Notes on building the MinGW/Cygwin version of Allegro.

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       Notes on building the MinGW/Cygwin version of Allegro.

       Written by Henrik Stokseth.

       Robert J Ohannessian added some updates to the installation instructions
       and an example on how to use Dev-C++ with Allegro.

       Elias Pschernig and Hein Zelle revamped the cross-compilation section.

       Andrei Ellman updated the Cygwin section.

       Michal Molhanec simplified the Dev-C++ instructions.

       See readme.txt for a more general overview.

# MinGW notes

This is a complete MinGW port of Allegro. This build doesn't rely on the DLL files produced by MSVC any longer but can make them itself. I'm proud to say Allegro can now make Win32 programs entirely using free professional tools. On that note I'd like to thank Peter Puck for making this a reality and for finishing off what I started. Enjoy!

The screensaver example is built, but you must copy `scrsave.scr` to your `windows/system` directory (or `winnt/system32` directory under Windows NT/2k/XP) if you want to test it.

If you have both GNU bash and GNU fileutils installed on your system, then set the environment variable `UNIX_TOOLS` (`set UNIX_TOOLS=1`). This is needed because GNU make will automatically use sh.exe instead of command.com if it finds it somewhere in the `PATH`. This step is not necessary when using MSYS or Cygwin as the makefile automatically sets `UNIX_TOOLS` for you.

"`make depend`" and "`fixdll.bat`" require that you have GNU sed installed. "`fixdll.bat`" requires that you have GNU sort (not DOS sort!) installed. You can download some extra utilities for MinGW from: 'http://sourceforge.net/projects/gnuwin32/'

# Obtaining and installing the compiler & tools

You have four choices when it comes to installing MinGW and Allegro on your computer:

- The section 'Setting up MinGW to build Allegro' describes how to set up the MinGW command line tools which is the preferred choice for those who like to work on the command line.
- The section 'Setting up Dev-C++ to build Allegro' describes how to set up the Dev-C++ environment to work with Allegro. This is the preferred choice for those who like to work in a graphical development environment.
- The section 'Setting up Cygwin to build Allegro' describes how to set up your Cygwin compiler to build Allegro. Cygwin offers a mature Unix-like environment for you to work in.
- The last section 'Cross compilation' describes how to set up the MinGW command line tools to compile Win32 programs from your Linux box.

Note: You will need a program to decompress .zip, .tar.gz and optionally .tar.bz2 files. I recommend PowerArchiver (shareware) which can be downloaded from: 'http://www.powerarchiver.com'.

# Setting up MinGW to build Allegro

The procedure is as follows:

> 1. Make sure you have a working MinGW installation. You can download the complete distribution or individual packages from 'http://www.mingw.org' or 'http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/'. You can also use the Minimal SYStem (MSYS) environment with Allegro.

> 2. Get the minimal DirectX 7 SDK for MinGW (`dx70_mgw.zip`). You download it from 'http://alleg.sourceforge.net/wip.html'. Note that this is *not* the same package as '`dx70_min.zip`'. Unzip it to the compiler directory, overwriting any existing files.

> 3. Set the environment variable MINGDIR to the compiler directory. If you use Windows 9x, you can add the line

> >              set MINGDIR=c:\MinGW

> to your '`c:\autoexec.bat`' file, assuming '`c:\MinGW`' is the compiler directory, and reboot. If you use Windows ME, you can run '`msconfig`', select the 'Environment' tab and then add `MINGDIR`. If you use Windows NT/2k/XP, you can open the Control Panel, click the 'System' applet, the 'Advanced' tab and finally the 'Environment' button, and then add `MINGDIR`. If you use MSYS, add instead the line

> >              export MINGDIR=/mingw

> to your '`c:\msys\etc\profile`' file.

Test the installation by typing the following on the command line: '`gcc -v`'. The answer should be similar to:

>           Reading specs from ../lib/gcc-lib/mingw32/3.2/specs
>           Configured with: ../gcc/configure --with-gcc --with-gnu-ld
>           --with-gnu-as --host=mingw32 --target=mingw32 --prefix=/mingw
>           --enable-threads --disable-nls --enable-languages=f77,c++,objc,ada
>           --disable-win32-registry --disable-shared
>           Thread model: win32
>           gcc version 3.2 (mingw special 20020817-1)

If you don't know how to open a terminal, you can click on '`Start -> Run`' then type "`command`". Under Windows 2k/XP, you should type "`cmd`" instead.

# Setting up Dev-C++ to build Allegro

Note: we assume that the complete version of the Dev-C++ environment (i.e with the bundled MinGW compiler) is used. If you use instead Dev-C++ as a mere IDE on top of an already installed MinGW compiler, follow the instructions given in the previous section.

The procedure is as follows:

> 1. Make sure you have a working Dev-C++ installation. You can download the complete version from 'http://bloodshed.net/dev/devcpp.html'.

> 2. Get the DirectX SDK: go to Tools\Check for Updates/Packages... and install the DirectX package. Close Dev-C++.

> 3. Add '`c:\DevCpp\bin`' to the beginning of your `PATH` environment variable and set the environment variable MINGDIR to '`c:\DevCpp`'. If you use Windows 9x, you can add the lines

> >              PATH=c:\DevCpp\bin;%PATH%
> >              set MINGDIR=c:\DevCpp

> to your '`c:\autoexec.bat`' file and reboot. If you use Windows ME, you can run '`msconfig`', select the 'Environment' tab, then modify `PATH` and add `MINGDIR`. If you use Windows NT/2k/XP, you can open the Control Panel, click the 'System' applet, the 'Advanced' tab and finally the 'Environment' button, then modify `PATH` and add `MINGDIR`.

Test the installation by typing the following on the command line: '`gcc -v`'. The answer should be similar to:

>           Reading specs from ../lib/gcc-lib/mingw32/3.2/specs
>           Configured with: ../gcc/configure --with-gcc --with-gnu-ld
>           --with-gnu-as --host=mingw32 --target=mingw32 --prefix=/mingw
>           --enable-threads --disable-nls --enable-languages=f77,c++,objc,ada
>           --disable-win32-registry --disable-shared
>           Thread model: win32
>           gcc version 3.2 (mingw special 20020817-1)

If you don't know how to open a terminal, you can click on '`Start -> Run`' then type "`command`". Under Windows 2k/XP, you should type "`cmd`" instead.

# Setting up Cygwin to build Allegro

The procedure is as follows:

> 1. Make sure you have a working Cygwin installation. You can download the `setup.exe` program from 'http://sources.redhat.com/cygwin/'. You will need the following packages: bash, binutils, cygwin, cygutils, fileutils, gcc, gdb, login, make, man, mingw-runtime, sed, sh-utils, texinfo, textutils and w32api.

> 2. Get the minimal DirectX 7 SDK for MinGW. (`dx70_mgw.zip`) Download it from 'http://alleg.sourceforge.net/wip.html' and unzip it to a temporary directory, for instance '`C:\Temp`'. Then move the contents of '`C:\Temp\lib`' to '`C:\cygwin\lib\w32api`', and the contents of '`C:\Temp\include`' to '`c:\cygwin\usr\include\w32api`'. If you are asked if you want to overwrite any existing files, choose to overwrite them.

> 3. Put the following text in '`/etc/profile`' (`c:\cygwin\etc\profile`)

> >              export ALLEGRO_USE_CYGWIN=1
> >              export MINGDIR=/usr/local
> >              export CPATH=/usr/local/include
> >              export LIBRARY_PATH=/usr/local/lib

> Note: if the `CPATH` or `LIBRARY_PATH` variables are already set, you will have to append the new path to the existing one by using a colon (":") as the separator.

Test the installation by typing the following in the Bash shell: '`gcc -v`'. The answer should be similar to:

>           Reading specs from /usr/lib/gcc-lib/i686-pc-cygwin/3.2/specs
>           gcc version 3.2 20020927 (prerelease)

Note: if you have problems installing the profiling version of the Allegro library, you will probably need to copy a file called `libgmon.a` from the MinGW distribution to your `/lib/mingw` directory (`c:\cygwin\lib\mingw`) in Cygwin. This is expected to be fixed in a later release of the mingw-runtime package (I'm currently using mingw-runtime-1.2-1).

# Cross compilation

The procedure is as follows:

> 1. Download and install the MinGW cross-compiler. You can get the software:

> - directly from the MingW site: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/. You need the following packages (as of February 2003):
>   - gcc (`gcc-3.2.2-20030208-1-src.tar.gz`)
>   - binutils (`binutils-2.13.90-20030111-1-src.tar.gz`)
>   - mingw runtime (`mingw-runtime-2.4.tar.gz`)
>   - w32api (`w32api-2.2.tar.gz`)
>   Optionally, you can get from the SDL site, http://www.libsdl.org/extras/win32/common: opengl-devel (`opengl-devel.tar.gz`)
> - using a more convenient script with instructions for downloading: http://www.libsdl.org/extras/win32/cross/README.txt. Follow the instructions, and make sure to edit the build-crosh.sh script so it downloads the most recent version of gcc and binutils.
> - as a premade Debian package called '`mingw32`', which you can install with '`apt-get install mingw32`'.
> 2. Get the minimal DirectX 7 SDK for MinGW (`dx70_mgw.zip`). Download it from 'http://alleg.sourceforge.net/wip.html' and unzip it in the cross-compiler base directory. Make sure you convert all text files to unix style (`unzip -a`) or the preprocessor will croak. The DirectX package downloaded and installed by the SDL script is not up to date: replace it with the package from the Allegro site.

> 3. Edit the file '`xmake.sh`' in the root of your Allegro directory, replacing `XC_PATH`, `XPREFIX` and `INSTALL_BASE` with the right names. For example, if your compiler's base dir (the one with bin, lib and include sub-folders) is `/usr/i586-mingw32msvc`, and you have prefix-less binaries in `/usr/i586-mingw32msvc/bin`, you would use:

> >              XC_PATH=/usr/i586-mingw32msvc/bin
> >              XPREFIX=
> >              INSTALL_BASE=/usr/i586-mingw32msvc

> Note that the `build-cross.sh` script from SDL installs binaries both with and without prefix, but some binaries (windres specifically) are installed only with prefix. If you installed the crosscompiler in `/opt/cross-tools` using this script, you would use:

> >              XC_PATH=/opt/cross-tools/i386-mingw32msvc/bin:/opt/cross-tools/bin
> >              XPREFIX=i386-mingw32msvc-
> >              INSTALL_BASE=/opt/cross-tools/i386-mingw32msvc

> 4. Run '`./fix.sh mingw --dtou`' (`--dtou` is only needed if your Allegro directory has text files in DOS format, otherwise you can use `--quick`). If you are using a SVN version of Allegro, run '`make depend`' to generate the build dependencies, then run '`misc/fixdll.sh`' to generate the `allegro.def` file. You are now finished with all the preparations.

> 5. You can now run '`./xmake.sh`' to build the Allegro library and then run '`./xmake.sh install`' as root to install it. Afterwards, you can use '`xmake.sh`' as you would use '`make`' to compile your Allegro programs, or you can use the '`cross-make.sh`' and '`cross-configure.sh`' scripts from the SDL site. You must use '`xmake.sh`' to compile Allegro itself though.

> 6. To build the documentation, use the native build process. This limitation will eventually be removed.

# Installing Allegro

This assumes you have unzipped allegro to `c:\allegro` or, if you are using MSYS, you have unzipped it to `c:\msys\allegro` (which is equivalent to `/allegro` from within the MSYS environment) or, if you are using Cygwin, you have unzipped it to `c:\cygwin\allegro` (which is equivalent to `/allegro` from within the Cygwin environment).

First configure Allegro for MinGW. Unless you are using MSYS or Cygwin, enter the following on the commandline (click on '`Start -> Run`' then type "`command`" or "`cmd`" to get a command prompt):

>           cd c:\allegro
>           fix.bat mingw

If you are using MSYS or Cygwin, start your environment, which you can find either on your desktop and/or on your Windows start menu. The following commands should then be used instead of the ones above:

>           cd /allegro
>           ./fix.sh mingw --dtou   (--dtou can be replaced by --quick for MSYS).

Now you're ready to build the Allegro library with:

>           make (or mingw32-make if you are using a recent version of MinGW)

The dynamically linked version of Allegro gets built by default. If you want to build the statically linked version of Allegro, use:

>           make STATICLINK=1

If you want to build either the debug or the profile version of the library, enter one of the following commands:

>           make DEBUGMODE=1 (dynamically linked)
>           make DEBUGMODE=1 STATICLINK=1 (statically linked)
>           make PROFILEMODE=1 (dynamically linked)
>           make PROFILEMODE=1 STATICLINK=1 (statically linked)

A list of all the available options:

> `CROSSCOMPILE`
>   Set this if you are crosscompiling; it implies `UNIX_TOOLS`.

> `WARNMODE`
>   Set this if you want Allegro to display and stop on nearly all warnings issued by the compiler. Allegro should compile fine with this set.

> `TARGET_ARCH_COMPAT` or `TARGET_ARCH_EXCL`
>   These affect the level of processor dependant optimisation that Allegro uses. You can set either of these to the processor type you want to optimize for. The difference between these two is that `TARGET_ARCH_COMPAT` optimise for the given processor so that the code will still run on older processors, while `TARGET_ARCH_EXCL` will generate code that will run exclusively on the given processor and of course newer ones. Example: set `TARGET_ARCH_COMPAT=i686`

> `TARGET_OPTS`
>   Affects the general optimisations that Allegro uses.

> `UNIX_TOOLS`
>   If your system does not have the usual DOS tools available (```md`'`, ```rd`'`, ```copy`'`, etc., and commands which understand the `\` character), then set this to 1 to use the Unix equivalents. This is set implicitly when you set `CROSSCOMPILE`, and is also set automatically when you are running under bash.

To activate any of these, type (for example) "`make WARNMODE=1`".

If your copy of Allegro does not include the linker .def file (unlikely, unless you have run "`make veryclean`" at some point, or are using the SVN version of Allegro), you can regenerate it by running "`misc\fixdll.bat`". You will need to have GNU sed and sort installed for this operation to work. The version of sed that is linked from the MinGW site does not work properly; it has issues with end-of-line characters. You should get sed and sort from the link at the top of this document.

Once the build is finished you can recover some disk space by running "`make compress`", which uses the UPX program to compress the executable files and the optimized dll. Before running "`make compress`", you must set the environment variable `UPX_BIN` to point to `upx.exe`. You will have to do run "`make compress`" before "`make install`" if you want the compressed dll to be copied to the windows directory. To recover even more disk space, you can run "`make clean`" to get rid of all the temporary files and HTML format documentation.

And then the last thing, installing the library. Run:

>           make install

with the same options you passed to '`make`' in order to build the library.

You have now installed Allegro! See the rest of the documentation and examples to learn more about it.

# Using Allegro

All the Allegro functions, variables, and data structures are defined in `allegro.h`. You should include this in your programs, and link with either the optimised library `liballeg.a`, the debugging library `liballd.a`, or the profiling library `liballp.a`. You should include the Allegro DLLs in any software you release to the public.

When using a statically linked library, you must define the preprocessor symbol `ALLEGRO_STATICLINK` before including any of the Allegro headers and link your program against Allegro and the main Win32/DirectX libraries in that order (see the variable `LIBRARIES` in `makefile.mgw`). The names of the statically linked Allegro libraries are post-fixed with '`_s`' so that you will link with either `liballeg_s.a`, `liballd_s.a` or `liballp_s.a`.

Don't forget that you need to use the `END_OF_MAIN()` macro right after your `main()` function.

# Compiling manually with MinGW

A simple example of a command line to compile an Allegro program with MinGW looks like:

>           gcc foo.c -Wl,--subsystem,windows -O2 -Wall -o foo.exe -lalleg

If you are compiling with Cygwin, the compiler option '`-mno-cygwin`' must be added, both at compile-time and at link-time:

>           gcc foo.c -Wl,--subsystem,windows -mno-cygwin -O2 -Wall -o foo.exe -lalleg

Note that, if you want to make a console application, you must use '`-Wl,--subsystem,console`' instead of '`-Wl,--subsystem,windows`'.

# Creating a program with Dev-C++

A simple example on how to create a little program with Dev-C++:

Launch Dev-C++ and create a new project (File/New Project). Select "Windows Application", then click on the "Ok" button. Name your project and give associate it to a new file. You should now see a sample code in a window. Close that window since you won't be needing it (Allegro is much simpler to use than this). Create a new file (File/New Source File), then write a small Allegro program. You can inspire yourself by the Allegro examples if you wish. Here's a small program you can type to see if everything worked until now:

>           #include <allegro.h>

>           int main() {
>              allegro_init();
>              allegro_message("Hello World!");
>              return 0;
>           }
>           END_OF_MAIN()

You now need to tell Dev-C++ that you'd like to make a program that uses Allegro. For that, go in the Project Options screen (Project/Project Options menu), then enter `-lalleg` (or `-lalld` for the debug mode) in the box under 'Further object file or linker options' or select 'Parameters tab' and enter -lalleg (or -lalld for the debug mode) in the box under 'Linker'.

Compile your project! Simply click on the green check mark on your Dev-C++ toolbar. Correct any syntax errors in your code, then click on "Execute" to run the program. If all worked you will see a message box pop up with "Hello World" inside of it.

Happy coding!