compiling mapserver on windows problem

[Ed McNierney]

Ivan -

I will amplify Frank's observation to point out that MapServer is hard to build on Windows because of the many dependencies that seem to completely ignore the need for good Windows makefiles!  Many users have loads of unnecessary trouble building the regex-0.12 library just to compile ONE source file, because the makefile is badly broken.

In general I think makefiles are much more suitable for this purpose than project/workspace files.  Workspace files, particularly where there are multiple external dependencies, are VERY hard to make portable and very hard to maintain.

If you're going to attempt to create a complete build-from-source effort for MapServer and all its supporting libraries, I would urge to you to get it all working with makefiles first before attempting to import/migrate those to .dsp project files.

        - Ed

Ed McNierney
President and Chief Mapmaker
TopoZone.com / Maps a la carte, Inc.
73 Princeton Street, Suite 305
North Chelmsford, MA  01863
ed at topozone.com
(978) 251-4242

-----Original Message-----
From: UMN MapServer Users List [mailto:MAPSERVER-USERS at LISTS.UMN.EDU] On Behalf Of Frank Warmerdam
Sent: Thursday, November 04, 2004 10:02 AM
To: MAPSERVER-USERS at LISTS.UMN.EDU
Subject: Re: [UMN_MAPSERVER-USERS] compiling mapserver on windows problem

Ivan Mjartan wrote:
> Hi everybody,
>
> I have question, is anybody who compile mapserver with Microsoft
> visual C++ 6.0 ? Because I am not able import source of MapServer and
> create .dsp (project). Exactly importing source into workspace is not
> problem, but problem is how I have to set environment to be able
> compile source of MapServer.
>
> Is possible get source file of MapServer setting up for Microsoft
> visual C++ 6.0 ? Or some idea how transform makefile to by able
> successfully comile MapServer from Microsoft visual C++ 6.0
> environment, or see somewhere how can I do it.
>
> I apologize for my stupid question, I am novice with programming in
> Microsoft visual C++ 6.0 and also with MapServer

Ivan,

I don't want to be rude, but MapServer is a monster to build properly on Windows because of the many dependencies.  So to start out, if you aren't comfortable with mapserver and building complex applications from scratch on windows you would be best advised to *avoid* having to build mapserver yourself.

Second, those of us who do manage to build mapserver on windows have found it hard enough to maintain the existing makefile.vc/nmake.opt solution.
While someone may be interested in building and maintaining a project file for MapServer, I doubt it will be kept up to date as changes occur.

Best regards,
--
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | Geospatial Programmer for Rent