path: root/more/getting_started/windows.rst

.. Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost
.. Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying
.. file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt)

=======================================
 |(logo)|__ Getting Started on Windows
=======================================

.. |(logo)| image:: ../../boost.png
   :alt: Boost
   :class: boost-logo

.. role:: raw-html(raw)
   :format: html

__ ../../index.htm

.. section-numbering::

.. Admonition:: A note to Cygwin_ and MinGW_ users

  If you plan to use your tools from the Windows command prompt,
  you're in the right place.  If you plan to build from the Cygwin_
  bash shell, you're actually running on a POSIX platform and
  should follow the instructions for `getting started on Unix
  variants`_.  Other command shells, such as MinGW_\ 's MSYS, are
  not supported—they may or may not work.

  .. _`Getting Started on Unix Variants`: unix-variants.html
  .. _Cygwin: http://www.cygwin.com
  .. _MinGW: http://mingw.org

.. Contents:: Index

Get Boost
=========

The most reliable way to get a copy of Boost is to
download |boost.7z|_ or |boost_zip|_ and unpack it to install a complete Boost
distribution. [#zip]_

.. |boost.7z| replace:: |boost_ver|\ ``.7z``

.. _`boost.7z`: `sf-download`_

.. |boost_zip| replace:: |boost_ver|\ ``.zip``

.. _`boost_zip`: `sf-download`_

.. include:: detail/distro.rst

.. include:: detail/header-only.rst

.. include:: detail/build-simple-head.rst

.. _`command prompt`:
.. _`command-line tool`:

.. Note:: To build the examples in this guide, you can use an
   Integrated Development Environment (IDE) like Visual Studio, or
   you can issue commands from the `command prompt`_.  Since every
   IDE and compiler has different options and Microsoft's are by
   far the dominant compilers on Windows, we only give specific
   directions here for Visual Studio 2005 and .NET 2003 IDEs and
   their respective command prompt compilers (using the command
   prompt is a bit simpler).  If you are using another compiler or
   IDE, it should be relatively easy to adapt these instructions to
   your environment.

.. sidebar:: Command Prompt Basics
   :class: small

   In Windows, a command-line tool is invoked by typing its name,
   optionally followed by arguments, into a *Command Prompt* window
   and pressing the Return (or Enter) key.

   To open a generic *Command Prompt*, click the *Start* menu
   button, click *Run*, type “cmd”, and then click *OK*.

   .. _current directory:

   All commands are executed within the context of a **current
   directory** in the filesystem.  To set the current directory,
   type:

   .. parsed-literal::

      cd *path*\ \\\ *to*\ \\\ *some*\ \\\ *directory*

   followed by Return.  For example,

   .. parsed-literal::

      cd |default-root|

   Long commands can be continued across several lines by typing a
   caret (``^``) at the end of all but the last line.  Some examples
   on this page use that technique to save horizontal space.

.. _vs-header-only:

Build From the Visual Studio IDE
--------------------------------

* From Visual Studio's *File* menu, select *New* > *Project…*
* In the left-hand pane of the resulting *New Project* dialog,
  select *Visual C++* > *Win32*.
* In the right-hand pane, select *Win32 Console Application*
  (VS8.0) or *Win32 Console Project* (VS7.1).
* In the *name* field, enter “example”
* Right-click **example** in the *Solution Explorer* pane and
  select *Properties* from the resulting pop-up menu
* In *Configuration Properties* > *C/C++* > *General* > *Additional Include
  Directories*, enter the path to the Boost root directory, for example

    |default-root|

* In *Configuration Properties* > *C/C++* > *Precompiled Headers*, change
  *Use Precompiled Header (/Yu)* to *Not Using Precompiled
  Headers*. [#pch]_
* Replace the contents of the ``example.cpp`` generated by the IDE
  with the example code above.
* From the *Build* menu, select *Build Solution*.

To test your application, hit the F5 key and type the following
into the resulting window, followed by the Return key::

  1 2 3

Then hold down the control key and press "Z", followed by the
Return key.

|next|__

__ `Errors and Warnings`_

Or, Build From the Command Prompt
---------------------------------

From your computer's *Start* menu, if you are a Visual
Studio 2005 user, select

  *All Programs* > *Microsoft Visual Studio 2005* 
  > *Visual Studio Tools* > *Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt*

or, if you're a Visual Studio .NET 2003 user, select

  *All Programs* > *Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003* 
  > *Visual Studio .NET Tools* > *Visual Studio .NET 2003 Command Prompt*

to bring up a special `command prompt`_ window set up for the
Visual Studio compiler.  In that window, set the `current
directory`_ to a suitable location for creating some temporary
files and type the following command followed by the Return key:

.. parsed-literal::

  cl /EHsc /I |root| *path*\ \\\ *to*\ \\example.cpp

To test the result, type:

.. parsed-literal::

  echo 1 2 3 | example

.. include:: detail/errors-and-warnings.rst

.. include:: detail/binary-head.rst

Simplified Build From Source
----------------------------

If you wish to build from source with Visual C++, you can use a 
simple build procedure described in this section. Open the command prompt
and change your current directory to the Boost root directory. Then, type
the following commands::

  bootstrap
  .\b2

The first command prepares the Boost.Build system for use. The second
command invokes Boost.Build to build the separately-compiled Boost
libraries. Please consult the `Boost.Build documentation`__ for a list
of allowed options.

__ http://www.boost.org/build/doc/html/bbv2/overview/invocation.html

Or, Build Binaries From Source
------------------------------

If you're using an earlier version of Visual C++, or a compiler
from another vendor, you'll need to use Boost.Build_ to create your
own binaries.

.. Admonition:: Boost.CMake

  There is also an experimental CMake build for boost, supported and distributed
  separately.  See the `Boost.CMake`_ wiki page for more information.

  .. _`Boost.CMake`:
       https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/wiki/CMake

.. include:: detail/build-from-source-head.rst

For example, your session might look like this: [#continuation]_

.. parsed-literal::

   C:\\WINDOWS> cd |default-root|
   |default-root|> b2 **^**
   More? **--build-dir=**\ "C:\\Documents and Settings\\dave\\build-boost" **^**
   More? **--build-type=complete** **msvc** stage

Be sure to read `this note`__ about the appearance of ``^``,
``More?`` and quotation marks (``"``) in that line.

The option “\ **--build-type=complete**\ ” causes Boost.Build to build
all supported variants of the libraries.  For instructions on how to
build only specific variants, please ask on the `Boost.Build mailing
list`_.

__ continuation_

.. include:: detail/build-from-source-tail.rst

.. _auto-linking:

.. include:: detail/link-head.rst

.. Admonition:: Auto-Linking

   Most Windows compilers and linkers have so-called “auto-linking
   support,” which eliminates the second challenge.  Special code in
   Boost header files detects your compiler options and uses that
   information to encode the name of the correct library into your
   object files; the linker selects the library with that name from
   the directories you've told it to search.

   The GCC toolchains (Cygwin and MinGW) are notable exceptions;
   GCC users should refer to the `linking instructions for Unix
   variant OSes`__ for the appropriate command-line options to use.

__ unix-variants.html#link-your-program-to-a-boost-library


Link From Within the Visual Studio IDE
--------------------------------------

Starting with the `header-only example project`__ we created
earlier:

__ vs-header-only_

1. Right-click **example** in the *Solution Explorer* pane and
   select *Properties* from the resulting pop-up menu
2. In *Configuration Properties* > *Linker* > *Additional Library
   Directories*, enter the path to the Boost binaries,
   e.g. |default-root|\ ``\lib\``.
3. From the *Build* menu, select *Build Solution*.

|next|__

__ `Test Your Program`_

Or, Link From the Command Prompt
--------------------------------

For example, we can compile and link the above program from the
Visual C++ command-line by simply adding the **bold** text below to
the command line we used earlier, assuming your Boost binaries are
in |default-root|\ ``\lib``:

.. parsed-literal::

   cl /EHsc /I |root| example.cpp   **^**
        **/link /LIBPATH:**\ |default-root-bold|\ **\\lib**

Library Naming
--------------

.. Note:: If, like Visual C++, your compiler supports auto-linking,
   you can probably |next|__.

     __ `Test Your Program`_

.. include:: detail/library-naming.rst

.. include:: detail/test-head.rst

Now, in a `command prompt`_ window, type:

.. parsed-literal::

   *path*\ \\\ *to*\ \\\ *compiled*\ \\example < *path*\ \\\ *to*\ \\\ jayne.txt

The program should respond with the email subject, “Will Success
Spoil Rock Hunter?”

.. include:: detail/conclusion.rst

------------------------------

.. [#zip] We recommend
   downloading |boost.7z|_ and using 7-Zip_ to decompress
   it.  We no longer recommend .zip files for Boost because they are twice
   as large as the equivalent .7z files.  We don't recommend using Windows'
   built-in decompression as it can be painfully slow for large archives.
   
.. _7-Zip: http://www.7-zip.org  

.. [#pch] There's no problem using Boost with precompiled headers;
   these instructions merely avoid precompiled headers because it
   would require Visual Studio-specific changes to the source code
   used in the examples.

.. [#continuation] In this example, the caret character ``^`` is a
   way of continuing the command on multiple lines, and must be the
   **final character** used on the line to be continued (i.e. do
   not follow it with spaces).  The command prompt responds with
   ``More?`` to prompt for more input.  Feel free to omit the
   carets and subsequent newlines; we used them so the example
   would fit on a page of reasonable width.  

   The command prompt treats each bit of whitespace in the command
   as an argument separator.  That means quotation marks (``"``)
   are required to keep text together whenever a single
   command-line argument contains spaces, as in

   .. parsed-literal::

     --build-dir=\ :raw-html:`<strong style="background-color:#B4FFB4">"</strong>`\ C:\\Documents\ :raw-html:`<strong style="color:#B4B4B4; background-color:#B4FFB4">_</strong>`\ and\ :raw-html:`<strong style="color:#B4B4B4; background-color:#B4FFB4">_</strong>`\ Settings\\dave\\build-boost\ \ :raw-html:`<strong style="background-color:#B4FFB4">"</strong>`

   Also, for example, you can't add spaces around the ``=`` sign as in

   .. parsed-literal::

     --build-dir\ :raw-html:`<strong style="color:#B4B4B4; background-color:#FFB4B4">_</strong>`\ =\ :raw-html:`<strong style="color:#B4B4B4; background-color:#FFB4B4">_</strong>`\ "C:\\Documents and Settings\\dave\\build-boost"

.. |boost.zip| replace:: |boost_ver|\ ``.zip``

.. _`boost.zip`: `sf-download`_

.. |build-type-complete| replace:: **--build-type=complete**

.. include:: detail/common-footnotes.rst
.. include:: detail/release-variables.rst
.. include:: detail/common-windows.rst
.. include:: detail/links.rst