FLTK Installation and Project setup

Downloading FLTK
Installing FLTK
Using FLTK in linux.cs.tamu.edu
Using FLTK in Visual Studio .NET
Test if it worked

Downloading FLTK

Go to http://fltk.org.
Click Software in the navigation menu.
Choose "FLTK 1.1.x" in the dropdown and click "Show Download Locations".
Choose a download location and download the .zip file.

Installing FLTK

Unzip the downloaded file and open the main folder, fltk-1.1.?. In the visualc folder, open fltk.dsw. If asked about updating old project files, choose "Yes to All".
From the Build menu, choose "Build Solution". This may take a few minutes. The source code is being compiled into static link libraries so that you do not have to recompile the FLTK source code anytime you make a new project. When the process has finished, close Visual Studio.
From the main FLTK directory open the lib folder. Copy all the .lib files except README.lib (there should be 4) into C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET\Vc7\lib
Go back to the FLTK main directory and copy the FL folder into C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio .NET\Vc7\include

Using FLTK on linux.cs.tamu.edu

If you are working on a windows xp PC in the lab

start X-win32 by click "start->All Programs->Communications->Xwin32 5.4->X-win32"
open putty, set hostname to "linux.cs.tamu.edu" and protocol to SSH

click on "Connection\SSH\Tunnels" on the left side of the putty configuration window
make sure "Enable X11 forwarding" is checked

hit "Open" to log on to linux.cs.tamu.edu using your CS userid and password

Put your program files and the files you downloaded from the course website in the same folder
Compile and link your program, suppose we want to compile sample_main3.cpp,
g++ sample_main3.cpp Graph.cpp Window.cpp GUI.cpp -o sample_main3 -lfltk -lfltk_images
Now you can execute your program
./sample_main3

Using FLTK in Visual Studio .NET

Create a new project in Visual Studio .NET with one change to the usual procedure: create a "Windows application" instead of a "Console application" when choosing your project type.
In the solution explorer side-window, right click the project icon (not the solution icon) and choose Properties.
In the Properties dialog box, in the left menu, click the "Linker" folder. This expands a submenu. In this submenu, click "Input". In the text field on the right, enter the following text:
fltkd.lib wsock32.lib comctl32.lib fltkjpegd.lib fltkimagesd.lib
In the Ignore Specific Library text field, enter the following text:
libcd.lib
In the left menu of the same Properties window, click "C/C++" to expand a different submenu. Click the "Code Generation" submenu item. In the right menu, change the "Runtime Library" dropdown to "Multi-threaded Debug DLL (/MDd)". Click "Ok" to close the Properties window.
(For CPSC labs in HRBB only) Go to the Tools menu and select Options. Then go to Projects and Solutions -> VC++ Directories. Change the "Show directories for:" combo box to "Include Files". Add a new directory by clicking the New Line button (looks like a folder). Add "C:\fltk-1.1.7" to the list. Now change the "Show directories for:" combo box to "Library Files" and add "C:\fltk-1.1.7\lib" to the list. Click OK to save.

Testing if it all worked

Create a single new .cpp file in your newly created project and enter the following code. It should be able to compile without problems.

#include <FL/Fl.h>
#include <FL/Fl_Box.h>
#include <FL/Fl_Window.h>

int main() {
   Fl_Window window(200, 200, "Window title");
   Fl_Box box(0,0,200,200,"Hey, I mean, Hello, World!");
   window.show();
   return Fl::run();
}

If it did not work:

Compiler error stating a .lib file could not be found: Your problem is most likely in the installation section. Pay attention to step 3, which involves putting the link libraries (.lib) files where your compiler can easily find them.
Compiler error stating a .h file could not be opened: Your problem is most likely in the installation section. Pay attention to step 4, which involves putting the header (.h) files where your compiler can easily find them.
Linker error involving unresolved external symbols: Your problem is most likely in the project section.

FLTK Installation and Project setup

Table of Contents

Downloading FLTK

Installing FLTK

Using FLTK on linux.cs.tamu.edu

Using FLTK in Visual Studio .NET

Testing if it all worked