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JUCE build paths and Xcode integration

General JUCE discussion
#1

I’m looking to run a plugin that requires me to integrate both JUCE and Xcode. The plugin is called the “GLSL Editor,” and can be found here: GitHub - COx2/glslEditor_AudioPlugin: GLSL Editor for Audio Plugin with JUCE Framework. [Plugin formats]VST3/AudioUnit(AU) and more.... However, the plugin isn’t opening, despite it running and built successfully. I was told that the build settings for the project can be found in the .jucer file, but I still don’t understand what the problem is that’s keeping the plugin from opening. These are the build steps given for Mac OS X users since I’m on a Mac:

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In regards to JUCE specifically, I’m mainly focusing on Step 4 at the moment since it is where my problem arose, and since the maker of the plugin told me to look at the plugin’s .jucer file. What should I do to fix one or more particular build paths or options in the JUCE and/or plugin settings so that the plugin will (or might) open when I try opening and running it in Xcode afterwards?

#2

So do I get it right that your goal is not to modify the plugin but you only want to use it and found that in order to get a mac version you have to build it from the sources you found in that Git repository?

Do you have any software development experience, can you read/write C++ code or do you basically have no idea what you are doing and are just trying to follow some step by step instructions in order to retrieve the built plugin?

Looking at the project, I can see a few things

  • The mac OS build instructions don’t reflect the current state of things anymore as the current VST3 SDK is integrated into JUCE for a while now and a build for a 32 bit architecture has not been supported for some time on macOS anymore. The author mentions Xcode 7, the current version is Xcode 12
  • A proper maintained professional project should include juce as a git submodule, making sure that you get the juce version matching the code. It’s totally possible that things have changed in juce since the author tested all that for the last time which might lead to all kind of errors when trying to build the project
  • Odd details here and there that don’t really follow coding or professional project structure best practices.

All that doesn’t have to mean that the project won’t work, but at least I expect it to be possible that there all kinds of oddities and errors waiting here that might be easy to solve for someone that’s safe with programing and JUCE, but which might be complicated to get right without knowledge.

Still we are happy to help newcomers here. You say

and I’m not really sure what you mean by that? The plugin cannot be running if you failed opening it… So could you explain a bit more detailed what exactly worked so far? What makes you come to the conclusion that it has been built sucessfully? Because if some paths in the Projucer are not set correctly as you assumed there is no real chance that it has been built at all. In case of doubt share some screenshots with us :slight_smile:

#3

The only experience I have is primarily regarding editing the C++ code. The main thing that I’m looking to get more accustomed to is editing and adjusting Build Paths, settings, header paths, etc. I figured that the current state of things wouldn’t work with particular build instructions in JUCE (as well as in Xcode). While looking for resources, I looked at the Info/Help buttons in the options in JUCE, and it led me to this site: JUCE 5.4 | JUCE. One part of the site says “1. The VST2 SDK can be obtained from the vstsdk3610_11_06_2018_build_37 (or older) VST3 SDK or JUCE version 5.3.2. You should put the VST2 SDK in your header search paths or use the “VST (Legacy) SDK Folder” fields in the Projucer. 2. For new plug-in projects where you will be releasing both a VST2 and VST3 version, and you want the VST3 plug-in to replace the VST2 plug-in in hosts that support it, then you should enable the JUCE_VST3_CAN_REPLACE_VST2 option.” I downloaded previous versions of JUCE to find that option listed in the settings, but that didn’t entirely fix it.

It actually isn’t running successfully now. Prior to editing the settings some more, I mainly saw the “Build Succeeded” message in Xcode rather than JUCE. I originally didn’t look into the VST, VST2, and VST3 settings, which was why I was not having any errors in Xcode. In JUCE, despite not being sure what to type next in the build paths, settings, etc., I’m not getting any errors that are keeping me from saving the .jucer file and opening it in my IDE app (Xcode).

Since I’m relatively new to all of this, JUCE Support recommended that I turn to the forums, which I did.