Building from Source

This guide covers how to build Blaze from source on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

Prerequisites

Install the required dependencies:

CMake (build system)
GDAL (Geospatial Data Abstraction Library)
Qt6 (GUI framework)
OpenMP (parallel processing)

which on Ubuntu can all be installed with the script

./scripts/install-ubuntu-deps.sh

Building from Source

1. Configure the build:

cmake -B build

2. Compile:

cmake --build build --config Release -j$(nproc)

Or use the provided build script:

./scripts/linux-build.sh

3. Install (optional):

sudo cmake --install build

The following executables will be available in the build directory:

blaze-cli - Command-line interface
Blaze - Desktop GUI application (WIP)
Blaze3D - 3D visualization application (very WIP)

macOS

Prerequisites

Install the required dependencies using Homebrew:

./scripts/install-macos-deps.sh

This installs: CMake, Ninja, ccache, GDAL, Qt6, libomp, OpenBLAS, and LAPACK. Homebrew will be installed automatically if it is not already present.

Building from Source

1. Configure and compile:

Use the provided build script:

./scripts/macos-build.sh

Or manually:

LIBOMP=$(brew --prefix libomp)
cmake -B build \
    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    "-DOpenMP_CXX_FLAGS=-Xpreprocessor -fopenmp -I${LIBOMP}/include" \
    "-DOpenMP_CXX_LIB_NAMES=omp" \
    "-DOpenMP_omp_LIBRARY=${LIBOMP}/lib/libomp.dylib" \
    "-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$(brew --prefix qt@6)"
cmake --build build --parallel

For a CLI-only build (no GUI):

./scripts/macos-build.sh -DBLAZE_CLI_ONLY=ON

2. Install (optional):

sudo cmake --install build

The following executables will be available in the build directory:

blaze-cli - Command-line interface
Blaze.app - Desktop GUI application (WIP)
Blaze3D.app - 3D visualization application (very WIP)

Windows

Prerequisites

Option 1: Using vcpkg (Recommended)

Blaze uses vcpkg for dependency management on Windows. The build system will automatically fetch, configure, and build dependencies but this can take several hours.

Option 2: Manual Installation

Install dependencies using Chocolatey:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Scope Process
.\scripts\install-deps-windows.ps1

This script installs:

CMake
Git
GDAL

Note: You may need to run PowerShell as Administrator.

Building from Source

1. Configure the build:

cmake -B build

For CLI-only build (without GUI):

cmake -B build -DBLAZE_CLI_ONLY=ON

To disable vcpkg and use system packages:

cmake -B build -DBLAZE_USE_VCPKG=OFF

2. Compile:

cmake --build build --config Release --parallel

3. Install (optional):

cmake --install build --config Release

The executables will be available in the build directory:

blaze-cli.exe - Command-line interface
Blaze.exe - Desktop GUI application
Blaze3D.exe - 3D visualization application

Windows Installer

A Windows installer (NSIS) can be created using CPack:

cd build
cpack -C Release -G NSIS

Speeding up Builds (vcpkg Caching)

Blaze supports binary caching via GitHub Packages. This allows you to download pre-compiled dependencies instead of building them locally.

Install NuGet CLI: If you don't have it already, install it via Chocolatey (run as Administrator):
```
choco install nuget.commandline
```
Generate a Personal Access Token (PAT): Go to GitHub Settings > Developer settings > Personal access tokens (classic) and create a token with read:packages (and write:packages if you want to contribute binaries) scope.

Add the NuGet source:

nuget sources add -Name "GitHub" `
  -Source "https://nuget.pkg.github.com/Trailblaze-Software/index.json" `
  -UserName "YOUR_GITHUB_USERNAME" `
  -Password "YOUR_PAT"

Enable the cache: Set the following environment variable before running CMake:
```
$env:VCPKG_BINARY_SOURCES="clear;nuget,GitHub,readwrite"
```