Build and Installation Instructions for OpenVSP

INTRODUCTION

OpenVSP is a parametric aircraft geometry tool. OpenVSP allows the
user to create a 3D model of an aircraft defined by common engineering
parameters. This model can be processed into formats suitable for
engineering analysis.

The predecessors to OpenVSP have been developed by JR Gloudemans and
others for NASA since the early 1990's. In January 2012, OpenVSP was
released as an open source project under the NOSA 1.3 license. The
first open source version was 2.0.0.

LICENSE

OpenVSP is available under the terms of the NASA Open Source Agreement
(NOSA) version 1.3. The complete terms of the license are specified
in the LICENSE file.

DEPENDENCIES

OpenVSP relies on a variety of libraries and code made available by
other authors. If you are a VSP user, you probably don't need to
worry about this. Take this section as informational, providing
credit where due.

If you wish to compile VSP or to use the VSP API, then you will need
to know more. These dependencies fall into four categories: those
assumed to be provided by the operating system; those that must be
downloaded and installed by the developer; those that are bundled
with OpenVSP, but the developer may want to use a different version
installed on the system; and those that are bundled with OpenVSP.

Most users are familiar with the OpenVSP GUI. OpenVSP can also be
accessed by other programs via an API, or in a batch mode with no
user interaction. These 'headless' targets may be compiled without
any of the graphics libraries installed. Although most developers
will want to build the graphical version, those dependencies only
needed by the GUI program and graphics-enabled API are marked
GRAPHICS_ONLY.

Assumed provided by the operating system.

• OpenGL - 3D graphics library. OpenGL should be
  available on any platform capable of displaying 3D graphics. GRAPHICS_ONLY

Installed by the developer.

• C++ Compiler - OpenVSP requires a modern C++ compiler that supports
  some C++11 features. We try to support popular free compilers on the
  main platforms. For Windows, we require Visual Studio 2010 Express
  or newer. For Mac OSX or Linux/BSD, we support LLVM and GCC.

• CMake 3.1 - Cross-platform build system. CMake
  generates platform-native build files which control compilation of
  OpenVSP. CMake is available as a standard package on most Linux
  systems and binary installers are available for many other platforms
  including Windows and Mac OS X.

• SWIG - Simplified Wrapper and Interface Generator.
  Optional dependency used to build interface to API for Python
  and other scripting languages.

• Python - Scripting language. Optional dependency
  required if building Python API module.

• Doxygen - Documentation generator. Optional
  dependency used for generating documentation from the source. Can
  also utilize graphviz dot to generate improved figures in the
  documentation. (http://www.graphviz.org)

Bundled with OpenVSP, but system libraries may substitute.

• Code-Eli - Curve & surface library.
  Code-Eli was developed by David Marshall to meet OpenVSP's needs.
  It is a header-only library that must be available to build. It is
  not likely to be packaged on any system.

• Eigen3 - Template library for linear algebra.
  This header-only library is required by Code-Eli. Eigen3 is likely
  to be available as a standard package on Linux.

• CppTest - C++ Unit testing framework.

• Libxml2 - XML parser and toolkit. Libxml2 most
  likely comes pre-installed with most Linux distributions and
  Mac OS X systems. Windows users must download the source and
  build this library following the Libxml2 instructions.

• CMinpack - C/C++ port of
  standard Fortran Levenberg-Marquardt implementation.

• FLTK - Cross-platform windowing library. FLTK should
  be available as a standard package on most Linux systems and can
  be installed from source on Windows and Mac OS X according to the
  FLTK instructions. GRAPHICS_ONLY

• GLM - OpenGL math library. GRAPHICS_ONLY

• GLEW - OpenGL Extension Wrangler Library. This
  library is used to access any modern OpenGL features. GRAPHICS_ONLY

• libIGES - Library for working with
  IGES files. This is not likely to be packaged on any system. OpenVSP
  uses a version modified by Rob McDonald
  or Justin Gravett for CMake
  2.8 compatibility

• STEPcode - Library for working with STEP
  standard files. Based on an old library developed by NIST. This is a
  relatively new library, in constant development. Not likely
  to be packaged on any system.

• exprparse - A simple c++ library to
  compute values from simple math expressions stored as strings.

Bundled with OpenVSP.

• AngelScript - Embedded scripting
  language for C++. Used for user-defined components.

• nanoflann - Fast nearest neighbors
  library.

• sixseries - NASA 6-Series airfoil generation Fortran code released
  to the public domain from NASA TM X 3069 September, 1974.
  Converted to C using F2C.

• Triangle by Jonathan Shewchuk
  2D Delaunay triangulator.

  • CMake Library version used by OpenVSP

• tri_tri_intersect by Philippe Guigue and Olivier Devillers - Fast and Robust Triangle-Triangle Overlap Test using Orientation Predicates.
  An upgraded version of Tomas Möller's fast triangle-triangle
  intersection routines included with earlier versions of
  OpenVSP. While largely based on Möller's algorithms,
  this code is more numerically robust and efficient.

  • Old URL

  • Philippe Guigue, Olivier Devillers, "Fast and Robust Triangle-Triangle
    Overlap Test using Orientation Predicates", Journal of Graphics Tools,
    Vol. 8, Iss. 1, 2003.

• glFont2 by Brad Fish (was: students.cs.byu.edu/~bfish/glfont2.php) -
  2D OpenGL font tool. glFont2 has been included in this source
  distribution. GRAPHICS_ONLY

• cartesian -
  Simple 2D plotting library for FLTK. GRAPHICS_ONLY

• clipper - An open source
  freeware library for clipping and offsetting lines and polygons.

• Pinocchio - The pinocchio
  auto-rigging / weighting tool.

• stb - Single-file libraries for
  C/C++ for reading and writing image files. GRAPHICS_ONLY

• wavedragEL - Standalone version of the Eminton-Lord procedure for
  obtaining the zero-lift wavedrag D/Q written by Sriram Rallabhandi

BUILD INSTRUCTIONS

If you want to build OpenVSP on a Debian based Linux computer
(Debian, Ubuntu, Mint, etc.), step-by-step instructions are
included on the OpenVSP Wiki here: Debian Based Build.

If you want to build OpenVSP on a RPM based Linux distribution,
step-by-step instructions are
included on the OpenVSP Wiki here: RPM Based Build.

All of the supporting libraries and code described above in
DEPENDENCIES categories 1 and 2 must be properly installed.
Those in categories 3 and 4 can be satisfied by OpenVSP itself.
Any dependencies from category 3 that the developer prefers
to use a system library must be properly installed.

We only expect two common cases where developers would prefer
to use the system libraries over the bundled ones. First, on
Linux where system libraries are readily available and
distributions strongly prefer they are used. Second, when a
developer is simultaneously working on OpenVSP and the
dependency in question.

OpenVSP is packaged for compilation into three CMake projects:
the main OpenVSP project with all the OpenVSP source and the
category 4 dependencies; a Libraries project with all the
category 3 dependencies; a SuperProject that can unify building
the other two projects.

Casual developers new to OpenVSP will want to use the
SuperProject; building it should take care of everything. More
involved developers will want to use the OpenVSP and Libraries
projects directly; the OpenVSP project integrates better than
the SuperProject with most IDEs. Developers who want to use
only system libraries for the category 3 dependencies have no
need for the Libraries project; they can work only with the
main project.

CMake is used to construct the build files for a project. CMake
supports out-of-tree builds which keep the source tree free
of generated files. Create a build directory to contain the
generated files, say openvsp/build. Then, change to the
build directory and run CMake - passing a relative path to
openvsp/src, say cmake ../src.

Once CMake has generated the files for your favorite build
system, load them in the IDE and compile or launch the build
from the command line.

The OpenVSP CMake system can be configured by defining a
handful of variables. These variables may be relevant to some
or all of the projects.

All project variables:

• VSP_NO_GRAPHICS -- Set this variable to disable everything
  to do with graphics. The build system will not search for
  or build any graphics libraries. It will only build the
  headless batch-mode VSP, API, and bindings. This is ideal
  for building VSP on a HPC machine with limited access.

• XXX_OMP_COMPILER -- Set these variables to point at secondary
  compilers to use when the primary compiler does not support
  OpenMP. This will allow the VSPAERO solver to be built as
  a multithreaded program. Expected versions of this variable
  are:

  • C_OMP_COMPILER
  • CXX_OMP_COMPILER

• VSP_INSTALL_API_TEST -- Set to include the apitest executable
  in the installation package.

OpenVSP project variables:

• VSP_LIBRARY_PATH -- Set this variable to point at the
  directory where the Libraries project was built. The
  SuperProject sets this path automatically. The Libraries
  project writes a file VSP_Libraries_Config.cmake
  containing numerous settings to this path.

• XXXX_INSTALL_DIR -- Set this variable to point to a
  directory where a library has been installed. This provides
  a suggestion to a corresponding FIND_PACKAGE( XXXX ). Do
  not use these variables with VSP_LIBRARY_PATH, it will
  overwrite them. Acceptable versions of this variable are:

  • FLTK_INSTALL_DIR
  • CPPTEST_INSTALL_DIR
  • LIBXML2_INSTALL_DIR
  • GLM_INSTALL_DIR
  • GLEW_INSTALL_DIR
  • EIGEN_INSTALL_DIR
  • CODEELI_INSTALL_DIR
  • CMINPACK_INSTALL_DIR
  • LIBIGES_INSTALL_DIR
  • STEPCODE_INSTALL_DIR
  • EXPRPARSE_INSTALL_DIR
  • TRIANGLE_INSTALL_DIR

• VSP_ENABLE_MATLAB_API -- Set this variable to ON to compile the OpenVSP MATLAB API. To be successful, SWIG_EXECUTABLE must be set to the swig executable compiled off of the unreleased MATLAB branch of SWIG.

Libraries & SuperProject project variables:

• VSP_USE_SYSTEM_XXXX -- Set this variable to search for the
  particular library rather than use the bundled versions.
  Acceptable versions of this variable are:

  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_CPPTEST
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_LIBXML2
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_EIGEN
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_CODEELI
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_FLTK
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_GLM
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_GLEW
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_CMINPACK
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_LIBIGES
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_STEPCODE
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_EXPRPARSE
  • VSP_USE_SYSTEM_TRIANGLE

Build Instructions for Windows 10 and Visual Studio Express 2017

These instructions are for building the Libraries and OpenVSP
separately. It is assumed the user has successfully installed
CMake, Python, SWIG, and Doxygen and those utilities can be called
from the command line.

Building Libraries

1. Create a new directory called build located outside the locally
   cloned OpenVSP repo

2. In the new build directory, create new directories "Libraries"
   and "vsp"

3. Using the CMake gui (cmake-gui.exe), click "Browse Source" and
   browse to .../OpenVSP/Libraries where OpenVSP is the top level of the
   cloned repo for the source code.

4. Click "Browse Build" and browse to the newly created "Libraries"
   directory (.../build/Libraries) for the build location of the new
   binaries.

5. Click "Configure" and select "Visual Studio 2017" for the project
   generator and "x64" for the Optional Platform Generator. Click
   "Finish".

6. Click the "Add Entry" button. For Name, enter "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE".
   For Type, select STRING, and Value type "Release". Click OK.

7. Click "Generate".

8. Open Visual Studio Express 2017 and select File > Open Project
   and browse to .../build/Libraries/VSP_LIBARIES.sln.

9. In the Solutions Configurations pulldown, change from "Debug" to
   "Release".

10. Right-click on "ALL_BUILD" in the Solution Explorer and select
    "Build". When complete, repeat this step to verify no errors.

Building OpenVSP

1. Open the CMake Gui (cmake-gui.exe) and browse to .../OpenVSP for
   the source code and .../build/vsp for the build location for the
   binaries.

2. Click "Add Entry" and type "CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE" for Name, select
   "String" for Type and enter "Release" for Value.

3. Click "Add Entry" again and input "VSP_LIBRARY_PATH" for Name,
   select PATH for Type and browse to .../build/Libraries

4. Click "Configure" and select "Visual Studio 2017" for the project
   generator and "x64" for the Optional Platform for Generator. Click
   "Finish".

5. Click "Generate".

6. Open Visual Studio Express 2017 and select File > Open Project
   and browse to .../build/vsp/VSP_TOP.sln.

7. In the Solutions Configurations pulldown, change from "Debug" to
   "Release".

8. Right-click on ALL_BUILD in the Solution Explorer and select
   Build. When complete, repeat this step to verify no errors.

9. Right-click on PACKAGE in the Solution Explorer and select
   Build. This packages all the directories and executables in a zip
   file. This zip file will be placed in .../build/vsp/.