RomRaider/Building_RomRaider.txt

Steve Wadsworth (lizzardo on RomRaider forum)

This file is an attempt to consolidate available information on setting up, building,
and packaging RomRaider.  All instructions assume a Windows environment and the use
of Eclipse for development.  Apologies for the Windows-centricity, but some of the
tools inherited from the RomRaider project are Windows-based.

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Setting up the project (from romraider.com)

  As an open source project, RomRaider depends on Java developers like you for
enhancements, bug fixes and general maintenance. This page is meant to be a
guide to setting up a development environment from scratch. The guide was
originally written by Tgui and has been adapted and revised for the reflect
the current source control system.

  RomRaider’s official IDE is Eclipse. You are free to use any Java IDE you
choose, but due to the extremely simple process of setting up the environment
and the power of Eclipse, it’s probably your best choice.

* Installing the Java Development Kit and Eclipse
    o Install the latest version of the 32bit Java SE Development Kit
          (http://java.sun.com/javase/downloads/index.jsp)
    o Get and install ‘Eclipse IDE for Java Developers’ 32bit
          (http://www.eclipse.org/downloads)
      for your specific platform. The Java EE version will work too but there are
      subtle differences (noted below).
    o Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable for your Operating System to point
      to the JDK installation directory. i.e.: For Windows 32bit,
          JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_32 

* Setting up the RomRaider project
    o If you use the Java EE version you may need to install the Git plugin,
      or you can use the non integrated command line Git tools outside of Eclipse
      (while Eclipse is not running of course).
    o If you have Java EE and wish to install the Git plugin, open:
          Help > Eclipse Marketplace, Search for ‘EGit’ (name of the plug in),
      select it, Install, and restart Eclipse
    o Open the Git perspective in Eclipse by clicking:
          Window > Open Perspective > Other > Git Repository Exploring
    o Press the Clone Git Repository button
    o In the window the pops up paste in the repository URL:
          (https://github.com/RomRaider/RomRaider.git)
    o Click “Next”
    o In the branches window click “Deselect All”, then scroll to the bottom and
      select “master”, click “Next”
    o Enter a directory path on your computer to store the repository in. DO NOT
      save it in the Eclipse workspace directory.
    o Click “Finish”
    o After the repository has been copied to your system it will appear in the
      left pane of Eclipse, Git Repositories.
    o Right-click on the repository entry and select “Import Projects”.
    o Click “Next” and select “Finish”.
    o To switch to the Java view, open the Java perspective by clicking:
          Window > Open Perspective > Java 

* Setting the library path
    o You may need to change the path to the Jars within your libs directory
      (ex: Linux). You should read this to set the Build Paths:
          (http://help.eclipse.org/indigo/topic/org.eclipse.jdt.doc.user/reference/ref-properties-build-path.htm) 

* Building the Project for the First Time
    o First complete a build using ant. Right-click on build.xml and select:
          Run As -> 2 Ant build (this may appear as item 3 in the Java EE version)
      then select all in the targets tab.
    o When the build is finished (successfully I hope), Right-click on the root
      romraider project and select Refresh. This should clear all the errors and
      warnings decorations you may have seen on some files.
    o The built files are stored in the repository’s build directory:
          RomRaider\build\dist
    o Install the build of your choosing and enjoy RomRaider. 

* Setup EGit
    o Ensure you have configured your user settings in Eclipse under menu:
          Window > Preferences > Team > Git > Configuration > User Settings
      add entries for user.name and user.email
    o Switch to the Repository Settings tab and Add Entry branch.master.rebase
      with a value of true
    o The EGit reference can be found here:
          (http://wiki.eclipse.org/EGit/User_Guide)
      and a Git command x-ref here:
          (http://wiki.eclipse.org/EGit/Mapping_Git_Commands)

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Notes on the above:

1)  Make sure the build path for the Java builder is set correctly.  On the top menu:

        Project -> Properties -> Java Build Path

    On the Source tab, the default output folder should be set to

        romraider/build/classes

2)  The jars in the java build path mentioned above should be correct in the
    repository for a Windows environment.  These settings are in the .classpath file
    and should all have a relative path to the project root directory.

3) 	The ant build file is in the main directory and uses the default name of
  	"build.xml".

	The Java builder is set as the default.  During development it's convenient to have
	the "Problems" pane show warning and errors.  The ant build does not send warnings
	or errors there.  The ant build is primarily for automation of the complete build
	process for packaging.
	
	To build using ant, right-click on the build.xml
	file in the Package Explorer (Java perspective) and select
	
	Run As -> 2 Ant build (this could be item 3 in Java EE), then select "all" in
	the targets tab. To get more verbose output from ant set the -v option in the
	arguments field on the Main tab.
	
	The "help" target lists available targets with a brief description of each.
	
	The "all" target does just that.  It rebuilds everything, finishing with the
	installers saving all files in the <repository_path>\RomRaider\build\dist\
	directory under each OS name Windows and Linux.