Recent changes to OWLMaker

OWLMaker modified by Vidar Hasfjord

Vidar Hasfjord — Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:18:56 -0000

--- v123
+++ v124
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
  

-OWLMaker is primarily a GUI front-end to the OWLNext build scripts. It lets the user download, configure and build all the OWLNext libraries in a quick and simple way. It also provides a basic code editor with syntax highlighting.
+OWLMaker is primarily a GUI front-end to the OWLNext build scripts. It lets the user download, configure and build all the OWLNext libraries in a quick and simple way. It also includes a basic code editor with syntax highlighting, as well as a resource file format converter.

 Build features:

OWLMaker modified by Vidar Hasfjord

Vidar Hasfjord — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 07:22:07 -0000

--- v122
+++ v123
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@

 The latest version of OWLMaker can only build OWLNext 6.34 and later versions. If you need to build an earlier version of OWLNext, see [OWLMaker Build 3175](OWLMaker_3175). This older version is now included in its own subdirectory in the main OWLMaker download archive, and OWLMaker will automatically offer you to run this older version, if it detects OWLNext source code older than version 6.34.

-**Note about 32-bit and 64-bit editions**: The main executable in the OWLMaker download archive is now built for 64-bit Windows ([x86-64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64) edition). The 32-bit version of OWLMaker is being obsoleted and the latest update (https://sourceforge.net/projects/owlnext/files/tools/OWLMaker-8642.zip/download) contain only the new version for the 64-bit executable. Microsoft has stopped providing and supporting 32-bit versions of Windows for many years, but if you are still using one, please contact the project maintainers at the [Open Discussion](https://sourceforge.net/p/owlnext/discussion/97175/) forum.
+**Note about 32-bit and 64-bit editions**: The main executable in the OWLMaker download archive is now built for 64-bit Windows ([x86-64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64) edition). Since Build 8642, the archive no longer contains a 32-bit build of the latest version. The archive may contain an older 32-bit build or none at all. Microsoft has stopped providing and supporting 32-bit versions of Windows for many years, but if you are still using one, please contact the project maintainers at the [Open Discussion](discussion:97175) forum.

 **Note about Windows XP**: The latest version of OWLMaker requires Windows Vista or later. It will not run on Windows XP and earlier versions of the operating system. Note that this only concerns OWLMaker and OWLNext 7. Earlier releases of OWLNext still support Windows XP. If you need to build an earlier release of OWLNext for development and/or deployment on Windows XP, you can use OWLMaker on Windows Vista or later to build OWLNext, and then transfer the resulting library files to Windows XP. If you only have access to Windows XP, and must build on this version of the operating system, then you have to use the command line. See our [Installation Guide](Installing_OWLNext) for more information on building OWLNext from the command line.
 

@@ -195,6 +195,15 @@
 In older OWLMaker versions before [r6831], and for some toolsets, it may take a long time for the command to have an effect. More importantly, in some cases the program environment (the internal program execution state) may become corrupted after the aborted build command, and subsequent build commands may fail in various ways. For example, OWLMaker may fail to perform build setup correctly [bugs:#534].

 To circumvent such issues, restart OWLMaker and try again.
+

+
+### 32-bit OWLMaker is no longer supported
+
+Since Build 8642, the OWLMaker installation package no longer includes a 32-bit build of the latest version of OWLMaker. If a 32-bit build is included at all, it will be an older build. Note that older builds may not have support for the latest version of OWLNext and the latest compiler toolsets. Also note that users of a 32-bit version (Build 7704 or earlier) will now get an error message if they try to update. For example:
+
+[[img src="https://sourceforge.net/p/owlnext/discussion/97177/thread/a033b62c56/b0dd/attachment/OWLMaker-32-bit-update-failure.png" alt="OWLNext update error"]]
+
+Use the 64-bit OWLMaker if you can. If you really need 32-bit, contact the project maintainers at the [Open Discussion](discussion:97175) forum.
 


 ---

OWLMaker modified by Ognyan Chernokozhev

Ognyan Chernokozhev — Thu, 26 Feb 2026 04:34:29 -0000

--- v121
+++ v122
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@

 The latest version of OWLMaker can only build OWLNext 6.34 and later versions. If you need to build an earlier version of OWLNext, see [OWLMaker Build 3175](OWLMaker_3175). This older version is now included in its own subdirectory in the main OWLMaker download archive, and OWLMaker will automatically offer you to run this older version, if it detects OWLNext source code older than version 6.34.

-**Note about 32-bit and 64-bit editions**: The main executable in the OWLMaker download archive is now built for 64-bit Windows ([x86-64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64) edition). However, a 32-bit edition is included in the "32-bit" subdirectory. If you run 32-bit Windows, make sure that you use the latter executable.
+**Note about 32-bit and 64-bit editions**: The main executable in the OWLMaker download archive is now built for 64-bit Windows ([x86-64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64) edition). The 32-bit version of OWLMaker is being obsoleted and the latest update (https://sourceforge.net/projects/owlnext/files/tools/OWLMaker-8642.zip/download) contain only the new version for the 64-bit executable. Microsoft has stopped providing and supporting 32-bit versions of Windows for many years, but if you are still using one, please contact the project maintainers at the [Open Discussion](https://sourceforge.net/p/owlnext/discussion/97175/) forum.

 **Note about Windows XP**: The latest version of OWLMaker requires Windows Vista or later. It will not run on Windows XP and earlier versions of the operating system. Note that this only concerns OWLMaker and OWLNext 7. Earlier releases of OWLNext still support Windows XP. If you need to build an earlier release of OWLNext for development and/or deployment on Windows XP, you can use OWLMaker on Windows Vista or later to build OWLNext, and then transfer the resulting library files to Windows XP. If you only have access to Windows XP, and must build on this version of the operating system, then you have to use the command line. See our [Installation Guide](Installing_OWLNext) for more information on building OWLNext from the command line.

OWLMaker modified by Vidar Hasfjord

Vidar Hasfjord — Sat, 30 Aug 2025 12:41:36 -0000

--- v120
+++ v121
@@ -8,11 +8,11 @@
 Build features:

 
-Supports the whole range of compilers for OWLNext.
-Displays the output and summary of the build process.
-Filters and displays error and warning messages.
-Can build multiple libraries in parallel.
-Allows easy selection of different build settings.
+    Downloads the OWLNext source code for you.
+    Supports the whole range of compilers for OWLNext.
+    Allows easy selection of different build settings.
+    Displays the output and summary of the build process.
+    Can build multiple library configurations in parallel.
 

 Additional features:

OWLMaker modified by Vidar Hasfjord

Vidar Hasfjord — Thu, 28 Aug 2025 23:21:00 -0000

--- v119
+++ v120
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # OWLMaker

 
- 
+ 

 OWLMaker is primarily a GUI front-end to the OWLNext build scripts. It lets the user download, configure and build all the OWLNext libraries in a quick and simple way. It also provides a basic code editor with syntax highlighting.

@@ -176,7 +176,7 @@
 ## Build process and results

 
- 
+ 

 While the build executes, OWLMaker will show progress indication on the program status bar, as well as on the program icon on the Windows Taskbar. To abort the build, select the "Stop build" command from the Tools menu, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar. After the build has finished, the build output, warnings, errors and resulting target files, with build status and timing, will be shown in the Build Output window inside OWLMaker.

OWLMaker modified by Vidar Hasfjord

Vidar Hasfjord — Wed, 03 Jul 2024 20:59:17 -0000

--- v118
+++ v119
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@
 
  

-While the build executes, OWLMaker will show progress indication on the program status bar, as well as on the program icon on the Windows Taskbar. To abort the build, select the "Stop build" command from the Tools menu, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar (but be aware that terminating the build command may lead to issues in subsequent build commands; see Trouble-shooting below). After the build has finished, the build output, warnings, errors and resulting target files, with build status and timing, will be shown in the Build Output window inside OWLMaker.
+While the build executes, OWLMaker will show progress indication on the program status bar, as well as on the program icon on the Windows Taskbar. To abort the build, select the "Stop build" command from the Tools menu, or click the corresponding button on the toolbar. After the build has finished, the build output, warnings, errors and resulting target files, with build status and timing, will be shown in the Build Output window inside OWLMaker.

 Use the toolbar to navigate between errors and warnings. You can press Enter or double-click a message to open the associated file in the integrated editor.

OWLMaker modified by Vidar Hasfjord

Vidar Hasfjord — Sat, 13 Apr 2024 00:02:15 -0000

--- v117
+++ v118
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@

 ### Issues with the "Stop build" command

-For some toolsets it may take a long time for the command to have an effect. More importantly, in some cases the program environment (the internal program execution state) may become corrupted after the aborted build command, and subsequent build commands may fail in various ways. For example, OWLMaker may fail to perform build setup correctly [bugs:#534].
+In older OWLMaker versions before [r6831], and for some toolsets, it may take a long time for the command to have an effect. More importantly, in some cases the program environment (the internal program execution state) may become corrupted after the aborted build command, and subsequent build commands may fail in various ways. For example, OWLMaker may fail to perform build setup correctly [bugs:#534].

 To circumvent such issues, restart OWLMaker and try again.

OWLMaker modified by Vidar Hasfjord

Vidar Hasfjord — Fri, 12 Apr 2024 23:34:36 -0000

--- v116
+++ v117
@@ -112,23 +112,23 @@
 ### Page 4: Select build options

 
-Cross-compile 64-bit targets
-
-Cross-compilation for 64-bit targets must be selected if you do not run on a 64-bit system or you do not have the native 64-bit compiler installed. This option is only available when you selected the x86-64 build mode previously.
-
-
-Build with multiple processes
-
-This option enables concurrent compilation within each library configuration, if supported by the toolset and OWLNext version. This can greatly speed up the build on multi-core and multi-processor systems. For Visual C++ 2008 and later versions, the /MP switch is passed to the NMake build script, when this option is selected. For the Clang-based toolsets in Embarcadero RAD Studio and C++Builder, the argument "SubProcessesNumber = %NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS%" is passed to the MSBuild script, when this option is selected. The classic Borland-based toolsets do not support this option.
+
Use cross-compilation for targeting [x86/x64/all]
+
+Cross-compilation for 64-bit targets must be selected if you are not running OWLMaker on a 64-bit operating system or you do not have a native 64-bit toolset installed. Cross-compilation for 32-bit targets is useful if you are running OWLMaker on a 64-bit operating system and want to benefit from the larger memory space available to 64-bit toolsets. In some cases, this may allow you to perform more builds in parallel without running into errors due to memory limitations.
+
+
+Enable multiprocessing in the toolset
+
+This option enables concurrent compilation within each library configuration, if supported by the toolset and the OWLNext version. This can greatly speed up the build on multi-core and multi-processor systems. For the Microsoft toolsets, this setting controls the /MP compiler option. For the Clang-based toolsets in Embarcadero RAD Studio and C++Builder, it controls the --jobs compiler option. Embarcadero's classic Borland-based toolsets and Microsoft's toolsets before Visual Studio 2008 do not support this option.
 

 Build configurations in parallel
 
 When this option is selected, OWLMaker will build the selected library configurations in parallel, if possible, further increasing the speed of the build. Note that, due to dependencies, build setup will always be sequenced before the rest of the build, and the core library configurations will be sequenced before extension library configurations. Also note that the parallel build option is only available if you have selected more than one configuration and the selected toolset and OWLNext version support parallel builds.

 

-Note: Since [r5903], OWLMaker now limits batch size to half the number of logical processors available. This limit reduces the likelihood of overloading the system, although overloading can still occur, resulting in build failure. If this option overloads your system, try turning off "Build with multiple processes". Doing so may make the build commands for the individual library configurations less demanding.

-

-Also note that modern mainstream CPUs most often come with 2-way SMT (simultaneous multi-threading), hence have 2 logical processors per physical CPU core. So, in effect, the maximum batch size is set to the number of physical cores on most systems. E.g. an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 1700 has 16 logical processors with SMT turned on (default), and OWLMaker will at most issue 8 build configurations in parallel on a system with this CPU.
+Note: Since [r6836], you can now select the number of parallel configurations OWLMaker will build in parallel. OWLMaker limits the batch size to half the number of logical processors available. This limit reduces the likelihood of overloading the system, although overloading can still occur, resulting in build failure. If this option overloads your system, try turning off "Enable multiprocessing in the toolset". Doing so should make the build commands for the individual library configurations less demanding.

+

+Also note that modern mainstream CPUs usually come with 2-way SMT (simultaneous multi-threading), which means they have 2 logical processors per physical CPU core. So, in effect, the maximum batch size is limited to the number of physical cores on most systems. For example, an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 1700 has 16 logical processors with SMT enabled (which is the default setting). On a system with this CPU, OWLMaker will at most issue 8 build configurations in parallel.
 

 Continue on failed builds
@@ -139,6 +139,16 @@
 Show message box when done
 
 If you want to be notified with a sound and a pop-up message box when the build is done, then select this option. If not, leave this option off, and OWLMaker will then just quietly show the build results when it has completed.
+
+
+Build order
+
+Since [r6836], you can now specify the preferred build order. Previously, OWLMaker would build all configurations in a module before moving on to dependent modules. Now, you can choose to order by configuration instead. In this case,  the build proceeds on a configuration-by-configuration basis. For example, once the debug ANSI configuration of the OWL module is built, the debug ANSI configuration of OCF can proceed immediately, without waiting for all the other configurations in the OWL module to complete.
+
+
+Build order | Terms
+
+Separate terms by space. Any build order terms specified will be used to prioritize matching configurations. A term matches a configuration if it is found within the target file name (see OWLNext Library Files Naming Convention). For example, if you specify "cool x64 -d", OWLMaker will prioritise 64-bit debug configurations of the CoolPrj module. The order of the terms is significant. Earlier terms are prioritized before later ones, with each term in effect performing a nested partitioning. However, note that module dependencies will override the specified terms. For example, CoolPrj depends on OWL and OWLExt, so these dependencies will have to be built before CoolPrj.
 

 Perform build setup

OWLMaker modified by Vidar Hasfjord

Vidar Hasfjord — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 16:35:32 -0000

OWLMaker modified by Vidar Hasfjord

Vidar Hasfjord — Thu, 21 Dec 2023 16:35:04 -0000