README_GIT

# Using the iODBC git tree

Copyright (C) 1996-2025 OpenLink Software <iodbc@openlinksw.com>

## Introduction

This document describes how to check out a copy of the git tree for
development purposes. It also lists the packages that need to be
installed prior to generating the necessary scripts and makefiles to
build the project.

Git access is only needed by developers who want to actively track
progress of the iODBC source code and contribute bugfixes or
enhancements to the project. It requires basic knowledge of git itself,
the general layout of open source and GNU projects, the use of
`autoconf` and `automake`, etc., which are beyond the scope of this
document.

If you have any questions, please email us at <iodbc@openlinksw.com>.

## Git Archive Server Access

For main development, OpenLink Software publishes the iODBC tree to
GitHub, and we encourage everyone who is interested in tracking the
project to make an account there.

Users who mainly just want to track the code can use the following
command to get a copy of the tree:

    $ git clone git://github.com/openlink/iODBC

At this point, you can create your own work branch based on any of the
branches available, create bugfixes and commit them to your own branch,
and then use the `git format-patch` command to generate the appropriate
diffs to send to <iodbc@openlinksw.com>.

Developers are encouraged to fork the project using GitHub, create their
own branches to make enhancements/bugfixes, and then send pull requests
using the excellent GitHub interface, for the OpenLink team to examine
and incorporate into the master tree for an upcoming release.

Github has [excellent documentation](http://help.github.com/) on how to
fork a project, send pull requests, track a project, etc.

OpenLink Software will continue to use
[sourceforge.net](https://sourceforge.net/projects/iodbc/) for the
source tarball releases and certain binary releases, and for
completeness will also provide read-only Git Archive access there.

For more information, check the [iODBC SourceForge
pages](https://sourceforge.net/projects/iodbc/)

## Package Dependencies

To generate the `configure` script and all other build files necessary,
please make sure the following packages (and any GNU packages required
by them) and recommended versions are installed on your system.

*Note -- these are minimum versions; later versions should work just
fine. Older versions of these packages can sometimes be used, but could
cause build problems.*

  Package    Minimum Version   Source
  ---------- ----------------- ------------------------------------
  autoconf   2.59              ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/autoconf
  automake   1.9.6             ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/automake
  libtool    1.5.22            ftp://ftp.gnu.org/pub/gnu/libtool
  make       3.79.1            http://www.gnu.org/software/make
  gtk+       1.2.10            ftp://ftp.gtk.org/pub/gtk/v1.2

The `autogen.sh` and `configure` scripts check for the presence and
version of some of the required components.

To check the version numbers of the tools installed on your system, you
can use the following commands:

    $ autoconf --version
    $ automake --version
    $ libtoolize --version
    $ make --version
    $ gtk-config --version

## Generate build files

To generate the `configure` script and all related build files, use the
following command:

    $ autoreconf --install

Alternatively, use the supplied script in your check-out directory:

    $ ./autogen.sh

If the above commands succeed without any error messages, you can use
the following command to see all the options you can use:

    $ ./configure --help

Certain build targets are only enabled when the
`--enable-maintainer-mode` flag is added to `configure`.

Please read the `INSTALL` and `README` files in this directory for
further information on how to configure the package and install it on
your system.