Building WinBinder

In this topic you will find instructions to compile and build WinBinder using the C source code files. If you are not a C developer you do not need to worry about building it: Just skip this page and download the most current WinBinder version from the WinBinder web site.

NOTES

• Text in red is temporary and it is just for internal use.
• The instructions below are generic. We need more specific compiler information and compiler project files, so I'll very much appreciate if you send me corrections or updated information about this document, or procedures for specific compilers of tools.
• This topic assumes you have installed WinBinder in your local drive.
• WinBinder should be built in two versions, one for PHP 4 and the other one for PHP 5.
• All occurrences of C:\WinBinder below should be replaced by your actual WinBinder installation folder, for example C:\projects\WinBinder.
• All occurrences of C:\lcc below should be replaced by your actual compiler folder, for example C:\Compilers\MinGWStudio\MinGW\.

Supported compilers

WinBinder is coded in standard ANSI C, so any ANSI C compiler for Windows should work. The following ones have been tested.

• LCC-Win32 - C compiler by Jacob Navia (freeware). Successful. This is currently the primary compiler for WinBinder (about to change).
• MinGW - Windows port of GCC compiler by mingw.org (open source) Partially successful
• Visual-MinGW - IDE to MinGW compiler by Manu B. (open source) Partially successful
• Dev-C++ - IDE for MinGW compiler by Bloodshed software (open source) Not tested
• Digital Mars - Not tested
• Pelles C - C compiler with IDE by Pelle Orinius (freeware) Partially successful
• Microsoft Visual Studio - Successful

Setting up your environment

• Start your IDE and create a project called WinBinder_php4 or similar, preferably in the Tools subdirectory, using the name of your compiler and the PHP version. Example: C:\WinBinder\Tools\Lcc-win32\php4\WinBinder_php4.prj.
   
• Set all options necessary to build a Windows DLL, not an executable. The DLL will be located at C:\WinBinder\php\php4\ext.
   
• Locate your PHP 4 header source files. If you use PHP 4 source files uniquely for compiling WinBinder, place them at the C:\WinBinder\PHP\PHP4\source folder. The directory that contains the headers (.H) must be added to the include directories of your project. NOTE: If you use the Lcc-win32 compiler you will have to use the appropriate "tweaked" headers that can be downloaded at the WinBinder web site, otherwise the compilation will fail. Also add to the include list the following subdirectories (relative to the header source directory) that contain headers: main, regex, tsrm, win32, and zend.
   
• Depending on your environment, you will have to create a tool that points to the compiler Make utility, e.g. C:\lcc\bin\make.exe. Remember to configure the tool so that its initial folder is where your makefile will be located. This is usually in the same directory of the project file, i.e. C:\WinBinder\Tools\Lcc-win32\php4. Also assign a keyboard shortcut (like F5 or F9) to the newly created tool so you can build WinBinder by pressing just one key.
   
• If you are not using an IDE and your text editor supports regular expressions to match compilation errors and warnings, you may enter a specific regular expression in the appropriate field so that you may jump directly to the correct file and code line by just double-clicking the error/warning. In some cases you may have to quit your text editor and start it again for this to take effect. The examples below use the UNIX extended regular expression syntax.
   

Compiler	Regular expression	File Register	Line Register	Column Register
LCC-Win32	^.+ .*([A-Za-z]:[^:]+): ([0-9]+)	1	2	(none)
Microsoft	^\([^(]+\)(\([0-9]+\))	1	2	(none)
GCC	^\(.[^:]+\):\([0-9]+\):	1	2	(none)
Others	^\([^(]+\)(\([0-9]+\),\([0-9]+\))	1	2	3



• Add all WinBinder source code files to the project. These files are located at the C:\WinBinder\WinBinder\Source and C:\WinBinder\WinBinder\Source\wb folders. Source file extensions and .C and .H. Files located at C:\WinBinder\WinBinder\Source comprise the higher-level layer (the PHP layer) while files located at C:\WinBinder\WinBinder\Source\wb are the lower-level layer (called the API layer).
   
• Most Windows compilers add automatically to each project at least the following standard libraries: kernel32, user32 and gdi32. Also be sure to include (or check if the compiler adds) the following additional Windows libraries: iehelper, psapi, uuid, shell32, ole32, oleaut32, comctl32, comdlg32 and winmm.
   
• You must also add the php4ts static library to the project. This library will be linked to the WinBinder DLL and contains the necessary references to phpts.dll (the dynamic library that comes with PHP). A php4ts static library for your compiler (usually with the extension .lib or .a) may be available at the PHP web site or at the WinBinder web site. To build the library for your specific compiler, you will need an export file that lists all functions in phpts.dll. You may use the included export file php4ts.exp or build your own. To build an export file for Lcc-win32, create php4ts.exp as an empty text file and type php4ts.dll in the first line. Then use a tool like Dependency Walker to obtain the list of exported functions in php4ts.dll. Paste the function list (one per line) to php4ts.exp and add a '_' in front of each function name. Finally, use the "build library" tool of your compiler to build the php4ts static library. In Lcc-win32, create a console (DOS) window and type C:\lcc\bin\buildlib.exe  php4ts.exp  php4ts.lib.
   
• Do not include an .RC (Windows resource) file in the project.

NOTE

• Repeat the process above, creating a second project for PHP 5. Be sure to replace all existing references to PHP 4.

Building WinBinder

• Now you are ready to create the makefile and build the DLL. Be sure to check whether the debug options are enabled or not before distributing the file.

Additional information

• If you use TextPad, see also C:\WinBinder\tools\textpad\readme_textpad.txt for more configuration tips.
• If you use LCC-Win32, see also C:\WinBinder\tools\Lcc-win32\readme_lccwin32.txt for additional tips.

See also

How WinBinder works