Docs: linux install example broken - or at least vague ? (Feature #3055)


Added by Howard Pautz almost 12 years ago. Updated over 11 years ago.


Status:Cancelled Start date:2013-05-29
Priority:Normal Due date:
Assignee:Howard Pautz % Done:

0%

Category:documentation
Target version:2.4.6
Difficulty: Pull request:

Description

Unworking / untested example ? Please have someone read this stuff who has never done the install, and you will soon see why many of us get lost so fast !

http://docs.opencv.org/doc/tutorials/introduction/linux_install/linux_install.html#linux-installation

Specifically these lines near bottom of page:

For example

cd ~/opencv
mkdir release
cd release
cmake -D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RELEASE -D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local

That last line generates a useless, garbage path. e.g, on two of my machines (Fedora and Ubuntu):

CMake Error: The source directory "/home/opencv/release/CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local" does not exist.

Also, going back up the page just a bit, note the lines which read:

Enter the <cmake_binary_dir> and type

cmake [<some optional parameters>] <path to the OpenCV source directory>

I had to read that several times, before I realized it is impossible to understand it - because no where does it say where the OpenCV source directory is, not to mention if those "optional parameters" are used in the following steps, e.g. is "-D CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RELEASE" an optional parm, or perhaps "-D CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local" is, or maybe just the 'usr/local' part is optional, or maybe those are required and mention is just made of optional items that are not used in this example. Or is -D all part of the OpenCV path, which the error I got seems to indicate. ( Perhaps Give ONE that is fully clear, simple, and working, then later or on another page, give more optional examples. We don't want to read the entire CMake manual to get one sample code working ! )

Another confusing item is the inconsistent <dir variable names>

1. <my_working _directory>
2. <cmake_binary_dir>
3. <path to the OpenCV source directory> hmmm, would that be 2 or some other ?
4. CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local <-- is that 3 or some other ?

sudo make install

OK, great, but where did it all end up ? And how can I test that. ( Yes, this does overlap an earlier request I made today, but this is really doc bug, is it not ? :))

thanks so much for all your hard work !

H


Related issues

related to Feature #3054: A "Preflight" Checklist Open 2013-05-29

Associated revisions

Revision 74457cd3
Added by Vadim Pisarevsky over 10 years ago

Merge pull request #3055 from akarsakov:copyto_UMat_fix

History

Updated by Howard Pautz almost 12 years ago

" because no where does it say where the OpenCV source directory is "

it reads:

" where you want to put the generated Makefiles, project files as well the object files and output binaries" ... and are the source files there too ? hmmm
.

Updated by Alexander Smorkalov almost 12 years ago

  • Priority changed from High to Normal
  • Category set to documentation

Updated by Daniil Osokin almost 12 years ago

Hi, Howard!
Thank you for desire to improve this tutorial! Please, submit a pull request with bugfix (http://code.opencv.org/projects/opencv/wiki/How_to_contribute).

  • Target version set to 2.4.6
  • Assignee set to Howard Pautz

Updated by Daniil Osokin almost 12 years ago

I can't reproduce this CMake error:

CMake Error: The source directory "/home/opencv/release/CMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local" does not exist.

Which version of CMake do you use?

Updated by Howard Pautz almost 12 years ago

Daniil Osokin wrote:

I can't reproduce this CMake error:
[...]
Which version of CMake do you use?

2.8.9

Daniil, are you following the doc instructions literally, or using your own knowledge ?

thanks
- H

Updated by Vladislav Vinogradov almost 12 years ago

Hello, Howard!

Try to remove space between -D and variable:

cmake -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=RELEASE -DCMAKE_INSTALL_PREFIX=/usr/local ..

Updated by Kirill Kornyakov over 11 years ago

Howard,

I completely agree with you that OpenCV needs better introductory tutorials, and many of them need more details and should be updated. However, OpenCV doesn't have a dedicate technical writer, it is fully community-driven effort. So, if you succeed have any suggestions, I ask you to realize them yourself and send a pull request. This will likely to help other people in a similar situation!

  • Status changed from Open to Cancelled
  • Tracker changed from Bug to Feature

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