<?xml version='1.0'?> <!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.3//EN" "http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.3/docbookx.dtd" > <chapter id="intro"> <title>Getting Started</title> <section id="obtaining"> <title>Obtaining Waf</title> <para> The Waf project is located on <ulink url="http://code.google.com/p/waf">Google Code</ulink> The current Waf version requires Python ≥ 2.3 compiled with support for the bzip2 compression algorithm. Installing Waf is optional, if you want to install Waf on the system, jump to the next section. </para> <sect2> <title>Using the Waf binary</title> <para> The Waf binary is ready to use and can be executed directly. Just rename it into "waf": <programlisting language="sh"> $ wget http://waf.googlecode.com/files/waf-1.5.0 $ mv waf-1.5.0 waf && chmod 755 waf </programlisting> </para> </sect2> <sect2> <title>Generating Waf from source</title> <para> The Waf binary is usually generated from the source distribution: <programlisting language="sh"> $ wget http://waf.googlecode.com/files/waf-1.5.0.tar.bz2 $ tar xjvf waf-1.5.0.tar.bz2 $ cd waf-1.5.0 $ ./waf-light --make-waf </programlisting> </para> </sect2> </section> <section id="installing"> <title>Installing</title> <para>Waf installation is optional and there are many advantages of not installing Waf, among them: <orderedlist> <listitem>Installation: installation is cumbersome, and requires administrative privileges</listitem> <listitem>Waf versions: users rarely install the appropriate software version (too old, too new)</listitem> <listitem>Bugs: newer Waf versions may result in broken builds</listitem> <listitem>Size: Waf is extremely small (about 70kB)</listitem> <listitem>Operating systems: Waf cannot be installed on Windows (yet)</listitem> </orderedlist> </para> <para> If, despite the advantages enumerated previously, you really want to install the Waf application on the system, you may use the following command on Unix-like systems such as Linux: <programlisting language="sh"> # ./waf-light configure --prefix=/usr/ # ./waf-light install </programlisting> Root privileges may be required depending on the final location. </para> <para> Waf can be uninstalled using: <programlisting language="sh"> # ./waf-light --prefix=/usr/ # ./waf-light uninstall </programlisting> </para> </section> <section id="using"> <title>Running Waf</title> <para> The Waf script can be used directly: <programlisting language="sh"> $ ./waf </programlisting> Or, if the executable permissions are not set properly: <programlisting language="sh"> $ python waf </programlisting> </para> <para> By default, the Waf script uncompresses its library in the current directory, in a hidden folder. This means the Waf script must reside in a writable folder. The naming is allow different Waf versions to run from the same folder: <programlisting language="sh"> $ ls -ld .waf* .waf-1.5.0-ec924e3f453eb715118b9cc852291170 </programlisting> </para> </section> </chapter>