Get source and compile

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This information is for people who want to work with the source code for the viewer.

Project Snowstorm

This is the latest Viewer 2 code. Viewer 2 code is stored in a Mercurial (hg) repository on bitbucket, an Open Source repository web site. There are many versions there; the ones you are most likely interested in being

• Viewer2 Release
• Viewer2 Beta
• The latest developer test builds

You can browse the source code using an ordinary web browser, download it to your machine, or use Mercurial to manage the process for you.

One of the interesting features of the Viewer-Development branch is that you can literally watch Lindens merging bug fixes and new features into the code before your very eyes.

Another good way to browse the source code, including UML diagrams, is using Doxygen.

Be sure to read Creating a version control repository.

Version Control

Viewer development uses the Mercurial (hg) distributed version control system. To clone the current primary development repository, use:

hg clone http://hg.secondlife.com/viewer-development

For a step-by-step outline of the source control workflow from the initial clone (above) to integration of your change, see Steps To Submit a Change.

Compiling

Per platform instructions are available in these topics:

• Viewer 2 Microsoft Windows Builds
• Mac OS X
• Linux

• Microsoft Windows - older, but may still be helpful

Notes

• Common compilation problems if you run into errors while building.
• Improving compilation time for information on how to compile faster
• LLMozLib2 for building LLMozLib2.

Autobuild

Autobuild is the new Linden Lab framework to maintain and build everything, from viewer to 3rd party libraries. At the moment (March 2011), it is not merged into the main linden/viewer-development branch and it is still experimental.

Repositories:

• [viewer-autobuild2010] : the experimental viewer using the autobuild framework and VS 2010 (on Windows) for building
• [3p-xxx] : all 3rd party libraries do have a 3p-xxx repository allowing developers who wish or need to build their own local 3rd party packages to do so

Instructions:

• Build Viewer With Autobuild
• Build_3rd_Party_lib_with_Autobuild

Hints on running

Channels and Versions

Channels are just groupings of versions. Linden Lab uses channels to track and supply updates for Project, Beta, and Release Viewers separately.

If you get a message while trying to start your compiled viewer that there is a required update, don't panic. All of your work is not lost. You (usually) don't have to apply your changes to a new source release to test your code. That's where channels come in.

On login, the combination of channel plus version is checked against a list. Within each channel, some versions are allowed and some are blocked. Viewers are blocked that are unsafe (security issues), incompatible (the protocol has been changed in some fundamental way), not supported (so old Linden Lab can't afford to provide support resources), or (most relevant here) are in a test channel (Release Candidate, First Look) and Linden Lab only wants test data from the most recent.

See Setting a Channel and Version for an Open Source Viewer for an explanation of how to do it in the source code.

See Channel and Version Requirements for a detailed explanation and official policy on how Linden Lab deals with channels and versions in Second Life.

The Third Party Viewer Policy requires that all viewers use a unique channel name. Please see here for more information.