Compiler switches and build issues for Gizmo3D

The GIZMO toolkit targets both Unix platforms as well as Win32 etc. The distribution contains examples where some are platform independent and some are not. There are some important issues to know before you can use GIZMO successfully. They are not too complicated to understand.

General issues

The GIZMO toolkit is free for non-commercial usage on WIN32 and Irix. Free to use on Linux in any kind of usage. If you want to use it in a test project etc. you can either download a test distribution that contains a 2-3 month evaluation temporary license key or email gizmo3d_support@sts.saab.se with a request for a permanent license key. To obtain a permanent key you need to get your machine id with the example "machid" in the example directory. You have to send this key with the email together with a small note how you intend to use the toolkit. There will be an automatic registration form available on the web in the future.

Some other issues:

1. Remember to define GZ_OPENGL to get OpenGL support if you are building your project and makefile from the source distribution. In the binary distribution it is already set up correctly.

2. The binaries for the libraries uses SINGLE_PRECISION floating point support. If you want DOUBLE_PRECISION you have to contact gizmo3d_support@sts.saab.se

Linux issues

In the examples directory you will find normal makefiles (named Makefile) under each example. Different Linux distribution put some essential libraries in different places. We have not yet made any "./configure" script so you have to edit a couple of files if you do not get it to work directly.

1. First of all you should type "make linux" to configure the makefile for a redhat (or Mandrake, Suse etc) distribution. This action creates two files named "compilerflags" and "buildflags". You should then decide whether you want a debug or release version. Either you type "make debug" for a debug version or you type "make release" for a release version. To build the example you just type "make "

2. If you have problems with Mesa or any other OpenGL implementation you can change the flags "OPENGLLIBS" in the "compilerflags" file to reflect your settings. We have used the convention to put the OpenGL header files in the library "/usr/include/GL" because a lot of other commercial systems use this as a standard.

3. If you have problems with the X libraries you can edit the flag "XLIBS" in the "compilerflags" file to reflect your settings. We do NOT use any motif functionality. The GIZMO toolkit uses only X11 and Xt.

4. The Linux distribution supports Qt from TrollTech. You have to change the variable QTDIR (in the Makefile) if your Qt library is different from "/usr/local/qt/". Check out the example "qtwin" where the Qt toolkit is used.

5. Remember to define GZ_LINUX if you are building your own project and makefile

Win32 issues

In the examples directory you will find makefiles (named xxxx.mak) under each example. There are also a file named "Makefile" but this is for Unix. The distribution is build with version 8.0 of Visual Studio.

1. First of all you should type "nmake -f xxxx.mak clean" to clean up you directory. The "xxxx" represents the name of your project. If the make utility complains about an include of a file named "winbuildfiles" you can create an empty textfile with that name. You should then decide whether you want a debug or release version. Either you type "nmake -f xxxx.mak debug" for a debug version or you type "nmake -f xxxx.mak release" for a release version. To build the example you type "nmake -f xxxx.mak"

2. The libraries use threads and they are build with thread support and the release dll version of the libC with multithread support. If you are using a debug version you can force the linker to use the debug version of the library but you will also get some warnings. Look in the "winbuildflags" file to get the details for the compiler settings or look under the special win32 example directory where you can find project files for Visual C++ .

3. The Win32 distribution supports Qt from TrollTech. You have to set the environment variable QTDIR The Qt libs should be built with multithread support "/MT or /MD directive" or you have to add "errno" as a global int variable. Use QT DLL build !!

4. The Win32 distribution is now by default a number of .dll libraries and .lib import libraries. If you use the static libs you should define GZ_STATIC. Note that the static libs and the debug libraries are not included in the binary download distribution.