Installing and Building e4Graph

The e4Graph package is distributed as source code and as pre-built binaries for several platforms. The distributions are packaged as a ZIP file for Win32 platforms and as a gzipped tar file for Unix platforms.

The current release of e4Graph is numbered 1.0a4, the fourth Alpha release of version 1.0.

The 1.0a4 release is not feature complete, hence it is called an Alpha.

Downloading the Distributions
 
Distribution HTTP FTP
Win32 source distribution e4graph-1.0a4.zip e4graph-1.0a4.zip
Unix source distribution e4graph-1.0a4.tar.gz e4graph-1.0a4.tar.gz
     
Win32 precompiled distribution e4graphwin-1.0a4.zip e4graphwin-1.0a4.zip
Linux (Red Hat 7.0 glibc) precompiled distribution e4graphlinux7.0-1.0a4.tar.gz e4graphlinux7.0-1.0a4.tar.gz
Solaris 7 (glibc) precompiled distribution e4graphsol7-1.0a4.tar.gz e4graphsol7-1.0a4.tar.gz

Versioning Scheme

The versioning scheme works as follows:

Based on this numbering scheme, the current  version (1.0a4) is the fourth Alpha version of the first major release of e4Graph. When the first version reaches maturity, its number will be promoted to 1.0.

The distributions, both binary and source, unpack into directories that reflect the name and numbering of the release they represent. For example, the second Beta of version 2.3 unpacks into a directory named e4graph-2.3b2.

Dependencies on Other Packages

The e4Graph package depends on these other packages:
 
Package Get it from here:
Metakit 2.4.0 http://www.equi4.com/pub/mk/metakit-2.4.0-30.tar.gz
Tcl 8.3 http://tcl.activestate.com/software/tcltk/8.3.html
Expat 1.95.2 http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=10127&release_id=45670

Using the Pre-built Distributions

Structure of the Pre-built Distributions

The pre-built distributions contain pre-built libraries for all sub-packages provided by e4Graph, header files, documentation and for the Windows release also the export libraries.

All pre-built distributions have the same directory structure:

Using the Pre-built Distribution on Windows

The e4Graph DLL files were compiled in release mode with Visual C++ 6.0. To use this pre-built distribution of e4Graph, you need to have Visual C++ 6.0 installed on your system. To use e4Graph in your project, do the following:

Using the Pre-built Distributions on Unix

The e4Graph shared libraries were compiled with GCC 2.95.2 with -O4 -g. You need to have GCC and G++ 2.7.2.1 or a more recent release of GCC and G++ installed on your system to use this pre-built release. To use e4Graph in your project, do the following:

Building e4Graph from a Source Distribution and Using it

The Structure of the Source Code Distribution, Build Targets and Depended-on Packages

The source distribution of e4Graph contains these sub-directories and files:

Building on Win32

Assume that e4Graph sources are in c:\e4graph-1.0a4. The e4Graph source distribution expects to find Tcl 8.3 binary distribution for Win32 systems in c:\tcl8.3 and the source distribution of Metakit 2.4.0 in c:\metakit-2.4.0. The source distribution is configured this way because I expect that most developers wanting to use e4Graph also build Metakit from source. Before building e4Graph, you need to build Metakit with Visual C++ 6.0, which must be installed on your system. Build the mksrc project. If you want to build the XML related facilities, the source code for Expat must be installed in c:\expat-1.95.2. You should build expat prior to using it in a build of e4Graph.

First build Metakit, and optionally Expat, from their sources. Then open the e4Graph workspace c:\e4graph-1.0a4\all\all.dsw in Visual C++ 6.0 and select from the following sub-projects of e4Graph (you should use the release configuration for optimal performance and you can use the debug configuration if you want to use the debugger to step into e4Graph sources):

The products of these build targets are left in c:\e4graph-1.0a4\builds\win32\.

To learn how to use the e4Graph sub-packages you just built in your own projects, read this.

Building on Unix

Assume that the e4Graph sources are in /home/user/e4graph-1.0a4. The e4Graph source distribution configure utility automatically figures out where you've installed the needed header files for Metakit, and optionally Tcl and Expat. The configure script looks for Metakit, Tcl and Expat in /home/user/metakit-2.4.0, /home/user/tcl8.3/ and /home/user/expat-1.95.2 and in several system wide directories.

You must first build and install Metakit and optionally Tcl and Expat with GCC and G++ 2.95.2 or a later version. Then change directory to /home/user/e4graph-1.0a4/all and invoke ./configure with the appropriate flags for your situation:

Then invoke make with the target you want to build: Read this section to learn how to use the e4Graph sub-packages you just built in your own projects. Invoking make install will do the necessary work for you automatically, according to the parameters you selected when you invoked configure.

If You Encounter Problems...

If you have problems building Metakit, Tcl or Expat on your platform, use the methods described in their distributions to obtain help.

If you have problems building e4Graph on your platform, use the e4Graph mailing lists described on the e4Graph project home page to obtain help. I prefer this method rather than corresponding via direct email, so that other subscribers can benefit from the answers you receive.