Documentation/Nightly/Developers/Build Instructions
For the latest Slicer documentation, visit the read-the-docs. |
Contents
- 1 CHECKOUT slicer source files
- 2 CONFIGURE and generate Slicer solution files
- 3 BUILD Slicer
- 4 RUN Slicer
- 5 PACKAGE Slicer
- 6 Common errors
- 6.1 CMake complains during configuration
- 6.2 A tool returned an error code from "Generating vtksysProcessFwd9xEnc.c"
- 6.3 error: ‘class QList<QString>’ has no member named ‘reserve’
- 6.4 libarchive.so: undefined reference to `SHA256_Update'
- 6.5 A tool returned an error code from "Performing configure step for ..."
- 6.6 A tool returned an error code from "Performing download step (git clone) for ..."
- 6.7 No rule to make target `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so'
- 6.8 X11 Window errors at start time
- 6.9 error C2061: syntax error : identifier 'ssize_t'
- 6.10 ld: framework not found QtWebKit
- 6.11 On MacOSX 10.8, CMake hangs forever
- 6.12 svn: E175002: Unable to connect to a repository at URL XXX
- 7 Quick Build on Debian
- 8 Quick Build on Fedora 20
CHECKOUT slicer source files
Check out the code using git
:
- While it is not enforced, we strongly recommend you to AVOID the use of SPACES for both the
source directory
and thebuild directory
. We mean it.
- Due to maximum path length limitations during build the build process, source and build folders must be located in a folder with very short total path length. This is expecially critical on Windows and MacOS. For example, C:\D\S4 for source and C:\D\S4R for release-mode build folder works on Windows; and /sq5 has been confirmed to work on MacOS.
-
Clone the github repository
cd MyProjects git clone git://github.com/Slicer/Slicer.git
The
Slicer
directory is automatically created after cloning Slicer. -
Setup the development environment:
cd Slicer ./Utilities/SetupForDevelopment.sh
For more details see Development With Git.
On Windows enter the commands above in to a bash shell, such as Git Bash (part of msysgit) or use a Git client with a graphical user interface.
CONFIGURE and generate Slicer solution files
There are many ways of customizing Slicer's user interface or feature set. This section describes how a custom Slicer build can be configured at build-time. See an overview of various other options in this presentation.
You can configure and generate Slicer solution files using either ccmake
or cmake-gui
. To streamline this process, you can also use the SlicerCustomAppTemplate project maintained by Kitware.
Customizing application build
Customized editions of Slicer can be generated without changing Slicer source code, just by modifying CMake variables:
- SlicerApp_APPLICATION_NAME: Custom application name to be used, instead of default "Slicer". The name is used in installation package name, window title bar, etc.
- Slicer_DISCLAIMER_AT_STARTUP: String that is displayed to the user after first startup of Slicer after installation (disclaimer, welcome message, etc).
- Slicer_DEFAULT_HOME_MODULE: Module name that is activated automatically on application start.
- Slicer_DEFAULT_FAVORITE_MODULES: Modules that will be added to the toolbar by default for easy access. List contains module names, separated by space character.
- Slicer_CLIMODULES_DISABLED: Built-in CLI modules that will be removed from the application. List contains module names, separated by semicolon character.
- Slicer_QTLOADABLEMODULES_DISABLED: Built-in Qt loadable modules that will be removed from the application. List contains module names, separated by semicolon character.
- Slicer_QTSCRIPTEDMODULES_DISABLED: Built-in scripted loadable modules that will be removed from the application. List contains module names, separated by semicolon character.
- Slicer_USE_PYTHONQT_WITH_OPENSSL: enable/disable building the application with SSL support (ON/OFF)
- Slicer_USE_SimpleITK: enable/disable SimpleITK support (ON/OFF)
- Slicer_BUILD_SimpleFilters: enable/disable building SimpleFilters. Requires SimpleITK. (ON/OFF)
- Slicer_BUILD_EMSegment: enable/disable building EM segmenter (ON/OFF)
- Slicer_USE_PYTHONQT_WITH_TCL: TCL support (ON/OFF)
- Slicer_EXTENSION_SOURCE_DIRS: Defines additional extensions that will be included in the application package as built-in modules. Full paths of extension source directories has to be specified, separated by semicolons.
Per-platform instructions
Windows
Recommended: run CMake (cmake-gui) from the Windows Start menu
- Set the build directory. Use a very short path, for example:
C:\D\S4
for source code and forC:\D\S4D
build directory are known to work.- Because Windows doesn't support file path longer than 260 characters and has a maximum command line length, it is strongly recommended to choose a build directory that is no longer than 10 characters. If a longer path is used then build may or may not succeed.
- You cannot use the same build tree for both release or debug mode builds. If both build types are needed, then the same source directory can be used, but a separate build directory should be created and configured for each build type.
- Select your compiler: Visual Studio 16 2019 Win64
- Do not configure yet.
- Add
Qt5_DIR
variable pointing to Qt5 folder such asC:\Qt\5.15.0\msvc2019_64\lib\cmake\Qt5
: click Add entry button, set Name to Qt5_DIR, Type to PATH, and Value to the Qt5 folder. - Configure
- Click generate then close cmake-gui.
- If building in release mode:
- Open the top-level Slicer.sln file in the build directory in Visual Studio
- Set active configuration to Release. Visual Studio will select Debug build configuration by default when you first open the solution in the Visual Studio GUI. If you build Slicer in release mode and accidentally forget to switch the build configuration to Release then the build will fail. Note: you can avoid this manual configuration mode selection by setting
CMAKE_CONFIGURATION_TYPES
toRelease
in cmake-gui.
- If building in debug mode:
- Start Visual Studio using the Slicer launcher as described in Step-by-step debug instuctions
- Build the ALL_BUILD project
Alternative option: Configure and build using command-line or batch file
Instead of using CMake (cmake-gui), it is also possible to configure by creating a .bat file that contains command-line instructions and run this .bat file each time a Slicer needs to be re-built. The examples below assume Slicer source code is in C:\D\S4
folder and Qt-5.10 is installed in default location.
Visual Studio 2015 in Release mode:
mkdir C:\D\S4R cd /d C:\D\S4R "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" -G "Visual Studio 16 2019 Win64" -DQt5_DIR:PATH=C:\Qt\5.15.0\msvc2019_64\lib\cmake\Qt5 C:\D\S4 "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" --build . --config Release
Visual Studio 2015 in Debug mode:
mkdir C:\D\S4D cd /d C:\D\S4D "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" -G "Visual Studio 16 2019 Win64" -DQt5_DIR:PATH=C:\Qt\5.15.0\msvc2019_64\lib\cmake\Qt5 C:\D\S4 "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" --build . --config Debug
Visual Studio 2019 with VS2015 toolset in Release mode:
mkdir C:\D\S4R cd /d C:\D\S4R "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" -G "Visual Studio 16 2019 Win64" -T "v140" -DQt5_DIR:PATH=C:\Qt\5.10.0\msvc2015_64\lib\cmake\Qt5 C:\D\S4 "C:\Program Files\CMake\bin\cmake.exe" --build . --config Release
Unix-like
- Recommended:
- Configure using the following commands. By default CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE is set to Debug.
mkdir Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug cd Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE:STRING=Debug -DQt5_DIR:PATH=/path/to/Qt5.15.0/5.15.0/gcc_64/lib/cmake/Qt5 ../Slicer
where you replace /path/to/QtSDK with the real path on your machine where QtSDK is located
If using Qt from the system, do not forget to add the following CMake variable to your configuration command line:
-DSlicer_USE_SYSTEM_QT:BOOL=1
- Remarks:
- Instead of
cmake
, you can useccmake
orcmake-gui
to visually inspect and edit configure options. - Using top-level directory name like
Slicer-SuperBuild-Release
orSlicer-SuperBuild-Debug
is recommended. - Step-by-step debug instuctions
- On Mac OS X 10.9 (Mavericks) / 10.10 (Yosemite) / 10.11 (El Capitan), also set the following variables (see discussion):
Variable | Description |
Slicer_USE_PYTHONQT_WITH_TCL | OFF |
CMAKE_OSX_DEPLOYMENT_TARGET | 10.9 or 10.10 or 10.11 |
General information
Two projects are generated by either cmake
, ccmake
or cmake-gui
.
One of them is in the top-level bin directory Slicer-SuperBuild
and the other one is in the subdirectory Slicer-build
:
Slicer-SuperBuild/Slicer-build
- The first project in
Slicer-SuperBuild
manages all the external dependencies of Slicer (VTK, ITK, Python, ...). To build Slicer for the first time, run make (or build the solution file in Visual Studio) inSlicer-SuperBuild
, which will update and build the external libraries and if successful will then build the subproject Slicer-build. - The second project in
Slicer-SuperBuild/Slicer-build
is the "traditional" build directory of Slicer. After local changes in Slicer (or after an svn update on the source directory of Slicer), only running make (or building the solution file in Visual Studio) inSlicer-SuperBuild/Slicer-build
is necessary (the external libraries are considered built and up to date). - Warning: An significant amount of disk space is required to compile Slicer in Debug (>10GB on Windows)
Workaround for if the firewall is blocking git protocol
- Some firewalls will block the git protocol. A possible workaround is to configure Slicer by disabling the option
Slicer_USE_GIT_PROTOCOL
. Then the http protocol will be used instead. Consider also reading https://github.com/commontk/CTK/issues/33
BUILD Slicer
After configuration, start the build process in the Slicer-SuperBuild
directory
Linux or MacOSX (Makefile) | Windows (Visual Studio) |
---|---|
Start a terminal. $ cd ~/Projects/Slicer-SuperBuild $ make -j<NUMBEROFCORES> In case of file download hash mismatch error, you need to acquire the latest wget, and build cmake with OpenSSL turned on. For more information, see here and here When using the -j option, the build will continue past the source of the first error. If the build fails and you don't see what failed, rebuild without the -j option. Or, to speed up this process build first with the -j and -k options and then run plain make. The -k option will make the build keep going so that any code that can be compiled independent of the error will be completed and the second make will reach the error condition more efficiently. |
Start Windows Explorer. Need help?
If you make local changes to Slicer, open the solution file located in the directory |
RUN Slicer
Linux or MacOSX | Windows |
---|---|
Start a terminal. $ Slicer-SuperBuild/Slicer-build/Slicer |
Start Windows Explorer. Need help?
|
Notes:
- Linux Ubuntu: if you have odd rendering artifacts, try disabling visual effects (System/Appearance/Visual Effects)
- Windows: If build was OK, but it Slicer doesn't start (gives the error: [bin/Release/SlicerQT-real.exe] exit abnormally - Report the problem.) then one possible root cause is that you have a copy of Python26.dll in your windows system directory (e.g., c:\Windows\System32\python26.dll). The solution is to rename or remove the python dll in the system directory. See more details here: http://www.na-mic.org/Bug/view.php?id=1180
PACKAGE Slicer
Linux or MacOSX (Makefile) | Windows (Visual Studio) |
---|---|
Start a terminal. $ cd ~/Projects/Slicer-SuperBuild $ cd Slicer-build $ make package |
Start Windows Explorer. Need help?
|
Common errors
CMake complains during configuration
CMake may not directly show what's wrong; try to look for log files of the form BUILD/CMakeFiles/*.log (where BUILD is your build directory) to glean further information.
A tool returned an error code from "Generating vtksysProcessFwd9xEnc.c"
The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail. Project : error PRJ0019: A tool returned an error code from "Generating vtksysProcessFwd9xEnc.c"
Install SP1 of Visual Studio
error: ‘class QList<QString>’ has no member named ‘reserve’
/nfs/Users/blowekamp/QtSDK/Desktop/Qt/474/gcc/include/QtCore/qdatastream.h: In function ‘QDataStream& operator>>(QDataStream&, QList<T>&) [with T = QString]’: /nfs/Users/blowekamp/QtSDK/Desktop/Qt/474/gcc/include/QtCore/qstringlist.h:247: instantiated from here /nfs/Users/blowekamp/QtSDK/Desktop/Qt/474/gcc/include/QtCore/qdatastream.h:246: error: ‘class QList<QString>’ has no member named ‘reserve’
You have multiple Qt versions installed on your machine. Try removing the Qt version installed on the system.
libarchive.so: undefined reference to `SHA256_Update'
Linking CXX executable ../../../../../bin/MRMLLogicCxxTests /home/benjaminlong/work/slicer/Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug/LibArchive-install/lib/libarchive.so: undefined reference to `SHA256_Update' /home/benjaminlong/work/slicer/Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug/LibArchive-install/lib/libarchive.so: undefined reference to `SHA256_Final' /home/benjaminlong/work/slicer/Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug/LibArchive-install/lib/libarchive.so: undefined reference to `SHA256_Init' /home/benjaminlong/work/slicer/Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug/LibArchive-install/lib/libarchive.so: undefined reference to `MD5_Init'
Solution:
cd Slicer-SuperBuild rm -rf LibArchive-* make -j4
Details:
- http://na-mic.org/Mantis/view.php?id=1616
- http://viewvc.slicer.org/viewvc.cgi/Slicer4?view=revision&revision=18923
- http://viewvc.slicer.org/viewvc.cgi/Slicer4?view=revision&revision=18969
A tool returned an error code from "Performing configure step for ..."
CMake has some problems building complex projects on Windows7. See more details in: http://cmake.org/Bug/view.php?id=12957
A fix has been already identified and soon will be available in an official CMake release (probably 2.8.8). Until then this unofficial version can be used (based on CMake-2.8.7): https://qshare.queensu.ca/Users01/lasso/public/cmake-2.8.7.12957-win32-x86.exe.
This issue has been fixed by commit 4fbdce2b included in CMake >= 2.8.8. Download CMake version recommended in the Prequisites
A tool returned an error code from "Performing download step (git clone) for ..."
CMake has problems cloning git repositories on Windows7. See more details in http://cmake.org/Bug/view.php?id=12564
If you think the described problem is the same as you have, please add your specific error message to the bug report (the more people report the problem the sooner it will be fixed).
No rule to make target `/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libGL.so'
See http://techtidings.blogspot.com/2012/01/problem-with-libglso-on-64-bit-ubuntu.html
X11 Window errors at start time
X Error: BadWindow (invalid Window parameter) 3 Extension: 137 (Uknown extension) Minor opcode: 4 (Unknown request) Resource id: 0x4200199 X Error: BadWindow (invalid Window parameter) 3 Extension: 137 (Uknown extension) Minor opcode: 4 (Unknown request) Resource id: 0x42001a6 X Error: BadWindow (invalid Window parameter) 3 Extension: 137 (Uknown extension) Minor opcode: 4 (Unknown request) Resource id: 0x42001b3
Solution:
- Reinstall Nvidia drivers (that also rewrite the xorg.conf file).
error C2061: syntax error : identifier 'ssize_t'
4>1>Compiling... 4>1>version.c 4>1>c:\chene\winbin64\slicer4\cmcurl\urldata.h(585) : error C2061: syntax error : identifier 'ssize_t' 4>1>c:\chene\winbin64\slicer4\cmcurl\urldata.h(593) : error C2365: 'fread' : redefinition; previous definition was 'function' 4>1> C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 9.0\VC\include\stdio.h(248) : see declaration of 'fread' 4>1>c:\chene\winbin64\slicer4\cmcurl\urldata.h(610) : error C2059: syntax error : '}'
Solution:
ld: framework not found QtWebKit
[...] Linking CXX shared library libPythonQt.dylib ld: framework not found QtWebKit clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation) make[8]: *** [libPythonQt.dylib] Error 1 [...]
See Slicer issue #2860
Workaround:
Solution:
- Use a recent nightly build of CMake. It includes patch cc676c3a. Note also that the coming version of CMake 2.8.11 will work as expected.
On MacOSX 10.8, CMake hangs forever
Issue: http://www.na-mic.org/Bug/view.php?id=2957
Solution: Use CMake build >= 2.8.10.20130220-g53b279. See http://www.cmake.org/files/dev/cmake-2.8.10.20130220-g53b279-Darwin-universal.tar.gz
Details:
CMake folks (Thanks Brad King :)) fixed an issue that was preventing the most recent nightly from being used to successfully compile Slicer. The fix has been tested and is known to work. Tomorrow nightly build of CMake and by extension the coming release of CMake 2.8.11 will work.
If you are curious about the details, check the commit message:
http://cmake.org/gitweb?p=cmake.git;a=commitdiff;h=1df09e57 [^]
The associated CMake test have also been updated:
http://cmake.org/gitweb?p=cmake.git;a=commitdiff;h=bff3d9ce [^]
svn: E175002: Unable to connect to a repository at URL XXX
Issue: Cisco AnyConnect is installed with the "Web Security" option checked (default), which blocks Subversion checkouts even when inactive!
Solution: Uninstall and reinstall Cisco AnyConnect, deselecting the "Web Security" feature during install
Quick Build on Debian
sudo aptitude update sudo aptitude install subversion git gcc g++ make cmake-curses-gui libqt4-dev svn co http://svn.slicer.org/Slicer4/trunk Slicer mkdir Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug cd Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug cmake ../Slicer make -j5 # runtime dependency: sudo aptitude install python-tk
Quick Build on Fedora 20
Thanks to Bill Lorensen, you will find below the instruction to quickly build Slicer on Fedora 20:
yum groupinstall "C Development Tools" yum install git-core yum install svn yum install libX11-devel yum install libXt-devel yum install mesa-libGL-devel yum install mesa-libGLU-devel yum install cmake yum install tcl-devel yum install python-devel yum install qt-devel yum install qt-webkit-devel
svn co http://svn.slicer.org/Slicer4/trunk Slicer mkdir Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug cd Slicer-SuperBuild-Debug cmake ../Slicer make -j5
Reference: http://slicer-devel.65872.n3.nabble.com/Fedora-20-Slicer-Experience-tt4030845.html