[libsigrok.git] / README

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
README
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The sigrok project aims at creating a portable, cross-platform,
Free/Libre/Open-Source signal analysis software suite that supports various
device types (such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, multimeters, and more).

libsigrok is a shared library written in C which provides the basic API
for talking to hardware and reading/writing the acquired data into various
input/output file formats.


Status
------

libsigrok is in a usable state and has had official tarball releases.

While the API can change from release to release, this will always be
properly documented and reflected in the package version number and
in the shared library / libtool / .so-file version numbers.

However, there are _NO_ guarantees at all for stable APIs in git snapshots!
Distro packagers should only use released tarballs (no git snapshots).


Requirements
------------

 - git
 - gcc (>= 4.0)
 - make
 - autoconf >= 2.63
 - automake >= 1.11
 - libtool
 - pkg-config >= 0.22
 - libglib >= 2.28.0
 - libzip >= 0.8
 - libusb-1.0 >= 1.0.9 (optional, used by most drivers)
 - libftdi >= 0.16 (optional, used by some drivers)
 - libudev >= 151 (optional, used by some drivers)
 - libasound / alsa-lib >= 1.0 (optional, only used by the alsa driver)
 - check >= 0.9.4 (optional, only needed to run unit tests)


Building and installing
-----------------------

In order to get the libsigrok source code and build it, run:

 $ git clone git://sigrok.org/libsigrok
 $ cd libsigrok
 $ ./autogen.sh
 $ ./configure
 $ make

For installing libsigrok:

 $ make install

See INSTALL or the following wiki page for more (OS-specific) instructions:

 http://sigrok.org/wiki/Building


Device-specific issues
----------------------

Please check README.devices for some notes and hints about device- or
driver-specific issues to be aware of.


Firmware
--------

Some devices supported by libsigrok need a firmware to be uploaded before the
device can be used. See README.devices for details.


Mailing lists
-------------

There are two mailing lists for sigrok/libsigrok:

 https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sigrok-devel
 https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sigrok-commits


IRC
---

You can find the sigrok developers in the #sigrok IRC channel on Freenode.


Website
-------

 http://sigrok.org/wiki/Libsigrok
Commit	Line	Data
	1	-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	2	README
	3	-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
	4
	5	The sigrok project aims at creating a portable, cross-platform,
	6	Free/Libre/Open-Source signal analysis software suite that supports various
	7	device types (such as logic analyzers, oscilloscopes, multimeters, and more).
	8
	9	libsigrok is a shared library written in C which provides the basic API
	10	for talking to hardware and reading/writing the acquired data into various
	11	input/output file formats.
	12
	13
	14	Status
	15	------
	16
	17	libsigrok is in a usable state and has had official tarball releases.
	18
	19	While the API can change from release to release, this will always be
	20	properly documented and reflected in the package version number and
	21	in the shared library / libtool / .so-file version numbers.
	22
	23	However, there are _NO_ guarantees at all for stable APIs in git snapshots!
	24	Distro packagers should only use released tarballs (no git snapshots).
	25
	26
	27	Requirements
	28	------------
	29
	30	- git
	31	- gcc (>= 4.0)
	32	- make
	33	- autoconf >= 2.63
	34	- automake >= 1.11
	35	- libtool
	36	- pkg-config >= 0.22
	37	- libglib >= 2.28.0
	38	- libzip >= 0.8
	39	- libusb-1.0 >= 1.0.9 (optional, used by most drivers)
	40	- libftdi >= 0.16 (optional, used by some drivers)
	41	- libudev >= 151 (optional, used by some drivers)
	42	- libasound / alsa-lib >= 1.0 (optional, only used by the alsa driver)
	43	- check >= 0.9.4 (optional, only needed to run unit tests)
	44
	45
	46	Building and installing
	47	-----------------------
	48
	49	In order to get the libsigrok source code and build it, run:
	50
	51	$ git clone git://sigrok.org/libsigrok
	52	$ cd libsigrok
	53	$ ./autogen.sh
	54	$ ./configure
	55	$ make
	56
	57	For installing libsigrok:
	58
	59	$ make install
	60
	61	See INSTALL or the following wiki page for more (OS-specific) instructions:
	62
	63	http://sigrok.org/wiki/Building
	64
	65
	66	Device-specific issues
	67	----------------------
	68
	69	Please check README.devices for some notes and hints about device- or
	70	driver-specific issues to be aware of.
	71
	72
	73	Firmware
	74	--------
	75
	76	Some devices supported by libsigrok need a firmware to be uploaded before the
	77	device can be used. See README.devices for details.
	78
	79
	80	Mailing lists
	81	-------------
	82
	83	There are two mailing lists for sigrok/libsigrok:
	84
	85	https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sigrok-devel
	86	https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/sigrok-commits
	87
	88
	89	IRC
	90	---
	91
	92	You can find the sigrok developers in the #sigrok IRC channel on Freenode.
	93
	94
	95	Website
	96	-------
	97
	98	http://sigrok.org/wiki/Libsigrok
	99