wx.Net.Build Documentation

1.0

This is the source code documentation of the wx.NET build system. In fact, this is not part of the wx.NET code, but this has originally been developed to be used in this project.

One advice in advance: Please avoid to use blank spaces (' ') in names of files or directories because some tools may have problems to access these files.

wx.Build aims at providing a modular and platform independent build environment based on .NET. There are many obvious relations to systems like ant, the MS build system, or other MAKE- and Meta-MAKE systems. The main difference lies in two points:

• The implemented functions put a focus on building, deployment, and installation. Installation systems like the Windows Installer (for MSI files) apply the main idea of the original MAKE system: They create a plan for installation (or building a system respectively) exploiting information on dependencies between relevant installation or build targets. So, the idea is to attack both tasks - building and installation- by the same code base. Of course, the needs of the wx.NET project is very limited w.r.t. to the required functions. Thus, the envisioned extend of the implementation may rather be considered as a study than a system for general use. However, the intended modular structure of the code base enables necessary extension for other purposes.
• All cited systems infer sequences of actions for installation and planning. However, their capabilities concerning the inference of such schedules are very limited. wx.Build separates clearly between targets of the build process, classes of projects that implement portable sceleton plans to achieve targets, and the available actions. Actions are created using action providers. The system can be extended by the definition of new file types and new actions to produce such files.

Refer to page Typical Use for remarks on how to use build programs that are based on this library.

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