Contributing
Contributions to Misfit Model 3D are encouraged. There are several
ways (both coding and non-coding) that you can help this project
continue. The easiest thing is simply to send me an encouraging email.
Bug reports and feature requests are also appreciated.
Source code patches for bugs or new features are also welcome. In the
case of patches, there are a few guidelines to follow which will
help expedite the integration process.
- Follow the coding style in the rest of the project.
- Make a patch from the latest version. If your patch is a bug
fix for the stable version, your patch should be against the
most recent stable version. If your patch is a new feature or a bug
fix for the development version, it should be against the SVN
repository or the most recent development version.
- Contact me before starting a complex feature. I may be close to
finishing a similar feature myself, or the feature you wish to add may
conflict with Misfit Model 3D's design goals. If you are interested
in contributing code to Misfit Model 3D, I certainly do not want your
efforts to be wasted.
You can also make contributions in the form of plugins. You can create new
tools, commands, texture filters, and model filters through the plugin
system. I am willing to host quality plugins on the main
website, or even consider integration into the core codebase.
Non-coding contributions could come in the form of documentation or artwork;
or possibly even in forms I have not considered. If you have the desire
and means to contribute, contact me and I will be happy to help you get
started.
Plugins
Plugins can be created to add new tools, commands, texture filters and
model filters. Currently Misfit development is done in C++. If you
have a compelling reason to implement a plugin in another language,
contact me and I may be able to arrange C bidings which can be extended
to support other languages.
The details of the plugin system may change. The discussion below details
the plugin system as of 1.4, but the development source code is always
the most up-to-date source of documentation. Check the plugins directory
in the misfit model distribution for an example. The ImLib2 Texture plugin
contains a documented, non-trivial example.
A Misfit plugin is a dynamic library which contains three required functions
and two optional functions, declared as extern "C"
.
Functions marked with a * are optional.
- plugin_init - Initialize the plugin
- plugin_uninit - Uninitialize the plugin
- plugin_mm3d_version - Provide Misfit Model 3D version string the
plugin was compiled for
- plugin_version * - Provide plugin version string
- plugin_desc * - Provide plugin description string
The contents of the init and uninit functions will depend on what
the purpose of the plugin is. In most cases it will register
a new tool, command, or filter through the appropriate manager singleton.
The version and description functions are optional, but are useful
in providing information to the end user about the version
and purpose of the plugin. These details can be viewed from the Plugins
Window.
The plugin_mm3d_version
function should return
the VERSION_STRING constant that is defined in version.h.
See the ImLib2 Texture plugin for an introduction to writing a
plugin. The example also contains pointers to other files in the codebase
which contain classes to derive from and documentation on how to use
the manager singletons. The source code for the latest stable or
development release is always the authoritative reference. I try to
keep documentation in the relevant header files current.