Linux

Quickstart

1. Install depot tools.

   git clone 'https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/tools/depot_tools.git'
   export PATH="${PWD}/depot_tools:${PATH}"
   

2. Get Skia.

   git clone 'https://skia.googlesource.com/skia'
   cd skia
   

3. Install Dependencies (may require sudo).

   tools/install_dependencies.sh
   

4. Build.

   bin/sync-and-gyp && ninja -C out/Debug
   

5. Run DM (the Skia test app) and SampleApp.

   out/Debug/dm
   out/Debug/SampleApp
   

Prerequisites

On a Ubuntu 12.04 (Precise) or Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty) system, you can run tools/install_dependencies.sh, which will install the needed packages. On Ubuntu 12.04, you will need to install theninja build tool separately, which comes with Chromium's depot_tools.

To contribute changes back to Skia, you will need git-cl, which comes with Chromium's depot_tools.

(If you use another Linux distribution, please consider contributing back instructions for installing the required packages — we can then incorporate that knowledge into the tools/install_dependencies.sh tool.)

Make sure the following have been installed:

• Chromium depot_tools: http://www.chromium.org/developers/how-tos/depottools
• A C++ compiler (typically gcc)
• python 2.7.x
  • suggested Ubuntu packages: python2.7, python2.7-dev
• The FreeType and Fontconfig font engines
  • suggested Ubuntu packages: libfreetype6, libfreetype6-dev , libfontconfig , libfontconfig-dev e.g., sudo apt-get install libfreetype6 libfreetype6-dev libfontconfig libfontconfig-dev
• libpng
  • suggested Ubuntu packages: libpng12-0, libpng12-dev e.g., sudo apt-get install libpng12-0 libpng12-dev
• libgif
  • suggested Ubuntu package: libgif-dev e.g., sudo apt-get install libgif-dev
  • $ sudo apt-get install libgif4:i386
  • $ sudo ln -s /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libgif.so.4 /usr/lib/i386-linux-gnu/libgif.so
• libglu1-mesa-dev
• mesa-common-dev
• GL
  • such as freeglut3-dev

Check out the source code

Follow the instructions here for downloading the Skia source.

Generate build files

We use the open-source gyp tool to generate ninja files (and analogous build scripts on other platforms) from our multiplatform "gyp" files.

Generate the build files by running the following in your Skia home directory:

./gyp_skia

Or, you can just rely on it being run automatically by using make instead of ninja in examples shown below.

If you want to use Eclipse, see Creating an Eclipse Project after you have generated the makefiles.

On 32-bit Linux (when uname -m is not x86_64), you will have to explicitly specify the architecture:

GYP_DEFINES='skia_arch_type=x86' ./gyp_skia

Build and run tests from the command line

ninja -C out/Debug dm
out/Debug/dm

The usual mode you want for testing is Debug mode (SK_DEBUG is defined, and debug symbols are included in the binary). If you would like to build the

Release version instead

ninja -C out/Release dm
out/Release/dm

Build and run nanobench (performance tests)

In this case, we will build with the "Release" configuration, since we are running performance tests.

ninja -C out/Release nanobench
out/Release/nanobench [ --skps path/to/*.skp ]

Build and run SampleApp

This time we will add the -j flag to fire up multiple threads during the build. (This can be used with the other targets too.)

make -j SampleApp
out/Debug/SampleApp

When this launches, you should see a window with various graphical examples. To move through the sample app, use the following keypresses:

• right-arrow key: cycle through different test pages
• left-arrow key: cycle through rendering methods for each test page
• other keys are defined in SampleApp.cpp’s SampleWindow::onHandleKey() and SampleWindow::onHandleChar() methods

Build and run DM ("diamond master") tests

DM is Skia's unit/correctness test harness.

make -j dm
out/Debug/dm

The GYP_DEFINES environment variable can be used to change Skia's compile-time settings. For example, to disable the Skia GPU backend, run it as follows:

GYP_DEFINES='skia_gpu=0' make -j dm
out/Debug/dm

Build and run bench (performance testbench)

Since bench tests performance, it usually makes more sense to run it in Release mode...

make -j bench BUILDTYPE=Release
out/Release/bench

Build tools

make -j tools
out/Debug/skdiff

Clean up all generated files

make clean