69 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
69 lines
2.7 KiB
Markdown
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# Building MEMLNaut VCV Plugin
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## Prerequisites
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- **VCV Rack 2 SDK** — download from https://vcvrack.com/manual/PluginDevelopmentTutorial or build from source
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- **C++20 compiler** — GCC 10+, Clang 11+, or MSVC 19.29+ (required by nisps-core for `std::span` and concepts)
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- **GNU Make**
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- **zip** (for distribution packaging only)
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## Build Steps
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```bash
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# 1. Set the SDK path (adjust to your installation)
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export RACK_DIR=/path/to/Rack-SDK
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# 2. Build the plugin
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cd vcv
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make
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# This produces plugin.so (Linux), plugin.dylib (macOS), or plugin.dll (Windows)
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```
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The Makefile adds `-std=c++20` and includes nisps-core headers from `../nisps-core/include`. The VCV SDK's default `-std=c++11` flag is filtered out to avoid conflicts.
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## Local Installation
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```bash
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# Option A: use the SDK's install target
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make install
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# Copies the plugin to ~/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin/ (or platform equivalent)
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# Option B: manual symlink (useful during development)
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ln -s $(pwd) ~/.local/share/Rack2/plugins-lin/MEMLNaut
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```
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After installing, restart VCV Rack (or use the module browser refresh if available). The MEMLNaut module appears in the module browser.
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## Distribution Packaging
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```bash
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# Build and package in one step
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make -f Makefile.dist dist
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# Or package an already-built plugin
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make -f Makefile.dist package-only
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# Output: dist/MEMLNaut-0.1.0-Linux-x86_64.zip (platform name varies)
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```
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The zip contains a `MEMLNaut/` directory with `plugin.so` (or `.dylib`/`.dll`), `plugin.json`, and `res/`. Users extract this into their VCV Rack plugins directory.
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## Cross-Compilation
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Cross-compilation is **not currently supported**. Building for each platform requires the native VCV Rack SDK and a matching C++20 toolchain.
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Options for multi-platform releases:
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- **GitHub Actions CI** — build on Linux, macOS, and Windows runners. The VCV SDK provides Docker images for consistent builds.
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- **Docker** — VCV provides `ghcr.io/vcvrack/rack-plugin-toolchain` images for cross-platform builds from a Linux host.
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- **Manual** — build natively on each target platform.
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The VCV Library submission process handles multi-platform builds automatically via their CI pipeline, but we are not submitting to the Library initially.
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## Troubleshooting
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- **`-std=c++11` conflicts**: The Makefile filters this out, but if you see C++20 errors, verify your `RACK_DIR` points to a v2 SDK and that your compiler supports C++20.
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- **nisps-core not found**: The include path assumes nisps-core is at `../nisps-core/include` relative to the `vcv/` directory. Verify the path or adjust `-I` in the Makefile.
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- **Plugin not appearing**: Check that the built `.so`/`.dylib`/`.dll` is in the correct plugins directory and that `plugin.json` is alongside it.
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