Building mwp (Generic)#

Overview#

The mwptools suite is built using the meson and ninja toolchain. For most users these will be automatically provided by a build-essentials type of package transparently to the user.

Prior to late May 2021, the build system used a convoluted Makefile.

For Debian and derivatives (Ubuntu, WSL etc.) there is a simple "one stop" installation script, as well as a x86_64 "Release" .deb archive.

For Arch Linux, you can install using the AUR package mwptools-git

Rationale#

In its early days, make was a suitable build tool. As mwptools has gained in features and functionality, this has become un-maintainable. The migration to meson and ninja solves this problem and allows the project structure to be rationalised.

Usage#

Migration#

Please ensure your extant mwptools instance does not have untracked files:

git clean -fd -fx
git pull

First time#

Set up the meson build system from the top level:

meson build --buildtype=release --strip [--prefix $HOME/.local`]

For a user / non-system install, set --prefix $HOME/.local
- This will install the binaries in $HOME/.local/bin, which should be added to $PATH as required.
For a Linux system wide install, set --prefix /usr
For FreeBSD (*BSD), for a system-wide install, don't set --prefix as the default (/usr/local) is suitable

Unless you need a multi-user setup, a local install is preferable, as you don't need sudo to install, and you'll not risk messing up build permissions.

If you're using a really old OS (e.g. Debian 10), you may also need export XDG_DATA_DIRS=/usr/share:$HOME/.local/share for a local install.

Build and update#

cd build
# for a local install (and cygwin)
ninja install
# for system install
ninja && sudo ninja install

Legacy#

For now, some of the legacy Makefiles remain, and can be used similar to before, e.g. :

cd mwptools/src/mwp
make && sudo make install

At some stage, more of the Makefiles will be removed (or just rot into uselessness).

Files built / installed#

Default#

Application	Usage
`bbsummary` [1]	Blackbox log summary
`cliterm`	Interact with the CLI
`fc-get`, `fc-set` [1]	Backup / restore CLI diff
`mwp`	Mission planner, GCS, log relay etc.
`mwp-area-planner`	Survey planner
`mwp-plot-elevations` [2]	Mission elevation / terrain analysis
`qproxy`	Proxy for certain commercial TMS
`inav_states.rb`	Summarise BBL state changes, also installed `inav_states_data.rb`
`fcflash`	FC flashing tool, requires `dfu-util` and / or `stmflash32`

Notes:

fc-set is a hard link to fc-get
This may either be the new Go executable or the legacy, less functional Ruby script.

Optional#

These are only built by explicit target name; they will be installed if built.

# one of more of the following targets
ninja bproxy ublox-geo ublox-cli flashdl
sudo ninja install

Application	Usage
`flashdl`	Download, optionally delete BBL from flash
`bproxy`	Black tile map proxy, for those anonymous needs
`ublox-cli`	Ublox GPS tool
`ublox-geo`	Graphical Ublox GPS tool

Supporting data files#

File	Target	Usage
`src/common/mwp_icon.svg`	`$prefix/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/`	Desktop icon
`src/mwp/org.mwptools.planner.gschema.xml`	`$prefix/share/glib-2.0/schemas/`	Settings schema
`src/mwp/vcols.css`	`$prefix/share/mwp/`	Colours used by battery widget
`src/mwp/default.layout`	`$prefix/share/mwp/`	Default dock layout
`src/mwp/beep-sound.ogg`	`$prefix/share/mwp/`	Alert sound
`src/mwp/bleet.ogg`	`$prefix/share/mwp/`	Alert sound
`src/mwp/menubar.ui`	`$prefix/share/mwp/`	Menu definition
`src/mwp/mwp.ui`	`$prefix/share/mwp/`	UI definition
`src/mwp/orange.ogg`	`$prefix/share/mwp/`	Alert sound
`src/mwp/sat_alert.ogg`	`$prefix/share/mwp/`	Alert sound
`src/mwp/mwp.desktop`	`$prefix/share/applications/`	Desktop launcher
`src/mwp/mwp_complete.sh`	`$prefix/share/bash-completion/completions/`	bash completion for `mwp`
`src/mwp/pixmaps`	`$prefix/share/mwp/pixmaps/`	UI Icons
`src/mwp/blackbox_decode_complete.sh`	`$prefix/share/bash-completion/completions/`	bash completion for `blackbox-decode`
`src/samples/area-tool/mwp_area_icon.svg`	`$prefix/share/icons/hicolor/scalable/apps/`	Desktop icon
`src/samples/area-tool/mwp-area-planner.desktop`	`$prefix/share/applications/`	Desktop launcher
`docs/mwptools.pdf`	`$prefix/share/doc/mwp/`	(Obsolete) manual
`docs/debian-ubuntu-dependencies.txt`	`$prefix/share/doc/mwp/`	Debian / Ubuntu dependencies
`docs/fedora.txt`	`$prefix/share/doc/mwp/`	Fedora dependencies

Troubleshooting and Hints#

Migrate from a system install to a user install#

cd build
sudo ninja uninstall
meson --reconfigure --prefix=$HOME/.local
ninja install

Fixing build permissions#

If you install to system locations, it is possible that sudo ninja install will write as root to some of the install files, and they become non-writable to the normal user.

In the build directory, run sudo chown -R $USER .
Consider migrating to a local install

Easy first-time install on Debian and Ubuntu#

Download the first time build script
Make it executable chmod +x deb-install.sh
Run it ./deb-install.sh Y
Note that the script may ask for a password to install system packages
The resulting executables are in ~/.local/bin. Ensure this exists on $PATH
If you get messages like Removing /home/$USER/.config/mwp/.layout.xml 0 and Failed to save layout, remains in /tmp/.mwp.xxxxxx.xml you also need export XDG_DATA_DIRS=$XDG_DATA_DIRS:$HOME/.local/share; this is fixed in 206efe2 / 4.295.560 of 2021-10-22.

Help!!!! You've installed a new version but you still get the old one!#

If you used the deb-install.sh script, then it installed everything into $HOME/.local/bin (and other folders under ~/.local). This is nice because:

mwp does not pollute the system directories;
you don't need sudo to install it.

Linux (like most other OS) has the concept of a PATH, a list of places where it looks for executable files). You can see this from a terminal:

## a colon separated list
echo $PATH

So check that $HOME/.local/bin is on $PATH; preferably near the front.

If it is, then the problem may be that the older mwp also exists elsewhere on the PATH, and the system will not re-evaluate the possible chain of locations if it previously found the file it wants.

So, maybe you have an old install. You didn't remove it (alas); so the system thinks that mwp is /usr/bin/mwp; in fact it's now $HOME/.local/bin/mwp

If $HOME/.local/bin is on the PATH before /usr/bin, the you have two choices:

# reset the path search
hash -r
# mwp, where art thou? Hopefully now is ~/.local/bin
which mwp
# From **this terminal** executing mwp will run the location reported by `which mwp`

or

Log out, log in. The PATH will be re-evaluated.

If $HOME/.local/bin is not on PATH. then it needs to be added to a login file (.profile, .bashrc, .bash_profile etc.). Modern distros do this for you, however if you've updated an older install you may have to add it yourself.

# set PATH so it includes user's private bin if it exists
if [ -d "$HOME/bin" ] ; then
    PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"
fi

# set PATH so it includes user's private bin if it exists
if [ -d "$HOME/.local/bin" ] ; then
    PATH="$HOME/.local/bin:$PATH"
fi

If an older (perhaps Makefile generated) mwp exists; then you should should remove all evidence of an earlier system install.

find /usr -iname \*mwp\*

review the list and as root, delete the old files. Do similar for blackbox-decode.

If you're content with the list, then (caveat emptor):

sudo find /usr -iname \*mwp\* -delete

You'll still have to remove non-empty directories manually.