Re: [Plplot-general] Compiling PLplot on Mac OS X (x_86_64) with png output enabled

[P K. <pun...@gm...>]

On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 7:58 AM, Arjen Markus <arj...@de...> wrote:
> Hello Puneet,
>
> On 2010-06-30 14:43, P Kishor wrote:
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 7:35 AM, Marius Schamschula
>> <msc...@gm...> wrote:
>>>
>>> Puneet,
>>>
>>> Here are my cmake arguments under Mac OS X 10.6.4:
>>>
>>> -DPLD_aqt=OFF -DENABLE_java=OFF -DPLD_wxwidgets=OFF -DWITH_FREETYPE=ON
>>> -DPL_FREETYPE_FONT_PATH=/usr/local/share/fonts/default/TrueType
>>>  -DFREETYPE_INCLUDE_DIR=/usr/local/include/freetype2
>>> -DFREETYPE_LIBRARY=/usr/local/lib/libfreetype.dylib
>>> -DPKG_CONFIG_PATH=/usr/local/bin/pkg-config -DENABLE_octave=OFF
>>>
>>
>> Thanks. This is great. I will try out the above right away. One
>> question -- does the above invocation imply that everything that is
>> *not* off above, will automatically be on?
>>
>>> cmake really needs an equivalent of ./configure --help to show all
>>> options. Nothing beats proper documentation...
>>
>> Well, there is a cmake --help, but it doesn't show any of the options
>> (at least, what I would call relevant options).
>>
>> I wonder why cmake was chosen and not configure.
>>
>
> We used to use autotools, but that turned out to create quite a few
> maintenance issues, especially on Windows. CMake may not be ideal,
> but it has turned out to be a very good solution for building PLplot
> on all the platforms we support.
>
> What options would you call relevant?


In my specific case, since I want to build png, gif and jpeg output
enabled, I would call the options that enabled these devices to be
relevant.


> Do w need to fill in gaps
> in the documentation? (I do not mean it ironically, we developers
> are too close to the project to see most of the gaps and we need
> people like you to point them out, so please provide us with some
> more details)
>

I appreciate that Arjen. My suggestion would be to show all the
options available right there when the user types 'cmake --help'

RIght now, I get

% cmake help
cmake version 2.6-patch 2
Usage

  cmake [options] <path-to-source>
  cmake [options] <path-to-existing-build>

Options
  -C <initial-cache>          = Pre-load a script to populate the cache.
  -D <var>:<type>=<value>     = Create a cmake cache entry.
..

But, not the options right there. Then, I have to go to
http://www.miscdebris.net/plplot_wiki/index.php?title=CMake_options_for_PLplot
to see the list of the options. Even
http://www.miscdebris.net/plplot_wiki/index.php?title=Building_PLplot
doesn't really show an example. Please remember as a developer, for us
users, nothing speaks better than an example. Any example, but even
one example with a sufficient balance of complexity and ease is worth
way more than copious documentation.

In any case, my problem is slightly different. I am actually able to
see all the options and turn them on and off via ccmake. However,
those options don't seem to stick. Once I "generate" the configuration
script, even with explicitly having turned PNG ON, the darn thing
reverts to OFF.

I am going to remove all traces of PLplot from my computer, and then
try fresh once more. Maybe there is something in some cache that is
causing this. Maybe there is some other conflicting option that turns
off PNG. I will try again. Maybe I will hit lucky this time.

Many thanks for your input.


By the way, an unrelated question -- when plplot has a rather lovely
plplot.org domain already registered, why is the plplot wiki under
miscdebris.net?



> Regards,
>
> Arjen
>




-- 
Puneet Kishor http://www.punkish.org
Carbon Model http://carbonmodel.org
Charter Member, Open Source Geospatial Foundation http://www.osgeo.org
Science Commons Fellow, http://sciencecommons.org/about/whoweare/kishor
Nelson Institute, UW-Madison http://www.nelson.wisc.edu
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