build: Add build instructions for Visual Studio

Since we are no longer providing Visual Studio project files, add a
README.msvc to tell people how builds using Visual Studio are done
via Meson.

1 files changed, 79 insertions, 0 deletions

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+Building ATK with Visual Studio

+===============================

+

+Meson is now the supported method of building ATK using Visual Studio.

+

+Building ATK requires GLib, which should preferably be built with the

+same compiler that is now being used to build ATK.  If building the

+introspection files are desired, GObject-Introspection is also needed.

+

+You will need the following tools to build ATK, in addition to Visual

+Studio (2008 and later are supported).

+

+-Python 3.6.x.  You will then need to install or update Meson by using pip.

+-The Ninja build tool, required for Visual Studio 2008, 2012 and 2013 builds,

+ and optional for 2010, 2015 and 2017 builds, where Visual Studio projects

+ can be generated instead of the Ninja build files.

+-GIT for Windows is highly recommended, in the case where some required

+ dependencies are not found, and Meson makes use of GIT to download

+ the sources to build in the build process.

+-pkg-config or pkgconf is highly recommended (pkg-config is used to denote

+ this from this point on).  Note that pkg-config 0.29.1 and later can be

+ built with Visual Studio directly from the sources since we need GLib here

+ already.  Note that the pkg-config files for GLib needs to be found by

+ pkg-config, possibly by setting PKG_CONFIG_PATH in the current Visual Studio

+ command prompt to contain the path that GLib's pkg-config files are located.

+

+Note that you will need GLib, which should preferably be built with the

+same compiler that is now being used to build GLib.  As GLib and

+GObject-Introspection are also built using Meson on Visual Studio, ensure that

+their pkg-config (.pc) files can be found by pkg-config, possibly

+by setting the PKG_CONFIG_PATH environment variable in the Visual Studio

+command prompt that is being used to build ATK.

+

+One can also refer to the following page for building the dependencies:

+

+https://wiki.gnome.org/Projects/GTK%2B/Win32/MSVCCompilationOfGTKStack

+

+To do a build using Meson, do the following:

+

+-Open a Visual Studio (or SDK) command prompt that matches the Visual Studio

+ version and build platform (Win32/x86, x64, etc.) that will be used in all

+ the following steps.

+

+-Create an empty directory/folder for the build.  It needs to be in the same

+ drive as where your ATK sources are located (i.e. $(ATK_SRCDIR)).  cd into

+ that directory/folder.

+

+-Setup your PATH envvar:

+

+   set PATH=%PATH%;$(PYTHON_INSTALL_DIR);$(NINJA_DIR)

+

+ where PYTHON_INSTALL_DIR is where Python 3.6.x+ is installed to, and NINJA_DIR

+ is where your ninja executable can be found.  The NINJA_DIR can be omitted if one

+ passes --backend=vs to the Meson configuration line, for Visual Studio 2010, 2015

+ and 2017 builds.

+

+-Configure the build using Meson:

+

+    python $(PYTHON_INSTALL_DIR)\scripts\meson.py $(ATK_SRCDIR) --buildtype=$(build_configuration) --prefix=$(INSTALL_PREFIX) [--backend=vs]

+

+ Please see the Meson docs for an explanation for --buildtype, the path passed for

+ --prefix need not to be on the same drive as where the build is carried out, but

+ it is recommended to use forward slashes for this path.  The --backend=vs can be

+ used if the Visual Studio project generator is preferred over using Ninja, for

+ Visual Studio 2010, 2015 and 2017 builds.

+

+-Build, test and install the build:

+ Run ninja (and ninja test and ninja install) or open the generated Visual Studio

+ projects to compile, test and install the build.

+

+Note that if building the sources with Visual Studio 2008, note the following

+additional items:

+

+-You need to run the following lines from your build directory, to embed the manifests

+ that are generated during the build, assuming the built binaries are installed

+ to $(PREFIX), after a successful build/installation:

+

+for /r %f in (*.dll.manifest) do if exist $(PREFIX)\bin\%~nf mt /manifest %f $(PREFIX)\bin\%~nf;2

+for /r %f in (*.exe.manifest) do if exist $(PREFIX)\bin\%~nf mt /manifest %f $(PREFIX)\bin\%~nf;1