Building MPIR with Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 =============================================== 1. A Note On Licensing ====================== Files in this distribution that have been created for use in building MPIR with Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 are provided under the terms of the LGPL v2.1+ license. The MPIR library uses numerous files which are LGPL v3+ and so the overall license of the library distribution is LGPL v3+. 2. Using the Assembler Based Build Projects =========================================== If you wish to use the assembler files you will need VSYASM, a version of YASM x86/x64 assembler tailored specifically for use with Microsoft Visual Studio 2015. You will need a recent revision of YASM from: http://www.tortall.net/projects/yasm/ This assembler (you need vsyasm.exe, NOT yasm.exe) should be placed in the bin directory used by VC++, which, for Visual Stduio 2015, is typically: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 14.0\VC\bin You will need to install Python (version 3) if you wish to use the scripts that automate the generation of MPIR build files for Visual Studio. Python is also needed for running the MPIR tests (although they can be run manually). 3. Compiling MPIR with the Visual Studio C/C++ ============================================== These VC++ build projects are primarily designed to work with Microsoft Visual Studio 2015 Professional. A number of different versions of MPIR are available. There are generic C versions for both win32 and x64 and a number of versions that are optimised for different processors using assembler code. The MPIR distribution has the following preconfigured builds for both static and dynamic libraries: generic C build (win32 and x64) Intel Pentium 3 (p3) (win32) AMD k8 (x64) Intel Core 2 (x64) Intel Nehalem (x64) Intel Sandybridge (x64) However, additional optimised builds are available and can be added by running the Python script mpir_config.py (in mpir\build.vc14) and selecting the builds required from the resulting list: 1. gc 2. p3 (win32) 3. p3_p3mmx (win32) 4. p4 (win32) 5. p4_mmx (win32) 6. p4_sse2 (win32) 7. p6 (win32) 8. p6_mmx (win32) 9. p6_p3mmx (win32) 10. pentium4 (win32) 11. pentium4_mmx (win32) 12. pentium4_sse2 (win32) 13. atom (x64) 14. bobcat (x64) 15. bulldozer (x64) 16. bulldozer_piledriver (x64) 17. core2 (x64) 18. core2_penryn (x64) 19. haswell (x64) 20. k8 (x64) 21. k8_k10 (x64) 22. k8_k10_k102 (x64) 23. nehalem (x64) 24. nehalem_westmere (x64) 25. netburst (x64) 26. sandybridge (x64) 27. sandybridge_ivybridge (x64) Space separated list of builds (1..27, 0 to exit)? Dynamic Link Library (DLL) builds contain both the C and C++ features of MPIR but static linrary builds contain only the C features with the C++ features being provided by a separate library (mpirxx.lib). 4. The Command Line Build ========================= Once the required versions of MPIR have been added to the Visual Studio build as descibed above, MPIR can be built by opening a DOS command window in the directory mpir\build.vc14 and entering the command msbuild processor library_type platform configuration +tests where: processor is the name of the version wanted - this is one of the 27 names listed in section 3 (the selected version must have been added to the Visual Studio solution as described in section 4) library_type LIB or DLL platform win32 or x64 configuration Release or Debug +tests if the command line ends with "+tests" (without the quotes) build the tests after building MPIR For example, in order to build static library version of MPIR for the sandybridge_ivybridge processor (no 27 in the list above) and the tests, the command line is: > msbuild sandybridge_ivybridge lib x64 release +tests The inputs to msbuild are not case sensitive but it is important to use the correct platform (win32 or x64) for the chosen build. The resulting library, the related include files and the debug symbol files are placed in a directory that is determined by the name, library type, platform and confguration: mpir\build.vc14\_mpir_\\ Here (and in what follows) the template indicates that a specific processor build name has to be substituted at this point, while indicates that either a or b has to be chosen. For example, the location of the sandybridge_ivybridge release build static library is: mpir\build.vc14\lib_mpir_sandybridge_ivybridge\x64\Release In similar fashion, the C++ library output is placed in the directory: mpir\build.vc14\lib_mpir_cxx\\ For convenience the last static and DLL libraries built are copied to the respective directories: mpir\lib\\ mpir\dll\\ All the DLLs and static libraries are multi-threaded and are linked to the multi-threaded Microsoft run-time libraries (the MPIR libraries are linked to Microsoft libraries of the same type). If built, the tests are placed in one of the directories: mpir\build.vc14\\ They can be run by executing the Python program run-tests.py in the appropriate Visual Studio build sub-directory: mpir/build.vc14/mpir-tests/run-tests.py 5. The Build Using Visual Studio ================================ The MPIR build in Visual Studio is started by opening the Visual Studio C/C++ solution file 'mpir.sln' in the build.vc14 directory. MPIR is built by selecting one of the build projects provided (which determines the library type - static or dynamic - and the processor architecture) and then setting the platform (win32 or x64) and the configuration (release or debug). Once selected the Viusal Studio build command can be issued to complete the build. The MPIR static library builds only contain the MPIR functions of the C API so the lib_mpir_cxx project has to be built to provide the additional functions for the C++ API (DLL builds contain both the C and C++ functions). The locations of the resulting library outputs are the same as those described above for the commandline build. The default Visual Studio build does not contain all the possible optimised builds. Optimised builds that are not available can be added using the mpir_config.py Python script as described earlier in section 3. 6. The MPIR Libraries ===================== The output locations of the MPIR libraries are described in section 4. As described the static libraries and related files are also copied to the locations: mpir\lib\\ Simlarly when a DLL is built, the resulting DLL, its export libraries and its debug symbol file are copied to: mpir\dll\\ This means that the 'dll' and 'lib' sub-directories respectively contain the last MPIR DLLs and static libraries built. These are convenient library locations that can be used to build MPIR applications. But it is important to remember that these locations always contain the last MPIR (static or dynamic) libraaries built. The MPIR DLL projects include the C++ files. If you want the relevant files excluded from the DLL(s) you build, go to the 'cpp' subdirectory of their build project in the IDE and exclude all the files in this subdirectory from the build process. All the DLLs and static libraries are multi-threaded and are linked to the multi-threaded Microsoft run-time libraries (DLLs are linked to DLL run time libraries and static libraries are linked to run time static libraries). 7. The Tests ============ There is a separate solution for the MPIR tests: mpir-tests.sln. In Visual Studio 2015 this is in build.vc14 folder. To run the tests it is important that both mpir.lib (the C library) and mpirxx.lib (the C++ library) are built prior to building the tests themselves. When an MPIR library is built, the files 'output_params.bat' (in build.vc14) and test-config.props (in buid.vc14\mpir_tests) are created and contain details that are used to set up the tests for the library that has just been built. These details are then used to run the MPIR tests and this means that these tests need to be run immediately after the library to be tested has been built. A different library can be tested by editing 'output_params.bat' and test-config.props but this requires considerable knowledge of the internal mechanisms involved in the build process and is not hence recomended. The tests also use the C++ library functions so for testing MPIR static libraries both the desired version of MPIR and the C++ library must be built before the tests are built and run. This is not necessary for MPIR DLLs as they contain the C++ routines. On multi-processor systems, Visual Studio 13 will typically run several builds in parallel so it is advisable to build add-test-lib first before building the tests. After they have been built the tests can be run using the Python script run-tests.py in the build.vc14\mpir-tests directory. To see the test output the python script should be run in a command window from within these sub-directories: cmd>run-tests.py and the output can be directed to a file: cmd>run-tests.py >out.txt 8. Speed and Tuning =================== The speed and tuning programs are built using the tune.sln solution file and are only available on Windows x64. These applications, which are set up to use the static library versions of MPIR, are not needed to use MPIR. 9. MPIR on Windows x64 ====================== Although Windows x64 is a 64-bit operating system, Microsoft has decided to make long integers 32-bits, which is inconsistent when compared with almost all other 64-bit operating systems. This has caused many subtle bugs when open source code is ported to Windows x64 because many developers reasonably expect to find that long integers on a 64-bit operating system will be 64 bits long. MPIR contains functions with suffixes of _ui and _si that are used to input unsigned and signed integers and convert them for use with MPIR's multiple precision integers (mpz types). For example, the functions: void mpz_set_ui(mpz_t, unsigned long int) void mpz_set_si(mpz_t, signed long int) set an mpz integer from unsigned and signed long integers respectively, and the functions: unsigned long int mpz_get_ui(mpz_t) signed long int mpz_get_ui(mpz_t) obtain unsigned and signed long int values from an MPIR multiple precision integer (mpz). To bring MPIR on Windows x64 into line with other 64-bit operating systems two new types have been introduced throughout MPIR: mpir_ui defined as unsigned long int on all but Windows x64 defined as unsigned long long int on Windows x64 mpir_si defined as signed long int on all but Windows x64 defined as signed long long int on Windows x64 The above prototypes in MPIR 2.6.0+ are changed to: void mpz_set_ui(mpz_t, mpir_ui) void mpz_set_si(mpz_t, mpir_ui) mpir_ui mpz_get_ui(mpz_t) mpir_si mpz_get_si(mpz_t) and these changes are applied to all MPIR functions with _ui and _si suffixes. 10. Using MPIR ============== Applications that use MPIR include the mpir.h header file to provide the prototypes for the functions that MPIR provides. Hence when an MPIR distribution is being used it is important to ensure that the MPIR header file used matches that for the version of MPIR in use. If MPIR is used to build 64 bit applications, it is necessary to ensure that the define _WIN64 is set when the application is built. 10.1. Using the Static Libraries -------------------------------- To build a MPIR C or C++ based application using the the static libraries all that needs to be done is to add the MPIR and/or the MPIR C++ static libraries to the application build process. It is, of course, important to ensure that any libraries that are used have been built for the target platform. 10.2. Using the DLL Export Libraries ------------------------------------ The DLLs built by VC++ use the _cdecl calling convention in which exported symbols have their C names prefixed with an extra '_' character. Some applications expect the _stdcall convention to be used in which there is an underscore prefix and a suffix of '@n' where n is the number of bytes used for the function arguments on the stack. Such applications will need to be modified to work with the MPIR DLLs provided here. The alternative of attempting to build MPIR using the _stdcall convention is not recommended (and won't work with the assembler based builds anyway). This is further complicated if the builds for x64 are used since the conventions here are different again. There are two ways of linking to a DLL. The first way is to use one or more of the DLL export libraries built as described earlier (note that these are not the same as static libraries although they are used in a similar way when an application is built). 10.3. Using the DLL Export Library ---------------------------------- If you intend to use the DLL export libraries in an application you need to: a. define the preprocessor symbol MSC_USE_DLL when the application is built so that the use of a DLL version of the MPIR library is recognised; b. link the application to the mpir.lib library that is in the same directory as the MPIR DLL library that is to be used (this is produced when the DLL is built); c. ensure that the application can locate the MPIR DLL in question when it is run (for example by copying it into the directory where the application exe file is located). 10.4. Using DLL Dynamic loading ------------------------------- The second way of linking to a DLL is to use dynamic loading. This is more complex and will not be discussed here. The VC++ documentation describes how to use DLLs in this way. 10.5. Using MPIR functions that use FILE's as Input or Output ------------------------------------------------------------- In Windows the different C runtime libraries each have their own stream input/output tables, which means that FILE* pointers cannot be passed from one to another. In consequence, if an application that is built with one library attempts to pass FILE parameters to a DLL that is built with another library, the FILE parameters will not be recognised and the program will fail. It is hence important to build a MPIR application using the same run time library as that used to build any DLL that is used - in this case the appropriate version 14 library. 10.6. MPIR Applications that Require _stdcall Functions ------------------------------------------------------- Some applications, for example Visual Basic 6, require that DLL based functions provide a _stdcall interface, whereas the VC++ default for DLLs is _cdecl. To overcome this Jim White intends to make a wrapper DLL available for MPIR that provides a _stdcall interface to the normal _cdecl MPIR DLLs. 10.7. The MPIR Build Process in Outline --------------------------------------- It is not necessary to read this unless you want to change the build process. Prebuild -------- The first step in an MPIR build is managed by the batch file prebuilld.bat which has the following steps: 1. Read the configuration from the IDE input parameters which are the version (e.g. generic, core2, k8, k10, nehalem, p0, p3 or p4). For the generic version there is a second parameter for a win32 build. 2. Set the source directory for the mpn source code and the platform (win32 or x64). 3. Call the batch file gen_mpir_h.bat (described later) to generate mpir.h in the mpir root directory. 4. Call the batch file gen_config_h.bat (described later) to generate config.h in the mpir root directory. 5. use the batch file out_copy_rename to copy the appropriate version of gmp-mparam.h into the mpir root directory. The gen_mpir_h batch file inputs gmp_h.in and searches for @symbol@, replacing those that matter with the appropriate values for the Windows build. The gen_config_h batch file takes lists of symbols in the cfg.h files within the build.vc14/cdata sub-directory and generates HAVE_NATIVE defines from them. The result is then prepended onto cfg.h in the build.vc14 directory and the result is output as config.h into the mpir root directory. The IDE build ------------- At this point the IDE builds the MPIR library. Postbuild --------- After a successful MPIR build a postbuild step is managed by the batch file postbuild.bat which has the following steps: 1. Tne $(TargetPath) parameter (%1 for the batch file) is passed to determine the library type (lib or dll), the platform (win32 or x64), the configuration (release or debug) and the filename. 2. The final output directory is then created in the mpir root directory, mpir\lib or mpir\dll, as appropriate. 3. The file 'output_params.bat' is written describing the MPIR configuration that has been built. This is used to signal the version to be tested by the tests. In the sub-directory mpir-tests, the appropriate property file is copied into test-config.props for later use in the tests. 4. The header files used in the build are then copied into the output directory. 5. The built library files (mpir.dll, mpir.exp, mpir.lib and mpir.pdb for a DLL, mpir.lib and mpir.pdb for a static library) are then copied into the output directory. 11. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ==================== My thanks to: 1. The GMP team for their work on GMP and the MPFR team for their work on MPFR 2. The MPIR team 3. Patrick Pelissier, Vincent Lefèvre and Paul Zimmermann for helping to resolve VC++ issues in MPFR. 4. Jeff Gilchrist for his help in testing, debugging and improving the readme giving the VC++ build instructions Brian Gladman, 15 June 2015.