wxWindows 2.1.11
----------------
Welcome to wxWindows 2, a sophisticated cross-platform C++
framework for writing advanced GUI applications using (where
possible) the native controls.
In addition to common and advanced GUI facilities such as frames, scrolling
windows, toolbars, tree controls, icons, device contexts, printing,
splitter windows and so on, there are wrappers for common file operations,
and facilities for writing TCP/IP applications, thread handling, and more.
Where certain features are not available on a platform, such as MDI and
tree controls on Unix, they are emulated.
A detailed 1100-page reference manual is supplied in HTML, PDF and
Windows Help form: see the docs hierarchy.
For a quick start, point your Web browser at docs/html/index.htm for a list of
important documents and samples.
Changes in this release
-----------------------
These are some of the major improvements:
wxWindows 2.1.11
================
- Numerous bug fixes and consistency improvements.
- Further samples.
- Factoring out of some code into base classes, for easier
maintenance.
- Ability to compile library in console (non-GUI) mode.
- Integration of wxHTML widget and help controller into
wxWindows. wxHTML allows HTML viewing and printing (wxGTK
and wxMSW, partial support in wxMotif).
- New classes wxChrono, wxDialUpManager, wxFontEnumerator,
wxWizard, wxStaticLine, etc.
- wxShowTip for showing 'startup tips' to the user.
- wxSocket and wxThread classes rewritten.
- New, consistent drag and drop API (not wxMotif).
- Better-looking dialogs in wxGTK; native message box used
in wxMotif.
- wxSizers reimplemented and used to specify window layout
for some generic dialogs.
- New, more sophisticated wxGrid class (in beta). The old grid
class can still be used.
- Text alignment options in wxStaticText.
- wxImage class extended to read PCX and GIF files.
- Documentation improvements.
- Revised configure system for wxGTK and wxMotif; tmake-based
system for generating wxMSW makefiles.
- Installer for Windows as alternative to zip archives.
Platforms supported
-------------------
wxWindows 2 currently supports the following platforms:
- Windows 3.1, Windows 95/98, Windows NT
- Most Unix variants with Motif/Lesstif
- Most Unix variants with GTK+
- Mac (not covered here: please see the wxWindows web site
for details)
Most popular C++ compilers are supported; see the release notes
(available via docs/html/index.htm) for details.
Files
-----
The distribution is available in a number of formats.
The most convenient is the platform-specific distribution,
but the zip set forms a more complete distribution, for example if
you wish to take part in wxWindows development. Also, add-ons
such as OGL may only be available in zip form.
Zip set
-------
Depending on what you downloaded, you may have one or more of
these ports. You may unarchive any or all of the ports into
the same directory hierarchy. The zip archive set comprises the
following, where x is the minor version and y the release number:
wx2_x_y_gen.zip Generic source code and samples (required)
wx2_x_y_msw.zip Windows-specific source code
wx2_x_y_mot.zip Motif-specific source code
wx2_x_y_gtk.zip GTK-specific source code
wx2_x_y_stubs.zip Stubs ('empty port') source. Needs
wx2_x_y_gen.zip/tgz.
wx2_x_y_doc.zip Documentation source code (not required)
wx2_x_y_hlp.zip WinHelp documentation
wx2_x_y_pdf.zip Acrobat PDF documentation
wx2_x_y_htm.zip HTML documentation
wx2_x_y_vc.zip MS VC++ 5/6 project files
wx2_x_y_bc.zip Borland C++ 5 project files
wx2_x_y_cw.zip Metrowerks CodeWarrior 4.1 project files
jpeg.zip Optional JPEG library
ogl3.zip Optional Object Graphics Library
glcanvas.zip Optional wxGLCanvas class (Motif, GTK, MSW)
tex2rtf2.zip Tex2RTF documentation tool
wxWindows for GTK distribution
------------------------------
wxGTK-2.x.y.tgz wxGTK source distribution. You will
need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
from the zip set (above).
wxWindows for Motif distribution
--------------------------------
wxMotif-2.x.y.tgz wxMotif source distribution. You will
need the HTML and/or PDF documentation
-- OR -- from the zip set (above).
wx2_x_y_gen.zip
wx2_x_y_mot.zip
jpeg.zip
wxWindows for Windows distribution
----------------------------------
As well as the core source, the Windows setup contains:
- Windows Help versions of the documentation (docs/winhelp);
- wxGLCanvas (OpenGL integration, in utils/glcanvas);
- OGL 3 (Object Graphics Library, in utils/ogl);
- wxTreeLayout (for tree drawing, in utils/wxtree);
- a Dialog Editor binary;
- the JPEG library.
setup.exe Setup file (Windows 95/98, NT)
setup.* Other setup files
Installation
------------
wxWindows 2 needs to be compiled before you can test out
the samples or write your own applications.
For installation information, please see the install.txt file
in the individual directories:
docs/msw
docs/gtk
docs/motif
Licence information
-------------------
For licensing information, please see the files:
docs/preamble.txt
docs/licence.txt
docs/licendoc.txt
docs/gpl.txt
docs/lgpl.txt
Although this may seem complex, it is there to allow authors of
proprietary/commercial applications to use wxWindows in
addition to those writing GPL'ed applications. In summary,
the licence is L-GPL plus a clause allowing unrestricted
distribution of application binaries. To answer a FAQ, you
don't have to distribute any source if you wish to write
commercial applications using wxWindows.
Documentation
-------------
See docs/release.txt for some notes about the current release.
See docs/bugs.txt for a bug list: this file is new and will initially
be edited by hand, later generated from a web-based bug database.
See docs/html/index.htm for an HTML index of the major documents.
See docs/changes.txt for a detailed history of changes to wxWindows 2
(not up-to-date).
The Windows help files are located in docs/winhelp.
The PDF help files are located in docs/pdf.
Further information
-------------------
The wxWindows Web site is located at:
http://www.wxwindows.org
The wxGTK Web site (with further wxGTK-specific files and
information) is located at:
http://www.freiburg.linux.de/~wxxt
The main wxWindows ftp site is at:
ftp://www.remstar.com/pub/wxwin
A wxWindows CD-ROM with the latest distribution plus an HTML
front-end and hundreds of MB of compilers, utilities and other
material may be ordered from the CD-ROM page (see the wxWindows
web site) or contact Julian Smart <julian.smart@ukonline.co.uk>.
Good luck!
The wxWindows Team, November 1999
8708a10fa6