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Re: [XaraXtreme-dev] RE: Mac version

On 04/09/06, Neil Howe <NeilH@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

Hi Brian,

Thanks for this information – we'll get the instructions updated.  I'm
forwarding this to our dev mail list. Please can you join the mail list (see
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/community/) and then send all
further information directly to dev@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 ________________________________

From: Brian at Monkey Puzzle [mailto:brian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

I'm using MacOS X 10.4.7 and XCode 2.4. The instructions on
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/developers/documentation/mac_xcode_project_build_instructions.html
need updating (I think) as the fifth point includes the instruction

 Ensure that the Target Build settings all have Architecture set
 appropriately for your machine (typically either "i386" or "ppc")

which is very hard to find.

This may or may not be related to the next problem which is that the Build
fails, generating 78 errors on the advsplash.cpp file.

The solution,

 If you get unresolved symbols in the link stage then it's likely that new
 files have been added to the SVN repository since the XCode project was last
 updated there. In that case, use the Add Existing Files option to add the
 required files to the project. Only add those files that contain the missing
 symbols and make sure that only cpp files are members of the XaraLX_Debug
 and XaraLX_Release Targets. Then Build again.

eludes me as there does not appear to be an Add Existing Files option in
this version of XCode.


I'll try to add some info on this, but I must start by suggesting that
we do not make large or potentially troublesome changes to the XCode
project at all, and are also careful with the related instructions.

The supplied XCode project does work. I have mothballed my essays in
this direction long ago. I have no more any need to build using the
command line methods, with which I am otherwise well pleased. I can
run Xara Xtreme from inside the XCode IDE (using Cmd-R) and debug it
(using Cmd-Y). This is a great step forward, and covers totally or
partially all of the milestones (stepping stones) that we discussed
woefully back in May and June. I really do think that we need a period
of stability (no changes) for the next two or three weeks and try to
enjoy the fruits of Cristian's (and others') work. Further, the MacOS
build is now more functional in my hands than the PPC Linux one.

This is not to say that Bugs should be ignored or that further work -
progress - is discouraged.

Personally, I think that that next step is to get Mac Xara Xtreme in
front of potential users - artists, and one way of doing this would be
to devise a discipline for creating and uploading prebuilt binaries -
nightlies.

Now the first of Brian's points (which is True Bill, even if the
underlying problem is small and easily controlled) is relevant here.

This XCode project is akin to an 'Official' project, one that builds
using 'Official methods', that is, one that produces a binary whose
bits differ only from a release (shipping or nightly) in the
copyright, version string, context sensitive help et cetera; For this
reason, the rest of us may have to make some compromises to work the
same way. In this case, I note that the build architecture is set to
'i386' for some reason. (Eventually the deliverable - a synonym for
'release build' - should, I suspect, be fat containing a PPC binary
that runs on 10.3.9 and 10.4.x and an i386 that runs on MacTel/Tiger;
but this is another story). I am assuming that the current devs use
MacTel machines and that the offical builds are currently, for ease of
operations, i386 only. This is fine by me, it just means that I have
to remember to change the 'Architecture' setting in two places. If I
get this wrong, then I end up compiling several hundred MB of useless
i386 object files. The alternatives would be to move on to making this
setting 'i386 ppc', that is, every dev build twice as many object
files as he or she needs or to leaving that setting empty so that only
the 'Current Mac OS' version is build. The second choice may be a good
one, but it means taking the fork in the road labelled 'Personal
Project' and leaving the main trunk, the 'Official Project'. At this
stage, I only see disadvantages, but I may change my view on this as I
gain more experience.

I am fairly sure that I have posted before about this setting and
leaving it empty, and had found a Blog which covered this with some
helpful screenshots; but I can't find that post of mine - if it ever
existed - and I am fairly sure that that the blog concerned is now
404; somebody else have a go. There are some exceedingly fine pages on
the Apple site covering making Universal Binaries and converting
projects to enable this.

I am not confident of my ability to merge changes into the project, so
I duplicate it and use the copy. Thus I end up making these changes
every time. Personally, therefore, it is helpful if svn checkin's to
the project are made infrequently, for example at a maximum of one per
month, preferably at the beginning of the month.

For reference, the only other changes that I have made, bar one
important one which bears on Brian's second point are:

* Added the _DEBUG macro, so I get TRACE output
* Made wxXtra a direct dependency of Xara Xtreme

My comments above apply - this is another step away from an 'Official
Project' and towards a 'Personal' or 'Developer' one - without saying
whether this is right or wrong, but suggesting that it could be step
in the direction of getting the Mac Xara Xtreme deliverable in front
of artists, and therefore probably wise.

I am fairly sure that there is a header Search Path missing from the
wxXtra target without which the wxXtra files will not compile. This
needs to be added and the info is on the instructions page.

Please don't think that I am being negative or pernickety,
http://pernickety.deviantart.com/ ; I really don't favour negativsm or
any kind of nicketing, but I genuinely believe that a little bit of
studying the XCode documentation
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/developers/documentation/xara_lx_mac_build_instructions.html
or http://del.icio.us/marc/xcode would go a long way towards
dissolving the problems mentioned here and that getting nightlies
uploaded, exempli gratia
http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=21313 would be
appreciated perhaps widely, and may help characterise a couple of
things that I have seen, such as:

* An opaque blue or red background
* Moving objects duplicates them

There are a few more points which could follow, that I have omitted
from this post, but I have, I hope, added some information to the
defects reported (and indirectly helped make a case for brevity in
instructions).

Ben.