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Anatomy of an AC3D plugin

NOTE: If you are using a command line compiler, please see the make files that ship with the AC3D SDK for tips on getting started.

An AC3D plugin is a C/C++ dynamic library with a .p extension.

Aside from the ac_plugin.h file included with the SDK, you only need to add a single source file of your own for a compilable AC3D plugin.

There are four functions that you will create for each plugin

Aside from these four functions, in a standard plugin, you will define a static function of your own.

Creating an AC3D plugin template

The following code snippet defines n AC3D plugin template. This plugin was written for C++. Within the code, you will find comments that explain each section of the source code.

NOTE: This tutorial was done on a Windows platform, as the "#define WINDOWS" indicates in the below code snippet. It is worthwhile to note that Mac compilations require that DMAC be defined, and linux requires DLINUX.

// If _WINDOWS is defined, we are probably compiling from a MSVC // environment. Define WINDOWS to ensure ac_plugin.h picks up // the right function prototypes. #ifdef _WINDOWS #ifndef WINDOWS #define WINDOWS #endif #endif // The SDK header #include "ac_plugin.h" ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // This is our plugin's main function. // Your custom code will go here. static void my_plugin() { } ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // The plugin init function AC3D_PLUGIN_FUNC int AC3DPluginInit( AC3DPluginInitData *d ) { // We only want this code to run once. I'm not sure that // this check is necessary, but it does prevent multiple // loads in case AC3D loads/unloads the plugin in future // releases. We only want this snippet to execute once, since // it adds items to the AC3D menu. static bool firstTime = true; if( firstTime ) { // Add a new command that AC3D will use to call our function. // "my_command" is the internal name of the command that AC3D // will call from the GUI to call our plugin code. // Put what you want here, but try to be careful what you // name the plugin; i.e., you don't want to give it the // same name as an AC3D internal command. I normally use // my initials here to prevent overlap (i.e., "ddh_my_command") // my_plugin is a pointer to our static void my_plugin() // function defined earlier. ac_add_command( "my_command", my_plugin ); // Add a new menu item for our plugin under the "Tools" menu. // "Menu item text" is the text that will appear on the AC3D // menu. Put whatever you want here. // "ac3d my_command" is the menu command that will be invoked. // "ac3d" is an internal AC3D command for invoking another // internal command. "my_command" is the name of the // command we created in the last step ac_add_command() // "Menu item statusbar text" is the text that will appear // in the AC3D statusbar when you mouse-over the menu item. ac_add_tools_menu_item( "Menu item text", "ac3d my_command", "Menu item statusbar text" ); // Prevents this snippet from being run more than once, // in the event this function is ever called multiple times. firstTime = false; } // Return 0 on success return 0; } ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Not sure that this function is ever run, or even needed, // but is included for future versions at the very least. AC3D_PLUGIN_FUNC int AC3DPluginExit() { return 0; } ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Return the text to be shown in the Help -> About plugins... // dialog. Be sure to put in a version number and your name. AC3D_PLUGIN_FUNC char *AC3DPluginAbout() { return( "Name of my plugin - version 1.0 - My Name" ); } ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Return the text to be shown in the description field when // a user clicks your plugin text in the Help -> About plugins... // dialog. AC3D_PLUGIN_FUNC char *AC3DPluginInfo() { return( "Detailed description of my plugin." ); }

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