Prerequisites

Author:

Christoph Schmidt-Hieber

Date:

31 March, 2026

This document describes the prerequisites for current 64-bit Windows builds of Stimfit using Visual Studio, CMake presets, vcpkg, and optional CPack packaging.

Important

The Visual C++ Express 2008 and Python 2.7 workflow described in older Stimfit documentation is legacy material. Current Windows builds on [master](README.md:13) use Visual Studio 2022, CMake presets, vcpkg, and CPack as described in [README.md](README.md:105).

For current work, prefer this modern toolchain:

  • Visual Studio 2022 build tools

  • PowerShell

  • vcpkg

  • optional Inno Setup 6 for installer generation

The repository helper script [build_windows_msvc.ps1](build_windows_msvc.ps1) drives the supported Windows flow and mirrors the active CI setup in [ci.yml](.github/workflows/ci.yml).

Getting all the prerequisites takes some time, but only needs to be completed once per machine.

Visual Studio and packaging tools

Install Visual Studio 2022 build tools or a full Visual Studio 2022 release with C++ support. If you want to generate installer packages, also install Inno Setup 6 for the INNOSETUP CPack generator used by the current workflow.

Libraries

Current third-party C and C++ dependencies are resolved through vcpkg by [build_windows_msvc.ps1](build_windows_msvc.ps1) and the repository’s CMake presets. You do not need to download the old hand-curated dependency ZIP files used by the Visual Studio 2008 workflow.

If you are building with embedded Python enabled, install a matching Python 3 interpreter and ensure it is discoverable when running [build_windows_msvc.ps1](build_windows_msvc.ps1).

Build Tools

SWIG

If you are building outside the helper script, install a current SWIG binary for Windows and make sure it is available on PATH. The repository helper script and CI workflow assume a standard command-line installation rather than the old Cygwin-specific layout.

git

Install a current Git for Windows release from git-scm.com.

nsis

The legacy NSIS packaging path is no longer the supported release route. Prefer Inno Setup 6 with the INNOSETUP CPack generator used by the current Windows workflow.