Getting source code

The source code is accessible as follows:

svn co http://boinc.berkeley.edu/svn/trunk/boinc

On Windows, get a SVN client like ​TortoiseSVN. Right-click on the parent directory, select 'SVN checkout', and fill in the dialog with the above URL. You can also download ​svn command-line program for Windows.

Note: some HTTP proxies may cause problems with the SVN protocol. If you have trouble checking out the code, try using https instead of http.

SVN tags and branches

We maintain tags and branches for the client software (core client and manager) in the boinc module. Tags contain the source code for a certain version of the client, just as it was used for an official release. Branches contain the latest source code (maybe being developed) for a major version (like "5.8" or "6.1").

For building the client, you should probably use the tag for the latest version. If you use trunk, you will get code that hasn't been tested enough (or is known not to work).

For other parts of the software (e.g., server and API), use the current version (trunk). If you use a tag for the server, you wouldn't get "server version X", since there aren't versioned releases for the server. Instead, you would get "whatever server code was on the repository when client X was released", which could be a very old version.

To check out a branch (for example, boinc_core_release_5_10) use the following:

svn co http://boinc.berkeley.edu/svn/branches/boinc_core_release_5_10 

Checking out tags is quite similar:

svn co http://boinc.berkeley.edu/svn/tags/boinc_core_release_5_10_39

Browsing source code via the web

You can browse the boinc or boinc_samples code via a web-based interface. This is useful for getting individual files, or seeing the revision history.

Source code road map

The BOINC source tree includes the following directories:

api

The BOINC API (for applications).

apps

Some test applications.

client

The BOINC core client.

clientgui

The BOINC Manager.

clientscr

The BOINC screensaver for Windows.

clienttray

The BOINC Tray component (checks for user activity on Windows).

db

The database schema and C++ interface layer.

html/ops

PHP files for the operational web interface.

html/user

PHP files for the participant web interface.

html/inc

PHP include files.

html/languages

Translation files for project websites.

lib

Code that is shared by more than one component (core client, scheduling server, etc.).

locale

Translation files for BOINC Manager.

py

Python modules used by tools.

sched

The scheduling server, feeder, and file upload handler.

samples

Several example applications together with Windows and Mac project files and a Linux makefile for building the applications. It also includes Windows versions of some libraries (GLUT, jpeglib, etc.) that many applications will need, but which are not part of BOINC.

test

Test scripts.

tools

Operational utility programs.

win_build

Project files for compiling the client under Windows, and the Windows installer.

zip

Compression functions; not used by BOINC, but may be useful for applications.