See also Write once compile many
The issue is that we rely upon LLVM’s linker and they are not yet done updating it to build for Mac from Windows. We are working on it now ourselves but like so many things we have to prioritize. But one way or the other, we will get there.
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That is the point: that something is going forward. We - as your users and customers - know nothing about the priorizing, we see only what is not working. And there was never a discussion about that. But we all have to be open for it. Thanks for the answer, makes me to see that something is changing in future.
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We also update the roadmap about once a month. We don’t list building Mac apps from Windows because we view that as a bug, not a feature.
We do schedule bugs for specific releases but we don’t publish that information as we can’t be sure a particular bug will be fixed in a particular release.
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First of all, there are at least two buyers that gave their disappointment a voice over the same topic very recently.
Secondly, the influenced platform is not “just one” – Mac is ok. It are the Windows and Linux users – two of the three supported development platforms – that can run into limitations that would be easy to communicate on the web site.
Thirdly, this is not a temporary limitation. It exists since 64 Bit/LLVM was introduced. The possible fix date is uncertain.
And lastly, every company I know that is somewhat influenced by the “pandemic” measurements has changed their website to inform about supposedly temporary changes. And you really feel you should not add one single sentence to avoid troubles of this kind?
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My current project is in php and accesses a MariaDB. I am thinking about redoing the front-end in either .Net or Xojo. I have played with Xojo since it was RealBasic and now i am looking at it again. Lets say i write my Xojo app on my Windows. Can i take that same exact source code and copy it to my Mac, buy another Xojo license and then compile my project natively from my Mac without changing any code?
I suppose you are working on a Desktop application that you want to build for Windows and Mac, right? or this will be a Web application?
If you are thinking of creating Mac/Windows and you have a Desktop license, you don’t need to buy a new license. Your code for Windows will work on Mac and you can compile there. Depending on the code you will not need to change anything but in some cases, you need to fine-tune for differences between Mac and Windows.
Ideally i would like to write it once, and have a windows/mac/linux version. I would buy whatever license is needed. So i can buy 1 license and use it on mac and windows?
Desktop license can be installed on 2 computers, Pro license can be installed on 3 computers. Licenses are per developer.
Look at the license comparison chart linked at the bottom of the Buy page on Xojo:
If you only have a Lite license, you have to select a single OS and can only compile for that OS. If you have a Desktop license, you can compile for macOS, Windows, Linux, and Pi. And the license can be activated on 2 machines instead of 1 like Lite. With the Pro you get access to more targets (iOS, Web, console, etc) and can license on 3 machines at once.
So with the $299 Desktop, yes, my understanding is you can do both Windows and macOS.
That said, while it is true a Windows machine could produce 32-bit macOS programs, the same is not yet true for 64-bit macOS programs. However, the license allows it so when that gets resolved (no ETA date yet) you may be able to again on a Windows machine. But even without that, you can run a Desktop license on a second machine like a cheap used mac mini, or on a cloud based mac you rent for a very short period.
In other words, yes, a Desktop license should let you do it. But currently, Windows is not able to produce 64-bit macOS executables.
OTOH, if your single machine is macOS, it can produce executables for all platforms. However, it is generally recommended you still test on each actual platform, at least if you are distributing beyond a small known user base.
YMMV. I’m just a user too; not an official Xojo spokesperson.
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To answer your question:
Yes, you can. But it is affordable that you work it out in a cross platform wise. Folders you can USA with specialfolders. The rest isn’t that difficult. You can install for debugging as long as you want an every platform. To build you’ll need a license. That means: write your sourcecode, do not forget about using special folders instead of native path cause xojo is abstracting this for you and do debugging on each platform. After, build it. From Mac you can build for Mac, windows and Linux, from pc and Linux for the own platform with 64 bit, for the other platform 32 Bit and for ma c you can only build on Mac.
Only if it gets fixed while your license is still active.
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Point taken. Though even when that is true, I’m not 100% you can code-sign without macOS. Never had to research it since I do use macOS and App Wrapper.
Thanks for all that info, it sounds like it will do what i need. I have a windows box because at my day job i program in windows all day (and work from home alot). I have real macs and virtualized macs as well. When i am programming at home as a hobby, i use linux so it sounds like Xojo gives me a lot of options. Very good and straight forward information. Thanks!
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All of the above are non-official answers, but based on our collective knowledge as users. For official answers, it is based [meant best] to email Xojo directly ( e.g. hello@xojo.com ) but I don’t think they guarantee a response on a weekend.
One more point: last I knew, the reason upgrade pricing is not listed as their website is it is calculated for you when you ask for a quote. I believe it works like this:
- Expiration date remains the same as your existing license
- Number of days until that day is computed
- Difference between what you paid for current license and desired license is determined
- Difference is pro-rated based on the remaining days to expiration
Again, that is not official but true AFAIK and may help you plan. So if / when you ever want to move to a higher license, you are not penalized for not doing it at the time of the initial license.
Edit: Corrected based to best
Well, as I really can not give an official answer I can tell you from my own dayly experience:
Writing under Linux or Windows or Mac and
Compiling on Linux for Linux and and for Windows runs with Desktop and Web Apps
Compiling on Mac for Mac, Windows and Linux runs on Mac, Windows and Linux for Desktop and Web
Writing and compiling IOS Apps runs only under MAC/OS because of license restrictions of Apple
The next point is your license
You do not need a license for developing and debugging. Simply download and run Xojo on the platform you want to debug on. Without a license you can not build the application. If you have to change your license place, go to the xojo Website, there you will find licenses and under managing licenses you can deactivate the license on a device you are not using for Building yet and activate the license on the computer you want to build on. Therefore if you have for example a Pro Plus license you are allowed to install on six devices, if you have a Pro License you can activate on three devices at the same time. Means: you can go with your license temporarely to another computer for building and later go back to your computer where you normaly use the license. This makes it possible to code, debug and build with one license on all platforms you want. Excepting ARM V7, this devices can not open the xojo IDE there you need to build on Windows, Linux or Mac/OS.
I hope this gives you all the answers you need to get forwwarded.
I’d be interested in knowing what your issues were building a Windows app on Mac. Does REAL/Xojo crash? Do you get false errors? I can’t believe it’s true, I’ve built Windows apps on Mac for decades, always worked 100%.
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Das ist meine Entscheidung!
Ich nutze einen Mac und biete meine Software für Windows und Linux an, ohne das vorher zu testen. Bisher war das kein Problem.
Ich plane ein Update von Xojo 2019 auf die kommende Version, wenn Apple Silicone unterstützt wird. Wenn ich dann für Linux und Windows keine Programme mehr erstellen kann (auf meinem Mac), werde ich mir das gründlich überlegen.
Das ist nicht die Art Cross-Plattform Programmierung die ich bisher kenne und weiterhin haben möchte!
That is my decision!
I use a Mac and offer my software for Windows and Linux without testing it before. So far this was no problem.
I plan to update Xojo 2019 to the next version, if Apple Silicone is supported. If I then can’t create programs for Linux and Windows anymore (on my Mac), I will think about it thoroughly.
This is not the kind of cross-platform programming I know so far and want to continue!
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)
Xojo has no problems building apps for Windows and Linux from Mac and I bet a future version will allow us to build for Apple Silicone.
Xojo hat keine Probleme, Anwendungen für Windows und Linux von Mac aus zu entwickeln, und ich wette, dass wir mit einer zukünftigen Version auch für Apple Silicone bauen können.
Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)