View source for Assignment1-Sminchel

=What's the Plan Stan?=
Below is my attempt at "Building the Fox".  I can't say that I understand (yet) what I did, all I know is that I did it.. I think.
<br/><br/>
=Software Installations=
In order to start the build process I had to install the following pieces of software:
*Visual Studio 2005 - however, I searched endlessly for Visual Studio .NET 2005 on the [http://acs.senecac.on.ca ACS website], before realizing it WAS VS.NET 2005.
*Cygwin
**With the addtional packages:
***patchutils
***make 3.80
***perl
***zip
***unzip
=Steps Taken=
After reading http://developer.mozilla.org/, and flipping through the build pages, I was completely overwhelmed.  I started this course a week late, and already felt I had missed out on everything - I seriously thought I was in over my head. I started reading other student's Assignments to see if I could find a footing to start from, and then that's when I realized Dave had a build outline on his [http://cs.senecac.on.ca/~david.humphrey/writing/firefox-win32-build.html website].  Starting from this, I took these steps: (to see Details of Problems, see Problem's Section) <br/><br/>
1) After installing VS 2005 and Cygwin, I created the directory:
 c:\proj
2) I downloaded the [http://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla/libraries/win32/moztools-static.zip static moztools zip file] and extracted it to:
 c:\proj\moztools
3) I created the buildsetup.bat script, and used the settings in Dave's build (to be honest - I haven't the slightest what some of these do..):
 
 @echo off
 
 rem --- CVS Setup
 SET CVSROOT=:pserver:anonymous@cvs-mirror.mozilla.org:/cvsroot
 SET CVS_RSH=ssh
 
 rem --- Setup the paths to the moztools build libraries
 set MOZ_TOOLS=C:\proj\moztools
 set GLIB_PREFIX=%MOZ_TOOLS%
 set LIBIDL_PREFIX=%MOZ_TOOLS%
 
 rem --- Scrub these variables first
 SET INCLUDE=
 SET LIB=
 SET PATH=C:\;C:\windows\system32;C:\windows\system32\wbem
 
 rem --- Prepend cygwin
 SET PATH=C:\cygwin\bin;%PATH%
 
 rem --- Setup VC8 compiler environment vars
 CALL "C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\VC\vcvarsall.bat" x86
 
 rem --- Add glib/libidl to build environment
 SET PATH=%PATH%;%GLIB_PREFIX%;%GLIB_PREFIX%\bin
 SET INCLUDE=%GLIB_PREFIX%\include;%INCLUDE%
 SET LIB=%GLIB_PREFIX%\lib;%LIB%
 
 rem --- moztools comes last after glib/libIDL
 SET PATH=%PATH%;%MOZ_TOOLS%\bin

4) I then ran the buildsetup.bat, and stumbled upon by first problem (<strong>Problem #1</strong>), how do I run the script?!<br/>
<br/>
5) After figuring out how to run the buildsetup.bat script, I logged into Mozilla's CVS:
 cvs login
6) I checked out the build script:
 cvs co mozilla/browser/config mozilla/client.mk
7) I then created the .mozconfig file,
 # Building Firefox Trunk with Debugging
 . $topsrcdir/browser/config/mozconfig
 
 # Put all obj files in one place, not in src tree
 mk_add_options MOZ_OBJDIR=@TOPSRCDIR@/firefox-objdir
 ac_add_options --disable-static
 ac_add_options --enable-shared
 
 # Debug Build Setup Options
 ac_add_options --disable-optimize
 ac_add_options --enable-debug
 
 # I'm using Canvas for my work
 ac_add_options --enable-canvas
in the directory:
 c:\proj\mozilla
8) While in the same directory (c:\proj\mozilla), I then downloaded the full source:
 make -f client.mk checkout
9) After about 15 minutes of text flying through the screen, I crossed my fingers and began my build:
 make -f client.mk build
10) Unfortunately.. barely a minute had passed, and I had a build error (<strong>Problem #2</strong>). One of my directory names, my user directory, was my full name (Sara Minchella), taken from the windows user directory, and was causing havoc in my build process!<br/><br/>
11)After fixing the problem, I began my build again, only to have another build error, I was missing the path to the makensis installer (<strong>Problem #3</strong>). <br/><br/>
12) After fixing the problem (again), I attempted my build again.. only after 1.5 hours of building... I had a memory access error (DAMN YOU WINDOWS!!!), and my build died (<strong>Problem #4</strong>). Once again.. after starting the build process again (after cracking my head on the desk a few times), I finished the build successfully!
13) At least I think it build worked successfully, when I loaded firefox.exe, a few "errors" pop up, and I just clicked ignore, and the browser still pop up.. so I'm assuming it worked!

=Problems & Solutions=
<strong>Problem #1</strong>
*When I attempted to run the buildsetup.bat script from the command line, I kept getting:
 $buildsetup.bat
 bash: buildsetup.bat: command not found
*slightly confused, I then realized this was UNIX, and I had to figure out how to call the script, I found my solution on [http://cs1.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Assignment_1_%28yshen6%29 Yi Shen's] assignment.<br/><br/>
<strong>Problem #2</strong>
*After searching Google, and the http://www.cygwin.com/faq I discoverd the spaces in the directory name was causing the problem.  So I read a bit more, and discovered I had to change the home directory name in the /etc/passwd file.<br/><br/>

<strong>Problem #3</strong>
*The error message said I was missing the makensis installer in my path, however I didn't know what this was.  I googled makensis, and discovered it was an installer than wasn't needed, but I didn't know how not to include it, I eventually found my answer on [http://cs1.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Assignment_1_%28mcparuze%29 Mark Paruze's] assignment.  I needed to include the following in my .mozconfig file:
 # Building Firefox Trunk with Debugging
 . $topsrcdir/browser/config/mozconfig
 
 # Put all obj files in one place, not in src tree
 mk_add_options MOZ_OBJDIR=@TOPSRCDIR@/firefox-objdir
 ac_add_options --disable-static
 ac_add_options --enable-shared
 
 # Debug Build Setup Options
 ac_add_options --disable-optimize
 ac_add_options --enable-debug
 
 # I'm using Canvas for my work
 ac_add_options --enable-canvas
 ac_add_options --disable-installer   <---added this line
<strong>Problem #4</strong>
*No idea what caused this problem, but after asking around in IRC #firefox, Lucy_ told me to make sure I follow the instruction exactly, and if the build dies again, I'm to ask in #developers (she said they would tell me the same thing "make sure you follow the instructions!").  Then sp3000, had a look as well, and suggested that the error, was actually a warning, but they knew nothing about window's memory access errors.. I don't think anyone really does!!  I attempted the build again.. and oddly, it worked, with no problems!

=Resources=
*[http://cs.senecac.on.ca/~david.humphrey/writing/firefox-win32-build.html Dave Humphrey's Build Outline]
*[http://cs1.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Assignment_1_%28mcparuze%29 Mark Paruze]
*[http://cs1.senecac.on.ca/wiki/index.php/Assignment_1_%28yshen6%29 Yi Shen]
*http://www.cygwin.com/faq
*http://developers.mozilla.org

=Conclusion=
Seeing as I have never worked on a project of this size (Mozilla), I was (and still am!) completely overwhelmed.  I didn't have the slightest idea where to start, even after reading http://developers.mozilla.org.  I didn't realize a build could take almost 2 hours to complete, and be so involved!  As an avid Windows user, I suppose I'm just used to the install wizards, and my software magically appearing! I'm eager to learn more about Mozilla development, and even more eager to get started on Assignment #2. The Mozilla community looks very large, but they're all so welcoming!

=Screen Shot=
[[Image:build_fox-sminchel.JPG | Firefox Build]]

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