There is no Mac OS X Quickstart section in the install/doc/readme.txt file, although needed, in particular for the ReadMe.txt File of Mac OS X .dmg package.
This is my suggestion, which is partly based on what I found in install/macosx/resources/ReadMe.txt:
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* Quick start - Mac OS X/Darwin
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There are two methods to install FreePascal for Mac OS X.
1) Download and install the Mac OS X package (fpc-2.0.4.powerpc-macosx.dmg)
This gives you the FreePascal compiler and the Xcode integration kit.
2) Install fpc using fink
This gives you the FreePascal compiler, in cluding all libraries, packages and units from its sources, including FreeVision and the IDE, which is partly works using X11 xterm.
With method 1 follow the instructions to install the XCode integration kit at:
http://www.freepascal.org/xcode.html
Method 2 is mainly thought for using the compiler through the command line. Fink takes care of setting the PATH variable. You can (under Mac OS X 10.2.x or earlier you actually have to) also use the command line with FreePascal installed using method 1. The main point is to change your Path as described below:
The compiler is called "fpc" and will be installed in /usr/local/bin. This directory may not be in your PATH, yet (if you type "fpc" in a Terminal window and you get something like "fpc: command not found", then it isn't). If the installation directory is not yet in your path, you will have to add it. To get an idea, how to do this, follow the instructions at:
"http://fink.sourceforge.net/doc/users-guide/install.php#setup"
to determine which file you have to edit, but instead of adding the line suggested there, add the following at the end:
- if your shell is the Bourneshell (bash):
export PATH=/usr/local/bin:$PATH
When using Terminal.app add this to ".bash_profile", when using the X11 xterm add this to ".bashrc".
If these files do not exist yet in your home directory, you have to create them, for example with nano (or any other text editor):
nano .bash_profile
- if your shell is the C Shell (csh or tcsh):
setenv PATH /usr/local/bin:${PATH}
Next, close the Terminal window and open a new one. Now, the path should be set correctly. After installing the package, you can write your source code in your favorite editor (including Project Builder and XCode). To compile something, go to the directory containing your source files in Terminal and type:
fpc name_of_your_source_file
The compiler only accepts one file name as argument, but will automatically search for and compile any units used by the specified source file. Run "fpc" without an yarguments to get an overview of the possible command line options.