protobuf-cpp-3.4.0.tar.gz

This directory contains *CMake* files that can be used to build protobuf with *MSVC* on *Windows*. You can build the project from *Command Prompt* and using an *Visual Studio* IDE. You need to have [CMake](http://www.cmake.org), [Visual Studio](https://www.visualstudio.com) and optionally [Git](http://git-scm.com) installed on your computer before proceeding. Most of the instructions will be given to the *小ommand Prompt*, but the same actions can be performed using appropriate GUI tools. Environment Setup ================= Open the appropriate *Command Prompt* from the *Start* menu. For example *VS2013 x64 Native Tools Command Prompt*: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64> Change to your working directory: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\bin\amd64>cd C:\Path\to C:\Path\to> Where *C:\Path\to* is path to your real working directory. Create a folder where protobuf headers/libraries/binaries will be installed after built: C:\Path\to>mkdir install If *cmake* command is not available from *Command Prompt*, add it to system *PATH* variable: C:\Path\to>set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files (x86)\CMake\bin If *git* command is not available from *Command Prompt*, add it to system *PATH* variable: C:\Path\to>set PATH=%PATH%;C:\Program Files\Git\cmd Good. Now you are ready to continue. Getting Sources =============== You can get the latest stable source packages from the [releases](https://github.com/google/protobuf/releases) page. Or you can type: C:\Path\to> git clone -b [release_tag] https://github.com/google/protobuf.git Where *[release_tag]* is a git tag like *v3.0.0-beta-1* or a branch name like *master* if you want to get the latest code. Go to the project folder: C:\Path\to>cd protobuf C:\Path\to\protobuf> Protobuf unit-tests require gmock to build. If you download protobuf source code from the *releases* page, the *gmock* directory should already be there. If you checkout the code via `git clone`, this *gmock* directory won't exist and you will have to download it manually or skip building protobuf unit-tests. You can download gmock as follows: C:\Path\to\protobuf>git clone -b release-1.7.0 https://github.com/google/googlemock.git gmock Then go to *gmock* folder and download gtest: C:\Path\to\protobuf>cd gmock C:\Path\to\protobuf\gmock>git clone -b release-1.7.0 https://github.com/google/googletest.git gtest If you absolutely don't want to build and run protobuf unit-tests, skip this steps and use protobuf at your own risk. Now go to *cmake* folder in protobuf sources: C:\Path\to\protobuf\gmock>cd ..\cmake C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake> Good. Now you are ready to *CMake* configuration. CMake Configuration =================== *CMake* supports a lot of different [generators](http://www.cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-generators.7.html) for various native build systems. We are only interested in [Makefile](http://www.cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-generators.7.html#makefile-generators) and [Visual Studio](http://www.cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-generators.7.html#visual-studio-generators) generators. We will use shadow building to separate the temporary files from the protobuf source code. Create a temporary *build* folder and change your working directory to it: C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake>mkdir build & cd build C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build> The *Makefile* generator can build the project in only one configuration, so you need to build a separate folder for each configuration. To start using a *Release* configuration: C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build>mkdir release & cd release C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build\release>cmake -G "NMake Makefiles" ^ -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ^ -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=../../../../install ^ ../.. It will generate *nmake* *Makefile* in current directory. To use *Debug* configuration: C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build>mkdir debug & cd debug C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build\debug>cmake -G "NMake Makefiles" ^ -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ^ -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=../../../../install ^ ../.. It will generate *nmake* *Makefile* in current directory. To create *Visual Studio* solution file: C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build>mkdir solution & cd solution C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build\solution>cmake -G "Visual Studio 12 2013 Win64" ^ -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=../../../../install ^ ../.. It will generate *Visual Studio* solution file *protobuf.sln* in current directory. If the *gmock* directory does not exist, and you do not want to build protobuf unit tests, you need to add *cmake* command argument `-Dprotobuf_BUILD_TESTS=OFF` to disable testing. Compiling ========= To compile protobuf: C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build\release>nmake or C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build\debug>nmake And wait for the compilation to finish. If you prefer to use the IDE: * Open the generated protobuf.sln file in Microsoft Visual Studio. * Choose "Debug" or "Release" configuration as desired. * From the Build menu, choose "Build Solution". And wait for the compilation to finish. Testing ======= To run unit-tests, first you must compile protobuf as described above. Then run: C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build\release>nmake check or C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build\debug>nmake check You can also build project *check* from Visual Studio solution. Yes, it may sound strange, but it works. You should see output similar to: Running main() from gmock_main.cc [==========] Running 1546 tests from 165 test cases. ... [==========] 1546 tests from 165 test cases ran. (2529 ms total) [ PASSED ] 1546 tests. To run specific tests: C:\Path\to\protobuf>cmake\build\release\tests.exe --gtest_filter=AnyTest* Running main() from gmock_main.cc Note: Google Test filter = AnyTest* [==========] Running 3 tests from 1 test case. [----------] Global test environment set-up. [----------] 3 tests from AnyTest [ RUN ] AnyTest.TestPackAndUnpack [ OK ] AnyTest.TestPackAndUnpack (0 ms) [ RUN ] AnyTest.TestPackAndUnpackAny [ OK ] AnyTest.TestPackAndUnpackAny (0 ms) [ RUN ] AnyTest.TestIs [ OK ] AnyTest.TestIs (0 ms) [----------] 3 tests from AnyTest (1 ms total) [----------] Global test environment tear-down [==========] 3 tests from 1 test case ran. (2 ms total) [ PASSED ] 3 tests. Note that the tests must be run from the source folder. If all tests are passed, safely continue. Installing ========== To install protobuf to the specified *install* folder: C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build\release>nmake install or C:\Path\to\protobuf\cmake\build\debug>nmake install You can also build project *INSTALL* from Visual Studio solution. It sounds not so strange and it works. This will create the following folders under the *install* location: * bin - that contains protobuf *protoc.exe* compiler; * include - that contains C++ headers and protobuf *.proto files; * lib - that contains linking libraries and *CMake* configuration files for *protobuf* package. Now you can if needed: * Copy the contents of the include directory to wherever you want to put headers. * Copy protoc.exe wherever you put build tools (probably somewhere in your PATH). * Copy linking libraries libprotobuf[d].lib, libprotobuf-lite[d].lib, and libprotoc[d].lib wherever you put libraries. To avoid conflicts between the MSVC debug and release runtime libraries, when compiling a debug build of your application, you may need to link against a debug build of libprotobufd.lib with "d" postfix. Similarly, release builds should link against release libprotobuf.lib library. DLLs vs. static linking ======================= Static linking is now the default for the Protocol