Open CASCADE Technology  7.8.0
Build 3rd-parties

Table of Contents

On Windows, the easiest way to install third-party libraries is to download archive with pre-built binaries from https://dev.opencascade.org/resources/download/3rd-party-components. On Linux and macOS, it is recommended to use the version installed in the system natively.

Windows

This section presents guidelines for building third-party products used by Open CASCADE Technology (OCCT) and samples on Windows platform. It is assumed that you are already familiar with MS Visual Studio / Visual C++.

You need to use the same version of MS Visual Studio for building all third-party products and OCCT itself, in order to receive a consistent set of runtime binaries.

It is recommended to create a separate new folder on your workstation, where you will unpack the downloaded archives of the third-party products, and where you will build these products (for example, c:/occ3rdparty). Further in this document, this folder is referred to as 3rdparty.

Tcl/Tk

Tcl/Tk is required for DRAW test harness.

Installation from sources: Tcl

Download the necessary archive from https://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/download.html and unpack it.

  1. In the win sub-directory, edit file buildall.vc.bat:

    • Edit the line "call ... vcvars32.bat" to have correct path to the version of Visual Studio to be used for building, for instance: 

      call "%VS80COMNTOOLS%\vsvars32.bat"

      If you are building 64-bit version, set environment accordingly, e.g.: 

      call "%VS80COMNTOOLS%\..\..\VC\vcvarsall.bat" amd64
    • Define variable INSTALLDIR pointing to directory where Tcl/Tk will be installed, e.g.: 
      set INSTALLDIR=D:\OCCT\3rdparty\tcltk-86-32
    • Add option install to the first command line calling nmake: 
      nmake -nologo -f makefile.vc release htmlhelp install %1
    • Remove second call to nmake (building statically linked executable)

  2. Edit file rules.vc replacing line 

    SUFX     = tsgx

    by 

    SUFX     = sgx

    This is to avoid extra prefix 't' in the library name, which is not recognized by default by OCCT build tools.

  3. By default, Tcl uses dynamic version of run-time library (MSVCRT), which must be installed on the system where Tcl will be used. You may wish to link Tcl library with static version of run-time to avoid this dependency. For that:
    • Edit file makefile.vc replacing strings "crt = -MD" by "crt = -MT"
    • Edit source file tclMain.c (located in folder generic) commenting out forward declaration of function isatty().
  4. In the command prompt, run buildall.vc.bat
    You might need to run this script twice to have tclsh executable installed; check subfolder bin of specified installation path to verify this.
  5. For convenience of use, we recommend making a copy of tclsh executable created in subfolder bin of INSTALLDIR and named with Tcl version number suffix, as tclsh.exe (with no suffix) 
    > cd D:\OCCT\3rdparty\tcltk-86-32\bin
> cp tclsh86.exe tclsh.exe

Installation from sources: Tk

Download the necessary archive from https://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/download.html and unpack it. Apply the same steps as described for building Tcl above, with the same INSTALLDIR. Note that Tk produces its own executable, called wish.

You might need to edit default value of TCLDIR variable defined in buildall.vc.bat (should be not necessary if you unpack both Tcl and Tk sources in the same folder).

FreeType

FreeType is required for text display in a 3D viewer. You can download its sources from https://freetype.org/

  1. Unpack the downloaded archive of FreeType product into the 3rdparty folder. As a result, you will get a folder named, for example, 3rdparty/freetype-2.4.10. Further in this document, this folder is referred to as freetype.
  2. Open the solution file freetype/builds/win32/vc20xx/freetype.sln in Visual Studio. Here vc20xx stands for your version of Visual Studio.
  3. Select the configuration to build: either Debug or Release.
  4. Build the freetype project.
    As a result, you will get a freetype import library (.lib) in the freetype/obj/win32/vc20xx folder.

  5. If you build FreeType for a 64 bit platform, select in the main menu Build - Configuration Manager and add x64 platform to the solution configuration by copying the settings from Win32 platform:

    Update the value of the Output File for x64 configuration:

    Build the freetype project.
    As a result, you will obtain a 64 bit import library (.lib) file in the freetype/x64/vc20xx folder. To build FreeType as a dynamic library (.dll) follow steps 6, 7 and 8 of this procedure.

  6. Open menu Project-> Properties-> Configuration Properties-> General and change option Configuration Type to Dynamic Library (.dll).
  7. Edit file freetype/include/freetype/config/ftoption.h:
    in line 255, uncomment the definition of macro FT_EXPORT and change it as follows: 
    #define FT_EXPORT(x)   __declspec(dllexport) x

  8. Build the freetype project.
    As a result, you will obtain the files of the import library (.lib) and the dynamic library (.dll) in folders freetype/objs/release or freetype/objs/debug. If you build for a 64 bit platform, follow step 5 of the procedure.

    To facilitate the use of FreeType libraries in OCCT with minimal adjustment of build procedures, it is recommended to copy the include files and libraries of FreeType into a separate folder, named according to the pattern freetype-compiler-bitness-building mode, where:

    • compiler is vc8 or vc9 or vc10 or vc11;
    • bitness is 32 or 64;
    • building mode is opt (for Release) or deb (for Debug).

    The include subfolder should be copied as is, while libraries should be renamed to freetype.lib and freetype.dll (suffixes removed) and placed to subdirectories lib and bin, respectively. If the Debug configuration is built, the Debug libraries should be put into subdirectories libd and bind.

TBB

This third-party product is installed with binaries from the archive that can be downloaded from https://github.com/oneapi-src/oneTBB/releases/tag/v2021.5.0. Go to the Download page, find the release version you need (e.g. oneTBB 2021.5.0) and pick the archive for Windows platform. To install, unpack the downloaded archive of TBB product (oneapi-tbb-2021.5.0-win.zip)

Unpack the downloaded archive of TBB product into the 3rdparty folder.

Further in this document, this folder is referred to as tbb.

FreeImage

This third-party product should be built as a dynamically loadable library (.dll file). You can download its sources from https://sourceforge.net/projects/freeimage/files/Source%20Distribution/

  1. Unpack the downloaded archive of FreeImage product into 3rdparty folder.
    As a result, you should have a folder named 3rdparty/FreeImage. Rename it according to the rule: freeimage-platform-compiler-building mode, where

    • platform is win32 or win64;
    • compiler is vc8 or vc9 or vc10 or vc11;
    • building mode is opt (for release) or deb (for debug)

    Further in this document, this folder is referred to as freeimage.

  2. Open the solution file freeimage/FreeImage.*.sln in your Visual Studio.
    If you use a Visual Studio version higher than VC++ 2008, apply conversion of the workspace. Such conversion should be suggested automatically by Visual Studio.

  3. Select a configuration to build.

    • Choose Release if you are building Release binaries.
    • Choose Debug if you are building Debug binaries.

    Note:

    If you want to build a debug version of FreeImage binaries then you need to rename the following files in FreeImage projects:

    Project -> Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Linker -> General -> Output File 

    FreeImage*d*.dll  to FreeImage.dll

    Project -> Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Linker -> Debugging-> Generate Program Database File 

    FreeImage*d*.pdb  to FreeImage.pdb

    Project -> Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Linker -> Advanced-Import Library 

    FreeImage*d*.lib  to FreeImage.lib

    Project -> Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Build Events -> Post -> Build Event -> Command Line 

    FreeImage*d*.dll     to FreeImage.dll
FreeImage*d*.lib     to FreeImage.lib

    Additionally, rename in project FreeImagePlus

    Project -> Properties -> Configuration Properties -> Linker -> Input -> Additional Dependencies 

    from FreeImage*d*.lib to FreeImage.lib
  4. Select a platform to build.
    • Choose Win32 if you are building for a 32 bit platform.
    • Choose x64 if you are building for a 64 bit platform.
  5. Start the building process.
    As a result, you should have the library files of FreeImage product in freeimage/Dist folder (FreeImage.dll and FreeImage.lib).

VTK

VTK Integration Services component provides adaptation functionality for visualization of OCCT topological shapes by means of VTK library.

  1. Download the necessary archive from https://www.vtk.org/VTK/resources/software.html and unpack it into 3rdparty folder.
    As a result, you will get a folder named, for example, 3rdparty/VTK-6.1.0. Further in this document, this folder is referred to as VTK.
  2. Use CMake to generate VS projects for building the library:
    • Start CMake-GUI and select VTK folder as source path, and the folder of your choice for VS project and intermediate build data.
    • Click Configure.
    • Select the VS version to be used from the ones you have installed (we recommend using VS 2015) and the architecture (32 or 64-bit).
    • Generate VS projects with default CMake options. The open solution VTK.sln will be generated in the build folder.
  3. Build project VTK in Release mode.

Linux

This section presents additional guidelines for building third-party products used by Open CASCADE Technology and samples on Linux platform.

Installation From Official Repositories

Debian-based distributives

All 3rd-party products required for building of OCCT could be installed from official repositories. You may install them from console using apt-get utility: 

sudo apt-get install tcllib tklib tcl-dev tk-dev libfreetype-dev libx11-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libfreeimage-dev
sudo apt-get install rapidjson-dev libdraco-dev

Building is possible with C++ compliant compiler: 

sudo apt-get install g++

Tcl/Tk

Tcl/Tk is required for DRAW test harness.

Installation from sources: Tcl

Download the necessary archive from https://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/download.html and unpack it.

  1. Enter the unix sub-directory of the directory where the Tcl source files are located (TCL_SRC_DIR). 
    cd TCL_SRC_DIR/unix

  2. Run the configure command: 

    configure --enable-gcc  --enable-shared --enable-threads --prefix=TCL_INSTALL_DIR

    For a 64 bit platform also add --enable-64bit option to the command line.

  3. If the configure command has finished successfully, start the building process: 
    make
  4. If building is finished successfully, start the installation of Tcl. All binary and service files of the product will be copied to the directory defined by TCL_INSTALL_DIR 
    make install

Installation from sources: Tk

Download the necessary archive from https://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/download.html and unpack it.

  1. Enter the unix sub-directory of the directory where the Tk source files are located (TK_SRC_DIR) 
    cd TK_SRC_DIR/unix

  2. Run the configure command, where TCL_LIB_DIR is TCL_INSTALL_DIR/lib. 

    configure --enable-gcc  --enable-shared --enable-threads --with-tcl=TCL_LIB_DIR  --prefix=TK_INSTALL_DIR

    For a 64 bit platform also add --enable-64bit option to the command line.

  3. If the configure command has finished successfully, start the building process: 
    make
  4. If the building has finished successfully, start the installation of Tk. All binary and service files of the product will be copied to the directory defined by TK_INSTALL_DIR (usually it is TCL_INSTALL_DIR) 
    make install

FreeType

FreeType is required for text display in the 3D viewer. Download the necessary archive from https://freetype.org/ and unpack it.

  1. Enter the directory where the source files of FreeType are located (FREETYPE_SRC_DIR). 
    cd FREETYPE_SRC_DIR

  2. Run the configure command: 

    configure  --prefix=FREETYPE_INSTALL_DIR

    For a 64 bit platform also add ‘CFLAGS=’-m64 -fPIC' CPPFLAGS='-m64 -fPIC'` option to the command line.

  3. If the configure command has finished successfully, start the building process: 
    make
  4. If the building has finished successfully, start the installation of FreeType. All binary and service files of the product will be copied to the directory defined by FREETYPE_INSTALL_DIR 
    make install

TBB

This third-party product is installed with binaries from the archive that can be downloaded from https://github.com/oneapi-src/oneTBB/releases/tag/v2021.5.0. Go to the Download page, find the release version you need (e.g. oneTBB 2021.5.0) and pick the archive for Linux platform. To install, unpack the downloaded archive of TBB product (oneapi-tbb-2021.5.0-lin.tgz).

FreeImage

Download the necessary archive from https://sourceforge.net/projects/freeimage/files/Source%20Distribution/ and unpack it. The directory with unpacked sources is further referred to as FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR.

  1. Modify FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR/Source/OpenEXR/Imath/ImathMatrix.h:
    In line 60 insert the following: 
    #include string.h
  2. Enter the directory where the source files of FreeImage are located (FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR). 
    cd FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR
  3. Run the building process 
    make

  4. Run the installation process

    a. If you have the permission to write into directories /usr/include and /usr/lib, run the following command: 

       make install

    b. If you do not have this permission, you need to modify file FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR/Makefile.gnu:

    Change lines 7-9 from: 

    DESTDIR ?= /
INCDIR  ?= $(DESTDIR)/usr/include
INSTALLDIR  ?= $(DESTDIR)/usr/lib

    to: 

    DESTDIR  ?= $(DESTDIR)
INCDIR  ?= $(DESTDIR)/include
INSTALLDIR  ?= $(DESTDIR)/lib

    Change lines 65-67 from: 

    install  -m 644 -o root -g root $(HEADER) $(INCDIR)
install  -m 644 -o root -g root $(STATICLIB) $(INSTALLDIR)
install  -m 755 -o root -g root $(SHAREDLIB) $(INSTALLDIR)

    to: 

    install  -m 755 $(HEADER) $(INCDIR)
install  -m 755 $(STATICLIB) $(INSTALLDIR)
install  -m 755 $(SHAREDLIB) $(INSTALLDIR)

    Change line 70 from: 

    ldconfig

    to: 

    \#ldconfig

    Then run the installation process by the following command: 

     make DESTDIR=FREEIMAGE_INSTALL_DIR  install
  5. Clean temporary files 
     make clean

VTK

Download the necessary archive from https://www.vtk.org/VTK/resources/software.html and unpack it.

  1. Install or build cmake product from the source file.
  2. Start cmake in GUI mode with the directory where the source files of VTK are located: 
    ccmake VTK_SRC_DIR
    • Press [c] to make the initial configuration
    • Define the necessary options in VTK_INSTALL_PREFIX
    • Press [c] to make the final configuration
    • Press [g] to generate Makefile and exit
  3. Start the building of VTK: 
    make
  4. Start the installation of VTK. Binaries will be installed according to the VTK_INSTALL_PREFIX option. 
    make install

Mac OS X

This section presents additional guidelines for building third-party products used by Open CASCADE Technology and samples on Mac OS X platform (10.6.4 and later).

Tcl/Tk

Tcl/Tk is required for DRAW test harness.

Installation from sources: Tcl

Download the necessary archive from https://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/download.html and unpack it.

  1. Enter the macosx sub-directory of the directory where the Tcl source files are located (TCL_SRC_DIR). 
    cd TCL_SRC_DIR/macosx

  2. Run the configure command 

    configure --enable-gcc  --enable-shared --enable-threads --prefix=TCL_INSTALL_DIR

    For a 64 bit platform also add --enable-64bit option to the command line.

  3. If the configure command has finished successfully, start the building process 
    make
  4. If building is finished successfully, start the installation of Tcl. All binary and service files of the product will be copied to the directory defined by TCL_INSTALL_DIR. 
    make install

Installation from sources: Tk

Download the necessary archive from https://www.tcl.tk/software/tcltk/download.html and unpack it.

  1. Enter the macosx sub-directory of the directory where the source files of Tk are located (TK_SRC_DIR). 
    cd TK_SRC_DIR/macosx

  2. Run the configure command, where TCL_LIB_DIR is TCL_INSTALL_DIR/lib 

    configure --enable-gcc --enable-shared --enable-threads --with-tcl=TCL_LIB_DIR --prefix=TK_INSTALL_DIR

    For a 64 bit platform also add --enable-64bit option to the command line.

  3. If the configure command has finished successfully, start the building process: 
    make
  4. If the building has finished successfully, start the installation of Tk. All binary and service files of the product will be copied to the directory defined by TK_INSTALL_DIR (usually it is TCL_INSTALL_DIR). 
    make install

FreeType

FreeType is required for text display in the 3D viewer. Download the necessary archive from https://freetype.org/ and unpack it.

  1. Enter the directory where the source files of FreeType are located (FREETYPE_SRC_DIR). 
    cd FREETYPE_SRC_DIR

  2. Run the configure command 

    configure  --prefix=FREETYPE_INSTALL_DIR

    For a 64 bit platform also add ‘CFLAGS=’-m64 -fPIC' CPPFLAGS='-m64 -fPIC'` option to the command line.

  3. If the configure command has finished successfully, start the building process 
    make
  4. If building has finished successfully, start the installation of FreeType. All binary and service files of the product will be copied to the directory defined by FREETYPE_INSTALL_DIR. 
    make install

TBB

This third-party product is installed with binaries from the archive that can be downloaded from https://github.com/oneapi-src/oneTBB/releases/tag/v2021.5.0. Go to the Download page, find the release version you need (e.g. oneTBB 2021.5.0) and pick the archive for Mac OS X platform. To install, unpack the downloaded archive of TBB product (oneapi-tbb-2021.5.0-mac.tgz).

FreeImage

Download the necessary archive from https://sourceforge.net/projects/freeimage/files/Source%20Distribution/ and unpack it. The directory with unpacked sources is further referred to as FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR.

Note that for building FreeImage on Mac OS X 10.7 you should replace Makefile.osx in FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR by the corrected file, which you can find in attachment to issue #22811 in OCCT Mantis bug tracker.

  1. If you build FreeImage 3.15.x you can skip this step.

    Modify FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR/Source/OpenEXR/Imath/ImathMatrix.h:
    In line 60 insert the following: 

    #include string.h

    Modify FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR/Source/FreeImage/PluginTARGA.cpp:
    In line 320 replace: 

    SwapShort(value);

    with: 

    SwapShort(&value);
  2. Enter the directory where the source files of FreeImage are located (FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR). 
    cd FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR
  3. Run the building process 
    make
  4. Run the installation process
    1. If you have the permission to write into /usr/local/include and /usr/local/lib directories, run the following command: 
      make install

    2. If you do not have this permission, you need to modify file FREEIMAGE_SRC_DIR/Makefile.osx:
      Change line 49 from: 

      PREFIX ?= /usr/local

      to: 

      PREFIX  ?= $(PREFIX)

        Change lines 65-69 from: 

        install -d -m 755 -o  root -g wheel $(INCDIR) $(INSTALLDIR)
  install  -m 644 -o root -g wheel $(HEADER) $(INCDIR)
  install  -m 644 -o root -g wheel $(SHAREDLIB) $(STATICLIB) $(INSTALLDIR)
  ranlib  -sf $(INSTALLDIR)/$(STATICLIB)
  ln  -sf $(SHAREDLIB) $(INSTALLDIR)/$(LIBNAME)

      to: 

      install  -d $(INCDIR) $(INSTALLDIR)
install  -m 755 $(HEADER) $(INCDIR)
install  -m 755 $(STATICLIB) $(INSTALLDIR)
install  -m 755 $(SHAREDLIB) $(INSTALLDIR)
ln  -sf $(SHAREDLIB) $(INSTALLDIR)/$(VERLIBNAME)
ln  -sf $(VERLIBNAME) $(INSTALLDIR)/$(LIBNAME)

      Then run the installation process by the following command: 

      make PREFIX=FREEIMAGE_INSTALL_DIR  install
  5. Clean temporary files 
    make clean