[vtkusers] VTK and mac OSX

[Adrian Umpleby]

> These are very good questions Adrian.
> For the moment I want to implement VTK on Aqua, Python and tcl.

 From my own experience, I would not guarantee that the Aqua Tkinter will 
function perfectly...
BTW, you did get an version of Python that includes Aqua Tkinter, didn't 
you? See here:
http://www.astro.washington.edu/owen/InstallingPythonOnJaguar.html
(Having said that, I installed Aqua Tkinter nearly a year ago, not from 
the above link, so things may be much better by now - I've got to try 
out the above soon...)

> I have followed the instructions I found on the web
> "www.macdevcenter.com/pub/a/mac/2002/06/28/data_visualization.html?page=2"
> and I am still a bit confused with the flags:
>
> BUILD_SHARED_LIBS:BOOL=ON

You need shared libraries for Python wrapping.

> VTK_WRAP_TCL:BOOL=ON

Obviously, if you want tcl you need vtk to wrap tcl...

> also insert the following definitions into the CMakeCache.txt file.

"Insert"...? These should be included automatically once you've edited 
the CMakeCache.txt file to switch on tcl wrapping, and rerun cmake. You 
didn't add these lines yourself did you?

> // set path to the tcl 0header files
> TCL_INCLUDE_PATH:PATH=/Library/Frameworks/Tcl.framework/Headers
>
> // set path to Tcl libraries
> TCL_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=-framework Tcl
>
> // set to the tclsh file.
> TCL_TCLSH:FILEPATH=/Applications/Wish\ Shell.app/Contents/
> MacOS/Wish\ Shell
>
> // set the path to the tk.h header file
> TK_INCLUDE_PATH:PATH=/Library/Frameworks/Tk.framework/Headers
>
> // set the path to the Tk libraries
> TK_LIBRARY:FILEPATH=-framework Tk

All of these provide info so CMake can create Makefiles that have the 
appropriate flags for finding header files and linking with libraries 
(in this case, Tcl and Tk frameworks).

I also had a number of 'issues' arise when I tried to compile and run 
VTK - I've found the most 'robust' route is through X11 at the moment 
(again, that's based on trying 'Aqua VTK' with my nearly year old 
version of Python with Aqua Tkinter, so I really need to check with 
something more up-to-date...)

If you look at my (fairly) recent posts to this list ("new user 
attempting install on mac OSX") you'll see a summary of my own 
experiences. However, other replies/comments in that thread suggest 
different experiences, so YMMV...

Hope that helps!

Adrian