Subject: Newbie Help / Collapsible Outline Status Report
From: Randy Kramer (rhkramer@fast.net)
Date: Wed May 31 2000 - 07:44:17 CDT
Hello,
I am approximately on schedule in my 5 year plan to incorporate
collapsible outlining in AbiWord. :-(
I'm proving to be much more of a newbie than I expected (at Bash, C,
C++, Make, CVS, patching, etc.)
Currently, I'm trying to build AbiWord under Windows 95 and VC++ 5. I
am struggling with Make and Bash. I am reading the GNU manual for make.
Questions:
Is there a set of step by step instructions for newbies specifically
aimed at building AbiWord under Windows 95 and VC++? Is there a set of
step by step instructions for newbies specifically aimed at developing
for an Open Source project under Windows 95 and VC++?
By newbie, I mean someone who is reasonably familiar with MSDos and
Windows, including some programming in Pascal, Visual Basic, and batch
files (and other languages from long ago), but is not familiar with
Linux (Unix), make, Bash, CVS, patching, etc.
I've read the recent threads on the developers list: "CygWin x Win32";
"(Incomplete) Patch for Borland C++"; "Cygwin 1.1.0 build problems, a
clue"; "Cygwin Make causing a Kernel32.DLL fault"; and "Cygwin 1.1.0
patch"; but the information there is at least two steps ahead of what I
am presently ready to absorb. (I've been lurking on the developers list
for over 6 months.)
To give you an idea where I am, I just recognized that there is a file
called "abi_defs.mk" and started reading it. It seems I will have to
uncomment some lines in that file to make progress.
If there is not a set of step by step newbie instructions, or the
beginning of such a set of instructions, I will attempt to keep notes
and then make such a set of instructions as I wend my way toward
building AbiWord under Windows 95 and VC++,
--UNLESS--
I'm making a mistake by even attempting to build and develop under
Window 95 and VC++?
Background: Over the next several months, I anticipate switching to
Linux. Even so, I am used to working in an IDE with a debugger. (From
Turbo Pascal days and, more recently, Visual Basic.) I dread using a
command line debugger which I understand gdb is. I think that for the
forseeable future I'd like to debug in VC++ with its' integrated
debugger, object browser, etc.
Is that a terrible mistake? Will I be able to effectively develop
within VC++, or should I switch to gcc? Will I be able to make
effective patches from VC++ and the "windows" tools?
Is it a mistake to attempt to document this oddysey?
Thanks,
Randy Kramer
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b25 : Wed May 31 2000 - 07:40:55 CDT