[vtkusers] install solution for Mac OS X Tiger

[Jason Yerardi]

Hi everyone,

It's been a very long journey to getting a complete and working VTK  
install on my Mac OS X Tiger machine. I'm posting some comments and  
suggestions about what I did to get it to work. My solution isn't  
perfect -- it requires two separate builds for complete Tcl/Tk and  
compiled Cxx projects functionality -- but it satisfies my needs.  
I've also included my CMakeCache.txt files so everyone can see the  
exact configurations I used.


Here's a recap on what I tried to install, what worked, what didn't  
work, and what partially worked:
1. Installing 4.4 source from CD with lots of different  
configurations [could not even get to compile]

2. Installing from 4.2 source with lots of different configurations  
[could not even get to compile]

3. Fink install of vtk 4.2
     - was able to build all Cxx projects
     - was able to run all vtk tcl scripts, but NO interactivity  
(mouse and keyboard events weren't captured)
     - mouse interactivity, but not keyboard interactivity, worked in  
compiled Cxx apps

4. Apt-get install of vtk-py23 (based on vtk 4.4)
     - was able to build all Cxx projects, but some produced bus  
errors when executed
     - executable (i.e., ones that didn't seg fault) Cxx apps  
supported both mouse and keyboard interactivity
     - interactive tcl scripts and Cxx projects give bus errors or  
show only blank windows

5. Installing from CVS source

My last effort (which should have been my FIRST) was to install from  
CVS source. The first time I tried, I selected both carbon and X11  
support. This failed because the Mac OS X OpenGL libraries are  
separate from the X11 OpenGL libraries, but they both use lots of  
variables with the same names. This caused multiple definition  
errors, halting the compile process.

The next time I tried, I selected only carbon support and deselected  
ALL occurrences of X11 includes and libs flags in the cmake  
configuration process. You have to do this because, even if you don't  
select to build for X11, the default cmake values for X11 includes  
and libs will remain intact. So you will still get compiler errors.  
After I removed those X11 flags, the entire compilation went  
flawlessly without a single error or warning message. I proceeded  
with "make tests" and all 465 tests passed.

Even though all of the tests passed, this install still has a couple  
of problems. All vtk tcl scripts work flawlessly, including mouse and  
keyboard event recognition. The problems with the software occur when  
running interactive Cxx apps. The apps do recognize mouse events, but  
keyboard events are not. Instead, all keystrokes are simply echoed to  
the console, as was the case for fink's port of vtk. Since I must  
have this feature for my class, I proceeded as below. (I might still  
try to install for cocoa only and see what effect that has on this  
problem.)

The fact that Cxx apps built with vtk-py23 had complete interactivity  
(in X11, not carbon or cocoa) led me to believe that if I did an X11- 
only install from CVS source, I could have fully functional  
interactive Cxx apps. I built from source with carbon and cocoa  
support OFF, X11 ON, GUI support ON, and tcl wrapping ON. Again, the  
compilation was flawless. I didn't run the "make tests" yet, but I  
suspect that some of the tcl tests will fail (see below).

The problems for this X11-only version are opposite of those for the  
carbon version. Every Cxx app I have built so far has complete mouse  
and keyboard interactivity. But, the tcl wrapping has problems. I am  
able to run non-interactive tcl scripts just fine, but interactive  
tcl scripts result in seg fault. This would seem to suggest that  
vtk's interactive window renderer isn't working correctly. The vtk  
crash log suggests that this may be the case.


SUMMARY

I have two separate builds that when combined satisfy my needs for my  
graphics and visualization class. It's not the perfect solution, but  
it's good enough for me. I'm sorry for sending such a long email. But  
after trying to install vtk on Mac OS X Tiger all week long  
(literally for several hours each day) and not really finding any  
helpful fixes (other than the very helpful suggestions to install vtk- 
py23 and to install from CVS), I thought that this detailed email  
would help other Mac users avoid this nightmare.

Hopefully future versions of vtk continue to make the install on Mac  
OS X easier. Feel free to email if you're a Mac user who's still  
having problems installing vtk.

Jason Yerardi

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