>> have to
>> run MingW in a DOS box (what? A Windows 32 compiler that runs, not in
>> Windows, but DOS? Whoa....).
> 
> 
> Uh... maybe I'm missing something, but what's wrong with Visual Studio?
> 
> VC++ 2005 Express is free and should do the job.
> 
> http://lab.msdn.microsoft.com/express/visualc/default.aspx
> 
> -Ryan

I got VS 2003 via a software reseller -- if someone has the source I can try 
compiling it.  My box is an Athlon XP 2.0 GHz with 1 GB DDR, which is plenty for 
compiling and adequate for basic raytracing.  I will need somewhere to upload 
it, though...

--------------
David Wallace
TenArbor Consulting
"Just In Time Cash"
www.tenarbor.com
1-866-572-CASH

Post a reply to this message

news:web.426fd04128bb42a62ff34a90@news.povray.org...
> "Boumboum34" <boumboum34[at]yahoo[dot]com> wrote:
>
>> So one question I have is, anyone know of a MingW or similar
>> GNU-compatible
>> C++ compiler that uses the Windows GUI instead of the DOS command line?
>> I've heard of DEV++ and Gnuwin32 but am not sure if either are what I'm
>> looking for
>
> I have had good results with Bloodshed's Dev-C++, but note that I have
> never
> attempted to compile POV with it. You can download a version with its own
> MingW setup, or you can download the GUI alone and point it to your MingW
> directory.
>
> http://www.bloodshed.net/devcpp.html
>
> It also operates a package system which you can use from the GUI, or
> alternatively you can download packages from
>
> http://devpaks.org/
>
> I don't know exactly what you'd need to do to get POV-Ray to compile with
> this, since it uses a project system and generates its own makefiles.
> Perhaps it will be really simple, or quite complex, but as I say I've not
> attempted to compile POV-Ray with Dev-C++.
>
>

I have very little experience with C and compiling stuff, but I attempted to
compile Povray with Dev-C++.

I was flooded in errors and at the bottom of the list it said:

"Something must be very wrong with your code!" or something similar.
I would like to be able to compile it with Dev-C++. If someone succeeded in 
doing this, please send me the .dev file and/or instructions via mail. 
(remove "best.webmail" from the address if you do)

Post a reply to this message