Re: Help developing extensions

[Shai Ayal]

Hi Øivind,

> I would be thankful for some advice / help on how to built extensions for
> Octave ..
>
> I would like to develop new C++ functions and reuse some old code, which I
> could run and test from within Octave. I currently run on Windows XP, and
> use Microsoft development tools. So all these questions are related to
> development and use on Windows XP.
>
> Which distribution to use, and how to install? Should I install Cygwin first
> and then Octave (ver 2.1.71),
>  or
> could I use a distribution that make a complete Octave Windows installation?

I think it is best to first install cygwin & than compile octave 2.1.71 
from source, and than compile octave-forge from source. This could take a 
few hours

> Any difference between the installations in terms of adding my own
> functions/code?

the "complete" installes are very antiquated and don't support dll's

> Is there a standard interface/method for such, so I could say develop dll's
> that could be called from Octave trough som m-function? I believe this can
> be done in this way in Matlab.
>
> Is there a good description of how to interface/make extensions somewhere?

Have a look at wiki.octave.org, it has many pointers and tips. One good one is

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/prthomas/intro.html

> Is knowledge of Unix/Linux advantageous/necessary/essential?

I would say advantageous but not necessary/essential

> Do I need to use special compilers and tools, or could I develop my
> extensions with Microsoft compilers/development tools?

I think it has only been tried with gcc which comes with cygwin. I don't 
recall anyone trying to use MS tools.

Shai Ayal



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