OWLMaker is primarily a GUI front-end to the OWLNext build scripts. It lets the user configure and build all the OWLNext libraries in a quick and simple way.
Build features:
Additional features:
OWLMaker is itself an OWLNext application using many of the library features. For more information about the internals of the program, see Examples.
OWLMaker Build 3175 can only build OWLNext 6.20 to 6.32. If you need to build a later version of OWLNext, use the latest version of OWLMaker described on page "OWLMaker".
OWLMaker Build 3175 requires Windows XP or later to run.
You can find a copy of OWLMaker Build 3175 in the "obsolete" folder in our Files download area. To install it, simply download the compressed package ("OWLMaker-Build-3175-for-OWLNext-6.20-to-6.32.zip"), unpack it into a writable location, and run the extracted program.
Before you can use OWLMaker, you of course need the OWLNext source code to build. See our Installation Guide for more information and step-by-step instructions on how to obtain the source code and set up an OWLNext root folder for the version of OWLNext that you want to build.
To start configuring the build, select "File | OWLMaker Wizard", or simply click on the corresponding button on the toolbar.
Enter or locate the root folder of OWLNext and click Next. The selected folder will be examined to confirm that it contains a supported version of OWLNext. An error will be shown if it does not.
If you started OWLMaker in administrator mode, then you will also have a button on this page to update the OWLROOT system environment variable. This button will be grey if the currently specified root is the same as the OWLROOT setting.
Select which product will be used to build OWLNext and click Next.
Note that OWLMaker intelligently displays only the supported development tools for the detected OWLNext version in the root location specified on the previous page. The detected version is given at the top of the page. Go back and change your root if the detected version is not the version you intend to build.
Enter the location of the product, or use the Locate button if available (it is not available for Borland C++ 5.5). Also Select the intermediate and final output folders and click Next.
Note: Setting the intermediate and final output folders was necessary for OWLNext 6.20, since the resulting target files had the same names, regardless of the selected compiler and build modes. In OWLNext 6.30 the compiler version and build modes are included in the target file names, and different files can hence co-exist in the same folder. Therefore, we now recommend that you leave these fields empty, provided that the OWLNext root is writable. Only if the root is read-only or protected, do you need to set these fields.
For more information, see OWLNext Naming Convention.
Select the combination of libraries and build modes that you want to build.
OWLMaker will only display the options that are applicable to the version of OWLNext you are building and the tools you use to build. Click on the items to display information about each module and build mode. Use the context menu (right-click) in the list to choose default settings or quickly set or clear all checkmarks.
However, note that the CoolPrj module does not support Unicode, so Unicode build configurations will not be generated for this module, even if the CoolPrj module and the Unicode character set mode are both selected.
Also note that you must select at least one option in each build mode group for the Next button to become available.
Trouble-shooting: If the Next button stays disabled whatever you do, try to select "Select default" from the context menu (right-click) in the list.
Warning: Do not change anything on this page, unless you fully understand the effects it will have on the binary compatibility of the resulting libraries.
One exception to this warning is custom options that do not affect the binary output. Here are some that may be useful:
The last page shows the commands that will be executed and the resulting libraries that will be built. Select Back to make any changes. If all is well, then click Finish to start the build process.
The build executes in a separate command window. After it finishes, 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. You can double-click a warning or error message to open the associated file in the integrated editor.
Note: If you close the command window during the build, you will not only interrupt the build, but close OWLMaker altogether. If so, just reopen OWLMaker. The wizard remembers most of your settings between executions. Also note that you can minimize the windows during a long build, although it may take a few seconds before the main window reacts.
Tip: If you want to customise the command window, you can do so by pausing the build (with the command window active, press Pause on your keyboard). Then open the Properties dialog of the command window (right click on the window title bar to bring up the system menu, then select Properties). You can here enlarge the window, change window colours, select your preferred font and size, and adjust the position of the window.
The Microsoft resource script format (RC) does not support in-lined bitmaps (see Convert Borland C++ Resource Files to Visual C++). In the Borland resource script format, a bitmap resource can be embedded within the resource script, encoded as a hexadecimal stream, whereas in the Microsoft format the script must reference an external bitmap file.
To help you convert your Borland RC files to the Microsoft format, OWLMaker integrates a function for extracting in-lined resource bitmaps from Borland RC files. This function will create an external file for each in-lined bitmap, icon and cursor found in the specified file.
Usage:
If the conversion succeeds without errors, a list of the created bitmap files will be shown in the message window, and the converted resource file will be loaded in the editor.
Wiki: Convert_Borland_C++_resource_files_to_Visual_C++
Wiki: Installing_OWLNext
Wiki: OWLMaker
Wiki: OWLNext_naming_convention
