Questions about CEF build

[akhudairy]

Hi. Well this is aimed for I think the admins of CEF and who ever is responsible of the wiki documentation. Please note I build for 32 bit and using windows, so my questions are around that experience. Also I did the build I need, and all is good for me now, but I am opening this thread as it might help others and maybe to satisfy my own curiosity!

Questions about MasterBuildQuickStart
https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/ ... ckStart.md

1. There is dependency on Microsoft Visual Studio C++ libraries which are installed under MSVC folder. In this document it is not mentioned explicitly which componets need to be installed. I suggest to add the same steps as mentioned in the automated build which asks you to run Visual studio installer with certain arguments to make sure you have these prerequisites. Maybe also some instructions on how to set lib path manually if needed like what is also explained in the automated build document.

2. In step 8 it mentions to run (ninja -C out\Debug_GN_x86 cef). There is no suggestion that you can use other folders like (ninja -C out\Release_GN_x86 cef). I think it should be mentioned somehow, and if it is not good to run a release build using this, then maybe also to mention it explicitly in this step ... which brings me to next question.

3. I had to edit some code in CEF to enable silent printing. So I depended on the master build documentation but in step 8, I used (ninja -C out\Release_GN_x86 cef). Is that okay? Would I get the same dlls as I get in the binary_distrib if I did a formal release build using automated build steps.

4.Maybe fix the link on top (Those seeking a prebuilt binary distribution for use in third-party apps) .. It leads to longer used page.

5. Build flags like (GN_DEFINES=is_official_build=true). Are these flags documented anywhere?

6. Why do we need to set this flag (GN_DEFINES), in both steps 6 and 7. It seemed weird to me since step 6 is supposed to download the code as I understand, so it makes sense to include it in step 7 which produces the solution directories.

Questions about AutomatedBuildSetup
https://bitbucket.org/chromiumembedded/ ... ldSetup.md

1. Sorry if this is a silly question. But most instruction in page are mentioned without specifying how to run them. So I assumed to run them using CMD. I actually created a batch file and copied all instructions there. Maybe just also to mention this explicitly in the documentation.

2. For instruction (automate-git.py --download-dir=%do .....). I just assumed I should add python in the beginning ... like (python automate-git.py --download-dir=%do....). Right?

3. Because of question 2 above. I had to do step 3 from Master build, to install the Depot tools folder and add it to path, so that I have python and git. Right?

Chromium build?
https://chromium.googlesource.com/chrom ... ual-Studio

1. Should we refer to this documentation for anything? maybe I don't completely understand how is cef built over chromium.

Thank you

[magreenblatt]

Thanks for the feedback. Please see responses to your questions below.

Questions about MasterBuildQuickStart

3. I had to edit some code in CEF to enable silent printing. So I depended on the master build documentation but in step 8, I used (ninja -C out\Release_GN_x86 cef). Is that okay? Would I get the same dlls as I get in the binary_distrib if I did a formal release build using automated build steps.

The AutomatedBuildSetup configuration is different from the MasterBuildQuickStart configuration. You should follow the AutomatedBuildSetup configuration to make an official build intended for distribution.

Build flags like (GN_DEFINES=is_official_build=true). Are these flags documented anywhere?

The recommended flags for particular use cases (local development vs automated builds) are documented on the wiki pages. Beyond that you will need to search the Chromium documentation and/or code.

6. Why do we need to set this flag (GN_DEFINES), in both steps 6 and 7. It seemed weird to me since step 6 is supposed to download the code as I understand, so it makes sense to include it in step 7 which produces the solution directories.

Separate bat files will not share the environment variables unless you set them. As an alternative you could structure the bat files differently or set the variables in your global environment.

Questions about AutomatedBuildSetup

2. For instruction (automate-git.py --download-dir=%do .....). I just assumed I should add python in the beginning ... like (python automate-git.py --download-dir=%do....). Right?

Correct.

3. Because of question 2 above. I had to do step 3 from Master build, to install the Depot tools folder and add it to path, so that I have python and git. Right>

You need Python pre-installed. The automate-git.py script will download depot_tools and install git on Windows by default.

Chromium build?

1. Should we refer to this documentation for anything? maybe I don't completely understand how is cef built over chromium.

It is generally not necessary for building CEF. You may wish to refer to the Chromium documentation for other purposes, such as debugging, exploring the code, etc.

[magreenblatt]

I've updated the Wiki pages based on your feedback. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions for improved documentation. Thanks.

[akhudairy]

I've updated the Wiki pages based on your feedback. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions for improved documentation. Thanks.

Thanks for the detailed responses. I did check the updated documentation and all looks good. I will post any other questions if I had more.