Different options exist to compile Frepple under windows:
The executables and extension modules created by these compilers are not compatible with each other.
Compiling using Microsoft Visual C++ compiler
FrePPLe comes with Microsoft Visual C++ projects and workspaces to compile the code.
The solution file is contrib/vc/frepple.sln and more detailed build instructions are provided in the README.txt file in this directory.
The project configuration files are generated with version Visual Studio Express C++ 2008 (aka vc9), which can be downloaded freely from the Microsoft website.
For the Windows build, you will also need to install:
- Python 2.7
- Xerces-C 3.1 (best is to install the precompiled binaries for vc9)
- Optional, glpk 4.25 or higher (easy to compile from source code with its build script)
A convenience script contrib/vc/build.bat is provided to rebuild the source code from the command line. The script needs to edited to point to the installation folders of all components.
To compile from the IDE, the include and library directories of these 2 external projects need to configured to point to the install directory of all components.
Optionally, if you are interested in some of the add-ons in the contrib subdirectory, follow the instructions in the README.txt file in each of the add-on directory.
As a reference, here is a brief summary list of the components you’ld need to install for this:
- NSIS, version greater or equal to 2.07
NSIS, which stands for “Nullsoft Scriptable Installation System”, is a free scriptable win32 installer/uninstaller system that doesn’t suck and isn’t huge.
This program can be downloaded from http://nsis.sf.net and you’ll only need it if you are planning to create a windows installation package. - py2exe, 0.6.9 or later
Py2exe is a Python Distutils extension which converts Python scripts into executable Windows programs, able to run without requiring a Python installation.
The software is used only when creating the windows installer. It can be downloaded fromhttp://www.py2exe.org/. - CherryPy, version 3.1.2 or later
CherryPy is a pythonic, object-oriented HTTP framework.
FrePPLe uses it as web server embedded in the Windows stand-alone application. The software is used only when creating the windows installer. It can be downloaded fromhttp://www.cherrypy.org/. - PyWin32, 214 or later
PyWin32 is an interface to Windows APIs from Python.
FrePPLe uses this component to run the CherryPy web server as a service. The download location is http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/.
Compiling using the Cygwin compiler
Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows. The Cygwin environment can be downloaded free of charge from http://www.cygwin.com.
The build instructions on Cygwin are identical to the Linux and Unix platforms.
Compared to the other platforms and compilers, the Cygwin executables are considerably slower.
The Cygwin build is not recommended for production environments on Windows. It should be seen as a test and development setup for a *nix environment.