"Andy Little" wrote
You know, reading the introduction to http://www.boost.org/more/getting_started.html it really isnt very clear to me.
[...] Following my previous post on this subject. It appears that having downloaded boost_1_33_1, then clicking the links "Getting Started" and "Getting Started Guide" on the main index page does absolutely nothing in IE6, no change from the index page, no error message, nothing... most strange. This may have something to do with my IE6 settings, but my setup works fine with boost_1_33_0. Everything works in Firefox though. Once having manually opened <more/getting_started.html> ( http://www.boost.org/more/getting_started.html ) and heading for the section headed Preparation, I was intrigued by the link to "build bjam from sources" (http://www.boost.org/tools/build/jam_src/index.html#building_bjam) Once there , I am presented with this text, the first line of which is like hitting me with a sledge hammer AFAICS, when I go WHAT??? -------------------------- *Building Boost.Jam* Installing BJam after building it is simply a matter of copying the generated executables someplace in your PATH. For building the executables there are a set of build bootstrap scripts to accomodate particular environments. The scripts take one optional argument, the name of the toolset to build with. When the toolset is not given an attempt is made to detect an available toolset and use that. The build scripts accept these areguments: <build script name> [toolset] Running the scripts without arguments will give you the best chance of success. On Windows platforms from a command console do: cd <jam source location> .\build.bat On Unix type platforms do: cd <jam source location> sh ./build.sh For the Boost.Jam source included with the Boost distribution the <jam source location> is BOOST_ROOT/tools/build/jam_src. If the scripts fail to detect an appropriate toolset to build with your particular toolset may not be auto-detectable. In that case, you can specify the toolset as the first argument, this assumes that the toolset is readily available in the PATH. NOTE: The toolset used to build Boost.Jam is independent of the toolsets used for Boost.Build. Only one version of Boost.Jam is needed to use Boost.Build. The supported toolsets, and wether they are auto-detected, are: ------------------------ In line with my remarks in the previous post I propose the changed text: ----------------------------- *Building Boost.Jam* The location for the Boost.Jam source files included with the Boost distribution is < [**link to** BOOST_ROOT] /tools/build/jam_src>. Also provided in the above Boost.Jam source directory are a set of build bootstrap scripts that can be used to build the Boost.Jam executable (called bjam.exe) in particular environments . Note: The scripts can take one optional argument. See *Building Boost.jam - Troubleshooting* for more information, but running the scripts without arguments will give you the best chance of success... On Windows platforms from a command console do: cd <jam source location> .\build.bat On Unix type platforms do: cd <jam source location> sh ./build.sh Installing BJam after building it is simply a matter of copying the generated executables someplace in your PATH. *Building Boost.jam - Troubleshooting* If the build scripts fail to detect an appropriate toolset to build with your particular toolset may not be auto-detectable. The scripts take one optional argument, the name of the toolset to build with.: <build script name> [toolset] In that case, you can specify the toolset as the first argument, this assumes that the toolset is readily available in the PATH. NOTE: The toolset used to build Boost.Jam is independent of the toolsets used for Boost.Build. Only one version of Boost.Jam is needed to use Boost.Build. The supported toolsets, and whether they are auto-detected, are: etc -------------------------- BTW It would be nice if all mentions of BOOST_ROOT in the docs were links explaining what it is again and again and again... All in all after looking through the getting started docs I believe the combination is why so many people have problems installing Boost! Apologies about all the criticism, but "getting started" is quite important isnt it? But as for the Windows Boost installer. It looks Great! Especially as it shows how useful a GUI is ;-) .. However I would recommend downloading only the distro and then building locally as downloading all the binaries can take an awfully long time. I gave up after an hour and cancelled it FWIW. regards Andy Little