Getting Started With The POCO C++ Libraries
AAAIntroduction
!!!Welcome
Thank you for downloading the POCO C++ Libraries and welcome to the growing community of POCO C++ Libraries
users. This document will help you in getting a smooth ride while installing and setting up the
POCO C++ Libraries and going the first steps with the software.
!!!Setting Up The POCO C++ Libraries
The POCO C++ Libraries are delivered in full source code only. Due to the
large number of possible build configurations, no binary releases are provided
from the project maintainers.
This means that you have to build the libraries and tools before you can use them the first time.
<*Note: There are binary releases available as installation packages for
various operating systems (e.g., Debian Linux, Ubuntu Linux, OpenBSD,
OpenWRT, etc.). However, these packages are not maintained by the core
team and may not always be up to date.*>
Up-to-date [[https://conan.io Conan]] packages are available via
[[https://bintray.com/pocoproject/conan/Poco%3Apocoproject Bintray]].
!!Source Code Distribution Format
The source code for the POCO C++ Libraries is delivered in a ZIP file
for Windows users and/or in a compressed TAR file (.tar.gz or .tar.bz2)
for Unix/Linux users. Both archives contain the same files, the only
difference is that all text files in the ZIP files have line endings
suitable for Windows (CR-LF), while the text files in the TAR file have
line endings suitable for Unix/Linux (LF only).
All libraries and tools follow a common convention for the directory
layout. This directory layout is shown below.
build/ the build system for Unix and additional utility scripts
config/ build configurations for various Unix platforms
rules/ common build rules for all platforms
scripts/ build and utility scripts
vxconfig/ VxWorks build configurations
cmake/ Support files for CMake
bin/ all executables (dynamic link libraries on Windows)
bin64/ all 64-bit executables (and DLLs)
doc/ additional documentation
lib/ all libraries (import libraries on Windows)
lib64/ all 64-bit libraries
CppUnit/ project and make/build files for the CppUnit unit testing framework
doc/ additional documentation
include/
CppUnit/ header files for CppUnit
src/ source files for CppUnit
WinTestRunner/ Windows GUI for CppUnit
Foundation/ project and make/build files for the Foundation library
include/
Poco/ header files for the Foundation library
src/ source files for the Foundation library
testsuite/ project and make/build files for the Foundation testsuite
src/ source files for the Foundation testsuite
bin/ test suite executables
samples/ sample applications for the Foundation library
XML/ project and make/build files for the XML library
include/
Poco/
XML/ header files for the core XML library
SAX/ header files for SAX support
DOM/ header files for DOM support
src/ source files for the XML library
testsuite/ project and make/build files for the XML testsuite
src/ source files for the XML testsuite
bin/ test suite executables
samples/ sample applications for the XML library
Net/ project and make/build files for the Net library
include/
Poco/
Net/ header files for the Net library
src/ source files for the Net library
testsuite/ project and make/build files for the Net testsuite
src/ source files for the Net testsuite
bin/ test suite executables
samples/ sample applications for the Net library
----
Depending on what package you have downloaded (Basic or Complete
Edition), there may be other libraries as well (such as Data, Crypto,
NetSSL_OpenSSL and Zip).
!!External Dependencies
The following libraries require third-party software (header files and
libraries) being installed to build properly:
- NetSSL_OpenSSL and Crypt require OpenSSL.
- Data/ODBC requires ODBC
(Microsoft ODBC on Windows, unixODBC or iODBC on Unix/Linux)
- Data/MySQL requires the MySQL client.
!OpenSSL
<*Unix/Linux*>
Most Unix/Linux systems already have OpenSSL
preinstalled, or OpenSSL can be easily installed using the system’s
package management facility. For example, on Ubuntu (or other
Debian-based Linux distributions) you can type
$ sudo apt-get install openssl libssl-dev
----
to install the necessary packages.
If your system does not have OpenSSL, please get it from
http://www.openssl.org/ or another source. You do not have to build
OpenSSL yourself -- a binary distribution is fine.
On macOS, it's recommended to install OpenSSL via Homebrew.
$ brew install openssl
----
<*Windows*>
On Windows, there are three options:
- Use POCO pre-built OpenSSL binaries (simplest and recommended)
- Build OpenSSL using scripts from POCO distribution package
- Use a third-party pre-built OpenSSL
<*POCO pre-built OpenSSL binaries*>
OpenSSL binaries (version 1.1.0) built with Visual Studio 2013 are available for
[[https://github.com/pocoproject/openssl/tree/master/build download]].
In case you are using pre-built binaries, please make sure to copy the
entire directory to <*C:\%POCO_BASE%\openssl\*>.
Or, %POCO_BASE%\openssl directory can be deleted (if existing) and POCO openssl
github repository cloned into it:
$ cd %POCO_BASE%
$ rmdir /s /q openssl
$ git clone https://github.com/pocoproject/openssl
All libraries are located in their proper folders (eg. <*win64/bin/debug/*>),
and all are named accordingly (<*libcrypto[mt[d]]*> and <*libssl[mt[d]]*>).
<*Build OpenSSL using scripts from POCO distribution package*>
Alternatively, if you choose to build your own OpenSSL, POCO C++ Libraries
distribution package comes with scripts to build OpenSSL on Windows operating
system. This requires Windows PowerShell.
Usage:
C:\%POCO_BASE%\openssl\build.ps1 [-openssl_release 1.0.0 | 1.1.0]
[-vs_version 150 | 140 | 120 | 110 | 100 | 90]
[-config release | debug | both]
[-platform Win32 | x64]
[-library shared | static]
----
Example: Building OpenSSL 1.1.0, DLL release build for x64 with Visual Studio 2013:
C:\%POCO_BASE%\openssl\build.ps1 -openssl_release 1.1.0 -vs_version 120 -config release -platform x64 -library shared
----
The above command will download all the necessary packages (perl, nasm, etc)
and build OpenSSL in <*C:\%POCO_BASE%\openssl\build*> directory; the built OpenSSL
binaries can be linked from EXEs and DLLs built with Visual Studio 2008 to 2017.
Pre-generated POCO Visual Studio projects are configured to use headers and
libraries from <*C:\%POCO_BASE%\openssl\build*> directory.
<*Use a third-party pre-built OpenSSL*>
Yet another way to install OpenSSL on Windows is to use a binary
(prebuild) release, for example the one from Shining Light
Productions that comes with a Windows installer
(http://www.slproweb.com/products/Win32OpenSSL.html).
Depending on where you have installed the OpenSSL libraries,
you might have to edit the build script (buildwin.cmd), or add the
necessary paths to the INCLUDE and LIB environment variables. You might also
have to edit the project settings if the names of the OpenSSL libraries
from your build differ from the names used in the project files.
!ODBC
The Data library requires ODBC support on your system if you want to
build the ODBC connector (which is the default). On Windows platforms,
ODBC should be readily available if you have the Windows SDK installed.
On Unix/Linux platforms, you can use [[http://www.iodbc.org/ iODBC]]
or [[http://www.unixodbc.org/ unixODBC]. On
Linux, use your distribution's package management system to install the
necessary libraries and header files. For example, on Ubuntu, type
$ sudo apt-get install libiodbc2 libiodbc2-dev
----
to install the iODBC library and header files.
The Data/ODBC and Data/MySQL Makefiles will search for the ODBC and
MySQL headers and libraries in various places. Nevertheless, the
Makefiles may not be able to find the headers and libraries. In this
case, please edit the Makefile in Data/ODBC and/or Data/MySQL
accordingly.
!MySQL Client
The Data library requires the [[http://dev.mysql.com MySQL]] client
libraries and header files if you want to build the MySQL connector
(which is the default). On Windows platforms, use the MySQL client
installer to install the necessary files. On Unix/Linux platforms, use
the package management system of your choice to install the necessary
files. Alternatively, you can of course build MySQL yourself from
source.
!!Building using CMake
As an alternative to the platform specific Makefiles and Solutions, CMake can be used
to do build POCO C++ Libraries on any platform with any compiler. CMake is a meta build system and it
generate native makefiles and workspaces that can be used in the compiler environment of
your choice. For a quick overview see http://cgold.readthedocs.io/en/latest/overview/cmake-can.html
POCO C++ Libraries requires CMake 3.2 or higher. Static binaries for many platforms can be downloaded from http://www.cmake.org/
CMake supports out of source builds and this is the recommended way to build POCO C++ Libraries using CMake.
Assuming the POCO C++ Libraries source is located in /path/to/poco directory and you like to build POCO C++ Libraries just type the
following commands (Command parameters are all the same on any platform).
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build
This will build POCO C++ Libraries in a subdirectory <*poco-build*>. All files produced during build are located in this directory.
!!!Some cmake basic parameters:
For Makefile (default on Unix systems) and Ninja based build system (and all other single-configuration generators), there exists following build types:
* Debug
* Release
* RelWithDebInfo (Release build with Debug infos)
* MinSizeRel (Release build with size optimisation)
As default, POCO is build RelWithDebInfo. See cmake output like:
...
-- [cmake] Build type: RelWithDebInfo
...
You can change this with following parameter: <*CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=....*>
For example to build with debug symbols:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build
For more infos see https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/variable/CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE.html?highlight=cmake_build_type
For multi-configuration generators, (like Visual Studio and Xcode), CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE is ignored!
For these you should set build type at build time:
For example to build with debug symbols:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build --config Debug
Installation path of Poco is as defaults to /usr/local on UNIX and c:/Program Files/Poco on Windows.
You can change the path with following parameter: <*CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=....*>
For example to install in /usr:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build --install
This will install the poco libs in /usr/lib and the binaries in /usr/bin etc.
See also cmake output like:
....
-- [cmake] Installation target path: /usr/local
....
For more infos see https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/variable/CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX.html?highlight=cmake_install_prefix
To set libraries type, you can use following parameter: <*BUILD_SHARED_LIBS=[ON/OFF]*>
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=OFF
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build
As default, Poco build dynamic libraries, see cmake output like:
...
-- Building dynamic libraries
...
To set some additional compiler flags, you can use following parameters:
* CMAKE_C_FLAGS For C compiler
* CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS For C++ compiler
For example:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=-fstack-protector
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build
For default compile flags, see cmake output like:
...
-- [cmake] Build with cxx flags: -O2 -g -DNDEBUG
-- [cmake] Build with c flags: -O2 -g -DNDEBUG
...
For more infos see https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/variable/CMAKE_LANG_FLAGS.html#variable:CMAKE_%3CLANG%3E_FLAGS
To use the compiler of your choice, you can use following paramters:
* CMAKE_C_COMPILER C compiler
* CMAKE_CXX_COMPILER C++ compiler
For example to use the clang compiler, execute following cmake command:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DCMAKE_C_COMPILER=/path/to/clang -DCMAKE_CXX_COMPILER=/path/to/clang++
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build
To cross compile POCO C++ Libraries for another architecture/device you should have a <*cmake toolchain file*> and execute following command:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=/path/to/toolchainfile
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build
See https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-toolchains.7.html for more information.
!!!Poco special build parameters:
POCO C++ Libraries allows you to set some build time options. As an example: to disable the SevenZip support
type the following command:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DENABLE_SEVENZIP=OFF
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build
Here an overview of POCO build options:
* ENABLE_XML Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build XML support library
* ENABLE_JSON Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build JSON support library
* ENABLE_NET Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build Net support library
* ENABLE_NETSSL Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build NetSSL support library (Need installed openssl libraries)
* ENABLE_CRYPTO Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build Crypto support library (Need installed openssl libraries)
* ENABLE_DATA Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build Data support library
* ENABLE_DATA_SQLITE Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build Data SQlite support library
* ENABLE_DATA_MYSQL Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build Data MySQL or MariaDB support library (Need installed MySQL or MariaDB client libraries)
* ENABLE_DATA_POSTGRESQL Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build SQL PosgreSQL support library (Need installed PostgreSQL client libraries)
* ENABLE_DATA_ODBC Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build Data ODBC support library (Need installed ODBC libraries)
* ENABLE_MONGODB Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build MongoDB support library
* ENABLE_REDIS Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build Redis support library
* ENABLE_PDF Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to build PDF support library
* ENABLE_UTIL Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build Util support library
* ENABLE_ZIP Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build Zip support library
* ENABLE_SEVENZIP Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to build SevenZip support library
* ENABLE_APACHECONNECTOR Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build ApacheConnector support library (Need installed apache and apr libraries)
* ENABLE_CPPPARSER Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to build C++ parser
* ENABLE_ENCODINGS Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build with Encodings
* ENABLE_ENCODINGS_COMPILER Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to build Encodings Compiler
* ENABLE_PAGECOMPILER Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build PageCompiler
* ENABLE_PAGECOMPILER_FILE2PAGE Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to build File2Page
* ENABLE_POCODOC Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to build Poco Documentation Generator
* ENABLE_TESTS Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to build Unit tests
* ENABLE_LONG_RUNNING_TESTS Set to OFF|ON (default is ON) to use long running test
* POCO_UNBUNDLED Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to control linking dependencies as external
Windows only parameter:
* POCO_MT Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to control build of POCO as /MT instead of /MD
* ENABLE_MSVC_MP Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to control parallel build of POCO with MSVC
* ENABLE_NETSSL_WIN Set to OFF|ON (default is OFF) to build NetSSL support library(Need installed openssl libraries For Windows only)
You can also see and enable or disable available options execute following command:
$ cmake-gui /path/to/poco-build
or for console only:
$ ccmake /path/to/poco-build
POCO C++ Libraries options are prefixed with <*ENABLE_*>. (This will be changed in POCO 2.x.x to <*POCO_*>)
!!!Third-party library location
If a third-party library is not installed in a default location, cmake will fail to run.
There exists following parameters to set additional search paths for cmake to find third-party libraries:
To find PostgreSQL:
* PostgreSQL_ROOT_DIR - Set root installation path where to find include path and libraries of PostgreSQL
or
* PostgreSQL_ROOT_INCLUDE_DIRS - Set include paths where to find PostgreSQL headers
* PostgreSQL_ROOT_LIBRARY_DIRS - Set library paths where to find PostgreSQL libraries
To find ODBC:
* ODBC_ROOT_DIR - Set root installation path where to find include path and libraries of ODBC
or
* ODBC_ROOT_INCLUDE_DIRS - Set include paths where to find ODBC headers
* ODBC_ROOT_LIBRARY_DIRS - Set library paths where to find ODBC libraries
To find MySQL or MariaDB:
* MYSQL_ROOT_DIR - Set root installation path where to find include path and libraries of MySQL or MariaDB
or
* MYSQL_ROOT_INCLUDE_DIRS - Set include paths where to find MySQL or MariaDB headers
* MYSQL_ROOT_LIBRARY_DIRS - Set library paths where to find MySQL or MariaDB libraries
* APRUTIL_ROOT_DIR - Set root installation path where to find include path and libraries of apr util
or
* APRUTIL_ROOT_INCLUDE_DIRS - Set include paths where to find apr util headers
* APRUTIL_ROOT_LIBRARY_DIRS - Set library paths where to find apr util libraries
* APR_ROOT_DIR - Set root installation path where to find include path and libraries of apr
or
* APR_ROOT_INCLUDE_DIRS - Set include paths where to find apr headers
* APR_ROOT_LIBRARY_DIRS - Set library paths where to find apr libraries
* APACHE2_ROOT_DIR - Set root installation path where to find include path and libraries of apache2
or
* APACHE2_ROOT_INCLUDE_DIRS - Set include paths where to find apache2 headers
For example set installation path of MySQL:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DMYSQL_ROOT_DIR=/usr/local/mysql
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build
or
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DMYSQL_ROOT_INCLUDE_DIRS=/usr/local/mysql/include/mysql -DMYSQL_ROOT_LIBRARY_DIRS=/usr/local/lib/mysql
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build
!!!How to use POCO in your cmake project:
To use POCO C++ Libraries in your cmake project, add following line in your project for example to use crypto:
find_package(Poco REQUIRED PocoCrypto)
....
target_link_libraries(yourTargetName ... Poco::Crypto)
If you get an error like 'By not providing "FindPoco.cmake"', then you should set CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH to the installation directory of your POCO C++ Libraries. For example:
$ cmake -H/path/to/yourProject -B/path/to/yourProject-build -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/installationOf/poco
!!!Some other Hints:
For a faster build, use ninja as build system. See https://ninja-build.org/
For example on Ubuntu execute following commands:
$ sudo apt-get install ninja-build
This install <*ninja*> command. To use ninja-build execute following cmake commands:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -GNinja
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build --target all
See https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/manual/cmake-generators.7.html for other generators.
To enable verbose output from Makefile builds, execute following cmake commands:
$ cmake -H/path/to/poco -B/path/to/poco-build -DCMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE=ON
$ cmake --build /path/to/poco-build --target all
Some more infos about cmake see:
$ cmake --help-full
https://cmake.org/cmake/help/latest/
http://cgold.readthedocs.io/en/latest/index.html
!!Building On Windows
Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 or newer is required to build the
POCO C++ Libraries on Windows platforms.
Solution and project files for all versions are included.
64-bit (x64) builds are supported as well.
You can either build from within Visual Studio (<*Build->Batch
Build->Select All;Rebuild*>) or from the command line. To build from the
command line, start the Visual Studio 2008 (or 2010, 2013, etc.) Command
Prompt and go (<[cd]>) to the directory where you have extracted the POCO
C++ Libraries sources. Then, simply start the <*buildwin.cmd*> script and
pass as argument the version of visual studio (90, 100, 110, ... 150). You
can customize what is being built by <*buildwin.cmd*> by passing appropriate
command line arguments to it. Call <*buildwin.cmd*> without arguments to see
what is available. Build environment is set up by the buildwin.cmd; to avoid
build problems, it is recommended to start the build in a clean command
prompt console, i.e. not in the one provided by Visual Studio for 32/64-bit
builds (although those will work fine if used appropriately for the right
32/64-bit build type).
To disable certain components (e.g., NetSSL_OpenSSL or Data/MySQL) from
the build, edit the text file named <*components*> in the distribution
root directory and remove or comment the respective lines.
Certain libraries, like NetSSL_OpenSSL, Crypto or Data/MySQL have
dependencies to other libraries. Since the build script does not know where to
find the necessary header files and import libraries, you have to either add
the header file paths to the <[INCLUDE]> environment variable and the
library path to the <[LIB]> environment variable, or you'll have to edit the
buildwin.cmd script, where these environment variables can be set as
well.
In order to run the test suite and the samples, the top-most bin
directory containing the resulting shared libraries must be in the PATH
environment variable.
!!Building On Unix/Linux/macOS
For building on Unix platforms, the POCO C++ Libraries come with their
own build system. The build system is based on GNU Make 3.80 (or newer),
with the help from a few shell scripts. If you do not have GNU Make 3.80
(or newer) installed on your machine, you will need to download it from
http://directory.fsf.org/devel/build/make.html and
build and install it prior to building the POCO C++ Libraries.
You can check the version of GNU Make installed on your system with
$ gmake --version
----
or
$ make --version
----
Once you have GNU Make up and running, the rest is quite simple.
To extract the sources and build all libraries, testsuites and samples, simply
$ gunzip poco-X.Y.tar.gz
$ tar -xf poco-X.Y.tar
$ cd poco-X.Y
$ ./configure
$ gmake -s
----
For help, either invoke
$ ./configure --help
----
Alternatively, you can read the configure script source for a list of possible options.
For starters, we recommend <[--no-tests]> and <[--no-samples]>, to reduce build times.
On a multicore or multiprocessor machine, use parallel makes to speed up
the build (<[make -j4]>).
Once you have successfully built POCO, you can install it
to <*/usr/local*> (or another directory specified as parameter
to configure <[--prefix=<path>]>):
$ sudo gmake -s install
----
You can omit certain components from the build. For example, you might
want to omit Data/ODBC or Data/MySQL if you do not have the corresponding
third-party libraries (iodbc or unixodbc, mysqlclient) installed
on your system. To do this, use the <[--omit]> argument to configure:
$ ./configure --omit=Data/ODBC,Data/MySQL
----
<*IMPORTANT: Make sure that the path to the build directory does not
contain symbolic links. Furthermore, on macOS (or other systems
with case insensitive filesystems), make sure that the characters in
the path have the correct case. Otherwise you'll get an error saying
"Current working directory not under $PROJECT_BASE.".*>
!!Building On QNX Neutrino
For QNX Neutrino, the Unix build system (see the instructions above) is used.
You can use the build system to cross-compile for a target platform on a
Solaris or Linux host. Unfortunately, the Cygwin-based Windows host
environment has some major quirks that prevent the build system from
working there. You can also use the build system on a self-hosted QNX
system. The default build configuration for QNX (found in
build/config/QNX) is for a self-hosted x86 platform. To specify another
target, edit the CCVER setting in the build configuration file. For
example, to compile for a PowerPC target, specify
CCVER=3.3.1,gcc_ntoppcbe.
Service Pack 1 for QNX Neutrino 6.3 must be installed, otherwise compiling the
Foundation library will fail due to a problem with the <*<list>*> header in the
default (Dinkumware) C++ standard library.
When building on QNX, you might want to disable NetSSL_OpenSSL, Crypto and
some Data connectors, unless you have the necessary third party components
available:
$ ./configure --omit=NetSSL_OpenSSL,Crypto,Data/ODBC,Data/MySQL
----
!!!Tutorials And Sample Code
Introductory documentation consisting of various documents and tutorials
in the form of slide decks can be found at the
[[http://pocoproject.org/documentation/ POCO C++ Libraries Documentation]] page.
Sample applications demonstrating the various features of the POCO C++
Libraries are delivered with the source code. Every library's source
code directory
has a <*samples*> directory containing various sample applications.
When building the sample applications on platforms using the gmake-based
build system, please make sure that the environment variable
<[POCO_BASE]> contains
the path to the POCO C++ Libraries source tree root directory.
!!!Creating Your Own POCO-based Applications
The best way to create your first POCO-based application is by copying
one of the sample projects and making the desired changes. Examine the
project files and Makefiles to see what compiler options must be set for
your specific platform.