Issue #2513: enable 64bit cross compilation on windows.

1 files changed, 36 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/Doc/distutils/builtdist.rst b/Doc/distutils/builtdist.rst
index 2ebc986..f009bbb 100644
--- a/Doc/distutils/builtdist.rst
+++ b/Doc/distutils/builtdist.rst
@@ -329,6 +329,42 @@ version number.  This can be changed to another text by using the
 The installer file will be written to the "distribution directory" --- normally
 :file:`dist/`, but customizable with the :option:`--dist-dir` option.
 
+.. _cross-compile-windows:
+
+Cross-compiling on Windows
+=====================
+
+Starting with Python 2.6, distutils is capable of cross-compiling between 
+Windows platforms.  In practice, this means that with the correct tools 
+installed, you can use a 32bit version of Windows to create 64bit extensions
+and vice-versa.
+
+To build for an alternate platform, specify the :option:`--plat-name` option 
+to the build command.  Valid values are currently 'win32', 'win-amd64' and 
+'win-ia64'.  For example, on a 32bit version of Windows, you could execute::
+
+   python setup.py build --plat-name=win-amd64
+
+to build a 64bit version of your extension.  The Windows Installers also 
+support this option, so the command::
+
+   python setup.py build --plat-name=win-amd64 bdist_wininst
+
+would create a 64bit installation executable on your 32bit version of Windows.
+
+To cross-compile, you must download the Python source code and cross-compile 
+Python itself for the platform you are targetting - it is not possible from a
+binary installtion of Python (as the .lib etc file for other platforms are
+not included.)  In practice, this means the user of a 32 bit operating 
+system will need to use Visual Studio 2008 to open the 
+:file:`PCBuild/PCbuild.sln` solution in the Python source tree and build the 
+"x64" configuration of the 'pythoncore' project before cross-compiling 
+extensions is possible.
+
+Note that by default, Visual Studio 2008 does not install 64bit compilers or
+tools.  You may need to reexecute the Visual Studio setup process and select
+these tools (using Control Panel->[Add/Remove] Programs is a convenient way to
+check or modify your existing install.)
 
 .. _postinstallation-script: