Synergy-Binaries/Documentation/BuildingOnWindows.md

## Building on Windows

### Prerequisites

1. Install the following tools and dependencies:

      * [Chocolatey](https://chocolatey.org/)
      * [Python 3](https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/)
      * [Visual Studio 2019](https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/downloads/), select the following components:
         * VS 2019 C++ x64/x86 build tools
         * Windows 10 SDK
      * [WiX Toolset](https://wixtoolset.org/releases/), install the following components:
         * WiX Toolset Build Tools
         * WiX Toolset Visual Studio 2019 Extension
      * [Qt5](https://download.qt.io/official_releases/qt/)

2. Run the installer script to configure additional dependencies, as noted below. If you wish to examine what packages will be installed, see package lists [`PackageListChoco.config`](../Scripts/Install/PackageListChoco.config) and [`PackageListPython.txt`](../Scripts/Install/PackageListPython.txt).

      * If Python is already installed:
         ```bat
         python.exe Scripts\install.py [--upgrade]
         ```
      * If Python is not installed:
         ```bat
         powershell.exe -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -File Scripts\Install\InstallWindows.ps1 [-upgrade]
         ```

      Use the `--upgrade` switch (Python), or the `-upgrade` switch (PowerShell) to refresh packages at a later date.

3. Edit the [`Scripts\config.txt`](../Scripts/config.txt) file and make sure the following variables are configured properly under the `[Windows]` section:

      * `libQtPath` -- Full path to the Qt library, Visual C++, 64-bit build.
      * `vcvarsallPath` -- Full path to Visual Studio's `vcvarsall.bat` command script. This sets the necessary compiler environment variables for building. See [Microsoft C++ toolset documentation](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/build/building-on-the-command-line?view=vs-2019) for details.
      * `cmakeGenerator` -- Specifies the generator setting for cmake. Run `cmake --help` to choose a suitable generator that best matches the Visual Studio version installed earlier.

### Building

Build the project with the following Python script. Packages will be copied into the [`Binaries`](../Binaries) directory.

```bat
python.exe Scripts\build.py
```

To build a specific version of the product, supply the appropriate tag name (or commit hash) as an argument:

```sh
python.exe Scripts\build.py --checkout 1.13.1.3-snapshot
```

Similarly, one can clean the project, which resets Git repositories to a clean state:

```bat
python.exe Scripts\clean.py
```