[McIDAS #KNL-950064]: McIDAS on OS X... which gcc compiler?

Hi Tom,

Long time no hear!

re: 
> My lab administrator would like to switch from our dual-boot
> Dell systems to Macs.

Just so you know, several Unidata sites have been making similar moves.

> The whole dual boot thing gets to be a
> problem, but we need Windows or OS X on the systems for
> some of the other software we run. So, I am looking into running
> McIDAS on OS X (just for the client systems in my student lab).

This setup should work fine as long as you are running a current/very
recent version of MacOS-X.

> (I already tried the binary install of NAWIPS, and it works fine.)

The I would imagine that McIDAS would work also.

> I went ahead and took a new Intel-based Mac we have, added
> the XWin application from Apple, installed the Apple Developers
> kit which includes gcc, and installed g77 (3.4). I downloaded
> McIDAS and gave it a try.
> 
> When I just tried a make mcx, the response was "Apple" is an
> unknown vendor. When I did a "make mcx VENDOR=-g77" it
> failed on a non compliant cpp.

The best thing to do is to setup the environment for the user 'mcidas'
outlined in the Unidata McIDAS-X installation instructions in the
User Guide:

Unidata McIDAS-X Users Guide:
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/mcidas/2006/users_guide/toc.html

  Installing McIDAS-X on Unix or Mac OS X Workstations
  
http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/software/mcidas/2006/users_guide/InstallingMcIDAS-XonUnixorMacOSXWorkstations.html#63755

In particular, set the environment by reading the contents of the 
~mcidas/admin/mcidas_env.[csh|sh]
file that matches the shell you are using for your 'mcidas' user.  For 
instance, if you are using
the Bourne, Korn, or Bash shells, you would include:

# McINST_ROOT and VENDOR conforming shell defines needed to bulid McIDAS
McINST_ROOT=$HOME
VENDOR=-g77
export McINST_ROOT VENDOR
if [ -e $HOME/admin/mcidas_env.sh ]; then
  . $HOME/admin/mcidas_env.sh
fi

in the .profile, .kshrc, .bash_profile, etc. files in the ~mcidas directory and 
then logoff
and log back on.  Once you have the environment set, we will have a better 
handle on
any problems you might encounter.

> Here is the version of gcc I have from Apple:
> 
> buran:~/mcidas2006/src mcidas$ which gcc
> /usr/bin/gcc
> buran:~/mcidas2006/src mcidas$ gcc --version
> i686-apple-darwin8-gcc-4.0.1 (GCC) 4.0.1 (Apple Computer, Inc. build 5367)
> Copyright (C) 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
> This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.  There is NO
> warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

We are using the same release of gcc.

> Here is the tail of the makelog:
> 
> buran:~/mcidas2006/src mcidas$ tail makelog
> checking whether we are using the GNU C++ compiler... no
> checking whether   accepts -g... no
> checking dependency style of  ... none
> checking how to run the C++ preprocessor... /lib/cpp
> configure: error: C++ preprocessor "/lib/cpp" fails sanity check
> See `config.log' for more details.
> configure       /Users/mcidas/mcidas2006/libpng:        FAILED

One of the environment variables that is set by the reading of settings
in ~mcidas/admin/mcidas_env.sh is CXX which is set to "" (blank).
Defining CXX to be empty tells the various 'configure' scripts to
not build C++ interfaces since they are not used/needed by McIDAS.

> Should I be using a different gcc compiler than the one Apple
> supplied?

I don't think so.

> I have googled around, but don't see anything about
> this. In most cases, people are using the Apple supplied build
> of gcc.

Correct.

> Any advice is appreciated!

The error I see should disappear if CXX is defined to be blank and
after you try doing the McIDAS build from scratch:

<as 'mcidas'>
-- setup the environment as per instructions outlined above
cd ~mcidas/mcidas2006/src
make clobber
make mcx

Please let me know the results of this test.

Also, since our Mac setup here is 'marginal', I would be happy to logon
to your system to troubleshoot the McIDAS build.  Please let me know if
you would like me to do this.


Cheers,

Tom
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Ticket Details
===================
Ticket ID: KNL-950064
Department: Support McIDAS
Priority: Normal
Status: Closed