ObjFW on Windows

This file contains instructions on how to get a working build environment to compile and use ObjFW on Windows.

Prerequisites

The first thing you need to install is MinGW. If you already have MinGW installed, please remove it! ObjFW needs a GCC that emits DWARF-2 exception handling code. SjLj is not supported, and this is what most MinGW builds use.

Installation

TDM-GCC

Instead of using the official MinGW builds, we're going to use the TDM-GCC builds, as these contain a version emitting DWARF-2 exception handling code. Even when using TDM-GCC, most builds will output SjLj exceptions. This is why we are going to use this installer.

After downloading and starting the installer, we choose to create a new installation. In the next step, the installer asks whether we want a MinGW/TDM installation or a MinGW-w64/TDM64 Experimental installation. It is very important to choose the MinGW/TDM installation, as MinGW-w64/TDM64 does not include GCC versions that output DWARF-2 exceptions! When asked for an installation path, it is recommended to keep the default of C:\MinGW32; the selected mirror does not really matter. After that, the components to be installed have to be selected. Select TDM-GCC Recommended, C/C++ as installation type, then expand Components → gcc → Version and select the TDM-GCC version ending in -dw2 and enable the objc checkbox. In the next step the installer will start downloading and installing the selected components.

MSys

Next, we're going to install MSys. To do so, we're going to use the official MinGW installer, but we are not going to install MinGW with it, so follow these steps carefully. First, go to the SourceForge download page for the MinGW installer and select the latest version. Get the .exe file there. When you launch it, select the same installation path you selected for TDM-GCC before. After selecting the installation directory, deselect all compilers and select only MSYS Basic System and MinGW Developer ToolKit. Make sure MinGW Compiler Suite is white and not grey! The installation progress bar will be completely filled after a short while and it will appear to hang - this is not the case. When it reaches that step, it starts downloading the required files and installs them. Just give it some time.

Building ObjFW

Building ObjFW for Windows works pretty much the same way it works on any other operating system. The only thing you need to pay attention to is that the TDM-GCC binary is called gcc-dw2. So all you need to do is export OBJC=gcc-dw2 before executing the usual ./autogen.sh && ./configure && make install.

Troubleshooting

If you are getting errors about no threads being available when typing make, you've hit a bug present in some versions of Git for Windows. If you delete your checkout and get a tarball, it should work.