This document will hopefully answer 95% of all questions regarding tintin++ (tt++). Please let me (Davin Chan - tintin@newclear.net) know if you have any corrections, comments or suggestions regarding this document. Last updated: 12/26/00 Q1) What machines does tintin work on? A1) Tintin should compile on almost any UNIX machine. The following machines are known to work (tested by myself): Irix 6.5.X Linux 2.0.X/2.2.X Solaris 2.X FreeBSD Platforms that others compiled tintin on: HP-UX Mac OS X Addition OSs work but have not been verified by myself. Pretty much any UNIX machine with a (modern) compiler should work. Q2) What version should I use 1.5pl9 or 1.8.0+? A2) Use 1.8.0+ unless you have a particular reason for using 1.5pl9 (If you do, let me know as I would like to get everybody to running 1.8.0+). 1.5pl9 is not supported (but I will help if I can) and all the bug fixes and new features are going into 1.8.0+. Q3) Where can I get the readline library? A3) You can get the readline library from many ftp sites. The main ftp site for the readline library is ftp.gnu.org. The most recent version should be available there. Tintin has been tested with readline 4.0 and 4.1. It has been reported to me that readline 2.0 does not work, so make sure you get a recent version of readline. Q4) When I do a ./configure, it complains that it can't find the readline library. How do I fix that? A4) Configure normally only checks the standard default directories for the readline library and the readline header files. If you don't have them there, you need to tell configure where to find them. You can (as if tintin version 1.82) do a "./configure --includedir= --libdir=" to tell ./configure where to find them. If you put readline in /tmp/readline-4.1 then you would need to do the following: 1) rename it to be called readline (mv readline-4.1 readline) 2) tell configure to look there (./configure --includedir=/tmp --libdir=tmp) NOTE: You must use the full path when specifying the directory. Q5) I was able to configure it but I'm getting an error when I'm compiling. The error message says "utils.c:81: `sys_errlist' undeclared (first use in this function)" A5) This problem should go away as of 1.82, but if you are running this before 1.82 (Please report if you get this error message if you are running 1.82 or later), you need to modify utils.c. Start up your favorite text editor and open the utils.c file. Goto line 75 of the file and you will see something like this: void syserr(const char *msg) { extern int errno, sys_nerr; /*#if !defined(BSD) || (BSD < 199306) extern const char *const sys_errlist[]; #endif */ Remove the /* and the */, so that it reads like this: void syserr(const char *msg) { extern int errno, sys_nerr; #if !defined(BSD) || (BSD < 199306) extern const char *const sys_errlist[]; #endif and then save the file and recompile. Q6) I can't get tintin compiled still. Where can I get more help? A6) You can get help from a couple of places. The first place to start is to take a look at the webboard (there is a link from the tintin homepage, www.newclear.net/tintin). Check to see if your problem has been asked before and if there is a solution. If you don't see anything that looks like your problem, post a note and ask. Please provide as much information as possible (such as the OS, compiler, error messages, etc). If you still can't solve the problem, you can use the "gripe" command in tintin++/src to send an email to the developers of tintin. Q7) I can't get tintin compiled, can't you send me a binary of tintin? A7) No, the machines that I have available are limited and I may not have access to the same version of the OS or machine type that you are trying to run tintin on. There may be precompiled versions of tintin avail by other tintin users, but they may or may not work. I am more than happy to help you try to get tintin to compile on your machine. Or if you can give me access (check with your sysadmin first!), I may be able to log in and try to get it compile for you. Please note that my time is limited and I may not have time to help people individually, but feel free to ask and I'll see what I can do. Q8) I would like to help, how can I contribute to tintin? A8) If you can code and would like to fix bugs or add new features, you can do that. You can submit patches to me at tintin@newclear.net and I'll be happy to look them over and add them. There is also a (great) need for people willing to write documents and to write sample tintin script files. You can submit those as well to me at tintin@newclear.net. I don't always have the time to write documents (and keep them up to date) and this would be a great help. Another way to help is to assist people that post on the webboard if you know the answer to the question. Submitting bug reports and suggestions for addition features would be welcomed. Q9) Tintin is so awesome, how can I thank you guys for spending all that time to write tintin for free?? :) A9) Fan mail is always welcomed :) It means alot to hear that people use and enjoy tintin. It helps alot on those days when I just don't feel like working on tintin. Q10) How do I disable the chat feature? A10) To disable the chat feature, edit the tt.conf file and change the line that says ENABLE : 1~ to ENABLE : 0~. Please let me know, if you think there is a common question that isn't answered by this FAQ, but should be. Q11) Can I use code from tintin? A11) Yes, IF you credit tintin and the author(s) of the code in non-commerical applications. Code taken from tintin should be noted that function X or whatever came from tintin. Alot of time and effort went into writing tintin by alot of people and they should be recognized for their effort. Credit should be given where credit is due. Q12) I contributed code X, why isn't my name listed in the CREDITS file? A12) Most likely your name slipped by before I (Davin Chan) started maintaining tintin and adding people to the CREDITS file. If you believe you have contributed code to tintin, please email me and let me know.