This is a cross-platform "Hello, World" graphical application written in OCaml. This example shows how to write a graphical (Gtk-based) program which runs on Windows or Unix. Moreover on Windows it comes with an installer, uninstaller, menu item, desktop icon, and the native Windows look and feel. On Unix it has the standard Gtk look and feel.
Download
Source code: xphelloworld-1.0.1-source.tgz
The source code is public domain, meaning that it can be used for any purpose, and relicensed under any license, including proprietary licenses.
Windows binary installer (an example of what the built application looks like): xphelloworld-1.0.1.exe
Screenshots (Windows)
(Click thumbnails to see full-sized images)
The installer program on the desktop
During installation
Menu items, showing program, and uninstaller
The application running, with native Windows look and feel
The uninstaller
Screenshots (Linux)
(Click thumbnails to see full-sized images)
Program running on Linux
Developer notes (Windows)
Required packages
You need to install:
- MS Visual C++ 6.0 (or greater) (only for native compilation?)
- Objective CAML for Windows
- LablGtk2 for Windows (to compile native code, you will need to rebuild lablgtk2 from source)
- Gtk2 DLLs for Windows
- If using Gtk <= 2.4, then Gtk WIMP. The two files are installed in
C:\Program Files\Objective Caml\etc\gtk-2.0\gtkrcandC:\Program Files\Objective Caml\lib\gtk-2.0\2.4.0\engines\libwimp.dllrespectively. - GNU tools such as GNU make, GNU sed, etc. from a package such as Cygwin or MSys (I use MSys and the
cmd.exeshell) - MASM (only for native compilation with the MSVC version of OCaml)
- NSIS
Usage
After installing the required packages and setting up your path, you should be able to build the "Hello, World" program just by typing:
make clean all
and build the binary package by typing:
make release
Developer notes (Linux)
Almost everything comes installed on a standard Linux distribution. All you may need to add is the OCaml development environment, and lablgtk2 developer libraries.
See getting started with OCaml for more information.