Downward compatibility...etc...

THE POST BELOW IS MORE THAN 5 YEARS OLD. RELATED SUPPORT INFORMATION MIGHT BE OUTDATED OR DEPRECATED

On 11/08/2003 at 04:18, xxxxxxxx wrote:

User Information:
Cinema 4D Version:   8.100 
Platform:   Windows  ;   
Language(s) :   C.O.F.F.E.E  ;  C++  ;

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Q:

1. Working with Visual C++ is there a easy way to secure downward compatibility to C4D 6.3 ???

2. Which Plugins are faster/more efficient : C++ or Coffee Plugins - and where do I get a compiler for Coffee ??? And what is it with Expressions ? They are only interpreted and slow, right ?

3. Sorry, for this question (I will read soon more when I finished the priorities) but, can somebody give me an impression about Xpresso ? Is it a real alternative to C++ plugins ? Is it just interpreted (slow) or compiled (fast)...etc...

4. Even after convertying the sdk/api files from Unix to Dos format I can't successfully compile the sdk plugin examples with C++ - there is still one bug. I don't know what the line is doing, but I commeted it out and now it works - but still I have a bad feeling. Will there soon (when ???) be a new C4D point release fixing this problem ??? How much energy does Maxon use to care for the Plugin Development - because it still looks slightly buggy and not optimal documented...I still haven't found a hook to get into it, despite the fact, I know C4D very well...

Cheers,

jago

THE POST BELOW IS MORE THAN 5 YEARS OLD. RELATED SUPPORT INFORMATION MIGHT BE OUTDATED OR DEPRECATED

On 11/08/2003 at 08:51, xxxxxxxx wrote:

1. Working with Visual C++ is there a easy way to secure downward compatibility to C4D 6.3 ???
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There is no backward compatibility. you need to recompile your plugins with earlier API versions if you want backward compatibility. But there is most of the time forward compatibility.
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2. Which Plugins are faster/more efficient : C++ or Coffee Plugins
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C++
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 - and where do I get a compiler for Coffee ???
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you can write COFFEE plugins in a normal texteditor (i.e. windows notepad). Actually COFFEE plugins don´t need any compilation to work. And they are plattform independent and most of the COFFEE code can easily be reloaded directly in Cinema 4D without the need to close/reopen Cinema 4D.
A compiler though is available here in the Plugincafe. Please see the online COFFEE documentation. There is a link to the compiler.cof file (it´s a coffee file).
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 And what is it with Expressions ? They are only interpreted and slow, right ?
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They are used as expressions directly in Cinema 4D. They can be pretty fast, depending on the task. But it´s not possible to have "plugins" with COFFEE expressions.
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3. Sorry, for this question (I will read soon more when I finished the priorities) but, can somebody give me an impression about Xpresso ? Is it a real alternative to C++ plugins ? Is it just interpreted (slow) or compiled (fast)...etc...
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Xpresso is a node based animation! system that interacts with the scenery in Cinema 4D. It´s not possible to write plugins with it. There is no code. It´s no alternative to C++ or COFFEE if you want to write plugins. Please see the Cinema 4D documentation for more information on Xpresso.
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4. Even after convertying the sdk/api files from Unix to Dos format I can't successfully compile the sdk plugin examples with C++ - there is still one bug. I don't know what the line is doing, but I commeted it out and now it works - but still I have a bad feeling. Will there soon (when ???) be a new C4D point release fixing this problem ??? How much energy does Maxon use to care for the Plugin Development - because it still looks slightly buggy and not optimal documented...I still haven't found a hook to get into it, despite the fact, I know C4D very well...
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Sorry I cannot confirm. The SDK is very well documented. Some areas are a bit buggy but nothing earth moving. The complete SDK support is done here in the plugincafe by Mikael Sterner and David O´Reilly.
To your line. Cannot help you if I don´t know the line you are refering to. And probably Mikael is the better guy to answer those kind of questions I guess.
HTH
Samir