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Normal User Installation
------------------------

Configuring the compilation process
-----------------------------------

   First of all, you should run the `configure' script at the toplevel
of the distribution.  This script will perform a number of checks on
your system and generate the `Makefile''s accordingly.

   The `configure' script also comes with a number of options that lets
you customize the compilation process.  These options are described
below where appropriate.

Byte Compiling the Lisp files
-----------------------------

   First, you need to byte-compile the appropriate BBDB Lisp files.
While this is in theory an optional step, it is virtually required in
practice due to speed reasons.

   In order to byte-compile the lisp files, an Emacs of some sort must
be used. By default (at `configure' time), `emacs' and `xemacs' will be
tried in that order. If you want to use a special Emacs flavor (or if
you want to use `xemacs' at the first place), you should pass the
`--with-emacs=PROG' option to `configure'.

   In order to successfully compile the BBDB, the build process also
needs to know the location of the various optional packages.  If the
directories containing these optional packages are in the default Emacs
search path (the `load-path' variable), no other changes need be made
for the build process to complete successfully.

   If the optional packages are not in the default search path, the
build process will not find them unless explicitly told of their
location(s).  To tell the build process where to find Gnus, MH-E,
and/or VM, use the `configure' options `--with-gnus-dir=DIR',
`--with-mhe-dir=DIR', and/or `--with-vm-dir=DIR' variables
respectively.  To tell the build process where to find any other
package(s), pass the directories containing the lisp files for the
package(s) to the `configure' option `--with-other-dirs=DIRS'.  If
multiple directories are to be added, they should be separated by
spaces or colons, and should not be quoted.  For example, to add the
`/p/local/elisp/footnote' and `/p/local/elisp/sc' directories, call the
`configure' script as follows:

       `configure --with-other-dirs=/p/local/elisp/footnote:/p/local/elisp/sc'

   After configuring, run one of the following commands:

          `make bbdb'  - Build the core, mailer independent, components
          `make gnus'  - Core components plus `Gnus' support
          `make mhe'   - Core components plus `MH-E' support
          `make rmail' - Core components plus `RMAIL' support
          `make vm'    - Build the core components with `VM' support
          `make all'   - Core components plus support for all mailers
                              listed above

   You can also combine the above `make' commands.  For example, to
build the BBDB with support for `Gnus' and `VM', you can do so by
typing:

     make gnus vm

Moving the files to their final destination
-------------------------------------------

Lisp files
..........

   As stated above, the `lisp' subdirectory contains the Emacs Lisp
source files for the BBDB.  Therefore, these files must be in the Emacs
`load-path'.  There are several ways of doing this, three of which are
described below:

   * Add the `lisp' directory from the source distribution to the
     `load-path'.  This will allow you to run the BBDB in-place.  This
     method is recommended for normal users or BBDB developers,
     especially if disk usage is an issue.  It is not recommended for
     site-wide installations.

   * Link the `lisp' directory into your `site-lisp' directory.  This is
     for a site-wide installation, but it is subject to the following
     caveat.  If you link the `lisp' directory into `site-lisp', you
     will make life more difficult for yourself down the road, as you
     will not be able to make changes to the source directory (new
     versions, patches, etc) without having an effect on other users
     who now depend on it.  This directory will automatically be added
     to the `load-path' when Emacs starts.

   * Make a directory whose sole purpose in life is containing the
     production copies of the BBDB source and byte-compiled source
     files.  Either put this directory under `site-lisp' (or put it
     somewhere else and link it into `site-lisp').  This directory will
     automatically be added to the `load-path' when Emacs starts.  This
     is the best of the three listed here, as it allows for a degree of
     separation between the (possibly changing) source tree and the
     production code.

TeX files
.........

   The `tex' subdirectory contains the TeX support files for
bbdb-print, the BBDB printing utility (Note: bbdb-print.). The three
support files, `bbdb-cols.tex', `bbdb-print.tex', and
`bbdb-print-brief.tex', must be placed in a directory that is either on
the default TeX search path or is listed in the `TEXINPUTS' environment
variable. If neither of these two options is taken, TeX will not be
able to process the file output by `bbdb-print'.

texinfo files
.............

   The `bbdb.info' file in this directory contains the documentation
for the BBDB.  This file should either be linked or copied to a
directory on the default path for the `info' program or listed in the
`INFOPATH' environment variable.