build: Improve macOS build and dependency installation

docs/user/Build.md

@@ -95,6 +95,26 @@ it can be uploaded in the "Relevant log output" section of OpenROAD
 [issue forms](https://github.com/The-OpenROAD-Project/OpenROAD-flow-scripts/issues/new/choose).
 ```
 
+### Only for macOS Setup
+
+On macOS, it is recommended to use a Python virtual environment to isolate dependencies and avoid system conflicts.
+
+1. Create a virtual environment in the OpenROAD directory:
+``` shell
+python3 -m venv .venv
+```
+
+2. Activate the virtual environment:
+``` shell
+source .venv/bin/activate
+```
+
+3. With virtual environment activated, run without `sudo`:
+``` shell
+./etc/DependencyInstaller.sh -base
+./etc/DependencyInstaller.sh -common -local
+```
+
 ### Install Dependencies
 
 You may follow our helper script to install dependencies as follows:

etc/Build.sh

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ buildDir="build"
 if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "linux-gnu"* ]]; then
   numThreads=$(nproc --all)
 elif [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
-  numThreads=$(sysctl -n hw.ncpu)
+  numThreads=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu)
 else
   cat << EOF
 WARNING: Unsupported OSTYPE: cannot determine number of host CPUs"
@@ -196,8 +196,64 @@ mkdir -p "${buildDir}"
 __logging
 
 if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
-    export PATH="$(brew --prefix bison)/bin:$(brew --prefix flex)/bin:$PATH"
-    export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=$(brew --prefix or-tools)
+
+    _bison=$(brew --prefix bison 2>/dev/null || true)
+    _flex=$(brew --prefix flex 2>/dev/null || true)
+    _ortools=$(brew --prefix or-tools 2>/dev/null || true)
+
+    if [[ -z "$_bison" || ! -d "$_bison/bin" ]]; then
+        echo "[ERROR] bison not found or broken. Run: brew install bison" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    if [[ -z "$_flex" || ! -d "$_flex/bin" ]]; then
+        echo "[ERROR] flex not found or broken. Run: brew install flex" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+    if [[ -z "$_ortools" || ! -d "$_ortools/lib" || ! -d "$_ortools/include" ]]; then
+        echo "[ERROR] or-tools not found or broken. Run: brew install or-tools" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    export PATH="$_bison/bin:$_flex/bin:$PATH"
+    export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH="${_ortools}"
+
+    _qt5=$(brew --prefix qt@5 2>/dev/null || true)
+    if [[ -z "$_qt5" || ! -d "$_qt5/lib" ]]; then
+        echo "[ERROR] qt@5 not found or broken. Run: brew install qt@5" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    cmakeOptions+=" -DQt5_DIR=$_qt5/lib/cmake/Qt5"
+
+    _tcl8=$(brew --prefix tcl-tk@8 2>/dev/null || true)     
+    if [[ -z "$_tcl8" || ! -d "$_tcl8/lib" || ! -d "$_tcl8/include" ]]; then
+        echo "[ERROR] tcl-tk@8 not found or broken. Run: brew install tcl-tk@8" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    cmakeOptions+=" -DTCL_LIBRARY=$_tcl8/lib/libtcl8.6.dylib"
+
+    cmakeOptions+=" -DTCL_INCLUDE_PATH=$_tcl8/include"
+    cmakeOptions+=" -DFLEX_INCLUDE_DIR=$_flex/include"
+
+    cmakeOptions+=" -DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=-DBOOST_STACKTRACE_GNU_SOURCE_NOT_REQUIRED"
+
+    _icu="$(brew --prefix icu4c 2>/dev/null || true)"
+    if [[ -z "$_icu" || ! -d "$_icu/lib" ]]; then
+        echo "[ERROR] icu4c not found or broken. Run: brew install icu4c" >&2
+        exit 1
+    fi
+
+    export LDFLAGS="-L$_icu/lib"
+    export CPPFLAGS="-I$_icu/include" 
+    export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$_icu/lib/pkgconfig"
+
+    _extra_lib_paths=("$(brew --prefix)/lib")
+
+    _joined_paths="$(IFS=:; echo "${_extra_lib_paths[*]}")"
+
+    export LIBRARY_PATH="${_joined_paths}${LIBRARY_PATH:+:$LIBRARY_PATH}"
+    echo "[INFO] General LIBRARY_PATH=$LIBRARY_PATH"
 fi
 
 # ==============================================================================

etc/DependencyInstaller.sh

@@ -16,7 +16,11 @@ set -euo pipefail
 PREFIX=""
 CI="no"
 SAVE_DEPS_PREFIXES=""
-NUM_THREADS=$(nproc)
+if [[ "$OSTYPE" == "darwin"* ]]; then
+    NUM_THREADS=$(sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu)
+else
+    NUM_THREADS=$(nproc)
+fi
 SKIP_SYSTEM_OR_TOOLS="false"
 BASE_DIR=$(mktemp -d /tmp/DependencyInstaller-XXXXXX)
 CMAKE_PACKAGE_ROOT_ARGS=""
@@ -953,9 +957,9 @@ EOF
         exit 1
     fi
     log "Install darwin base packages using homebrew (-base or -all)"
-    _execute "Installing Homebrew packages..." brew install bison boost bzip2 cmake eigen flex fmt groff googletest libomp or-tools pandoc pkg-config pyqt python spdlog tcl-tk zlib swig yaml-cpp
-    _execute "Installing pipx..." brew install pipx
-    _execute "Installing Python click..." pipx install click
+    _execute "Installing Homebrew packages..." brew install bison boost bzip2 cmake eigen flex fmt groff googletest icu4c libomp or-tools pandoc pkg-config qt@5 python spdlog tcl-tk@8 zlib swig yaml-cpp
+    # _execute "Installing pipx..." brew install pipx
+    _execute "Installing Python click..." pip install click
     _execute "Linking libomp..." brew link --force libomp
     _execute "Installing lemon-graph..." brew install The-OpenROAD-Project/lemon-graph/lemon-graph
 }
@@ -1220,7 +1224,7 @@ main() {
             cat <<EOF
 
 To install or run OpenROAD, update your path with:
-    export PATH="\$(brew --prefix bison)/bin:\$(brew --prefix flex)/bin:\$(brew --prefix tcl-tk)/bin:\${PATH}"
+    export PATH="\$(brew --prefix bison)/bin:\$(brew --prefix flex)/bin:\$(brew --prefix tcl-tk@8)/bin:\${PATH}"
     export CMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=\$(brew --prefix or-tools)
 EOF
             ;;