Using the BasicExternalObject Sample

Introduction

This page documents how to build and run the BasicExternalObject sample, which demonstrates using the "direct" interface to an External Object. Note that the instructions apply with appropriate changes for compiling and running the sample named SampleLib, which shows how to use the "object" interface to an External Object. The direct interface is appropriate when you have a library that exposes functions, rather than classes.

Building the BasicExternalObject project

Building on Windows

Opening the BasicExternalObject Project on Windows

We assume that you have Visual Studio 2005 installed on your workstation.

Navigate to SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/build/basicexternalproject/win
Double click BasicExternalObject.vcproj and/or open the project in Visual Studio 2005. Use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl-Alt-L or View > Solution Explorer if you cannot see the project files.

Expand the BasicExternalObject project

The project contents should resemble the following:

BasicExternalObject/
	Header Files
		BasicExternalObject.h
		SoSharedLibDefs.h
		...
	Source Files
		BasicExternalObject.cpp

Inspect any of the source files by double clicking them in the Solution Explorer

Building

The project has two different build configurations, Release and Debug. To change to build configuration:

Select Build > Configuration Manager
In the "Active solution configuration" drop dow, set the configuration to build
Press Close

The default path for the project output is dependant on which build configuration was used and will either of the following:

SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/build/basicexternalobject/win/Release/
SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/build/basicexternalobject/win/Debug/

To create the library then build the project by:

Selecting Build > Build Solution or press 'F7'

If, for example, the Release configuration was used, then the compiled DLL can be found at SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/build/basicexternalobject/win/Release/BasicExternalObject.dll

Building BasicExternalObject on Mac OS

Opening the BasicExternalObject Project on Mac

Navigate to Navigate to SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/build/basicexternalobject/mac/
Double click BasicExternalObject.xcodeproj

Expand the BasicExternalObject project

The project contents should resemble the following:

BasicExternalObject/
	Source
		BasicExternalObject.cpp
		BasicExternalObject.h
		SoSharedLibDefs.h
		BasicExternalObject_Prefix.pch
	Resources
		Info.plist
		InfoPlist.strings		
	External Frameworks and Libraries
		Carbon.framework
	Products
		BasicExternalObject.framework

Inspect any of the source files by double clicking them in the Groups & Files pane

Building

The project has two different build configurations, Release and Debug. To change to build configuration:

Select Project > Set Active Configuration
Choose the configuration you require

The default path for the project output is dependant on which build configuration was used and will either be:

SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/build/basicexternalobject/mac/Release/
SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/build/basicexternalobject/mac/Debug/

To create the famework then build the project by:

Selecting Build > Build or press cmd B

If, for example, the Release configuration was used then the compiled DLL can be found at SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/build/basicexternalobject/mac/Release/BasicExternalObject.framework

The compiled framework can be found SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/build/basicexternalobject/mac/Release/BasicExternalObject.framework

Running the Library

Within the SDKINSTALL/samples/cpp/scripts/ folder there is the loadExternalObject.jsx script. This script can be loaded into the ESTK and run from its current location.

Loading and Running

To load and run the sample:

Open loadExternalObject.jsx in the ESTK
Run the script by selecting Debug > Run or by pressing F5
A dialog window will appear to display output of the object calls