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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
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<title>Boost Getting Started on Unix Variants</title>
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<div class="document" id="logo-getting-started-on-unix-variants">
<h1 class="title"><a class="reference external" href="../../index.htm"><img alt="Boost" class="boost-logo" src="../../boost.png" /></a> Getting Started on Unix Variants</h1>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
<!-- maybe we don't need this
.. Admonition:: A note to Cygwin_ and MinGW_ users
If you plan to build from the Cygwin_ bash shell, you're in the
right place. If you plan to use your tools from the Windows
command prompt, you should follow the instructions for `getting
started on Windows`_. Other command shells, such as MinGW_\ 's
MSYS, are not supported—they may or may not work.
.. _`Getting Started on Windows`: windows.html
.. _Cygwin: http://www.cygwin.com
.. _MinGW: http://mingw.org -->
<div class="contents topic" id="index">
<p class="topic-title first">Index</p>
<ul class="auto-toc simple">
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#get-boost" id="id19">1 Get Boost</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#the-boost-distribution" id="id20">2 The Boost Distribution</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#header-only-libraries" id="id21">3 Header-Only Libraries</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#build-a-simple-program-using-boost" id="id22">4 Build a Simple Program Using Boost</a><ul class="auto-toc">
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#errors-and-warnings" id="id23">4.1 Errors and Warnings</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#prepare-to-use-a-boost-library-binary" id="id24">5 Prepare to Use a Boost Library Binary</a><ul class="auto-toc">
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#easy-build-and-install" id="id25">5.1 Easy Build and Install</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#or-build-custom-binaries" id="id26">5.2 Or, Build Custom Binaries</a><ul class="auto-toc">
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#install-boost-build" id="id27">5.2.1 Install Boost.Build</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#identify-your-toolset" id="id28">5.2.2 Identify Your Toolset</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#select-a-build-directory" id="id29">5.2.3 Select a Build Directory</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#invoke-b2" id="id30">5.2.4 Invoke <tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt></a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#expected-build-output" id="id31">5.3 Expected Build Output</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#in-case-of-build-errors" id="id32">5.4 In Case of Build Errors</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#link-your-program-to-a-boost-library" id="id33">6 Link Your Program to a Boost Library</a><ul class="auto-toc">
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#library-naming" id="id34">6.1 Library Naming</a></li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#test-your-program" id="id35">6.2 Test Your Program</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a class="reference internal" href="#conclusion-and-further-resources" id="id36">7 Conclusion and Further Resources</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="get-boost">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id19">1 Get Boost</a></h1>
<p>The most reliable way to get a copy of Boost is to download a
distribution from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_51_0.html">SourceForge</a>:</p>
<ol class="arabic">
<li><p class="first">Download <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_51_0.html"><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_51_0</tt><tt class="docutils literal">.tar.bz2</tt></a>.</p>
</li>
<li><p class="first">In the directory where you want to put the Boost installation,
execute</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
tar --bzip2 -xf <em>/path/to/</em><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_51_0</tt>.tar.bz2
</pre>
</li>
</ol>
<div class="admonition-other-packages admonition">
<p class="first admonition-title">Other Packages</p>
<p class="last">RedHat, Debian, and other distribution packagers supply Boost
library packages, however you may need to adapt these
instructions if you use third-party packages, because their
creators usually choose to break Boost up into several packages,
reorganize the directory structure of the Boost distribution,
and/or rename the library binaries.<a class="footnote-reference" href="#packagers" id="id2"><sup>1</sup></a> If you have
any trouble, we suggest using an official Boost distribution
from <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/users/history/version_1_51_0.html">SourceForge</a>.</p>
</div>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
</div>
<div class="section" id="the-boost-distribution">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id20">2 The Boost Distribution</a></h1>
<p>This is a sketch of the resulting directory structure:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<strong>boost_1_51_0</strong><strong>/</strong> .................<em>The “boost root directory”</em>
<strong>index.htm</strong> .........<em>A copy of www.boost.org starts here</em>
<strong>boost</strong><strong>/</strong> .........................<em>All Boost Header files</em>
<tt class="docutils literal"> </tt>
<strong>libs</strong><strong>/</strong> ............<em>Tests, .cpp</em>s<em>, docs, etc., by library</em>
<strong>index.html</strong> ........<em>Library documentation starts here</em>
<strong>algorithm</strong><strong>/</strong>
<strong>any</strong><strong>/</strong>
<strong>array</strong><strong>/</strong>
<em>…more libraries…</em>
<strong>status</strong><strong>/</strong> .........................<em>Boost-wide test suite</em>
<strong>tools</strong><strong>/</strong> ...........<em>Utilities, e.g. Boost.Build, quickbook, bcp</em>
<strong>more</strong><strong>/</strong> ..........................<em>Policy documents, etc.</em>
<strong>doc</strong><strong>/</strong> ...............<em>A subset of all Boost library docs</em>
</pre>
<div class="sidebar">
<p class="first sidebar-title">Header Organization</p>
<p class="pre-wrap">The organization of Boost library headers isn't entirely uniform,
but most libraries follow a few patterns:</p>
<ul class="pre-wrap last">
<li><p class="first">Some older libraries and most very small libraries place all
public headers directly into <tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">/</tt>.</p>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Most libraries' public headers live in a subdirectory of
<tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">/</tt>, named after the library. For example, you'll find
the Python library's <tt class="docutils literal">def.hpp</tt> header in</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<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>.
</pre>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Some libraries have an “aggregate header” in <tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">/</tt> that
<tt class="docutils literal">#include</tt>s all of the library's other headers. For
example, <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/python/doc/building.html">Boost.Python</a>'s aggregate header is</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">/</tt><tt class="docutils literal">python.hpp</tt>.
</pre>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Most libraries place private headers in a subdirectory called
<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
anything you can use in these directories.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<p>It's important to note the following:</p>
<ol class="arabic" id="boost-root-directory">
<li><p class="first">The path to the <strong>boost root directory</strong> (often <tt class="docutils literal">/usr/local/</tt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_51_0</tt>) is
sometimes referred to as <tt class="docutils literal">$BOOST_ROOT</tt> in documentation and
mailing lists .</p>
</li>
<li><p class="first">To compile anything in Boost, you need a directory containing
the <tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">/</tt> subdirectory in your <tt class="docutils literal">#include</tt> path. <tt class="docutils literal"> </tt></p>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Since all of Boost's header files have the <tt class="docutils literal">.hpp</tt> extension,
and live in the <tt class="docutils literal">boost</tt><tt class="docutils literal">/</tt> subdirectory of the boost root, your
Boost <tt class="docutils literal">#include</tt> directives will look like:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
#include <boost/<em>whatever</em>.hpp>
</pre>
<p>or</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
#include "boost/<em>whatever</em>.hpp"
</pre>
<p>depending on your preference regarding the use of angle bracket
includes. <tt class="docutils literal"> </tt></p>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Don't be distracted by the <tt class="docutils literal">doc</tt><tt class="docutils literal">/</tt> subdirectory; it only
contains a subset of the Boost documentation. Start with
<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>
</li>
</ol>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
</div>
<div class="section" id="header-only-libraries">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id21">3 Header-Only Libraries</a></h1>
<p>The first thing many people want to know is, “how do I build
Boost?” The good news is that often, there's nothing to build.</p>
<div class="admonition-nothing-to-build admonition">
<p class="first admonition-title">Nothing to Build?</p>
<p class="last">Most Boost libraries are <strong>header-only</strong>: they consist <em>entirely
of header files</em> containing templates and inline functions, and
require no separately-compiled library binaries or special
treatment when linking.</p>
</div>
<!-- .. _separate: -->
<p>The only Boost libraries that <em>must</em> be built separately are:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/filesystem/index.html">Boost.Filesystem</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/graph_parallel/index.html">Boost.GraphParallel</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/iostreams/index.html">Boost.IOStreams</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/mpi/index.html">Boost.MPI</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/program_options/index.html">Boost.ProgramOptions</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/python/doc/building.html">Boost.Python</a> (see the <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/python/doc/building.html">Boost.Python build documentation</a>
before building and installing it)</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/regex/index.html">Boost.Regex</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/serialization/index.html">Boost.Serialization</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/signals/index.html">Boost.Signals</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/system/index.html">Boost.System</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../doc/html/thread.html">Boost.Thread</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/wave/index.html">Boost.Wave</a></li>
</ul>
<p>A few libraries have optional separately-compiled binaries:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/date_time/index.html">Boost.DateTime</a> has a binary component that is only needed if
you're using its <tt class="docutils literal">to_string</tt>/<tt class="docutils literal">from_string</tt> or serialization
features, or if you're targeting Visual C++ 6.x or Borland.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/graph/index.html">Boost.Graph</a> also has a binary component that is only needed if
you intend to <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/graph/doc/read_graphviz.html">parse GraphViz files</a>.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/math/index.html">Boost.Math</a> has binary components for the TR1 and C99
cmath functions.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/random/index.html">Boost.Random</a> has a binary component which is only needed if
you're using <tt class="docutils literal">random_device</tt>.</li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/test/index.html">Boost.Test</a> can be used in “header-only” or “separately compiled”
mode, although <strong>separate compilation is recommended for serious
use</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
</div>
<div class="section" id="build-a-simple-program-using-boost">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id22">4 Build a Simple Program Using Boost</a></h1>
<p>To keep things simple, let's start by using a header-only library.
The following program reads a sequence of integers from standard
input, uses Boost.Lambda to multiply each number by three, and
writes them to standard output:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
#include <boost/lambda/lambda.hpp>
#include <iostream>
#include <iterator>
#include <algorithm>
int main()
{
using namespace boost::lambda;
typedef std::istream_iterator<int> in;
std::for_each(
in(std::cin), in(), std::cout << (_1 * 3) << " " );
}
</pre>
<p>Copy the text of this program into a file called <tt class="docutils literal">example.cpp</tt>.</p>
<p>Now, in the directory where you saved <tt class="docutils literal">example.cpp</tt>, issue the
following command:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
c++ -I <em>path/to/</em><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_51_0</tt> example.cpp -o example
</pre>
<p>To test the result, type:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
echo 1 2 3 | ./example
</pre>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
<div class="section" id="errors-and-warnings">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id23">4.1 Errors and Warnings</a></h2>
<p>Don't be alarmed if you see compiler warnings originating in Boost
headers. We try to eliminate them, but doing so isn't always
practical.<a class="footnote-reference" href="#warnings" id="id5"><sup>3</sup></a> <strong>Errors are another matter</strong>. If you're
seeing compilation errors at this point in the tutorial, check to
be sure you've copied the <a class="reference internal" href="#build-a-simple-program-using-boost">example program</a> correctly and that you've
correctly identified the <a class="reference internal" href="#boost-root-directory">Boost root directory</a>.</p>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="prepare-to-use-a-boost-library-binary">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id24">5 Prepare to Use a Boost Library Binary</a></h1>
<p>If you want to use any of the separately-compiled Boost libraries,
you'll need to acquire library binaries.</p>
<div class="section" id="easy-build-and-install">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id25">5.1 Easy Build and Install</a></h2>
<p>Issue the following commands in the shell (don't type <tt class="docutils literal">$</tt>; that
represents the shell's prompt):</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<strong>$</strong> cd <em>path/to/</em><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_51_0</tt>
<strong>$</strong> ./bootstrap.sh --help
</pre>
<p>Select your configuration options and invoke <tt class="docutils literal">./bootstrap.sh</tt> again
without the <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--help</span></tt> option. Unless you have write permission in
your system's <tt class="docutils literal">/usr/local/</tt> directory, you'll probably want to at
least use</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<strong>$</strong> ./bootstrap.sh <strong>--prefix=</strong><em>path</em>/<em>to</em>/<em>installation</em>/<em>prefix</em>
</pre>
<p>to install somewhere else. Also, consider using the
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--show-libraries</span></tt> and <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--with-libraries=</span></tt><em>library-name-list</em> options to limit the
long wait you'll experience if you build everything. Finally,</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<strong>$</strong> ./b2 install
</pre>
<p>will leave Boost binaries in the <tt class="docutils literal">lib/</tt> subdirectory of your
installation prefix. You will also find a copy of the Boost
headers in the <tt class="docutils literal">include/</tt> subdirectory of the installation
prefix, so you can henceforth use that directory as an <tt class="docutils literal">#include</tt>
path in place of the Boost root directory.</p>
<p><a class="reference internal" href="#link-your-program-to-a-boost-library"><em>skip to the next step</em></a></p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="or-build-custom-binaries">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id26">5.2 Or, Build Custom Binaries</a></h2>
<p>If you're using a compiler other than your system's default, you'll
need to use <a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">Boost.Build</a> to create binaries.</p>
<p>You'll also
use this method if you need a nonstandard build variant (see the
<a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">Boost.Build documentation</a> for more details).</p>
<div class="admonition-boost-cmake admonition">
<p class="first admonition-title">Boost.CMake</p>
<p class="last">There is also an experimental CMake build for boost, supported and distributed
separately. See the <a class="reference external" href="https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/wiki/CMake">Boost.CMake</a> wiki page for more information.</p>
</div>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
<div class="section" id="install-boost-build">
<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id27">5.2.1 Install Boost.Build</a></h3>
<p><a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">Boost.Build</a> is a text-based system for developing, testing, and
installing software. First, you'll need to build and
install it. To do this:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<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><tt class="docutils literal">v2</tt><tt class="docutils literal">/</tt>.</li>
<li>Run <tt class="docutils literal">bootstrap.sh</tt></li>
<li>Run <tt class="docutils literal">b2 install <span class="pre">--prefix=</span></tt><em>PREFIX</em> where <em>PREFIX</em> is
the directory where you want Boost.Build to be installed</li>
<li>Add <em>PREFIX</em><tt class="docutils literal">/</tt><tt class="docutils literal">bin</tt> to your PATH environment variable.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div class="section" id="identify-your-toolset">
<span id="toolset-name"></span><span id="toolset"></span><h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id28">5.2.2 Identify Your Toolset</a></h3>
<p>First, find the toolset corresponding to your compiler in the
following table (an up-to-date list is always available <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/boost-build2/doc/html/bbv2/reference/tools.html">in the
Boost.Build documentation</a>).</p>
<div class="note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p class="last">If you previously chose a toolset for the purposes of
<a class="reference external" href="../../doc/html/bbv2/installation.html">building b2</a>, you should assume it won't work and instead
choose newly from the table below.</p>
</div>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="18%" />
<col width="33%" />
<col width="48%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr><th class="head">Toolset
Name</th>
<th class="head">Vendor</th>
<th class="head">Notes</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">acc</tt></td>
<td>Hewlett Packard</td>
<td>Only very recent versions are
known to work well with Boost</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">borland</tt></td>
<td>Borland</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">como</tt></td>
<td>Comeau Computing</td>
<td>Using this toolset may
require <a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">configuring</a> another
toolset to act as its backend</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">darwin</tt></td>
<td>Apple Computer</td>
<td>Apple's version of the GCC
toolchain with support for
Darwin and MacOS X features
such as frameworks.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">gcc</tt></td>
<td>The Gnu Project</td>
<td>Includes support for Cygwin
and MinGW compilers.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">hp_cxx</tt></td>
<td>Hewlett Packard</td>
<td>Targeted at the Tru64
operating system.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">intel</tt></td>
<td>Intel</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">msvc</tt></td>
<td>Microsoft</td>
<td> </td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">sun</tt></td>
<td>Sun</td>
<td>Only very recent versions are
known to work well with
Boost.</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">vacpp</tt></td>
<td>IBM</td>
<td>The VisualAge C++ compiler.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>If you have multiple versions of a particular compiler installed,
you can append the version number to the toolset name, preceded by
a hyphen, e.g. <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">intel-9.0</span></tt> or
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">borland-5.4.3</span></tt>. <tt class="docutils literal"> </tt></p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="select-a-build-directory">
<span id="id10"></span><span id="build-directory"></span><h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id29">5.2.3 Select a Build Directory</a></h3>
<p><a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/index.html">Boost.Build</a> will place all intermediate files it generates while
building into the <strong>build directory</strong>. If your Boost root
directory is writable, this step isn't strictly necessary: by
default Boost.Build will create a <tt class="docutils literal">bin.v2/</tt> subdirectory for that
purpose in your current working directory.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="invoke-b2">
<h3><a class="toc-backref" href="#id30">5.2.4 Invoke <tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt></a></h3>
<p>Change your current directory to the Boost root directory and
invoke <tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt> as follows:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
b2 <strong>--build-dir=</strong><a class="reference internal" href="#id10"><em>build-directory</em></a> <strong>toolset=</strong><a class="reference internal" href="#toolset-name"><em>toolset-name</em></a> <tt class="docutils literal"> </tt> stage
</pre>
<p>For a complete description of these and other invocation options,
please see the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/boost-build2/doc/html/bbv2/advanced/invocation.html">Boost.Build documentation</a>.</p>
<p>For example, your session might look like this:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ cd ~/<tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_51_0</tt>
$ b2 <strong>--build-dir=</strong>/tmp/build-boost <strong>toolset=</strong>gcc stage
</pre>
<p>That will build static and shared non-debug multi-threaded variants of the libraries. To build all variants, pass the additional option, “<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--build-type=complete</span></tt>”.</p>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
<p>Building the special <tt class="docutils literal">stage</tt> target places Boost
library 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
the Boost tree. To use a different directory pass the
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--stagedir=</span></tt><em>directory</em> option to <tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt>.</p>
<div class="note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p class="last"><tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt> is case-sensitive; it is important that all the
parts shown in <strong>bold</strong> type above be entirely lower-case.</p>
</div>
<p>For a description of other options you can pass when invoking
<tt class="docutils literal">b2</tt>, type:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
b2 --help
</pre>
<p>In particular, to limit the amount of time spent building, you may
be interested in:</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li>reviewing the list of library names with <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">--show-libraries</span></tt></li>
<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>
<li>choosing a specific build variant by adding <tt class="docutils literal">release</tt> or
<tt class="docutils literal">debug</tt> to the command line.</li>
</ul>
<div class="note">
<p class="first admonition-title">Note</p>
<p class="last">Boost.Build can produce a great deal of output, which can
make it easy to miss problems. If you want to make sure
everything is went well, you might redirect the output into a
file by appending “<tt class="docutils literal">>build.log <span class="pre">2>&1</span></tt>” to your command line.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="expected-build-output">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id31">5.3 Expected Build Output</a></h2>
<p>During the process of building Boost libraries, you can expect to
see some messages printed on the console. These may include</p>
<ul>
<li><p class="first">Notices about Boost library configuration—for example, the Regex
library outputs a message about ICU when built without Unicode
support, and the Python library may be skipped without error (but
with a notice) if you don't have Python installed.</p>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Messages from the build tool that report the number of targets
that were built or skipped. Don't be surprised if those numbers
don't make any sense to you; there are many targets per library.</p>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Build action messages describing what the tool is doing, which
look something like:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<em>toolset-name</em>.c++ <em>long</em>/<em>path</em>/<em>to</em>/<em>file</em>/<em>being</em>/<em>built</em>
</pre>
</li>
<li><p class="first">Compiler warnings.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section" id="in-case-of-build-errors">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id32">5.4 In Case of Build Errors</a></h2>
<p>The only error messages you see when building Boost—if any—should
be related to the IOStreams library's support of zip and bzip2
formats as described <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/iostreams/doc/installation.html">here</a>. Install the relevant development
packages for libz and libbz2 if you need those features. Other
errors when building Boost libraries are cause for concern.</p>
<p>If it seems like the build system can't find your compiler and/or
linker, consider setting up a <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">user-config.jam</span></tt> file as described
<a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/boost-build2/doc/html/bbv2/advanced/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
doesn't work for you, please address questions about configuring Boost
for your compiler to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#jamboost">Boost.Build mailing list</a>.</p>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="link-your-program-to-a-boost-library">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id33">6 Link Your Program to a Boost Library</a></h1>
<p>To demonstrate linking with a Boost binary library, we'll use the
following simple program that extracts the subject lines from
emails. It uses the <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/regex/index.html">Boost.Regex</a> library, which has a
separately-compiled binary component.</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
#include <boost/regex.hpp>
#include <iostream>
#include <string>
int main()
{
std::string line;
boost::regex pat( "^Subject: (Re: |Aw: )*(.*)" );
while (std::cin)
{
std::getline(std::cin, line);
boost::smatch matches;
if (boost::regex_match(line, matches, pat))
std::cout << matches[2] << std::endl;
}
}
</pre>
<p>There are two main challenges associated with linking:</p>
<ol class="arabic simple">
<li>Tool configuration, e.g. choosing command-line options or IDE
build settings.</li>
<li>Identifying the library binary, among all the build variants,
whose compile configuration is compatible with the rest of your
project.</li>
</ol>
<p>There are two main ways to link to libraries:</p>
<ol class="upperalpha">
<li><p class="first">You can specify the full path to each library:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ c++ -I <em>path/to/</em><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_51_0</tt> example.cpp -o example <strong>\</strong>
<strong>~/boost/stage/lib/libboost_regex-gcc34-mt-d-1_36.a</strong>
</pre>
</li>
<li><p class="first">You can separately specify a directory to search (with <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-L</span></tt><em>directory</em>) and a library name to search for (with <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-l</span></tt><em>library</em>,<a class="footnote-reference" href="#lowercase-l" id="id14"><sup>2</sup></a> dropping the filename's leading <tt class="docutils literal">lib</tt> and trailing
suffix (<tt class="docutils literal">.a</tt> in this case):</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
$ c++ -I <em>path/to/</em><tt class="docutils literal">boost_1_51_0</tt> example.cpp -o example <strong>\</strong>
<strong>-L~/boost/stage/lib/ -lboost_regex-gcc34-mt-d-1_36</strong>
</pre>
<p>As you can see, this method is just as terse as method A for one
library; it <em>really</em> pays off when you're using multiple
libraries from the same directory. Note, however, that if you
use this method with a library that has both static (<tt class="docutils literal">.a</tt>) and
dynamic (<tt class="docutils literal">.so</tt>) builds, the system may choose one
automatically for you unless you pass a special option such as
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-static</span></tt> on the command line.</p>
</li>
</ol>
<p>In both cases above, the bold text is what you'd add to <a class="reference internal" href="#build-a-simple-program-using-boost">the
command lines we explored earlier</a>.</p>
<div class="section" id="library-naming">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id34">6.1 Library Naming</a></h2>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
<p>In order to choose the right binary for your build configuration
you need to know how Boost binaries are named. Each library
filename is composed of a common sequence of elements that describe
how it was built. For example,
<tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">libboost_regex-vc71-mt-d-1_34.lib</span></tt> can be broken down into the
following elements:</p>
<dl class="docutils">
<dt><tt class="docutils literal">lib</tt></dt>
<dd><em>Prefix</em>: except on Microsoft Windows, every Boost library
name begins with this string. On Windows, only ordinary static
libraries use the <tt class="docutils literal">lib</tt> prefix; import libraries and DLLs do
not.<a class="footnote-reference" href="#distinct" id="id16"><sup>4</sup></a></dd>
<dt><tt class="docutils literal">boost_regex</tt></dt>
<dd><em>Library name</em>: all boost library filenames begin with <tt class="docutils literal">boost_</tt>.</dd>
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-vc71</span></tt></dt>
<dd><em>Toolset tag</em>: identifies the <a class="reference internal" href="#toolset">toolset</a> and version used to build
the binary.</dd>
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-mt</span></tt></dt>
<dd><em>Threading tag</em>: indicates that the library was
built with multithreading support enabled. Libraries built
without multithreading support can be identified by the absence
of <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-mt</span></tt>.</dd>
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-d</span></tt></dt>
<dd><p class="first"><em>ABI tag</em>: encodes details that affect the library's
interoperability with other compiled code. For each such
feature, a single letter is added to the tag:</p>
<blockquote>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="5%" />
<col width="75%" />
<col width="20%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr><th class="head">Key</th>
<th class="head">Use this library when:</th>
<th class="head">Boost.Build option</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">s</tt></td>
<td>linking statically to the C++ standard library and compiler runtime support
libraries.</td>
<td>runtime-link=static</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">g</tt></td>
<td>using debug versions of the standard and runtime support libraries.</td>
<td>runtime-debugging=on</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">y</tt></td>
<td>using a special <a class="reference external" href="../../libs/python/doc/building.html#variants">debug build of Python</a>.</td>
<td>python-debugging=on</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">d</tt></td>
<td>building a debug version of your code.<a class="footnote-reference" href="#debug-abi" id="id17"><sup>5</sup></a></td>
<td>variant=debug</td>
</tr>
<tr><td><tt class="docutils literal">p</tt></td>
<td>using the STLPort standard library rather than the default one supplied with
your compiler.</td>
<td>stdlib=stlport</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</blockquote>
<p class="last">For example, if you build a debug version of your code for use
with debug versions of the static runtime library and the
STLPort standard library in “native iostreams” mode,
the tag would be: <tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-sgdpn</span></tt>. If none of the above apply, the
ABI tag is ommitted.</p>
</dd>
<dt><tt class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">-1_34</span></tt></dt>
<dd><em>Version tag</em>: the full Boost release number, with periods
replaced by underscores. For example, version 1.31.1 would be
tagged as "-1_31_1".</dd>
<dt><tt class="docutils literal">.lib</tt></dt>
<dd><em>Extension</em>: determined according to the operating system's usual
convention. On most unix-style platforms the extensions are
<tt class="docutils literal">.a</tt> and <tt class="docutils literal">.so</tt> for static libraries (archives) and shared
libraries, respectively. On Windows, <tt class="docutils literal">.dll</tt> indicates a shared
library and <tt class="docutils literal">.lib</tt> indicates a
static or import library. Where supported by toolsets on unix
variants, a full version extension is added (e.g. ".so.1.34") and
a symbolic link to the library file, named without the trailing
version number, will also be created.</dd>
</dl>
<!-- .. _Boost.Build toolset names: toolset-name_ -->
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
</div>
<div class="section" id="test-your-program">
<h2><a class="toc-backref" href="#id35">6.2 Test Your Program</a></h2>
<p>To test our subject extraction, we'll filter the following text
file. Copy it out of your browser and save it as <tt class="docutils literal">jayne.txt</tt>:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
To: George Shmidlap
From: Rita Marlowe
Subject: Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
---
See subject.
</pre>
<p>If you linked to a shared library, you may need to prepare some
platform-specific settings so that the system will be able to find
and load it when your program is run. Most platforms have an
environment variable to which you can add the directory containing
the library. On many platforms (Linux, FreeBSD) that variable is
<tt class="docutils literal">LD_LIBRARY_PATH</tt>, but on MacOS it's <tt class="docutils literal">DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH</tt>, and
on Cygwin it's simply <tt class="docutils literal">PATH</tt>. In most shells other than <tt class="docutils literal">csh</tt>
and <tt class="docutils literal">tcsh</tt>, you can adjust the variable as follows (again, don't
type the <tt class="docutils literal">$</tt>—that represents the shell prompt):</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<strong>$</strong> <em>VARIABLE_NAME</em>=<em>path/to/lib/directory</em>:${<em>VARIABLE_NAME</em>}
<strong>$</strong> export <em>VARIABLE_NAME</em>
</pre>
<p>On <tt class="docutils literal">csh</tt> and <tt class="docutils literal">tcsh</tt>, it's</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<strong>$</strong> setenv <em>VARIABLE_NAME</em> <em>path/to/lib/directory</em>:${<em>VARIABLE_NAME</em>}
</pre>
<p>Once the necessary variable (if any) is set, you can run your
program as follows:</p>
<pre class="literal-block">
<strong>$</strong> <em>path</em>/<em>to</em>/<em>compiled</em>/example < <em>path</em>/<em>to</em>/jayne.txt
</pre>
<p>The program should respond with the email subject, “Will Success
Spoil Rock Hunter?”</p>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
</div>
</div>
<div class="section" id="conclusion-and-further-resources">
<h1><a class="toc-backref" href="#id36">7 Conclusion and Further Resources</a></h1>
<p>This concludes your introduction to Boost and to integrating it
with your programs. As you start using Boost in earnest, there are
surely a few additional points you'll wish we had covered. One day
we may have a “Book 2 in the Getting Started series” that addresses
them. Until then, we suggest you pursue the following resources.
If you can't find what you need, or there's anything we can do to
make this document clearer, please post it to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#users">Boost Users'
mailing list</a>.</p>
<ul class="simple">
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../tools/build/v2/index.html">Boost.Build reference manual</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#users">Boost Users' mailing list</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#jamboost">Boost.Build mailing list</a></li>
<li><a class="reference external" href="../../libs/index.html">Index of all Boost library documentation</a></li>
</ul>
<div class="admonition-onward admonition">
<p class="first admonition-title">Onward</p>
<blockquote class="epigraph last">
<p>Good luck, and have fun!</p>
<p class="attribution">—the Boost Developers</p>
</blockquote>
</div>
<hr class="docutils" />
<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="packagers" rules="none">
<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id2">[1]</a></td><td>If developers of Boost packages would like to work
with us to make sure these instructions can be used with their
packages, we'd be glad to help. Please make your interest known
to the <a class="reference external" href="http://www.boost.org/more/mailing_lists.htm#main">Boost developers' list</a>.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="lowercase-l" rules="none">
<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id14">[2]</a></td><td>That option is a dash followed by a lowercase “L”
character, which looks very much like a numeral 1 in some fonts.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="warnings" rules="none">
<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id5">[3]</a></td><td>Remember that warnings are specific to each compiler
implementation. The developer of a given Boost library might
not have access to your compiler. Also, some warnings are
extremely difficult to eliminate in generic code, to the point
where it's not worth the trouble. Finally, some compilers don't
have any source code mechanism for suppressing warnings.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="distinct" rules="none">
<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id16">[4]</a></td><td>This convention distinguishes the static version of
a Boost library from the import library for an
identically-configured Boost DLL, which would otherwise have the
same name.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="debug-abi" rules="none">
<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="label"><a class="fn-backref" href="#id17">[5]</a></td><td>These libraries were compiled without optimization
or inlining, with full debug symbols enabled, and without
<tt class="docutils literal">NDEBUG</tt> <tt class="docutils literal">#define</tt>d. Although it's true that sometimes
these choices don't affect binary compatibility with other
compiled code, you can't count on that with Boost libraries.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table class="docutils footnote" frame="void" id="native" rules="none">
<colgroup><col class="label" /><col /></colgroup>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr><td class="label">[6]</td><td>This feature of STLPort is deprecated because it's
impossible to make it work transparently to the user; we don't
recommend it.</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
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<!-- for each new release of Boost. -->
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
<!-- Software License, Version 1.0. (See accompanying -->
<!-- file LICENSE_1_0.txt or copy at http://www.boost.org/LICENSE_1_0.txt) -->
<!-- Copyright David Abrahams 2006. Distributed under the Boost -->
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