ForDevelopers

Developers¶

The success of the VTK Examples depends on the contributions from the VTK user community. If you wish to contribute to this valuable resource, please follow these guidelines. If you are a VTK Example User, go here or an Example Administrator go here.

C++, C#, Python, and Java examples are welcome! Examples should illustrate a single concept.

Follow the Coding Guidelines¶

When you write an example, please follow the coding guidelines. Create the example in your local repository, compile and run it before you generate a pull request.

Some additional steps need to be done for Python C# and Java, see the sections below.

Setup for Development¶

This assumes you have VTK, CMake, git and git lfs installed.

Fork the repository¶

Go to the VTK Examples Repository, sign in/register, and then fork the repository.

A fork is a copy of a project. Forking a repository allows you to make changes without affecting the original project.

Clone the VTK examples repository onto your local machine and build it¶

If you are using SSH:

    git clone git@gitlab.kitware.com:<username>/vtk-examples.git

If You are using HTTPS:

    git clone https://gitlab.kitware.com/<username>/vtk-examples.git

Add the vtk-examples repository as a remote called upstream¶

    cd vtk-examples
    git remote add upstream https://gitlab.kitware.com/vtk/vtk-examples.git

Now build it¶

    cd vtk-examples
    cd build
    cmake -DVTK_DIR:PATH=YOUR_VTK_BIN_DIR -DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=ON ..
    make

where YOUR_VTK_BIN_DIR is the location of your VTK build.

Before adding your examples¶

Sync your repository with the vtk-examples repository. Remember that to run the following commands, you need to be in the vtk-examples directory.

    git fetch upstream
    git switch master
    git merge upstream/master
    git push

• Build the vtk-examples code

    cd vtk-examples
    cd build
    cmake -DVTK_DIR:PATH=YOUR_VTK_BIN_DIR -DBUILD_TESTING:BOOL=ON ..
    make

where YOUR_VTK_BIN_DIR is the location of your VTK build.

Add the example¶

Create a branch in your repository

    git checkout -b MyNewExample

where MyNewExample is the name of your new example.

Choose a Topic¶

The examples are organized by topic. Current topics include Animation, DataStructures, Filters, GeometricObjects, Images, Meshes, etc.

Write the source¶

• The following snippets may be of use:

• Cxx available snippets.

• Python available snippets.

• Java available snippets.

• Save your source code in vtk-examples/src/LANGUAGE/TOPIC/

  Where LANGUAGE is Cxx, Python, CSharp or Java and TOPIC is the topic that you have chosen.

Steps for C++¶

• Build and test your example (NOTE: only for cxx examples)

        cd vtk-examples/build
        cmake ..
        make
        ctest -V -R MyNewExample

Note: If MyNewExample is not built, then in the directory where you put the file, do:

    touch CMakeLists.txt

• If your C++ example does any rendering, the test will fail the first time and create an image in vtk-examples/build/Testing/Temporary. The image will be called TestMyNewExample.png.

• Copy the image into: vtk-examples/src/Testing/Baseline/LANG/TOPIC/. For Python and other languages, create an image with the proper name using a screen capture and copy that image into the proper location.

• Rerun ctest and the test should pass.

At this point you are ready to push the changes to GitLab.

Steps for Python, Java and C¶

• TODO: Add in new instructions for Python.

If you are basing your code on a Cxx example use the same name as the Cxx example. This ensures that automatic cross-referencing works.

Keep the same directory structure as that in Cxx.

• Follow first three steps above.
• Manually create a test image if your example does any rendering. The image should be called TestMyNewExample.png.

The following snippets can be used to write the image out:

• WriteImage for Python
• WriteImage for Java

Add the example to the language page¶

Depending on the language of your example, edit the file Cxx.md, Python.md, CSharp.md, or Java.md.

Find the section for your topic and add a line for your new example. The format of the line is:

[MyNewExample]$/**LANG**/**TOPIC**/**MyNewExample**$ | doxygen | short description

where LANG is one of Cxx, Python, CSharp, Java.

Commit your changes to your topic branch¶

git add MyNewExample.cxx

and if you have a baseline image,

git add Testing/Baseline/LANG/TOPIC/TestMyNewExample.png

finally,

git commit

Push the changes to GitLab¶

git push origin MyNewExample

Go to your GitLab project¶

Then generate a merge request for review.

See here for how to generate a merge request.

Advanced usage¶

Add a description¶

If your example could benefit from an extended description, you can create a file MyNewExample.md. Store the file alongside your source code. Use markdown to format the description. Also look at existing files for layout ideas.

In the markdown file any references to the vtk classes will be automatically converted to HTML links in the final documentation. This will cause problems when a VTK class name is used in a reference or when there are non-existent links in the documentation. To circumvent this just surround the vtk object with two question marks, for example: ?vtkTypeFloat32Array?.

Add arguments to the test¶

If your example requires arguments, you will need to edit the CMakeLists.txt in the topic directory.

• Add the name of your example to the NEEDS_ARGS variable

• Add an ADD_TEST line. See other CMakeLists.txt files for examples.

Add extra files to a C++ example¶

Most C++ examples consist of one file. If other files are required, place them in the same directory as the example. Then add a file with the same prefix as the example name and a .extras suffix. List each extra filename in the .extras file, one filename per line.