Building Biggles for Microsoft Visual C++
-----------------------------------------

Prerequisites:
   - Set the PYTHONHOME environment variable if not already set (e.g.
     C:\Python22)
   - Install the Numerical Python (NumPy) package, if not already installed.
   - Make sure the NUMPYDIR and PLOTUTILDIR macros in libplot\Makefile.win
     are set correctly.
   - Get the necessary files for the build:
         Main folder:
            _biggles.c

         libplot subfolder:
            libplot.c
            plot.h
            libplotexports.def

      The *.c files can be found in the Biggles distribution.  plot.h can be
      obtained from the Biggles CVS archive (if not in newer source
      distributions).  libplotexports.def should be included with the Biggles
      Win32 Makefiles.  If not, it can be generated using DUMPBIN /exports
      on libplot.dll.

Building:
   - Build both _biggles.pyd and libplot.pyd by running the main Makefile
     (not the one in the libplot folder).

        nmake -f Makefile.win

   - The Makefile will generate a libplotexports.lib import library for
     libplot.  If you happen to have one you're particularly fond of,
     modify the Makefile to use it instead.

   - See the comments in the individual Makefiles for details on how to
     build the pieces separately (if desired).

Preparing for Use:
   - As described on the Biggles installation page, you will need these
     three DLLs:

        libplot.dll (tested version from plotutils-2.4.1-1-bin.zip)
        libpng.dll  (tested version from libpng-1.0.12-bin.zip)
        zlib.dll    (tested version from zlib-1.1.3-bin.zip)

   - Care must be taken where the files are located because libplot.dll and
     libplot.pyd have the same base name.  Python must find libplot.pyd
     on the PYTHONPATH before it finds libplot.dll and these must be found
     before the scripts (as I understand it).  The way I have found least messy
     is to put all the .dll and .pyd files in the %PYTHONHOME%\DLLs folder and
     then add this to your PYTHONPATH before the location of the script files.
     If the Biggles scripts are in the %PYTHONHOME%\Lib\site-packages\biggles
     folder, the your PYTHONPATH environment variable should have the following
     two entries in the given order:

        %PYTHONHOME%\DLLs;%PYTHONHOME%\Lib\site-packages

     These two entries don't have to be back-to-back like this, just in this
     order.

     Don't rely on these being set from the registry or path configuration
     files (.pth) as the order may change when other modules are installed or
     removed.

Notes:
   - This has only been tested on Windows XP with Microsoft Visual C++ 6 and
     Python 2.2.1 but will likely work on many other combinations.
