Application and Dependency versions needed

A modern C++ compiler; see #2.

Note: Python 3.x is incompatible with SCons as of writing this.
Make sure that Python is in your PATH environment variable.

SCons - 0.98.5 but using the most recent version is recommended http://www.scons.org/download.php

Note: SCons relies on Python so you need to have Python installed first.
Make sure that SCons is in your PATH environment variable.

Perl - 5.12.0.1 (from MSYS, Cygwin or ActivePerl; only needed to build help files) http://www.perl.org/get.html
```
Make sure that Perl is in your PATH environment variable.
```
gettext runtime & tools - 0.17 or later http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/binaries/win32/dependencies/
```
Make sure that the gettext tools are in your PATH environment variable.
```

Html Help Workshop (only needed to build help files) http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms669985%28VS.85%29.aspx

Go to your HTML Help Workshop include directory (HTML Help Workshop/include) and copy
htmlhelp.h to the htmlhelp/include directory of the DC++ source.
Go to your HTML Help Workshop lib directory (HTML Help Workshop/lib) and copy htmlhelp.lib
to the htmlhelp/lib directory of the DC++ source.
Make sure that hhc.exe is in your PATH environment variable.

asciidoc (only needed to build help files) http://www.methods.co.nz/asciidoc/
```
Make sure that asciidoc is in your PATH environment variable.
```

Unicode NSIS (only needed to build the installer) http://code.google.com/p/unsis/

Make sure that makensis.exe is in your PATH environment variable.
Make sure that you are using the Unicode version of the installer builder.

zip (from MSYS or Cygwin; only needed to build the official distro)
```
Make sure that zip is in your PATH environment variable.
```

Compiler

MinGW (GCC 4.7 or later): http://sourceforge.net/projects/mingw/files/

The easiest way to install is via mingw-get. Extract it to C:\MinGW and run:
        mingw-get install gcc g++
A graphical installer around mingw-get is also available to facilitate the above.

Make sure that MinGW\bin is in your PATH environment variable.

Alternatively, if you have Cygwin, a MinGW compiler can be installed as part of Cygwin:
select it in the "Devel" category when running the Cygwin installer.
To make DC++ use it, add "prefix=i686-pc-mingw32-" to the scons arguments or create a
custom.py file containing:
        prefix='i686-pc-mingw32-'
Make sure that Cygwin\bin is in your PATH environment variable.

Also grab natupnp.h from the Windows SDK and place it in the root of the repository.
<http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/bb980924>

Microsoft Visual Studio 2012: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/visualc/default.aspx

Download OpenSSL from www.openssl.org and compile it. You should get libraries called
libeay32.lib and ssleay32.lib; copy them in openssl/lib.

To compile DC++ in debug mode, OpenSSL libraries have to be compiled in debug mode too
(read their instructions file; it's a matter of adding "debug" in the do_* file you use).
Rename debug libraries to libeay32d.lib and ssleay32d.lib; put them in openssl/lib.

To generate project files for MSVC, run "scons" with "msvcproj=1" and "tools=default".
The resulting solution file (DCPlusPlus.sln) will be in msvc/[mode-arch]/.

Starting the build process

Open a command prompt and type "scons" followed by some options:

"tools=mingw" - Use mingw for building (default)
"tools=default" - Use msvc for building (yes, the option value is strange)
"mode=debug" - Compile a debug build (default)
"mode=release" - Compile an optimized release build

To see more options, type "scons -h".

Tip: You can create a file custom.py and put your options in there.

You can choose which targets to build; eg:
  scons build/debug-mingw/dwt
will only build DWT with MinGW in debug mode. By default, when no target is specified, SCons builds all targets.
For more possible arguments, consult the SCons manual.

If you have problems, use google. It works for me.

Other information and submitting patches

With doxygen, graphviz and some luck, you can use the supplied doxygen configuration file to generate some nice docs. Just check that the paths in the doxyfile are correct.

In the event you experience crashing you can check the howto guide for debugging at https://answers.launchpad.net/dcplusplus/+faq/337

Note that DCPlusPlus.exe is stripped by default when it has been built with MinGW;
debugging symbols instead reside in DCPlusPlus.pdb. To get GDB to swallow it, start it with
the following command:
        gdb -e DCPlusPlus.exe -s DCPlusPlus.pdb

Linux / Unix:

Look at <http://launchpad.net/linuxdcpp> for the *nix port of DC++ - they'll gladly accept any help.

Submitting patches

If you think you've done something that more people could use, you can always submit a
patch for inclusion in the original distribution. I will then consider whether I like
the patch or not based on things that might seem to be completely random, which just
might be the case. Popular reasons for rejecting a patch include, but are not limited
to, ugly code, abusable features, features that I don't like that bloat the application
and incompatibility with other modifications I've already done.

To increase the chances of your patch being accepted, do it like this:
1) Check out the latest code from BZR (see <https://code.launchpad.net/dcplusplus> for instructions)
2) Make your modification. If you make other modifications apart from the one you want to submit, do them
   on a separate copy of the DC++ source code and then copy them to this folder.
3) In the source root folder (the one with this file in it) do "bzr diff > my-patch.diff". In alternative,
   commit to your local branch and send a merge instruction using bzr send. See a bzr howto for detailed instructions.
4) Open a bug at https://bugs.launchpad.net/dcplusplus and attach your patch. If this doesn't suit you,
   send the patch along with a description to the dcplusplus-devel mailing list (more information here:
   <http://sourceforge.net/mail/?group_id=40287>). Please make sure to include a copyright handover notice (see below).

Licensing issues with submitted patches

In order to avoid future licensing issues, I ask you to give me copyright over any submitted code.
If you don't like this policy, you are free to start your own distribution (as
many have done), and if you're lucky it might become more popular than the original =). Please
state explicitly when submitting the patch that you give me copyright over the code if the submission is larger
than trivial.

Compiling DC++