Hello!
In short: to get dependencies install Msys2 on windows and install its packages:
pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-python3-cx_Freeze mingw-w64-i686-python3-gobject mingw-w64-i686-python3-pytest mingw-w64-i686-gtksourceview4 mingw-w64-i686-gsettings-desktop-schemas glib2-devel intltool
In more deatils: the best-tested way to create meld build environment on windows is creating environment similar to the one created by the gitlab CI system.
It is defined in https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/meld/-/blob/master/.gitlab-ci.yml
Meld works & builds fine not only on mingw-w64 32bit, but also on mingw-w64 64bit.
Such builds are already performed in gitlab CI, but not published.
So the .gitlab-ci.yml is a bit non-linear since it describes both 64-bit and 32-bit builds.
The desctiption below is interactive-usage adaptation of the .gitlab-ci.yml
For beginning developing meld on windows these are typical steps (for 32bit; 64-bit is similar):
* Install msys2 from https://www.msys2.org/
* update it to latest versions of all components: pacman -S --refresh --sysupgrade
* install dependencies for developing meld: pacman -S mingw-w64-i686-python3-gobject mingw-w64-i686-python3-pytest mingw-w64-i686-gtksourceview4 mingw-w64-i686-gsettings-desktop-schemas glib2-devel intltool git
** note: there is meld package in msys2 repos. It is fine, but if you planning to develop meld itself - do NOT install (or uninstall if already installed) mingw-w64-i686-meld3 package, otherwise sometimes files can be used inconsistently (some from dev. copy and some from that package)
** you may also want to install mingw-w64-x86_64-gedit - it uses gtksourceview, so for some issues sometimes its useful to compare meld & gedit behaviours.
* Simplest meld execution:
* open mingw32 shell
* clone meld repo and cd to its root
* from there run: bin/meld
** meld should open its window and running fine without any errors. If it failed for some reason - the later steps would not work too, so in such case stop here for investigation
** runing this way is the fastest way to develop and 80% of issues not-related-to freezing and system specifics can be developed this way
** to test this mode integration with external programs lke TortoiseSVN the similar run-meld.cmd can be helpful:
D:\apps\msys2\mingw64\bin\python3.exe D:\apps\meld-git\bin\meld %*
* For building msi installer run:
** glib-compile-schemas data
** python3 setup_win32.py bdist_msi
*** it can be quite slow, 1-5 minutes preparing + 1-5 minutes to install msi (upgrading msi is a LOT slower that first install due to uninstalling lots of adwaita icons)
* For faster build that produces result folder similar to installation result without actually slow-packing+slow-unpacking msi, run:
** python3 setup_win32.py install --prefix $(pwd)/some-folder > install-output
** this is very similar to actual msi install, the known differences are: folder path (with/without spaces), start menu icon, and (nearly-unused) registry values
** so 99% of issues can be developed this way
** there is a known behaviour difference on runing Meld.exe from msys2 shell (with MSYSTEM variable) and from any shell without MSYSTEM variable, like explorer. Some changes require testing both cases.
melds' gitlab CI also has some python lint (some coding style etc) automatic check.
I think it can be configured to run locally on msys2, but actually I never did it (was looking to lint failures only after pushing to my fork...)
--
Regards,
Vasily
> Hey,Thanks to Heikki for his suggestion.
> I'm currently trying to run a windows build, however it's turning out to be a bit complicated setting up the requirements, is there a preferred method for installing all of that? And a preferred source for all of the packages?
> Regards,
> Adam
>
> On Tue, Aug 4, 2020 at 7:17 PM Heikki Ketoharju <heikki ketoharju iki fi> wrote:
>
>> Hello!
>>
>> I wondered the same thing two years ago and it turned out there's a "Newcomers" label in Gitlab issues. I picked one from there, solved it and it was fun! Also it felt good to see my commit approved later on.
>>
>> Here you can find the labelled issues. I warmly recommend!
>>
>> https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/meld/-/issues?label_name%5B%5D=4.+Newcomers
>>
>> kind regards,
>> Heikki Ketoharju
>> (another newcomer, and currently just a passive contributor)
>>
>> On Tue, 4 Aug 2020 at 18:16, Adam Antium via meld-list <meld-list gnome org> wrote:
>>
>>> Hey,
>>> I'm interested in making some contributions to the project.
>>>
>>> I don't have any experience with open source work but I like Meld and I'd like to help, any suggestions on where to start?
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Adam
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>>
>>> meld-list mailing list
>>>
>>> meld-list gnome org
>>>
>>> https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/meld-list