Building the TIFF Software Distribution¶

This chapter contains step-by-step instructions on how to configure and build the TIFF software distribution. The software is most easily built on a UNIX system, but with a little bit of work it can easily be built and used on other non-UNIX platforms.

Building on all systems with CMake¶

CMake may be used to generate build files for most common build systems and IDEs, and supports all UNIX-like systems as well as Windows. See the CMake website for further details. To build the software on you need to first run cmake to configure the build and generate the system-specific build files. This reads the top-level CMakeLists.txt file, which probes the target system for necessary tools and functions, checks any options you specified to configure the build, and then outputs build files configured for your system. If using Unix Makefiles, once configuration is done, you simply run make (or gmake) to build the software and then make install to do the installation. For other build systems, you do the equivalent steps with the tool for that system. For example, on any UNIX system:

$ cd ./tiff-4.0.5
$ cmake
    ...lots of messages...
$ make
    ...lots of messages...
$ make test
    ...lots of messages...
# make install

Building is dependent on a make utility and a C (and optionally a C++) compiler, so you will need these tools.

In general, the software is designed such that the following targets will always be available:

make [all]      build stuff
make test       run the test suite
make install    build and install stuff
make clean      remove object files, executables and cruft

Build Trees¶

There are two schemes for configuring and building the software. If you intend to build the software for only one target system, you can configure the software so that it is built in the same directories as the source code.

$ gzip -dc tiff-4.0.5.tar.gz | tar -xf -
$ cd ./tiff-4.0.5
$ cmake
$ make
$ make test
$ make install

Otherwise, you can configure a build tree that is parallel to the source tree hierarchy (or in some completely different place) but which contains only configured files and files created during the build procedure.

$ gzip -dc tiff-4.0.5.tar.gz | tar -xf -
$ mkdir tiff-4.0.5-build
$ cd ./tiff-4.0.5-build
$ cmake ../tiff-4.0.5
$ make
$ make test
$ make install

This second scheme is useful for:

building multiple targets from a single source tree
building from a read-only source tree
sharing the source files via a network, but building on multiple systems
keeping the source tree clean (unlike autoconf, cmake does not provide a distclean target, so out of source builds are recommended)

Generators¶

The default generator for UNIX is Unix Makefiles, and on Windows is NMake Makefiles or MSBuild depending upon the setup. Run cmake --help to list all the generators available for your platform. For example, to use the Ninja build system on UNIX or Windows:

cmake -G Ninja
cmake --build .
ctest -V
cmake --build . --target install

Note that cmake --build . is a build-system-independent way of building a target; you can always use the build system directly.

Alternatively, using the MSBuild system on Windows (64-bit Release build with VS2013):

cmake -G "Visual Studio 12 2013 Win64"
cmake --build . --config Release
ctest -V -C Release
cmake --build . --config Release --target install

With the above configuration, it's also possible to open the generated solution file with the Visual Studio IDE as well as building on the command-line.

Configuration Options¶

The configuration process is critical to the proper compilation, installation, and operation of the software. The CMakeLists.txt script runs a series of tests to decide whether or not the target system supports required functionality and, if it does not, whether it can emulate or workaround the missing functions. After running cmake, check the CMakeCache.txt file; this contains all the results of the checks performed and the options set by the user. If cmake failed to run, check CMakeFiles/CMakeOutput.log and CMakeFiles/CMakeError.log; these should record the error which caused the failure.

A second function of the configure script is to set the default configuration parameters for the software. Of particular note are the directories where the software is to be installed. By default the software is installed in the /usr/local hierarchy. To change this behaviour the appropriate parameters can be specified on the command line. Run cmake --help to get a full list of possible options, and cmake -LH to list all the configurable options for this software package, or cmake -LAH to show all advanced options in addition. Standard installation related options are shown below.

Installation options¶

Option

Description

CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX

Installation root directory. The options below may be used to override individual installation locations.

CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR

user executables [PREFIX/bin]

CMAKE_INSTALL_SBINDIR

system admin executables [PREFIX/sbin]

CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBEXECDIR

program executables [PREFIX/libexec]

CMAKE_INSTALL_SYSCONFDIR

read-only single-machine data [PREFIX/etc]

CMAKE_INSTALL_SHAREDSTATEDIR

modifiable architecture-independent data [PREFIX/com]

CMAKE_INSTALL_LOCALSTATEDIR

modifiable single-machine data [PREFIX/var]

CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR

object code libraries [PREFIX/lib]

CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR

C header files [PREFIX/include]

CMAKE_INSTALL_OLDINCLUDEDIR

C header files for non-gcc [/usr/include]

CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR

read-only architecture-independent data root [PREFIX/share]

CMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR

read-only architecture-independent data [DATAROOTDIR]

CMAKE_INSTALL_LOCALEDIR

locale-dependent data [DATAROOTDIR/locale]

CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR

man documentation [DATAROOTDIR/man]

CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR

documentation root [DATAROOTDIR/doc/tiff]

Also see the CMake documentation for additional variables which may be set.

Configuring Optional Packages/Support¶

The TIFF software comes with several packages that are installed only as needed, or only if specifically configured at the time the configure script is run. Packages can be configured via the cmake commandline parameters.

Static/Shared Objects Support¶

BUILD_SHARED_LIBS[=ON|OFF]:

Build shared libraries (default is ON)

This option controls whether or not to configure the software to build a shared and static binaries for the TIFF library. Use of shared libraries can significantly reduce the disk space needed for users of the TIFF software. If shared libraries are not used then the code is statically linked into each application that uses it.

ld-version-script[=ON|OFF]

Enable linker version script (default is ON)

Add shared library symbol versioning on ELF-based systems (e.g. Linux and FreeBSD) which use the GNU linker. This is needed if several major versions of libtiff might be loaded at once into the same program.

JPEG Support¶

jpeg[=ON|OFF]

Enable IJG JPEG library usage (required for JPEG compression, enabled by default)

JPEG_INCLUDE_DIR=DIR:

Location of IJG JPEG library headers

JPEG_LIBRARY=DIR

Location of IJG JPEG library binary

The JPEG package enables support for the handling of TIFF images with JPEG-encoded data. Support for JPEG-encoded data requires the Independent JPEG Group (IJG) libjpeg distribution; this software is available at http://www.ijg.org/. The CMake script automatically tries to search for a working IJG JPEG installation. If it fails to find library, JPEG support will be automatically disabled. If you want specify the exact paths to library binary and headers, use above options for that.

ZIP Support¶

The ZIP support enables support for the handling of TIFF images with deflate-encoded data (enabled by default if available). Support for deflate-encoded data requires the freely available zlib distribution written by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler; this software is available at http://www.zlib.org/.

Building on a UNIX System with Autoconf¶

To build the software on a UNIX system you need to first run the configure shell script that is located in the top level of the source directory. This script probes the target system for necessary tools and functions and constructs a build environment in which the software may be compiled. Once configuration is done, you simply run make (or gmake) to build the software and then make install to do the installation; for example:

% cd ./tiff-4.0.5
% ./configure
    ...lots of messages...
% make
    ...lots of messages...
% make check
    ...lots of messages...
# make install

Supplied Makefiles are dependent on a make utility and a C (and optionally a C++ compiler), so you will need these tools.

In general, the software is designed such that the following should be "make-able" in each directory:

Make targets¶

Target

Description

make [all]

build everything

make check

run the test suite

make install

build and install everything

make clean

remove object files, executables and cruft

make distclean

remove everything that can be recreated

Note that after running make distclean the configure script must be run again to create the Makefile and other make-related files.

Build Trees¶

There are two schemes for configuring and building the software. If you intend to build the software for only one target system, you can configure the software so that it is built in the same directories as the source code.

% gzip -dc tiff-4.0.5.tar.gz | tar -xf -
% cd ./tiff-4.0.5
% ./configure
% make
% make check
% make install

Otherwise, you can configure a build tree that is parallel to the source tree hierarchy (or in some completely different place) but which contains only configured files and files created during the build procedure.

% gzip -dc tiff-4.0.5.tar.gz | tar -xf -
% mkdir tiff-4.0.5-build
% cd ./tiff-4.0.5-build
% ../tiff-4.0.5/configure
% make
% make check
% make install

This second scheme is useful for:

building multiple targets from a single source tree
building from a read-only source tree
sharing the source files via a network, but building on multiple systems

Configuration Options¶

The configuration process is critical to the proper compilation, installation, and operation of the software. The configure script runs a series of tests to decide whether or not the target system supports required functionality and, if it does not, whether it can emulate or workaround the missing functions. This procedure is fairly complicated and, due to the nonstandard nature of most UNIX systems, prone to error. The first time that you configure the software for use you should check the output from the configure script and look for anything that does not make sense for your system.

A second function of the configure script is to set the default configuration parameters for the software. Of particular note are the directories where the software is to be installed. By default the software is installed in the /usr/local hierarchy. To change this behaviour the appropriate parameters can be specified on the command line to configure. Run ./configure --help to get a full list of possible options. Standard installation related options are shown below.

Installation directories:

--prefix=PREFIX¶: install architecture-independent files in PREFIX [/usr/local]

--exec-prefix=EPREFIX¶: install architecture-dependent files in EPREFIX [PREFIX]

By default, make install will install all the files in /usr/local/bin, /usr/local/lib etc. You can specify an installation prefix other than /usr/local using --prefix, for instance --prefix=$HOME. For better control, use the options below.

Fine tuning of the installation directories:

--bindir=DIR¶: user executables [EPREFIX/bin]

--sbindir=DIR¶: system admin executables [EPREFIX/sbin]

--libexecdir=DIR¶: program executables [EPREFIX/libexec]

--sysconfdir=DIR¶: read-only single-machine data [PREFIX/etc]

--sharedstatedir=DIR¶: modifiable architecture-independent data [PREFIX/com]

--localstatedir=DIR¶: modifiable single-machine data [PREFIX/var]

--libdir=DIR¶: object code libraries [EPREFIX/lib]

--includedir=DIR¶: C header files [PREFIX/include]

--oldincludedir=DIR¶: C header files for non-gcc [/usr/include]

--datarootdir=DIR¶: read-only architecture-independent data root [PREFIX/share]

--datadir=DIR¶: read-only architecture-independent data [DATAROOTDIR]

--localedir=DIR¶: locale-dependent data [DATAROOTDIR/locale]

--mandir=DIR¶: man documentation [DATAROOTDIR/man]

--docdir=DIR¶: documentation root [DATAROOTDIR/doc/tiff]

--htmldir=DIR¶: html documentation [DOCDIR]

Program names:

--program-prefix=PREFIX¶: prepend PREFIX to installed program names

--program-suffix=SUFFIX¶

append SUFFIX to installed program names

--program-transform-name=PROGRAM¶: run sed PROGRAM on installed program names

Configuring Optional Packages/Support¶

The TIFF software comes with several packages that are installed only as needed, or only if specifically configured at the time the configure script is run. Packages can be configured via the configure script commandline parameters.

Static/Shared Objects Support¶

--enable-shared[=PKGS]¶: Build shared libraries [enabled]

--enable-static[=PKGS]¶

Build static libraries [enabled]

These options control whether or not to configure the software to build a shared and static binaries for the TIFF library. Use of shared libraries can significantly reduce the disk space needed for users of the TIFF software. If shared libraries are not used then the code is statically linked into each application that uses it. By default both types of binaries are configured.

--enable-rpath¶

Enable runtime linker paths (-R libtool option)

Add library directories (see other options below) to the TIFF library run-time linker path.

--enable-ld-version-script¶

Enable linker version script [yes]

Add shared library symbol versioning on ELF-based systems (e.g. Linux and FreeBSD) which use the GNU linker. This is needed if several major versions of libtiff might be loaded at once into the same program.

JPEG Support¶

--disable-jpeg¶: Disable IJG JPEG library usage (required for JPEG compression, enabled by default)

--with-jpeg-include-dir=DIR¶: Location of IJG JPEG library headers

--with-jpeg-lib-dir=DIR¶: Location of IJG JPEG library binary)

The JPEG package enables support for the handling of TIFF images with JPEG-encoded data. Support for JPEG-encoded data requires the Independent JPEG Group (IJG) libjpeg distribution; this software is available at http://www.ijg.org/. The configure script automatically tries to search for a working IJG JPEG installation. If it fails to find library, JPEG support will be automatically disabled. If you want specify the exact paths to library binary and headers, use above switches for that.

ZIP Support¶

The ZIP support enables support for the handling of TIFF images with deflate-encoded data. Support for deflate-encoded data requires the freely available zlib distribution written by Jean-loup Gailly and Mark Adler; this software is available at http://www.zlib.org/. Support will be enabled automatically if zlib is found.

Building the Software on Other Systems¶

This section contains information that might be useful if you are working on a non-UNIX system that is not directly supported. All library-related files described below are located in the libtiff directory.

The library requires two files that are generated on-the-fly. The file tif_fax3sm.c has the state tables for the Group 3 and Group 4 decoders. This file is generated by the mkg3states program on a UNIX system; for example:

cd libtiff
cc -o mkg3states mkg3states.c
rm -f tif_fax3sm.c
./mkg3states -c const tif_fax3sm.c

The -c option can be used to control whether or not the resulting tables are generated with a const declaration. The -s option can be used to specify a C storage class for the table declarations. The -b option can be used to force data values to be explicitly bracketed with {} (apparently needed for some MS-Windows compilers); otherwise the structures are emitted in as compact a format as possible. Consult the source code for this program if you have questions.

The second file required to build the library, version.h, contains the version information returned by the TIFFGetVersion() routine. This file is built on most systems using the mkversion program and the contents of the VERSION and tiff.alpha files; for example,

cd libtiff
cc -o mkversion mkversion.c
rm -f version.h
./mkversion -v ../VERSION -a ../dist/tiff.alpha version.h

Otherwise, when building the library on a non-UNIX system be sure to consult the files tiffcomp.h and tiffconf.h. The former contains system compatibility definitions while the latter is provided so that the software configuration can be controlled on systems that do not support the make facility for building the software.

Systems without a 32-bit compiler may not be able to handle some of the codecs in the library; especially the Group 3 and 4 decoder. If you encounter problems try disabling support for a particular codec; consult the Modifying The TIFF Library.

Programs in the tools directory are written to assume an ANSI C compilation environment. There may be a few POSIX'isms as well. The code in the port directory is provided to emulate routines that may be missing on some systems. On UNIX systems the configure script automatically figures out which routines are not present on a system and enables the use of the equivalent emulation routines from the port directory. It may be necessary to manually do this work on a non-UNIX system.

Testing the software¶

You can try tiffinfo to display the file metadata. See the TIFF Test Images section on obtaining the test images. Otherwise, you can do a cursory check of the library with the tiffcp program. For example,

tiffcp -lzw cramps.tif x.tif

LibTIFF source files¶

The following files make up the core library:

Core library source files¶

File

Description

libtiff/tiff.h

TIFF spec definitions

libtiff/tiffconf.h

non-UNIX configuration definitions

libtiff/tiffio.h

public TIFF library definitions

libtiff/tiffiop.h

private TIFF library definitions

libtiff/t4.h

CCITT Group 3/4 code tables+definitions

libtiff/tif_dir.h

private defs for TIFF directory handling

libtiff/tif_fax3.h

CCITT Group 3/4-related definitions

libtiff/tif_predict.h

private defs for Predictor tag support

libtiff/tiffvers.h

version string

libtiff/uvcode.h

LogL/LogLuv codec-specific definitions

libtiff/tif_aux.c

auxiliary directory-related functions

libtiff/tif_close.c

close an open TIFF file

libtiff/tif_codec.c

configuration table of builtin codecs

libtiff/tif_color.c

colorspace transforms

libtiff/tif_compress.c

compression scheme support

libtiff/tif_dir.c

directory tag interface code

libtiff/tif_dirinfo.c

directory known tag support code

libtiff/tif_dirread.c

directory reading code

libtiff/tif_dirwrite.c

directory writing code

libtiff/tif_dumpmode.c

"no" compression codec

libtiff/tif_error.c

library error handler

libtiff/tif_fax3.c

CCITT Group 3 and 4 codec

libtiff/tif_fax3sm.c

G3/G4 state tables (generated by mkg3states)

libtiff/tif_flush.c

i/o and directory state flushing

libtiff/tif_getimage.c

TIFFRGBAImage support

libtiff/tif_jbig.c

JBIG codec

libtiff/tif_jpeg.c

JPEG codec (interface to the IJG distribution)

libtiff/tif_jpeg_12.c

12-bit JPEG codec (interface to the IJG distribution)

libtiff/tif_lerc.c

LERC codec

libtiff/tif_luv.c

SGI LogL/LogLuv codec

libtiff/tif_lzma.c

LZMA codec

libtiff/tif_lzw.c

LZW codec

libtiff/tif_next.c

NeXT 2-bit scheme codec (decoding only)

libtiff/tif_ojpeg.c

Old JPEG codec (obsolete, decoding only)

libtiff/tif_open.c

open and simply query code

libtiff/tif_packbits.c

Packbits codec

libtiff/tif_pixarlog.c

Pixar codec

libtiff/tif_predict.c

Predictor tag support

libtiff/tif_print.c

directory printing support

libtiff/tif_read.c

image data reading support

libtiff/tif_strip.c

some strip-related code

libtiff/tif_swab.c

byte and bit swapping support

libtiff/tif_thunder.c

Thunderscan codec (decoding only)

libtiff/tif_tile.c

some tile-related code

libtiff/tif_unix.c

UNIX-related OS support

libtiff/tif_version.c

library version support

libtiff/tif_warning.c

library warning handler

libtiff/tif_win32.c

Win32 (Windows)-related OS support

libtiff/tif_write.c

image data writing support

libtiff/tif_zip.c

Deflate codec

libtiff/tif_zstd.c

ZSTD codec

libtiff/mkg3states.c

program to generate G3/G4 decoder state tables

libtiff/mkspans.c

program to generate black-white span tables

Building the TIFF Software Distribution¶

Building on all systems with CMake¶

Build Trees¶

Generators¶

Configuration Options¶

Configuring Optional Packages/Support¶

Static/Shared Objects Support¶

JPEG Support¶

ZIP Support¶

Building on a UNIX System with Autoconf¶

Build Trees¶

Configuration Options¶

Configuring Optional Packages/Support¶

Static/Shared Objects Support¶

JPEG Support¶

ZIP Support¶

Building the Software on Other Systems¶

Testing the software¶

LibTIFF source files¶

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Option	Description
`CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX`	Installation root directory. The options below may be used to override individual installation locations.
`CMAKE_INSTALL_BINDIR`	user executables [`PREFIX/bin`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_SBINDIR`	system admin executables [`PREFIX/sbin`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBEXECDIR`	program executables [`PREFIX/libexec`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_SYSCONFDIR`	read-only single-machine data [`PREFIX/etc`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_SHAREDSTATEDIR`	modifiable architecture-independent data [`PREFIX/com`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_LOCALSTATEDIR`	modifiable single-machine data [`PREFIX/var`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_LIBDIR`	object code libraries [`PREFIX/lib`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_INCLUDEDIR`	C header files [`PREFIX/include`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_OLDINCLUDEDIR`	C header files for non-gcc [`/usr/include`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_DATAROOTDIR`	read-only architecture-independent data root [`PREFIX/share`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_DATADIR`	read-only architecture-independent data [`DATAROOTDIR`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_LOCALEDIR`	locale-dependent data [`DATAROOTDIR/locale`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_MANDIR`	man documentation [`DATAROOTDIR/man`]
`CMAKE_INSTALL_DOCDIR`	documentation root [`DATAROOTDIR/doc/tiff`]

Target	Description
make [all]	build everything
make check	run the test suite
make install	build and install everything
make clean	remove object files, executables and cruft
make distclean	remove everything that can be recreated

File	Description
`libtiff/tiff.h`	TIFF spec definitions
`libtiff/tiffconf.h`	non-UNIX configuration definitions
`libtiff/tiffio.h`	public TIFF library definitions
`libtiff/tiffiop.h`	private TIFF library definitions
`libtiff/t4.h`	CCITT Group 3/4 code tables+definitions
`libtiff/tif_dir.h`	private defs for TIFF directory handling
`libtiff/tif_fax3.h`	CCITT Group 3/4-related definitions
`libtiff/tif_predict.h`	private defs for Predictor tag support
`libtiff/tiffvers.h`	version string
`libtiff/uvcode.h`	LogL/LogLuv codec-specific definitions
`libtiff/tif_aux.c`	auxiliary directory-related functions
`libtiff/tif_close.c`	close an open TIFF file
`libtiff/tif_codec.c`	configuration table of builtin codecs
`libtiff/tif_color.c`	colorspace transforms
`libtiff/tif_compress.c`	compression scheme support
`libtiff/tif_dir.c`	directory tag interface code
`libtiff/tif_dirinfo.c`	directory known tag support code
`libtiff/tif_dirread.c`	directory reading code
`libtiff/tif_dirwrite.c`	directory writing code
`libtiff/tif_dumpmode.c`	"no" compression codec
`libtiff/tif_error.c`	library error handler
`libtiff/tif_fax3.c`	CCITT Group 3 and 4 codec
`libtiff/tif_fax3sm.c`	G3/G4 state tables (generated by mkg3states)
`libtiff/tif_flush.c`	i/o and directory state flushing
`libtiff/tif_getimage.c`	TIFFRGBAImage support
`libtiff/tif_jbig.c`	JBIG codec
`libtiff/tif_jpeg.c`	JPEG codec (interface to the IJG distribution)
`libtiff/tif_jpeg_12.c`	12-bit JPEG codec (interface to the IJG distribution)
`libtiff/tif_lerc.c`	LERC codec
`libtiff/tif_luv.c`	SGI LogL/LogLuv codec
`libtiff/tif_lzma.c`	LZMA codec
`libtiff/tif_lzw.c`	LZW codec
`libtiff/tif_next.c`	NeXT 2-bit scheme codec (decoding only)
`libtiff/tif_ojpeg.c`	Old JPEG codec (obsolete, decoding only)
`libtiff/tif_open.c`	open and simply query code
`libtiff/tif_packbits.c`	Packbits codec
`libtiff/tif_pixarlog.c`	Pixar codec
`libtiff/tif_predict.c`	Predictor tag support
`libtiff/tif_print.c`	directory printing support
`libtiff/tif_read.c`	image data reading support
`libtiff/tif_strip.c`	some strip-related code
`libtiff/tif_swab.c`	byte and bit swapping support
`libtiff/tif_thunder.c`	Thunderscan codec (decoding only)
`libtiff/tif_tile.c`	some tile-related code
`libtiff/tif_unix.c`	UNIX-related OS support
`libtiff/tif_version.c`	library version support
`libtiff/tif_warning.c`	library warning handler
`libtiff/tif_win32.c`	Win32 (Windows)-related OS support
`libtiff/tif_write.c`	image data writing support
`libtiff/tif_zip.c`	Deflate codec
`libtiff/tif_zstd.c`	ZSTD codec
`libtiff/mkg3states.c`	program to generate G3/G4 decoder state tables
`libtiff/mkspans.c`	program to generate black-white span tables