3. Creating a Sample Project

First, make sure that you understand the revision management model of CVS and RCS. Have a look at the corresponding man pages and the Revision Browser documentation too. This topic is very complex so it is important that you have some basic knowledge about it.

It is necessary to set up the root module to create a new project.

The root module is the root of the module hierarchy of your project. You can compare this hierarchy with the structure of your directories and files at your hard disc, where the root module is the root directory. This directory contains your sub projects and their project files. In addition to the hierarchy of your project each module contains information about the history of your software development. This history is stored in the repository. A repository is a kind of database. The function of this database is to record the proceedings of your development. This is also called version control.

For our first example we want to use the root module directory named "tutorial". Use Project->New Project ... in the Project Browser to create it.

The directory for the repository can be a directory on the local machine or on a remote machine. The following table explains the differences:

a repository on the local machine

a repository on a remote machine

Just give the location for the repository and project directory. Use Local/NFS to access the directories on the local machine.

Give the hostname and your username in addition to the location for the repository directory on the remote machine and project directory on the local machine. Make sure that the cvs-server is running at this remote host - consult the Revision Browser documentation for that. You can choose between RSHELL and PSERVER to access the remote host. The differences of these access modes are described in the Project Browser documentation.

In this example we use the following directories on the local machine:

Repository Directory: $HOME/repository
Project Directory: $HOME
Module Name: tutorial.

Figure 2: Creating a Root Module

After confirming the creation of the directory the Revision Browser initializes your root module and asks to create "Makefile" and "<arch>.def". Normally, you can confirm that but you can answer that question with No if you have your own Makefile. In this case you should include the generated "Makefile.inc", which is automatically updated, in your own Makefile.

Makefile is the makefile itself. It contains platform independent settings like different make rules and targets; there are default rules for C-, C++-, Java- and flex-sources and targets for C/C++- and Java programs and static or shared libraries;

<arch>.def contains platform dependent settings like included paths or compiler flags; the template <arch> is replaced by your used OS type (e.g. Linux or SunOS)

Makefile.inc contains project specific settings like the project directories and project files; this file will be updated automatically by WIPEOUT and you should not edit this file!

If you have only one module in the WIPEOUT Standard edition, than the created module "tutorial" is the active module. An active module means that all WIPEOUT components use the properties of this module. If you start the Make Shell for instance, the Makefile of this module would be executed. The Class Browser will scan all available classes in module "tutorial". The active module is Set in the Project Browser.

Figure 3: The Active Module "tutorial"

Open the Revision Browser window from the icon in the Project Browser toolbar, if you haven't done yet. If you select the module "tutorial", you will see the files of this module.

Figure 4: Revision Browser

At the moment there are only two files: Makefile and Linux.def. They were automatically created and added while initializing the new project. In the next chapter we will add some source code files.