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Building VB Decompiler

Prerequisites

Required Tools

  • Zig 0.13.0 or later

  • CMake 3.20 or later

    • Linux: sudo apt install cmake (Ubuntu/Debian)
    • macOS: brew install cmake
    • Windows: Download from https://cmake.org/

  • Qt 6 6.5 or later

  • C++ Compiler with C++23 support

    • Linux: GCC 13+ or Clang 16+
    • macOS: Xcode 15+ or Clang 16+
    • Windows: Visual Studio 2022 or later

Platform-Specific Instructions

Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

# Install dependencies
sudo apt update
sudo apt install build-essential cmake qt6-base-dev git

# Install Zig
wget https://ziglang.org/download/0.13.0/zig-linux-x86_64-0.13.0.tar.xz
tar -xf zig-linux-x86_64-0.13.0.tar.xz
sudo mv zig-linux-x86_64-0.13.0 /opt/zig
echo 'export PATH=/opt/zig:$PATH' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/VBDecompiler.git
cd VBDecompiler

# Build core library
cd core
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
cd ..

# Build full project with CMake
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..
cmake --build . -j$(nproc)

# Install
sudo cmake --install .

macOS

# Install dependencies
brew install cmake qt@6 zig

# Clone and build
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/VBDecompiler.git
cd VBDecompiler

# Build core library
cd core
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
cd ..

# Build with CMake
mkdir build && cd build
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
      -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$(brew --prefix qt@6) ..
cmake --build . -j$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)

# Install
sudo cmake --install .

Windows (Visual Studio)

# Prerequisites:
# 1. Install Visual Studio 2022 with C++ workload
# 2. Install CMake from https://cmake.org/
# 3. Install Qt 6 from https://www.qt.io/download
# 4. Install Zig from https://ziglang.org/download/

# Add Zig to PATH
$env:PATH += ";C:\zig"

# Clone repository
git clone https://github.com/yourusername/VBDecompiler.git
cd VBDecompiler

# Build core library
cd core
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
cd ..

# Build with CMake
mkdir build
cd build
cmake -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A Win32 `
      -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="C:\Qt\6.5.0\msvc2022" ..
cmake --build . --config Release

# Install
cmake --install . --config Release

Build Options

CMake Options

cmake -DBUILD_GUI=ON \         # Build Qt GUI (default: ON)
      -DBUILD_CLI=ON \         # Build CLI tool (default: ON)
      -DBUILD_TESTS=ON \       # Build tests (default: ON)
      -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release ..

Zig Build Options

# In core/ directory
zig build -Doptimize=Debug          # Debug build
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe    # Release with safety checks
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast    # Maximum optimization
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSmall   # Optimize for size

Building Only Core Library

If you only want the core decompiler library without the GUI:

cd core
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe

# Library will be in: core/zig-out/lib/libvbdecomp.so (Linux)
#                     core/zig-out/lib/libvbdecomp.dylib (macOS)
#                     core/zig-out/lib/vbdecomp.dll (Windows)

# CLI tool will be in: core/zig-out/bin/vbdecomp

Building Only CLI Tool

cd core
zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe

# Run CLI
./zig-out/bin/vbdecomp help

Running Tests

Zig Unit Tests

cd core
zig build test

Integration Tests

cd build
ctest

Development Build

For active development with faster compile times:

# Debug build with all checks
mkdir build-debug && cd build-debug
cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Debug ..
cmake --build .

# Run with debugger
gdb ./gui/vbdecomp-gui
# or
lldb ./gui/vbdecomp-gui

Cross-Compilation

Linux → Windows

cd core
zig build -Dtarget=x86-windows-gnu -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe

# This creates vbdecomp.dll for Windows

macOS → Linux

cd core
zig build -Dtarget=x86_64-linux-gnu -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe

Troubleshooting

"Zig not found"

Make sure Zig is in your PATH:

which zig  # Linux/macOS
where zig  # Windows

"Qt not found"

Specify Qt location explicitly:

cmake -DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/qt6 ..

"C++23 not supported"

Update your compiler:

  • Linux: sudo apt install g++-13 or sudo apt install clang-16
  • macOS: Update Xcode Command Line Tools
  • Windows: Use Visual Studio 2022 17.6 or later

Zig Build Errors

Clear cache and rebuild:

cd core
rm -rf zig-cache zig-out
zig build

CMake Cache Issues

cd build
rm -rf *
cmake ..

IDE Setup

Visual Studio Code

Install extensions:

  • C/C++ (Microsoft)
  • CMake Tools
  • Zig Language

Open project and use CMake extension to configure and build.

CLion

Open CMakeLists.txt as project. CLion will auto-configure.

Qt Creator

Open CMakeLists.txt. Qt Creator will detect Qt automatically.

Next Steps

After building:

  1. Try the CLI tool:

    ./core/zig-out/bin/vbdecomp analyze <vb6-file.exe>

  2. Launch the GUI (once implemented):

    ./build/gui/vbdecomp-gui

  3. Read the documentation: