1<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?> 2<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> 3<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> 4<head> 5<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> 6<meta name="generator" content="Docutils 0.7: http://docutils.sourceforge.net/" /> 7<title>Boost Getting Started on Windows</title> 8<link rel="stylesheet" href="../../rst.css" type="text/css" /> 9</head> 10<body> 11<div class="document" id="logo-getting-started-on-windows"> 12<h1 class="title"><a class="reference external" href="../../index.htm"><img alt="Boost" class="boost-logo" src="../../boost.png" /></a> Getting Started on Windows</h1> 13 14<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 15<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 16<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 17<div class="admonition-a-note-to-cygwin-and-mingw-users admonition"> 18<p class="first admonition-title">A note to <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cygwin.com">Cygwin</a> and <a class="reference external" href="http://mingw.org">MinGW</a> users</p> 19<p class="last">If you plan to use your tools from the Windows command prompt, 20you're in the right place. If you plan to build from the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.cygwin.com">Cygwin</a> 21bash shell, you're actually running on a POSIX platform and 22should follow the instructions for <a class="reference external" href="unix-variants.html">getting started on Unix 23variants</a>. Other command shells, such as <a class="reference external" href="http://mingw.org">MinGW</a>'s MSYS, are 24not supported—they may or may not work.</p> 25</div> 26<div class="contents topic" id="index"> 27<p class="topic-title first">Index</p> 28<ul class="auto-toc simple"> 29<li><a class="reference internal" href="#get-boost" id="id28">1 Get Boost</a></li> 30<li><a class="reference internal" href="#the-boost-distribution" id="id29">2 The Boost Distribution</a></li> 31<li><a class="reference internal" href="#header-only-libraries" id="id30">3 Header-Only Libraries</a></li> 32<li><a class="reference internal" href="#build-a-simple-program-using-boost" id="id31">4 Build a Simple Program Using Boost</a><ul class="auto-toc"> 33<li><a class="reference internal" href="#build-from-the-visual-studio-ide" id="id32">4.1 Build From the Visual Studio IDE</a></li> 34<li><a class="reference internal" href="#or-build-from-the-command-prompt" id="id33">4.2 Or, Build From the Command Prompt</a></li> 35<li><a class="reference internal" href="#errors-and-warnings" id="id34">4.3 Errors and Warnings</a></li> 36</ul> 37</li> 38<li><a class="reference internal" href="#prepare-to-use-a-boost-library-binary" id="id35">5 Prepare to Use a Boost Library Binary</a><ul class="auto-toc"> 39<li><a class="reference internal" href="#simplified-build-from-source" id="id36">5.1 Simplified Build From Source</a></li> 40<li><a class="reference internal" href="#or-build-binaries-from-source" id="id37">5.2 Or, Build Binaries From Source</a><ul class="auto-toc"> 41<li><a class="reference internal" href="#install-boost-build" id="id38">5.2.1 Install Boost.Build</a></li> 42<li><a class="reference internal" href="#identify-your-toolset" id="id39">5.2.2 Identify Your Toolset</a></li> 43<li><a class="reference internal" href="#select-a-build-directory" id="id40">5.2.3 Select a Build Directory</a></li> 44<li><a class="reference internal" href="#invoke-b2" id="id41">5.2.4 Invoke <tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt></a></li> 45</ul> 46</li> 47<li><a class="reference internal" href="#expected-build-output" id="id42">5.3 Expected Build Output</a></li> 48<li><a class="reference internal" href="#in-case-of-build-errors" id="id43">5.4 In Case of Build Errors</a></li> 49</ul> 50</li> 51<li><a class="reference internal" href="#link-your-program-to-a-boost-library" id="id44">6 Link Your Program to a Boost Library</a><ul class="auto-toc"> 52<li><a class="reference internal" href="#link-from-within-the-visual-studio-ide" id="id45">6.1 Link From Within the Visual Studio IDE</a></li> 53<li><a class="reference internal" href="#or-link-from-the-command-prompt" id="id46">6.2 Or, Link From the Command Prompt</a></li> 54<li><a class="reference internal" href="#library-naming" id="id47">6.3 Library Naming</a></li> 55<li><a class="reference internal" href="#test-your-program" id="id48">6.4 Test Your Program</a></li> 56</ul> 57</li> 58<li><a class="reference internal" href="#conclusion-and-further-resources" id="id49">7 Conclusion and Further Resources</a></li> 59</ul> 60</div> 61<div class="section" id="get-boost"> 62<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id28">1 Get Boost</a></h1> 63<p>The most reliable way to get a copy of Boost is to 64download <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_73_0.html"><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt><tt class="docutils literal">.7z</tt></a> or <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_73_0.html"><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt><tt class="docutils literal">.zip</tt></a> and unpack it to install a complete Boost 65distribution.<a class="footnote-reference" href="#zip" id="id2"><sup>1</sup></a></p> 66<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 67<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 68<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 69</div> 70<div class="section" id="the-boost-distribution"> 71<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id29">2 The Boost Distribution</a></h1> 72<p>This is a sketch of the resulting directory structure:</p> 73<pre class="literal-block"> 74<strong>boost_1_73_0</strong><strong>\</strong> .................<em>The “boost root directory”</em> 75 <strong>index.htm</strong> .........<em>A copy of www.boost.org starts here</em> 76 <strong>boost</strong><strong>\</strong> .........................<em>All Boost Header files</em> 77 <strong>lib</strong><strong>\</strong> .....................<em>precompiled library binaries</em> 78 <strong>libs</strong><strong>\</strong> ............<em>Tests, .cpp</em>s<em>, docs, etc., by library</em> 79 <strong>index.html</strong> ........<em>Library documentation starts here</em> 80 <strong>algorithm</strong><strong>\</strong> 81 <strong>any</strong><strong>\</strong> 82 <strong>array</strong><strong>\</strong> 83 <em>…more libraries…</em> 84 <strong>status</strong><strong>\</strong> .........................<em>Boost-wide test suite</em> 85 <strong>tools</strong><strong>\</strong> ...........<em>Utilities, e.g. Boost.Build, quickbook, bcp</em> 86 <strong>more</strong><strong>\</strong> ..........................<em>Policy documents, etc.</em> 87 <strong>doc</strong><strong>\</strong> ...............<em>A subset of all Boost library docs</em> 88</pre> 89<div class="sidebar"> 90<p class="first sidebar-title">Header Organization</p> 91<p class="pre-wrap">The organization of Boost library headers isn't entirely uniform, 92but most libraries follow a few patterns:</p> 93<ul class="pre-wrap last"> 94<li><p class="first">Some older libraries and most very small libraries place all 95public headers directly into <tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt>.</p> 96</li> 97<li><p class="first">Most libraries' public headers live in a subdirectory of 98<tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt>, named after the library. For example, you'll find 99the Python library's <tt class="docutils literal">def.hpp</tt> header in</p> 100<pre class="literal-block"> 101<tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">python</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">def.hpp</tt>. 102</pre> 103</li> 104<li><p class="first">Some libraries have an “aggregate header” in <tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt> that 105<tt class="docutils literal">#include</tt>s all of the library's other headers. For 106example, <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/python/doc/html/building.html">Boost.Python</a>'s aggregate header is</p> 107<pre class="literal-block"> 108<tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">python.hpp</tt>. 109</pre> 110</li> 111<li><p class="first">Most libraries place private headers in a subdirectory called 112<tt class="docutils literal">detail</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt>, or <tt class="docutils literal">aux_</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt>. Don't expect to find 113anything you can use in these directories.</p> 114</li> 115</ul> 116</div> 117<p>It's important to note the following:</p> 118<ol class="arabic" id="boost-root-directory"> 119<li><p class="first">The path to the <strong>boost root directory</strong> (often <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">C:\Program</span> Files\boost\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt>) is 120sometimes referred to as <tt class="docutils literal">$BOOST_ROOT</tt> in documentation and 121mailing lists .</p> 122</li> 123<li><p class="first">To compile anything in Boost, you need a directory containing 124the <tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt> subdirectory in your <tt class="docutils literal">#include</tt> path. Specific steps for setting up <tt class="docutils literal">#include</tt> 125paths in Microsoft Visual Studio follow later in this document; 126if you use another IDE, please consult your product's 127documentation for instructions.</p> 128</li> 129<li><p class="first">Since all of Boost's header files have the <tt class="docutils literal">.hpp</tt> extension, 130and live in the <tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt> subdirectory of the boost root, your 131Boost <tt class="docutils literal">#include</tt> directives will look like:</p> 132<pre class="literal-block"> 133#include <boost/<em>whatever</em>.hpp> 134</pre> 135<p>or</p> 136<pre class="literal-block"> 137#include "boost/<em>whatever</em>.hpp" 138</pre> 139<p>depending on your preference regarding the use of angle bracket 140includes. Even Windows users can (and, for 141portability reasons, probably should) use forward slashes in 142<tt class="docutils literal">#include</tt> directives; your compiler doesn't care.</p> 143</li> 144<li><p class="first">Don't be distracted by the <tt class="docutils literal">doc</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt> subdirectory; it only 145contains a subset of the Boost documentation. Start with 146<tt class="docutils literal">libs</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">index.html</tt> if you're looking for the whole enchilada.</p> 147</li> 148</ol> 149<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 150<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 151<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 152</div> 153<div class="section" id="header-only-libraries"> 154<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id30">3 Header-Only Libraries</a></h1> 155<p>The first thing many people want to know is, “how do I build 156Boost?” The good news is that often, there's nothing to build.</p> 157<div class="admonition-nothing-to-build admonition"> 158<p class="first admonition-title">Nothing to Build?</p> 159<p class="last">Most Boost libraries are <strong>header-only</strong>: they consist <em>entirely 160of header files</em> containing templates and inline functions, and 161require no separately-compiled library binaries or special 162treatment when linking.</p> 163</div> 164<!-- .. _separate: --> 165<p>The only Boost libraries that <em>must</em> be built separately are:</p> 166<ul class="simple"> 167<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/chrono/index.html">Boost.Chrono</a></li> 168<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/context/index.html">Boost.Context</a></li> 169<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/filesystem/index.html">Boost.Filesystem</a></li> 170<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/graph_parallel/index.html">Boost.GraphParallel</a></li> 171<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/iostreams/index.html">Boost.IOStreams</a></li> 172<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/locale/index.html">Boost.Locale</a></li> 173<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/log/index.html">Boost.Log</a> (see <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/log/doc/html/log/installation/config.html">build documentation</a>)</li> 174<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/mpi/index.html">Boost.MPI</a></li> 175<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/program_options/index.html">Boost.ProgramOptions</a></li> 176<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/python/doc/html/building.html">Boost.Python</a> (see the <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/python/doc/html/building.html">Boost.Python build documentation</a> 177before building and installing it)</li> 178<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/regex/index.html">Boost.Regex</a></li> 179<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/serialization/index.html">Boost.Serialization</a></li> 180<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/thread/index.html">Boost.Thread</a></li> 181<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/timer/index.html">Boost.Timer</a></li> 182<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/wave/index.html">Boost.Wave</a></li> 183</ul> 184<p>A few libraries have optional separately-compiled binaries:</p> 185<ul class="simple"> 186<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/graph/index.html">Boost.Graph</a> also has a binary component that is only needed if 187you intend to <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/graph/doc/read_graphviz.html">parse GraphViz files</a>.</li> 188<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/math/index.html">Boost.Math</a> has binary components for the TR1 and C99 189cmath functions.</li> 190<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/random/index.html">Boost.Random</a> has a binary component which is only needed if 191you're using <tt class="docutils literal">random_device</tt>.</li> 192<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/test/index.html">Boost.Test</a> can be used in “header-only” or “separately compiled” 193mode, although <strong>separate compilation is recommended for serious 194use</strong>.</li> 195<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/exception/index.html">Boost.Exception</a> provides non-intrusive implementation of 196exception_ptr for 32-bit _MSC_VER==1310 and _MSC_VER==1400 197which requires a separately-compiled binary. This is enabled by 198#define BOOST_ENABLE_NON_INTRUSIVE_EXCEPTION_PTR.</li> 199<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/system/index.html">Boost.System</a> is header-only since Boost 1.69. A stub library is 200still built for compatibility, but linking to it is no longer 201necessary.</li> 202</ul> 203<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 204<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 205<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 206</div> 207<div class="section" id="build-a-simple-program-using-boost"> 208<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id31">4 Build a Simple Program Using Boost</a></h1> 209<p>To keep things simple, let's start by using a header-only library. 210The following program reads a sequence of integers from standard 211input, uses Boost.Lambda to multiply each number by three, and 212writes them to standard output:</p> 213<pre class="literal-block"> 214#include <boost/lambda/lambda.hpp> 215#include <iostream> 216#include <iterator> 217#include <algorithm> 218 219int main() 220{ 221 using namespace boost::lambda; 222 typedef std::istream_iterator<int> in; 223 224 std::for_each( 225 in(std::cin), in(), std::cout << (_1 * 3) << " " ); 226} 227</pre> 228<p>Copy the text of this program into a file called <tt class="docutils literal">example.cpp</tt>.</p> 229<div class="note" id="command-line-tool"> 230<span id="command-prompt"></span><p class="first admonition-title">Note</p> 231<p class="last">To build the examples in this guide, you can use an 232Integrated Development Environment (IDE) like Visual Studio, or 233you can issue commands from the <a class="reference internal" href="#command-prompt">command prompt</a>. Since every 234IDE and compiler has different options and Microsoft's are by 235far the dominant compilers on Windows, we only give specific 236directions here for Visual Studio 2005 and .NET 2003 IDEs and 237their respective command prompt compilers (using the command 238prompt is a bit simpler). If you are using another compiler or 239IDE, it should be relatively easy to adapt these instructions to 240your environment.</p> 241</div> 242<div class="small sidebar"> 243<p class="first sidebar-title">Command Prompt Basics</p> 244<p>In Windows, a command-line tool is invoked by typing its name, 245optionally followed by arguments, into a <em>Command Prompt</em> window 246and pressing the Return (or Enter) key.</p> 247<p>To open a generic <em>Command Prompt</em>, click the <em>Start</em> menu 248button, click <em>Run</em>, type “cmd”, and then click <em>OK</em>.</p> 249<p id="current-directory">All commands are executed within the context of a <strong>current 250directory</strong> in the filesystem. To set the current directory, 251type:</p> 252<pre class="literal-block"> 253cd <em>path</em>\<em>to</em>\<em>some</em>\<em>directory</em> 254</pre> 255<p>followed by Return. For example,</p> 256<pre class="literal-block"> 257cd <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">C:\Program</span> Files\boost\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt> 258</pre> 259<p class="last">Long commands can be continued across several lines by typing a 260caret (<tt class="docutils literal">^</tt>) at the end of all but the last line. Some examples 261on this page use that technique to save horizontal space.</p> 262</div> 263<div class="section" id="build-from-the-visual-studio-ide"> 264<span id="vs-header-only"></span><h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id32">4.1 Build From the Visual Studio IDE</a></h2> 265<ul> 266<li><p class="first">From Visual Studio's <em>File</em> menu, select <em>New</em> > <em>Project…</em></p> 267</li> 268<li><p class="first">In the left-hand pane of the resulting <em>New Project</em> dialog, 269select <em>Visual C++</em> > <em>Win32</em>.</p> 270</li> 271<li><p class="first">In the right-hand pane, select <em>Win32 Console Application</em> 272(VS8.0) or <em>Win32 Console Project</em> (VS7.1).</p> 273</li> 274<li><p class="first">In the <em>name</em> field, enter “example”</p> 275</li> 276<li><p class="first">Right-click <strong>example</strong> in the <em>Solution Explorer</em> pane and 277select <em>Properties</em> from the resulting pop-up menu</p> 278</li> 279<li><p class="first">In <em>Configuration Properties</em> > <em>C/C++</em> > <em>General</em> > <em>Additional Include 280Directories</em>, enter the path to the Boost root directory, for example</p> 281<blockquote> 282<p><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">C:\Program</span> Files\boost\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt></p> 283</blockquote> 284</li> 285<li><p class="first">In <em>Configuration Properties</em> > <em>C/C++</em> > <em>Precompiled Headers</em>, change 286<em>Use Precompiled Header (/Yu)</em> to <em>Not Using Precompiled 287Headers</em>.<a class="footnote-reference" href="#pch" id="id6"><sup>2</sup></a></p> 288</li> 289<li><p class="first">Replace the contents of the <tt class="docutils literal">example.cpp</tt> generated by the IDE 290with the example code above.</p> 291</li> 292<li><p class="first">From the <em>Build</em> menu, select <em>Build Solution</em>.</p> 293</li> 294</ul> 295<p>To test your application, hit the F5 key and type the following 296into the resulting window, followed by the Return key:</p> 297<pre class="literal-block"> 2981 2 3 299</pre> 300<p>Then hold down the control key and press "Z", followed by the 301Return key.</p> 302<p><a class="reference internal" href="#errors-and-warnings"><em>skip to the next step</em></a></p> 303</div> 304<div class="section" id="or-build-from-the-command-prompt"> 305<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id33">4.2 Or, Build From the Command Prompt</a></h2> 306<p>From your computer's <em>Start</em> menu, if you are a Visual 307Studio 2005 user, select</p> 308<blockquote> 309<em>All Programs</em> > <em>Microsoft Visual Studio 2005</em> 310> <em>Visual Studio Tools</em> > <em>Visual Studio 2005 Command Prompt</em></blockquote> 311<p>or, if you're a Visual Studio .NET 2003 user, select</p> 312<blockquote> 313<em>All Programs</em> > <em>Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003</em> 314> <em>Visual Studio .NET Tools</em> > <em>Visual Studio .NET 2003 Command Prompt</em></blockquote> 315<p>to bring up a special <a class="reference internal" href="#command-prompt">command prompt</a> window set up for the 316Visual Studio compiler. In that window, set the <a class="reference internal" href="#current-directory">current 317directory</a> to a suitable location for creating some temporary 318files and type the following command followed by the Return key:</p> 319<pre class="literal-block"> 320cl /EHsc /I <em>path\to\</em><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt> <em>path</em>\<em>to</em>\example.cpp 321</pre> 322<p>To test the result, type:</p> 323<pre class="literal-block"> 324echo 1 2 3 | example 325</pre> 326<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 327<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 328<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 329</div> 330<div class="section" id="errors-and-warnings"> 331<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id34">4.3 Errors and Warnings</a></h2> 332<p>Don't be alarmed if you see compiler warnings originating in Boost 333headers. We try to eliminate them, but doing so isn't always 334practical.<a class="footnote-reference" href="#warnings" id="id8"><sup>4</sup></a> <strong>Errors are another matter</strong>. If you're 335seeing compilation errors at this point in the tutorial, check to 336be sure you've copied the <a class="reference internal" href="#build-a-simple-program-using-boost">example program</a> correctly and that you've 337correctly identified the <a class="reference internal" href="#boost-root-directory">Boost root directory</a>.</p> 338<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 339<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 340<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 341</div> 342</div> 343<div class="section" id="prepare-to-use-a-boost-library-binary"> 344<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id35">5 Prepare to Use a Boost Library Binary</a></h1> 345<p>If you want to use any of the separately-compiled Boost libraries, 346you'll need to acquire library binaries.</p> 347<div class="section" id="simplified-build-from-source"> 348<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id36">5.1 Simplified Build From Source</a></h2> 349<p>If you wish to build from source with Visual C++, you can use a 350simple build procedure described in this section. Open the command prompt 351and change your current directory to the Boost root directory. Then, type 352the following commands:</p> 353<pre class="literal-block"> 354bootstrap 355.\b2 356</pre> 357<p>The first command prepares the Boost.Build system for use. The second 358command invokes Boost.Build to build the separately-compiled Boost 359libraries. Please consult the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/build/doc/html/bbv2/overview/invocation.html">Boost.Build documentation</a> for a list 360of allowed options.</p> 361</div> 362<div class="section" id="or-build-binaries-from-source"> 363<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id37">5.2 Or, Build Binaries From Source</a></h2> 364<p>If you're using an earlier version of Visual C++, or a compiler 365from another vendor, you'll need to use <a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">Boost.Build</a> to create your 366own binaries.</p> 367<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 368<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 369<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 370<div class="section" id="install-boost-build"> 371<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id38">5.2.1 Install Boost.Build</a></h3> 372<p><a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">Boost.Build</a> is a text-based system for developing, testing, and 373installing software. First, you'll need to build and 374install it. To do this:</p> 375<ol class="arabic simple"> 376<li>Go to the directory <tt class="docutils literal">tools</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">build</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt>.</li> 377<li>Run <tt class="docutils literal">bootstrap.bat</tt></li> 378<li>Run <tt class="docutils literal">b2 install <span class="pre">--prefix=</span></tt><em>PREFIX</em> where <em>PREFIX</em> is 379the directory where you want Boost.Build to be installed</li> 380<li>Add <em>PREFIX</em><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">bin</tt> to your PATH environment variable.</li> 381</ol> 382</div> 383<div class="section" id="identify-your-toolset"> 384<span id="toolset-name"></span><span id="toolset"></span><h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id39">5.2.2 Identify Your Toolset</a></h3> 385<p>First, find the toolset corresponding to your compiler in the 386following table (an up-to-date list is always available <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/build/doc/html/bbv2/reference/tools.html">in the 387Boost.Build documentation</a>).</p> 388<div class="note"> 389<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p> 390<p class="last">If you previously chose a toolset for the purposes of 391<a class="reference external" href="../../doc/html/bbv2/installation.html">building b2</a>, you should assume it won't work and instead 392choose newly from the table below.</p> 393</div> 394<table border="1" class="docutils"> 395<colgroup> 396<col width="12%" /> 397<col width="22%" /> 398<col width="66%" /> 399</colgroup> 400<thead valign="bottom"> 401<tr><th class="head">Toolset 402Name</th> 403<th class="head">Vendor</th> 404<th class="head">Notes</th> 405</tr> 406</thead> 407<tbody valign="top"> 408<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">acc</tt></td> 409<td>Hewlett Packard</td> 410<td>Only very recent versions are known to work well with Boost</td> 411</tr> 412<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">borland</tt></td> 413<td>Borland</td> 414<td> </td> 415</tr> 416<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">como</tt></td> 417<td>Comeau Computing</td> 418<td>Using this toolset may require <a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">configuring</a> another 419toolset to act as its backend.</td> 420</tr> 421<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">darwin</tt></td> 422<td>Apple Computer</td> 423<td>Apple's version of the GCC toolchain with support for 424Darwin and MacOS X features such as frameworks.</td> 425</tr> 426<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">gcc</tt></td> 427<td>The Gnu Project</td> 428<td>Includes support for Cygwin and MinGW compilers.</td> 429</tr> 430<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">hp_cxx</tt></td> 431<td>Hewlett Packard</td> 432<td>Targeted at the Tru64 operating system.</td> 433</tr> 434<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">intel</tt></td> 435<td>Intel</td> 436<td> </td> 437</tr> 438<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">msvc</tt></td> 439<td>Microsoft</td> 440<td> </td> 441</tr> 442<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">sun</tt></td> 443<td>Oracle</td> 444<td>Only very recent versions are known to work well with 445Boost. Note that the Oracle/Sun compiler has a large number 446of options which effect binary compatibility: it is vital 447that the libraries are built with the same options that your 448appliction will use. In particular be aware that the default 449standard library may not work well with Boost, <em>unless you 450are building for C++11</em>. The particular compiler options you 451need can be injected with the b2 command line options 452<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">cxxflags=``and</span> ``linkflags=</tt>. For example to build with 453the Apache standard library in C++03 mode use 454<tt class="docutils literal">b2 <span class="pre">cxxflags=-library=stdcxx4</span> <span class="pre">linkflags=-library=stdcxx4</span></tt>.</td> 455</tr> 456<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">vacpp</tt></td> 457<td>IBM</td> 458<td>The VisualAge C++ compiler.</td> 459</tr> 460</tbody> 461</table> 462<p>If you have multiple versions of a particular compiler installed, 463you can append the version number to the toolset name, preceded by 464a hyphen, e.g. <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">intel-9.0</span></tt> or 465<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">borland-5.4.3</span></tt>. <strong>On Windows, append a version 466number even if you only have one version installed</strong> (unless you 467are using the msvc or gcc toolsets, which have special version 468detection code) or <a class="reference internal" href="#auto-linking">auto-linking</a> will fail.</p> 469</div> 470<div class="section" id="select-a-build-directory"> 471<span id="id13"></span><span id="build-directory"></span><h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id40">5.2.3 Select a Build Directory</a></h3> 472<p><a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">Boost.Build</a> will place all intermediate files it generates while 473building into the <strong>build directory</strong>. If your Boost root 474directory is writable, this step isn't strictly necessary: by 475default Boost.Build will create a <tt class="docutils literal">bin.v2/</tt> subdirectory for that 476purpose in your current working directory.</p> 477</div> 478<div class="section" id="invoke-b2"> 479<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id41">5.2.4 Invoke <tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt></a></h3> 480<p>Change your current directory to the Boost root directory and 481invoke <tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt> as follows:</p> 482<pre class="literal-block"> 483b2 <strong>--build-dir=</strong><a class="reference internal" href="#id13"><em>build-directory</em></a> <strong>toolset=</strong><a class="reference internal" href="#toolset-name"><em>toolset-name</em></a> <strong>--build-type=complete</strong> stage 484</pre> 485<p>For a complete description of these and other invocation options, 486please see the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/build/doc/html/bbv2/overview/invocation.html">Boost.Build documentation</a>.</p> 487<p>For example, your session might look like this:<a class="footnote-reference" href="#continuation" id="id15"><sup>3</sup></a></p> 488<pre class="literal-block"> 489C:\WINDOWS> cd <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">C:\Program</span> Files\boost\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt> 490<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">C:\Program</span> Files\boost\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt>> b2 <strong>^</strong> 491More? <strong>--build-dir=</strong>"C:\Documents and Settings\dave\build-boost" <strong>^</strong> 492More? <strong>--build-type=complete</strong> <strong>msvc</strong> stage 493</pre> 494<p>Be sure to read <a class="reference internal" href="#continuation">this note</a> about the appearance of <tt class="docutils literal">^</tt>, 495<tt class="docutils literal">More?</tt> and quotation marks (<tt class="docutils literal">"</tt>) in that line.</p> 496<p>The option “<strong>--build-type=complete</strong>” causes Boost.Build to build 497all supported variants of the libraries. For instructions on how to 498build only specific variants, please ask on the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#jamboost">Boost.Build mailing 499list</a>.</p> 500<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 501<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 502<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 503<p>Building the special <tt class="docutils literal">stage</tt> target places Boost 504library binaries in the <tt class="docutils literal">stage</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">lib</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\</tt> subdirectory of 505the Boost tree. To use a different directory pass the 506<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--stagedir=</span></tt><em>directory</em> option to <tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt>.</p> 507<div class="note"> 508<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p> 509<p class="last"><tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt> is case-sensitive; it is important that all the 510parts shown in <strong>bold</strong> type above be entirely lower-case.</p> 511</div> 512<p>For a description of other options you can pass when invoking 513<tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt>, type:</p> 514<pre class="literal-block"> 515b2 --help 516</pre> 517<p>In particular, to limit the amount of time spent building, you may 518be interested in:</p> 519<ul class="simple"> 520<li>reviewing the list of library names with <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--show-libraries</span></tt></li> 521<li>limiting which libraries get built with the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--with-</span></tt><em>library-name</em> or <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--without-</span></tt><em>library-name</em> options</li> 522<li>choosing a specific build variant by adding <tt class="docutils literal">release</tt> or 523<tt class="docutils literal">debug</tt> to the command line.</li> 524</ul> 525<div class="note"> 526<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p> 527<p class="last">Boost.Build can produce a great deal of output, which can 528make it easy to miss problems. If you want to make sure 529everything is went well, you might redirect the output into a 530file by appending “<tt class="docutils literal">>build.log <span class="pre">2>&1</span></tt>” to your command line.</p> 531</div> 532</div> 533</div> 534<div class="section" id="expected-build-output"> 535<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id42">5.3 Expected Build Output</a></h2> 536<p>During the process of building Boost libraries, you can expect to 537see some messages printed on the console. These may include</p> 538<ul> 539<li><p class="first">Notices about Boost library configuration—for example, the Regex 540library outputs a message about ICU when built without Unicode 541support, and the Python library may be skipped without error (but 542with a notice) if you don't have Python installed.</p> 543</li> 544<li><p class="first">Messages from the build tool that report the number of targets 545that were built or skipped. Don't be surprised if those numbers 546don't make any sense to you; there are many targets per library.</p> 547</li> 548<li><p class="first">Build action messages describing what the tool is doing, which 549look something like:</p> 550<pre class="literal-block"> 551<em>toolset-name</em>.c++ <em>long</em>/<em>path</em>/<em>to</em>/<em>file</em>/<em>being</em>/<em>built</em> 552</pre> 553</li> 554<li><p class="first">Compiler warnings.</p> 555</li> 556</ul> 557</div> 558<div class="section" id="in-case-of-build-errors"> 559<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id43">5.4 In Case of Build Errors</a></h2> 560<p>The only error messages you see when building Boost—if any—should 561be related to the IOStreams library's support of zip and bzip2 562formats as described <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/iostreams/doc/installation.html">here</a>. Install the relevant development 563packages for libz and libbz2 if you need those features. Other 564errors when building Boost libraries are cause for concern.</p> 565<p>If it seems like the build system can't find your compiler and/or 566linker, consider setting up a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">user-config.jam</span></tt> file as described 567<a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/build/doc/html/bbv2/overview/configuration.html">here</a>. If that isn't your problem or the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">user-config.jam</span></tt> file 568doesn't work for you, please address questions about configuring Boost 569for your compiler to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#jamboost">Boost.Build mailing list</a>.</p> 570<span class="target" id="auto-linking"></span><!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 571<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 572<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 573</div> 574</div> 575<div class="section" id="link-your-program-to-a-boost-library"> 576<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id44">6 Link Your Program to a Boost Library</a></h1> 577<p>To demonstrate linking with a Boost binary library, we'll use the 578following simple program that extracts the subject lines from 579emails. It uses the <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/regex/index.html">Boost.Regex</a> library, which has a 580separately-compiled binary component.</p> 581<pre class="literal-block"> 582#include <boost/regex.hpp> 583#include <iostream> 584#include <string> 585 586int main() 587{ 588 std::string line; 589 boost::regex pat( "^Subject: (Re: |Aw: )*(.*)" ); 590 591 while (std::cin) 592 { 593 std::getline(std::cin, line); 594 boost::smatch matches; 595 if (boost::regex_match(line, matches, pat)) 596 std::cout << matches[2] << std::endl; 597 } 598} 599</pre> 600<p>There are two main challenges associated with linking:</p> 601<ol class="arabic simple"> 602<li>Tool configuration, e.g. choosing command-line options or IDE 603build settings.</li> 604<li>Identifying the library binary, among all the build variants, 605whose compile configuration is compatible with the rest of your 606project.</li> 607</ol> 608<div class="admonition-auto-linking admonition"> 609<p class="first admonition-title">Auto-Linking</p> 610<p>Most Windows compilers and linkers have so-called “auto-linking 611support,” which eliminates the second challenge. Special code in 612Boost header files detects your compiler options and uses that 613information to encode the name of the correct library into your 614object files; the linker selects the library with that name from 615the directories you've told it to search.</p> 616<p class="last">The GCC toolchains (Cygwin and MinGW) are notable exceptions; 617GCC users should refer to the <a class="reference external" href="unix-variants.html#link-your-program-to-a-boost-library">linking instructions for Unix 618variant OSes</a> for the appropriate command-line options to use.</p> 619</div> 620<div class="section" id="link-from-within-the-visual-studio-ide"> 621<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id45">6.1 Link From Within the Visual Studio IDE</a></h2> 622<p>Starting with the <a class="reference internal" href="#vs-header-only">header-only example project</a> we created 623earlier:</p> 624<ol class="arabic simple"> 625<li>Right-click <strong>example</strong> in the <em>Solution Explorer</em> pane and 626select <em>Properties</em> from the resulting pop-up menu</li> 627<li>In <em>Configuration Properties</em> > <em>Linker</em> > <em>Additional Library 628Directories</em>, enter the path to the Boost binaries, 629e.g. <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">C:\Program</span> Files\boost\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\lib\</tt>.</li> 630<li>From the <em>Build</em> menu, select <em>Build Solution</em>.</li> 631</ol> 632<p><a class="reference internal" href="#test-your-program"><em>skip to the next step</em></a></p> 633</div> 634<div class="section" id="or-link-from-the-command-prompt"> 635<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id46">6.2 Or, Link From the Command Prompt</a></h2> 636<p>For example, we can compile and link the above program from the 637Visual C++ command-line by simply adding the <strong>bold</strong> text below to 638the command line we used earlier, assuming your Boost binaries are 639in <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">C:\Program</span> Files\boost\</tt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt><tt class="docutils literal">\lib</tt>:</p> 640<pre class="literal-block"> 641cl /EHsc /I <em>path\to\</em><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt> example.cpp <strong>^</strong> 642 <strong>/link /LIBPATH:</strong><strong>C:\Program Files\boost\</strong><strong>boost_1_73_0</strong><strong>\lib</strong> 643</pre> 644</div> 645<div class="section" id="library-naming"> 646<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id47">6.3 Library Naming</a></h2> 647<div class="note"> 648<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p> 649<p>If, like Visual C++, your compiler supports auto-linking, 650you can probably <a class="reference internal" href="#test-your-program"><em>skip to the next step</em></a>.</p> 651<blockquote class="last"> 652</blockquote> 653</div> 654<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 655<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 656<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 657<p>In order to choose the right binary for your build configuration 658you need to know how Boost binaries are named. Each library 659filename is composed of a common sequence of elements that describe 660how it was built. For example, 661<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">libboost_regex-vc71-mt-d-x86-1_34.lib</span></tt> can be broken down into the 662following elements:</p> 663<dl class="docutils"> 664<dt><tt class="docutils literal">lib</tt></dt> 665<dd><em>Prefix</em>: except on Microsoft Windows, every Boost library 666name begins with this string. On Windows, only ordinary static 667libraries use the <tt class="docutils literal">lib</tt> prefix; import libraries and DLLs do 668not.<a class="footnote-reference" href="#distinct" id="id23"><sup>5</sup></a></dd> 669<dt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_regex</tt></dt> 670<dd><em>Library name</em>: all boost library filenames begin with <tt class="docutils literal">boost_</tt>.</dd> 671<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-vc71</span></tt></dt> 672<dd><em>Toolset tag</em>: identifies the <a class="reference internal" href="#toolset">toolset</a> and version used to build 673the binary.</dd> 674<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-mt</span></tt></dt> 675<dd><em>Threading tag</em>: indicates that the library was 676built with multithreading support enabled. Libraries built 677without multithreading support can be identified by the absence 678of <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-mt</span></tt>.</dd> 679<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-d</span></tt></dt> 680<dd><p class="first"><em>ABI tag</em>: encodes details that affect the library's 681interoperability with other compiled code. For each such 682feature, a single letter is added to the tag:</p> 683<blockquote> 684<table border="1" class="docutils"> 685<colgroup> 686<col width="5%" /> 687<col width="75%" /> 688<col width="20%" /> 689</colgroup> 690<thead valign="bottom"> 691<tr><th class="head">Key</th> 692<th class="head">Use this library when:</th> 693<th class="head">Boost.Build option</th> 694</tr> 695</thead> 696<tbody valign="top"> 697<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">s</tt></td> 698<td>linking statically to the C++ standard library and compiler runtime support 699libraries.</td> 700<td>runtime-link=static</td> 701</tr> 702<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">g</tt></td> 703<td>using debug versions of the standard and runtime support libraries.</td> 704<td>runtime-debugging=on</td> 705</tr> 706<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">y</tt></td> 707<td>using a special <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/python/doc/html/building/python_debugging_builds.html">debug build of Python</a>.</td> 708<td>python-debugging=on</td> 709</tr> 710<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">d</tt></td> 711<td>building a debug version of your code.<a class="footnote-reference" href="#debug-abi" id="id24"><sup>6</sup></a></td> 712<td>variant=debug</td> 713</tr> 714<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">p</tt></td> 715<td>using the STLPort standard library rather than the default one supplied with 716your compiler.</td> 717<td>stdlib=stlport</td> 718</tr> 719</tbody> 720</table> 721</blockquote> 722<p class="last">For example, if you build a debug version of your code for use 723with debug versions of the static runtime library and the 724STLPort standard library, 725the tag would be: <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-sgdp</span></tt>. If none of the above apply, the 726ABI tag is ommitted.</p> 727</dd> 728<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-x86</span></tt></dt> 729<dd><p class="first"><em>Architecture and address model tag</em>: in the first letter, encodes the architecture as follows:</p> 730<blockquote> 731<table border="1" class="docutils"> 732<colgroup> 733<col width="11%" /> 734<col width="41%" /> 735<col width="48%" /> 736</colgroup> 737<thead valign="bottom"> 738<tr><th class="head">Key</th> 739<th class="head">Architecture</th> 740<th class="head">Boost.Build option</th> 741</tr> 742</thead> 743<tbody valign="top"> 744<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">x</tt></td> 745<td>x86-32, x86-64</td> 746<td>architecture=x86</td> 747</tr> 748<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">a</tt></td> 749<td>ARM</td> 750<td>architecture=arm</td> 751</tr> 752<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">i</tt></td> 753<td>IA-64</td> 754<td>architecture=ia64</td> 755</tr> 756<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">s</tt></td> 757<td>Sparc</td> 758<td>architecture=sparc</td> 759</tr> 760<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">m</tt></td> 761<td>MIPS/SGI</td> 762<td>architecture=mips*</td> 763</tr> 764<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">p</tt></td> 765<td>RS/6000 & PowerPC</td> 766<td>architecture=power</td> 767</tr> 768</tbody> 769</table> 770</blockquote> 771<p>The two digits following the letter encode the address model as follows:</p> 772<blockquote class="last"> 773<table border="1" class="docutils"> 774<colgroup> 775<col width="13%" /> 776<col width="40%" /> 777<col width="47%" /> 778</colgroup> 779<thead valign="bottom"> 780<tr><th class="head">Key</th> 781<th class="head">Address model</th> 782<th class="head">Boost.Build option</th> 783</tr> 784</thead> 785<tbody valign="top"> 786<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">32</tt></td> 787<td>32 bit</td> 788<td>address-model=32</td> 789</tr> 790<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">64</tt></td> 791<td>64 bit</td> 792<td>address-model=64</td> 793</tr> 794</tbody> 795</table> 796</blockquote> 797</dd> 798<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-1_34</span></tt></dt> 799<dd><em>Version tag</em>: the full Boost release number, with periods 800replaced by underscores. For example, version 1.31.1 would be 801tagged as "-1_31_1".</dd> 802<dt><tt class="docutils literal">.lib</tt></dt> 803<dd><em>Extension</em>: determined according to the operating system's usual 804convention. On most unix-style platforms the extensions are 805<tt class="docutils literal">.a</tt> and <tt class="docutils literal">.so</tt> for static libraries (archives) and shared 806libraries, respectively. On Windows, <tt class="docutils literal">.dll</tt> indicates a shared 807library and <tt class="docutils literal">.lib</tt> indicates a 808static or import library. Where supported by toolsets on unix 809variants, a full version extension is added (e.g. ".so.1.34") and 810a symbolic link to the library file, named without the trailing 811version number, will also be created.</dd> 812</dl> 813<!-- .. _Boost.Build toolset names: toolset-name_ --> 814<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 815<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 816<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 817</div> 818<div class="section" id="test-your-program"> 819<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id48">6.4 Test Your Program</a></h2> 820<p>To test our subject extraction, we'll filter the following text 821file. Copy it out of your browser and save it as <tt class="docutils literal">jayne.txt</tt>:</p> 822<pre class="literal-block"> 823To: George Shmidlap 824From: Rita Marlowe 825Subject: Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? 826--- 827See subject. 828</pre> 829<p>Now, in a <a class="reference internal" href="#command-prompt">command prompt</a> window, type:</p> 830<pre class="literal-block"> 831<em>path</em>\<em>to</em>\<em>compiled</em>\example < <em>path</em>\<em>to</em>\jayne.txt 832</pre> 833<p>The program should respond with the email subject, “Will Success 834Spoil Rock Hunter?”</p> 835<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 836<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 837<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 838</div> 839</div> 840<div class="section" id="conclusion-and-further-resources"> 841<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id49">7 Conclusion and Further Resources</a></h1> 842<p>This concludes your introduction to Boost and to integrating it 843with your programs. As you start using Boost in earnest, there are 844surely a few additional points you'll wish we had covered. One day 845we may have a “Book 2 in the Getting Started series” that addresses 846them. Until then, we suggest you pursue the following resources. 847If you can't find what you need, or there's anything we can do to 848make this document clearer, please post it to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#users">Boost Users' 849mailing list</a>.</p> 850<ul class="simple"> 851<li><a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">Boost.Build reference manual</a></li> 852<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#users">Boost Users' mailing list</a></li> 853<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#jamboost">Boost.Build mailing list</a></li> 854<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/index.html">Index of all Boost library documentation</a></li> 855</ul> 856<div class="admonition-onward admonition"> 857<p class="first admonition-title">Onward</p> 858<blockquote class="epigraph last"> 859<p>Good luck, and have fun!</p> 860<p class="attribution">—the Boost Developers</p> 861</blockquote> 862</div> 863<hr class="docutils" /> 864<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="zip" rules="none"> 865<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> 866<tbody valign="top"> 867<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id2">[1]</a></td><td>We recommend 868downloading <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_73_0.html"><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_73_0</tt><tt class="docutils literal">.7z</tt></a> and using <a class="reference external" href="http://www.7-zip.org">7-Zip</a> to decompress 869it. We no longer recommend .zip files for Boost because they are twice 870as large as the equivalent .7z files. We don't recommend using Windows' 871built-in decompression as it can be painfully slow for large archives.</td></tr> 872</tbody> 873</table> 874<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="pch" rules="none"> 875<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> 876<tbody valign="top"> 877<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id6">[2]</a></td><td>There's no problem using Boost with precompiled headers; 878these instructions merely avoid precompiled headers because it 879would require Visual Studio-specific changes to the source code 880used in the examples.</td></tr> 881</tbody> 882</table> 883<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="continuation" rules="none"> 884<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> 885<tbody valign="top"> 886<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id15">[3]</a></td><td><p class="first">In this example, the caret character <tt class="docutils literal">^</tt> is a 887way of continuing the command on multiple lines, and must be the 888<strong>final character</strong> used on the line to be continued (i.e. do 889not follow it with spaces). The command prompt responds with 890<tt class="docutils literal">More?</tt> to prompt for more input. Feel free to omit the 891carets and subsequent newlines; we used them so the example 892would fit on a page of reasonable width.</p> 893<p>The command prompt treats each bit of whitespace in the command 894as an argument separator. That means quotation marks (<tt class="docutils literal">"</tt>) 895are required to keep text together whenever a single 896command-line argument contains spaces, as in</p> 897<pre class="literal-block"> 898--build-dir=<span class="raw-html"><strong style="background-color:#B4FFB4">"</strong></span>C:\Documents<span class="raw-html"><strong style="color:#B4B4B4; background-color:#B4FFB4">_</strong></span>and<span class="raw-html"><strong style="color:#B4B4B4; background-color:#B4FFB4">_</strong></span>Settings\dave\build-boost<span class="raw-html"><strong style="background-color:#B4FFB4">"</strong></span> 899</pre> 900<p>Also, for example, you can't add spaces around the <tt class="docutils literal">=</tt> sign as in</p> 901<pre class="last literal-block"> 902--build-dir<span class="raw-html"><strong style="color:#B4B4B4; background-color:#FFB4B4">_</strong></span>=<span class="raw-html"><strong style="color:#B4B4B4; background-color:#FFB4B4">_</strong></span>"C:\Documents and Settings\dave\build-boost" 903</pre> 904</td></tr> 905</tbody> 906</table> 907<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 908<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 909<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 910<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="warnings" rules="none"> 911<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> 912<tbody valign="top"> 913<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id8">[4]</a></td><td>Remember that warnings are specific to each compiler 914implementation. The developer of a given Boost library might 915not have access to your compiler. Also, some warnings are 916extremely difficult to eliminate in generic code, to the point 917where it's not worth the trouble. Finally, some compilers don't 918have any source code mechanism for suppressing warnings.</td></tr> 919</tbody> 920</table> 921<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="distinct" rules="none"> 922<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> 923<tbody valign="top"> 924<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id23">[5]</a></td><td>This convention distinguishes the static version of 925a Boost library from the import library for an 926identically-configured Boost DLL, which would otherwise have the 927same name.</td></tr> 928</tbody> 929</table> 930<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="debug-abi" rules="none"> 931<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup> 932<tbody valign="top"> 933<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id24">[6]</a></td><td>These libraries were compiled without optimization 934or inlining, with full debug symbols enabled, and without 935<tt class="docutils literal">NDEBUG</tt> <tt class="docutils literal">#define</tt>d. Although it's true that sometimes 936these choices don't affect binary compatibility with other 937compiled code, you can't count on that with Boost libraries.</td></tr> 938</tbody> 939</table> 940<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 941<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 942<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 943<!-- This file contains all the definitions that need to be updated --> 944<!-- for each new release of Boost. --> 945<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 946<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 947<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 948<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 949<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 950<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 951<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost --> 952<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying --> 953<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) --> 954</div> 955</div> 956</body> 957</html> 958
