[Zlib-devel] MSVC++ projects

[Andrei Polushin]

Mark,

You wrote:
> I don't want to replace the current win32 directory with yours, since
> then useful stuff that's there would be lost, especially Cosmin's DLL
> FAQ.  Can/should they be integrated?

Yes, these two win32 derectories can be simply merged together.

> I agree with Cosmin's rationale for a projects directory, copied below.
> On May 31, 2004, at 5:05 AM, Cosmin Truta wrote:
> > The reason to put project files into a separate directory, rather than
> > the directory of the platform on which the IDE is running, is that many
> > IDE's are cross-platform. For example: Borland C++ (DOS/Windows/Unix),
> > RHIDE (DOS/Windows/Unix), Eclipse (many platforms), etc. Even if a
> > certain IDE is known to run on a single platform, the project files
> > could be used on a newer IDE version, that runs on a different
> > platform; e.g. Borland IDE's have such a history.
> I actually find the platform subdirectories more confusing, since
> there are usually several different compilers and IDE's available on
> any platform.  In the long run, I think all of that should go in
> projects.

It seems that I should agree with Cosmin's rationale for a cross-platform
projects and their own directory. But there are also some problems:

* We should either test our cross-platform projects an all their platforms,
or we cannot claim they are actually cross-platform. Testing them might be
unnecessary effort, because it is much easier to provide platform-specific
projects each time.

* I think we should not consider "newer IDE versions" at all, for the same
reason: if the projects we provide were not tested with those newer IDEs.

* At least for me, I need to place several files somewhere, not to the
compiler-specific directory. Other Win32 projects, e.g. Borland C++ might
then reuse them also. Those files are _platform-specific_.

> Ideally your VC stuff should be in the projects directory.  Are your
> makefiles dependent on what subdirectory of the zlib distribution
> they're in?

They depend on directory level depth only. In any case, I have replaced
"win32" with "projects" in README.vc++ file and repack them all again:
http://a-polushin.narod.ru/zlib-1.2.1.2-msvc-20040922.tar.gz
(25K, MD5 4c8e7e4b68530eacce1940b703783667)

You may use this variant, at you choice (I don't think you should).

With best regards,
// Andrei Polushin