1Building PCRE2 without using autotools 2-------------------------------------- 3 4This document contains the following sections: 5 6 General 7 Generic instructions for the PCRE2 C library 8 Stack size in Windows environments 9 Linking programs in Windows environments 10 Calling conventions in Windows environments 11 Comments about Win32 builds 12 Building PCRE2 on Windows with CMake 13 Building PCRE2 on Windows with Visual Studio 14 Testing with RunTest.bat 15 Building PCRE2 on native z/OS and z/VM 16 17 18GENERAL 19 20The basic PCRE2 library consists entirely of code written in Standard C, and so 21should compile successfully on any system that has a Standard C compiler and 22library. 23 24The PCRE2 distribution includes a "configure" file for use by the 25configure/make (autotools) build system, as found in many Unix-like 26environments. The README file contains information about the options for 27"configure". 28 29There is also support for CMake, which some users prefer, especially in Windows 30environments, though it can also be run in Unix-like environments. See the 31section entitled "Building PCRE2 on Windows with CMake" below. 32 33Versions of src/config.h and src/pcre2.h are distributed in the PCRE2 tarballs 34under the names src/config.h.generic and src/pcre2.h.generic. These are 35provided for those who build PCRE2 without using "configure" or CMake. If you 36use "configure" or CMake, the .generic versions are not used. 37 38 39GENERIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE PCRE2 C LIBRARY 40 41The following are generic instructions for building the PCRE2 C library "by 42hand". If you are going to use CMake, this section does not apply to you; you 43can skip ahead to the CMake section. Note that the settings concerned with 448-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit code units relate to the type of data string that 45PCRE2 processes. They are NOT referring to the underlying operating system bit 46width. You do not have to do anything special to compile in a 64-bit 47environment, for example. 48 49 (1) Copy or rename the file src/config.h.generic as src/config.h, and edit the 50 macro settings that it contains to whatever is appropriate for your 51 environment. In particular, you can alter the definition of the NEWLINE 52 macro to specify what character(s) you want to be interpreted as line 53 terminators by default. 54 55 When you subsequently compile any of the PCRE2 modules, you must specify 56 -DHAVE_CONFIG_H to your compiler so that src/config.h is included in the 57 sources. 58 59 An alternative approach is not to edit src/config.h, but to use -D on the 60 compiler command line to make any changes that you need to the 61 configuration options. In this case -DHAVE_CONFIG_H must not be set. 62 63 NOTE: There have been occasions when the way in which certain parameters 64 in src/config.h are used has changed between releases. (In the 65 configure/make world, this is handled automatically.) When upgrading to a 66 new release, you are strongly advised to review src/config.h.generic 67 before re-using what you had previously. 68 69 Note also that the src/config.h.generic file is created from a config.h 70 that was generated by Autotools, which automatically includes settings of 71 a number of macros that are not actually used by PCRE2 (for example, 72 HAVE_MEMORY_H). 73 74 (2) Copy or rename the file src/pcre2.h.generic as src/pcre2.h. 75 76 (3) EITHER: 77 Copy or rename file src/pcre2_chartables.c.dist as 78 src/pcre2_chartables.c. 79 80 OR: 81 Compile src/pcre2_dftables.c as a stand-alone program (using 82 -DHAVE_CONFIG_H if you have set up src/config.h), and then run it with 83 the single argument "src/pcre2_chartables.c". This generates a set of 84 standard character tables and writes them to that file. The tables are 85 generated using the default C locale for your system. If you want to use 86 a locale that is specified by LC_xxx environment variables, add the -L 87 option to the pcre2_dftables command. You must use this method if you 88 are building on a system that uses EBCDIC code. 89 90 The tables in src/pcre2_chartables.c are defaults. The caller of PCRE2 can 91 specify alternative tables at run time. 92 93 (4) For a library that supports 8-bit code units in the character strings that 94 it processes, compile the following source files from the src directory, 95 setting -DPCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH=8 as a compiler option. Also set 96 -DHAVE_CONFIG_H if you have set up src/config.h with your configuration, 97 or else use other -D settings to change the configuration as required. 98 99 pcre2_auto_possess.c 100 pcre2_chartables.c 101 pcre2_compile.c 102 pcre2_config.c 103 pcre2_context.c 104 pcre2_convert.c 105 pcre2_dfa_match.c 106 pcre2_error.c 107 pcre2_extuni.c 108 pcre2_find_bracket.c 109 pcre2_jit_compile.c 110 pcre2_maketables.c 111 pcre2_match.c 112 pcre2_match_data.c 113 pcre2_newline.c 114 pcre2_ord2utf.c 115 pcre2_pattern_info.c 116 pcre2_script_run.c 117 pcre2_serialize.c 118 pcre2_string_utils.c 119 pcre2_study.c 120 pcre2_substitute.c 121 pcre2_substring.c 122 pcre2_tables.c 123 pcre2_ucd.c 124 pcre2_valid_utf.c 125 pcre2_xclass.c 126 127 Make sure that you include -I. in the compiler command (or equivalent for 128 an unusual compiler) so that all included PCRE2 header files are first 129 sought in the src directory under the current directory. Otherwise you run 130 the risk of picking up a previously-installed file from somewhere else. 131 132 Note that you must compile pcre2_jit_compile.c, even if you have not 133 defined SUPPORT_JIT in src/config.h, because when JIT support is not 134 configured, dummy functions are compiled. When JIT support IS configured, 135 pcre2_jit_compile.c #includes other files from the sljit subdirectory, 136 all of whose names begin with "sljit". It also #includes 137 src/pcre2_jit_match.c and src/pcre2_jit_misc.c, so you should not compile 138 these yourself. 139 140 Note also that the pcre2_fuzzsupport.c file contains special code that is 141 useful to those who want to run fuzzing tests on the PCRE2 library. Unless 142 you are doing that, you can ignore it. 143 144 (5) Now link all the compiled code into an object library in whichever form 145 your system keeps such libraries. This is the basic PCRE2 C 8-bit library. 146 If your system has static and shared libraries, you may have to do this 147 once for each type. 148 149 (6) If you want to build a library that supports 16-bit or 32-bit code units, 150 (as well as, or instead of the 8-bit library) just supply 16 or 32 as the 151 value of -DPCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH when you are compiling. 152 153 (7) If you want to build the POSIX wrapper functions (which apply only to the 154 8-bit library), ensure that you have the src/pcre2posix.h file and then 155 compile src/pcre2posix.c. Link the result (on its own) as the pcre2posix 156 library. 157 158 (8) The pcre2test program can be linked with any combination of the 8-bit, 159 16-bit and 32-bit libraries (depending on what you selected in 160 src/config.h). Compile src/pcre2test.c; don't forget -DHAVE_CONFIG_H if 161 necessary, but do NOT define PCRE2_CODE_UNIT_WIDTH. Then link with the 162 appropriate library/ies. If you compiled an 8-bit library, pcre2test also 163 needs the pcre2posix wrapper library. 164 165 (9) Run pcre2test on the testinput files in the testdata directory, and check 166 that the output matches the corresponding testoutput files. There are 167 comments about what each test does in the section entitled "Testing PCRE2" 168 in the README file. If you compiled more than one of the 8-bit, 16-bit and 169 32-bit libraries, you need to run pcre2test with the -16 option to do 170 16-bit tests and with the -32 option to do 32-bit tests. 171 172 Some tests are relevant only when certain build-time options are selected. 173 For example, test 4 is for Unicode support, and will not run if you have 174 built PCRE2 without it. See the comments at the start of each testinput 175 file. If you have a suitable Unix-like shell, the RunTest script will run 176 the appropriate tests for you. The command "RunTest list" will output a 177 list of all the tests. 178 179 Note that the supplied files are in Unix format, with just LF characters 180 as line terminators. You may need to edit them to change this if your 181 system uses a different convention. 182 183(10) If you have built PCRE2 with SUPPORT_JIT, the JIT features can be tested 184 by running pcre2test with the -jit option. This is done automatically by 185 the RunTest script. You might also like to build and run the freestanding 186 JIT test program, src/pcre2_jit_test.c. 187 188(11) If you want to use the pcre2grep command, compile and link 189 src/pcre2grep.c; it uses only the basic 8-bit PCRE2 library (it does not 190 need the pcre2posix library). If you have built the PCRE2 library with JIT 191 support by defining SUPPORT_JIT in src/config.h, you can also define 192 SUPPORT_PCRE2GREP_JIT, which causes pcre2grep to make use of JIT (unless 193 it is run with --no-jit). If you define SUPPORT_PCRE2GREP_JIT without 194 defining SUPPORT_JIT, pcre2grep does not try to make use of JIT. 195 196 197STACK SIZE IN WINDOWS ENVIRONMENTS 198 199Prior to release 10.30 the default system stack size of 1MiB in some Windows 200environments caused issues with some tests. This should no longer be the case 201for 10.30 and later releases. 202 203 204LINKING PROGRAMS IN WINDOWS ENVIRONMENTS 205 206If you want to statically link a program against a PCRE2 library in the form of 207a non-dll .a file, you must define PCRE2_STATIC before including src/pcre2.h. 208 209 210CALLING CONVENTIONS IN WINDOWS ENVIRONMENTS 211 212It is possible to compile programs to use different calling conventions using 213MSVC. Search the web for "calling conventions" for more information. To make it 214easier to change the calling convention for the exported functions in the 215PCRE2 library, the macro PCRE2_CALL_CONVENTION is present in all the external 216definitions. It can be set externally when compiling (e.g. in CFLAGS). If it is 217not set, it defaults to empty; the default calling convention is then used 218(which is what is wanted most of the time). 219 220 221COMMENTS ABOUT WIN32 BUILDS (see also "BUILDING PCRE2 ON WINDOWS WITH CMAKE") 222 223There are two ways of building PCRE2 using the "configure, make, make install" 224paradigm on Windows systems: using MinGW or using Cygwin. These are not at all 225the same thing; they are completely different from each other. There is also 226support for building using CMake, which some users find a more straightforward 227way of building PCRE2 under Windows. 228 229The MinGW home page (http://www.mingw.org/) says this: 230 231 MinGW: A collection of freely available and freely distributable Windows 232 specific header files and import libraries combined with GNU toolsets that 233 allow one to produce native Windows programs that do not rely on any 234 3rd-party C runtime DLLs. 235 236The Cygwin home page (http://www.cygwin.com/) says this: 237 238 Cygwin is a Linux-like environment for Windows. It consists of two parts: 239 240 . A DLL (cygwin1.dll) which acts as a Linux API emulation layer providing 241 substantial Linux API functionality 242 243 . A collection of tools which provide Linux look and feel. 244 245On both MinGW and Cygwin, PCRE2 should build correctly using: 246 247 ./configure && make && make install 248 249This should create two libraries called libpcre2-8 and libpcre2-posix. These 250are independent libraries: when you link with libpcre2-posix you must also link 251with libpcre2-8, which contains the basic functions. 252 253Using Cygwin's compiler generates libraries and executables that depend on 254cygwin1.dll. If a library that is generated this way is distributed, 255cygwin1.dll has to be distributed as well. Since cygwin1.dll is under the GPL 256licence, this forces not only PCRE2 to be under the GPL, but also the entire 257application. A distributor who wants to keep their own code proprietary must 258purchase an appropriate Cygwin licence. 259 260MinGW has no such restrictions. The MinGW compiler generates a library or 261executable that can run standalone on Windows without any third party dll or 262licensing issues. 263 264But there is more complication: 265 266If a Cygwin user uses the -mno-cygwin Cygwin gcc flag, what that really does is 267to tell Cygwin's gcc to use the MinGW gcc. Cygwin's gcc is only acting as a 268front end to MinGW's gcc (if you install Cygwin's gcc, you get both Cygwin's 269gcc and MinGW's gcc). So, a user can: 270 271. Build native binaries by using MinGW or by getting Cygwin and using 272 -mno-cygwin. 273 274. Build binaries that depend on cygwin1.dll by using Cygwin with the normal 275 compiler flags. 276 277The test files that are supplied with PCRE2 are in UNIX format, with LF 278characters as line terminators. Unless your PCRE2 library uses a default 279newline option that includes LF as a valid newline, it may be necessary to 280change the line terminators in the test files to get some of the tests to work. 281 282 283BUILDING PCRE2 ON WINDOWS WITH CMAKE 284 285CMake is an alternative configuration facility that can be used instead of 286"configure". CMake creates project files (make files, solution files, etc.) 287tailored to numerous development environments, including Visual Studio, 288Borland, Msys, MinGW, NMake, and Unix. If possible, use short paths with no 289spaces in the names for your CMake installation and your PCRE2 source and build 290directories. 291 292The following instructions were contributed by a PCRE1 user, but they should 293also work for PCRE2. If they are not followed exactly, errors may occur. In the 294event that errors do occur, it is recommended that you delete the CMake cache 295before attempting to repeat the CMake build process. In the CMake GUI, the 296cache can be deleted by selecting "File > Delete Cache". 297 2981. Install the latest CMake version available from http://www.cmake.org/, and 299 ensure that cmake\bin is on your path. 300 3012. Unzip (retaining folder structure) the PCRE2 source tree into a source 302 directory such as C:\pcre2. You should ensure your local date and time 303 is not earlier than the file dates in your source dir if the release is 304 very new. 305 3063. Create a new, empty build directory, preferably a subdirectory of the 307 source dir. For example, C:\pcre2\pcre2-xx\build. 308 3094. Run cmake-gui from the Shell envirornment of your build tool, for example, 310 Msys for Msys/MinGW or Visual Studio Command Prompt for VC/VC++. Do not try 311 to start Cmake from the Windows Start menu, as this can lead to errors. 312 3135. Enter C:\pcre2\pcre2-xx and C:\pcre2\pcre2-xx\build for the source and 314 build directories, respectively. 315 3166. Hit the "Configure" button. 317 3187. Select the particular IDE / build tool that you are using (Visual 319 Studio, MSYS makefiles, MinGW makefiles, etc.) 320 3218. The GUI will then list several configuration options. This is where 322 you can disable Unicode support or select other PCRE2 optional features. 323 3249. Hit "Configure" again. The adjacent "Generate" button should now be 325 active. 326 32710. Hit "Generate". 328 32911. The build directory should now contain a usable build system, be it a 330 solution file for Visual Studio, makefiles for MinGW, etc. Exit from 331 cmake-gui and use the generated build system with your compiler or IDE. 332 E.g., for MinGW you can run "make", or for Visual Studio, open the PCRE2 333 solution, select the desired configuration (Debug, or Release, etc.) and 334 build the ALL_BUILD project. 335 33612. If during configuration with cmake-gui you've elected to build the test 337 programs, you can execute them by building the test project. E.g., for 338 MinGW: "make test"; for Visual Studio build the RUN_TESTS project. The 339 most recent build configuration is targeted by the tests. A summary of 340 test results is presented. Complete test output is subsequently 341 available for review in Testing\Temporary under your build dir. 342 343 344BUILDING PCRE2 ON WINDOWS WITH VISUAL STUDIO 345 346The code currently cannot be compiled without an inttypes.h header, which is 347available only with Visual Studio 2013 or newer. However, this portable and 348permissively-licensed implementation of the stdint.h header could be used as an 349alternative: 350 351 http://www.azillionmonkeys.com/qed/pstdint.h 352 353Just rename it and drop it into the top level of the build tree. 354 355 356TESTING WITH RUNTEST.BAT 357 358If configured with CMake, building the test project ("make test" or building 359ALL_TESTS in Visual Studio) creates (and runs) pcre2_test.bat (and depending 360on your configuration options, possibly other test programs) in the build 361directory. The pcre2_test.bat script runs RunTest.bat with correct source and 362exe paths. 363 364For manual testing with RunTest.bat, provided the build dir is a subdirectory 365of the source directory: Open command shell window. Chdir to the location 366of your pcre2test.exe and pcre2grep.exe programs. Call RunTest.bat with 367"..\RunTest.Bat" or "..\..\RunTest.bat" as appropriate. 368 369To run only a particular test with RunTest.Bat provide a test number argument. 370 371Otherwise: 372 3731. Copy RunTest.bat into the directory where pcre2test.exe and pcre2grep.exe 374 have been created. 375 3762. Edit RunTest.bat to indentify the full or relative location of 377 the pcre2 source (wherein which the testdata folder resides), e.g.: 378 379 set srcdir=C:\pcre2\pcre2-10.00 380 3813. In a Windows command environment, chdir to the location of your bat and 382 exe programs. 383 3844. Run RunTest.bat. Test outputs will automatically be compared to expected 385 results, and discrepancies will be identified in the console output. 386 387To independently test the just-in-time compiler, run pcre2_jit_test.exe. 388 389 390BUILDING PCRE2 ON NATIVE Z/OS AND Z/VM 391 392z/OS and z/VM are operating systems for mainframe computers, produced by IBM. 393The character code used is EBCDIC, not ASCII or Unicode. In z/OS, UNIX APIs and 394applications can be supported through UNIX System Services, and in such an 395environment it should be possible to build PCRE2 in the same way as in other 396systems, with the EBCDIC related configuration settings, but it is not known if 397anybody has tried this. 398 399In native z/OS (without UNIX System Services) and in z/VM, special ports are 400required. For details, please see file 939 on this web site: 401 402 http://www.cbttape.org 403 404Everything in that location, source and executable, is in EBCDIC and native 405z/OS file formats. The port provides an API for LE languages such as COBOL and 406for the z/OS and z/VM versions of the Rexx languages. 407 408=========================== 409Last Updated: 28 April 2021 410=========================== 411