230 lines
9.3 KiB
Plaintext
230 lines
9.3 KiB
Plaintext
Introduction
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------------
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This document details how to build KiCad from source on Windows. The current
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supported method of building KiCad for Windows systems is to use the MinGW
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compiler, either from Windows or cross compiling from Linux. MSYS can be
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used on Windows to extend the range of subprojects that you can build, but
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is not needed to build KiCad itself.
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Visual Studio is not supported, and don't ask about it, it is not supported
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and will not be, ever.
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Install Build Tools
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-------------------
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This section describes the tools required to build KiCad from source and how
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to install them. Failure to install these tools properly will likely result
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in build errors.
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MinGW/MSYS
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----------
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MinGW/MSYS provides the compiler tools and a partial Posix environment useful
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for building software. Download the MinGW installer from http://mingw.org.
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Run the installer and and verify MinGW and MSYS are checked. You will also
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need to expand the MinGW entry and select C++ from the list of supported
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languages. Only C is installed by default and C++ is required to build KiCad.
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Bazaar
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------
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KiCad uses the Bazaar version control system to track source code changes,
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and download the boost libraries needed by Kicad.
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The easiest way to get a copy of the KiCad source is to use Bazaar. Bazaar
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can be download from http://wiki.bazaar.canonical.com/WindowsDownloads.
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Your best bet is to use the stand alone version of Bazaar
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(which includes bzrtools, needed Kicad) rather than one of
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the Python specific versions.
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CMake
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-----
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The KiCad source uses CMake to make sure the system has the required software
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and libraries installed to properly compile the source. Download the latest
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CMake installer from http://cmake.org. Run the installer and make sure the
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add CMake to PATH variable check box is checked. If you fail to do this step,
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the CMake executable will not be found.
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Doxygen (Optional)
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------------------
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Doxygen is used to generate HTML documentation of the KiCad source code. While
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it is not necessary to install Doxygen, it is a very good way to learn your way
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around the KiCad code base. It is highly recommended for new developers. The
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latest Doxygen installer can be downloaded from http://www.stack.nl/~dimitri/
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doxygen/
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Python (Optional)
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-----------------
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KiCad supports the Python scripting language (currently only Pcbnew scripting
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exists). Currently the Python scripting support will only build against the
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version 2 branch of Python. The Python installer can be downloaded from http://
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www.python.org.
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SWIG (Optional)
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---------------
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SWIG is used to generate the Python scripting code. It must be installed to
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build the Python scripting support. Unfortunately there in no installer for
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windows. You can download precompiled binaries from http://http://www.swig.
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org/download.html and install swig.exe. Make sure the folder you install the
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SWIG binary into is in the system PATH. Otherwise CMake will not be able to
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find it.
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NullSoft Installer System (Optional)
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------------------------------------
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The NullSoft Installer System (NSIS) is used to create a Windows installer for
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end users from the binaries created from the KiCad source along with the
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library and documentation files. NSIS is typically only used be developers who
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create installers for end users and is not required if you install from source.
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NSIS can be downloaded from http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Download.
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Install and Build Libraries
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---------------------------
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This section documents installing and build all of the software libraries
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required to build KiCad. As of now, these libraries have to be built because
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MinGW builds of these libraries are not readily available Attempting to link
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programs built on MinGW with libraries from other compilers (namely Microsoft
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Visual C) is problematic. It can be done but it is not painless. As far as
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the author of this document knows, MinGW can only link to Visual Studio C
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libraries. The name mangling of Visual Studio C++ is not compatible with the
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MinGW linker.
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Build and Install the wxWidgets Library
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---------------------------------------
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The wxWidgets library is the base that KiCad is built upon. Version 2.9.4
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or later of wxWidgets *should be* used on Windows. You may be able to build
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KiCad with older versions of wxWidgets but it is not recommended. wxWidgets
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can be downloaded from http://http://www.wxwidgets.org/downloads/
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Unzip the wxWidgets zip file into your preferred build directory. Avoid using
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spaces in the path names. Some MinGW tools do not play well with them. It is
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always best to error on the side of caution.
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Open MinGW and change to the wxWidgets source directory. If you don't want to
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install the wxWidgets library into MinGW then enter the following commands:
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#mkdir Release
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#cd Release
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#../configure --with-opengl
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#make
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If you want to install wxWidgets in MinGW then enter the following commands:
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#mkdir Release
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#cd Release
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#../configure --prefix=/mingw --enable-monolithic=no --disable-shared --with-opengl
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#make && make install
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wxWidgets will be statically linked to Kicad, which avoid issus with wxWidgets dlls
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Download the KiCad Source Code
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------------------------------
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You can use the Launchpad repository or a tar file for this. See the wiki.
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To download files from Launchpad repository, you need to install the Bazaar
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(bzr) version control system.
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Launchpad repository has two branches for KiCad sources:
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- a testing branch (used by developers)
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- a stable branch (a copy of the testing branch, when this testing branch is
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near a stable state)
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To download the testing branch:
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#bzr branch lp:kicad kicad_testing
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To download the stable branch:
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#bzr branch lp:kicad/stable kicad_stable
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To download the component and footprint libraries
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#bzr branch lp:~kicad-lib-committers/kicad/library kicad_libraries
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To download the documentation and translation files:
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#bzr branch lp:~kicad-developers/kicad/doc kicad_doc
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Create Makefiles with CMake
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---------------------------
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Open your Msys shell. Create two "out of source" build directories at the
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command line enter the following commands:
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#cd <kicadSource>
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#mkdir -p build/release # Build path can be anywhere you prefer.
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#mkdir build/debug # Only if you want a debug version of KiCad.
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To create a release build of KiCad, run the following command:
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#cd build
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#cmake -G "MSYS Makefiles" \ # Back slashes are not required
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-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \ # and are for formatting only.
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-DKICAD_TESTING_VERSION=ON ../../
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If the configuration fails, you have failed to install the required software
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on you system. The error message should give you a good indication of what is
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missing. You must resolve this before you can build KiCad.
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Compiling the Code
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------------------
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To build KiCad, at the command line enter following comnands:
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#cd <kicadSource>/build/release
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#make
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Installing KiCad
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----------------
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To install Kicad, at the command line enter the following commands:
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#cd <kicadSource>/build/release
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#make install
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If you get any errors during the installation, you probably do not have the
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appropriate privileges to the install path. Take a look at CMakeCache.txt
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that was created when you ran CMake, and in particular look at the value of
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the CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX variable. This is where KiCad will be installed. If
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this not where you want KiCad installed, edit it with a text editor rerun the
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make install command. You do not have the appropriate privileges to install
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KiCad in the CMAKE_INSTALL_PATH, run the make install command as administrator.
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You are now done unless you want to make a Debug build.
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Compiling a Debug version
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-------------------------
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To create a debug version of KiCad, enter the following commands:
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#cd <kicadSource>/build/debug
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#cmake -G "MSYS Makefiles" \
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-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug \
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-DKICAD_TESTING_VERSION=ON ../../
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#make
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Generally speaking you do not install debug binaries. They can be debugged in
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place. To monitor the debugging output, you can download the Windows debug
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viewer DbgView from http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/
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bb896647.aspx
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Compiling the Python Scripting Support.
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---------------------------------------
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Before building KiCad Python scripting extension, you must create a MinGW
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compatible Python link library. The directions to do this can be found in
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the "How do I create Python extensions?" FAQ at http://www.mingw.org/wiki/FAQ.
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To build KiCad with Python scripting support, run CMake as follows and then
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compile the source as described above.
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#cmake -G "MSYS Makefiles" \
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-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
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-DKICAD_PYTHON_SCRIPTING=ON \
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-DKICAD_PYTHON_MODULES=ON \
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-DKICAD_TESTING_VERSION=ON ../../
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You only need to include the KICAD_PYTHON_MODULES option if you want to
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install the python modules that ship with KiCad. Also note that the wxPython
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support cannot be compiled on Windows at this time due to library conflicts
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between MinGW and Python. Work is currently underway by the KiCad developers
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to provide a MinGW build of Python which should resolve this issue.
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Building the Developer Documentation
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------------------------------------
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To build the HTML developer documentation, run the following commands:
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#cd <kicadSource>/build/debug
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#make doxygen-docs
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The documentation will be created in the <kicadSouce>/Documentation/html
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directory.
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