OK...I checked out the tuts on compiling Blender and ran into some errors in CMake that I am not familiar with:

the c compiler identification is unknown

error in configuration process, project files may be invalid

CMake Error at CMakeLists.txt:1705 (message):
Apple and Windows require pre-compiled libs at: 'C:/My Blender
Repository/blender blender/blender/../lib/windows'

That last message is really annoying...It says I need to put the libraries at a specific place , but doesn't give me the complete path! So I put the downloaded libs (win64 and windows folders) from the website into:
blender blender/extern/ lib:
-win64 folder
-windows folder

And that was just a complete guess, since the only existing "lib" folder was inside the "extern" folder. Which could make sense, since they ARE external libraries.

well i have them in a folder called "lib", which is inside of a BlenderSVN folder that also contains "blender"

BlenderSVN\blender\extern\...

BlenderSVN\lib\mingw32\
BlenderSVN\lib\windows\
BlenderSVN\lib\win64\

Can't remember if i had to set up this path somewhere... but if so, it should be noted in the building wiki.
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I'm sitting, waiting, wishing, building Blender in superstition...

I made that change, then also discovered that part of my problem was trying to use VS C++ 2010. When I dropped back to 2008 every CMake error went away except for one:

Unknown CMake command "data_to_c_simple"

Sounds like maybe a missing library. But CMake should know where its own functions are. Unless a different program other than CMake was used, like SCons.

Quote:

Unknown CMake command "data_to_c_simple"

Blender uses a python script to create the data for the splash screen:
./release/datafiles/datatoc.py

Not a cmake guy, so I'm guessing this setting got trashed somehow.

Quote:

Blender uses a python script to create the data for the splash screen: ./release/datafiles/datatoc.py

Maybe I'm dense today, but I don't see the connection between the splash screen and CMake failing.

This is so frustrating! It seems that in order to get a compile to work, the versions of three programs/extensions need to be tuned together:
Python 3.2.3 (Numpy doesn't like Python 3.3)
Numpy 1.6.2
CMake 2.8.10.2

But even then, CMake still comes up with:

Code:

CMake Warning at CMakeLists.txt:2801 (message):   'numpy' path could not be found in:   '/python3.3/site-packages/numpy', '/python3/site-packages/numpy',   '/python3.3/dist-packages/numpy', '/python3/dist-packages/numpy',   WITH_PYTHON_INSTALL_NUMPY option will be ignored when installing python CMake Error at source/blender/compositor/CMakeLists.txt:1442 (data_to_c):   data_to_c Macro invoked with incorrect arguments for macro named: data_to_c

So it seems that Blender needs numpy but numpy won't work with Python 3.3...But blender 2.6.5 doesn't like Python 3.2 and demands that numpy be in the Python 3.3 folder in a path that numpy did not install itself into! When I put numpy where the error says it should go...Same problem, because somewhere, CMake is insisting that it doesn't matter if you put numpy in the correct Python 3.2 folder...It has to be Python 3.3!!! There is no point in adding C:\Python32...\numpy to the system path, because Python 3.3 is required.

Then, the 2nd error that comes up says that there is the wrong number of arguments in the call to the data_to_c macro, as written in a CMakeLists.text file. Without being familiar with the parameters that are required by this macro, it is impossible to re-write it to make it correct.


So how can anyone out there compile anything if they're faced with the same situation?!

treddie wrote:

Maybe I'm dense today, but I don't see the connection between the splash screen and CMake failing.

The splash screen gets compiled into program data.

As for numpy, blender does NOT require it. It is useful if you are doing a lot of number-crunching.

People compile blender by installing the necessary dependent libraries and header files and setting the proper paths and parameters for the build system they are using.

Sorry I'm not enough of a cmake guy to figure out why your setup is b0rked. If you have access to IRC, you can get help on the #blendercoders channel on freenode.net ; days euro-time is best.

Thanks stiv. In looking back at the lines in the CMakeLists file in question, I think I see what you're talking about...From what I can tell, they have a section reserved for numpy later (or I guess, for anyone who wants to build with it) and that is where the name "numpy" comes up in the file.

As for the second error, I will just have to track that nuisance down. I have IRC (though haven't used it in ages), so I'll give them a try.

Thanks again.

I found the problem...I was using an older version of the macros.cmake file. I thought I had downloaded the current version but apparently had dl'd an older one.

CMake build went fine with no errors!! Woo-HOO!

HAH! Foiled again. The CMake session goes fine, but now I get held up in Visual C++ 2008, TONNNNS of errors relating to the ceres library not getting fully included (51 file not found errors).

For instance, all of the other libraries get all 3 of their (.idb, .pdb, .lib) files installed into libs\debug folder, except ceres...Only the idb and pdb files make it there. And none of the .cc files make it over.

So it seems that I do not have the ceres library in the correct folder in the repository. I have tried placing the library in the intern and extern folders, and modified the CMakeLists file to add it to the install, and it makes it over into the build folder, but same errors when I try building the VS2008 solution...Files missing.

I have tried putting it into the blender blender\lib folder, too.

At any rate, it seems clear to me that I'm just not understanding how to get CMake to properly include any new library. I don't think it is a CMake issue, but just being clueless about what exactly needs to be done to get ANY external library properly included, whether it is CMake or SCons or whatever.

Any clues, anyone? I did a search for "ceres", but nothing comes up here at Blender. Just googling in general leads to various talk about ceres but nothing relating to this issue in Blender.

Get a recent build and it will be fine

Revision: 53799
Author: campbellbarton
Date: Montag, 14. Januar 2013 21:27:25
Message:
displace modifier incorrectly had mid-level set as a 'distance' subtyped property.
also change the minimum texture contrast to 0.0 (was 0.01).

----
Modified : /trunk/blender/source/blender/makesrna/intern/rna_modifier.c
Modified : /trunk/blender/source/blender/makesrna/intern/rna_texture.c
_________________
I'm sitting, waiting, wishing, building Blender in superstition...

Dang! I thought I had the latest build. I'll update and try again.

Quote:

Get a recent build and it will be fine

Is that a new installer version, or source? I am assuming source since the latest release is still from 2012. If source, I tried updating my repository with the latest build, but even with the fixes you made, I cannot get past the ceres libraries not being found when trying to build a solution in vs2008.

it's in the source and in all recent builds since 14th of January, but there's no official release yet. You can get recent builds here:

http://builder.blender.org/download/

http://graphicall.org/blender
_________________
I'm sitting, waiting, wishing, building Blender in superstition...