[Qgis-user] Developing QGIS plugins on Windows

[Marco Hugentobler]

Hi René

Unfortunately, I don't have the possibility to write a detailed step-by-step 
instruction here. 

Note that building applications and libraries with the Qt library is basically 
the same on Unix and on Windows. Qt provides tools that are available on 
every platform they support. If you install Qt on win32, there is a Qt 
console that you can use to run g++ and make. It may be a good start for you 
to study the (excellent) Qt documentation and their tutorials 
(http://doc.trolltech.com/4.3/tutorial.html). If you program some simple test 
applications on windows following the Qt tutorials, it will be only a small 
step more to compile a dynamic library with the Qt tools and link it with 
libqgis_core.dll and libqgis_gui.dll

Regards,
Marco

Am Montag 28 April 2008 18:00:40 schrieb René Estrella:
> Hello, Marco.  Thanks very much for your answer.  I know your explanation
> contains very useful information, but I am a newbie in compiling
> applications in Unix-like environments.  Maybe you can give me a little
> more specific information about building plugins in a Windows environment
> (something like step-by-step instructions would be ideal, if you don't
> consider it an abuse of your time) or may be you can tell me where can I
> get that kind of information?  As a first test, I've been trying to build
> an external plugin checked out from the QGIS repository, but the building
> instructions for it seemed to be oriented to Unix users.  This is the same
> case for the DevelopingPlugins page in the wiki.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> Hugentobler  Marco wrote:
> > Hi René
> >
> > The C++ and Python interfaces should be the same (possibly there may be a
> > few
> > exceptions). If your plugin is performance critical and you already know
> > C++
> > then I'd recommend you to write the plugin in C++.
> > The development of a C++ plugin is the same on Unix and on windows. If
> > you use
> > the QGIS binary package for windows that is compiled with the mingw
> > compiler,
> > you need to use the mingw compiler too. Also, you need to install the Qt
> > library for mingw (available at
> > http://trolltech.com/developer/downloads/qt/windows). Then you compile
> > your
> > plugin as a dll that is linked with qgis_core.dll and qgis_gui.dll.
> > The plugin documentations may be outdated. You may also have a look at
> > the code of the existing plugins to get an idea how they work.
> >
> > A final word on licensing: note that QGIS plugins must be under GPL
> > license.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Marco
> >
> > Am Donnerstag 24 April 2008 16:32:31 schrieb René Estrella:
> >> Paolo Cavallini wrote:
> >> > René Estrella ha scritto:
> >> >> I am interested in developing a QGIS plugin using C++ and for the
> >> >> Windows platform.  I read some documentation in the QGIS website
> >> >> (including the blog
> >> >> and wiki) and found information that seems applicable only in
> >>
> >> Unix-like
> >>
> >> >> OSs.
> >> >> Is there any documentation in the web where I can learn from how to
> >> >> develop
> >> >> a plugin for the Windows version of QGIS?  Or can you give me an
> >>
> >> advice
> >>
> >> >> to
> >> >> start learning about plugin development on Windows?
> >> >
> >> > What are the reasons to write a C++ plugin instead of a python one?
> >> > All the best.
> >> > pc
> >> > --
> >> > Paolo Cavallini, see: http://www.faunalia.it/pc
> >> > Noi ci troviamo con parecchie difficoltà con NGI http://www.ngi.it/
> >> > _______________________________________________
> >> > Qgis-user mailing list
> >> > Qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org
> >> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user
> >>
> >> Hello Paolo, thanks for your interest.  The plugin I'm thinking of is an
> >> application that deals with large amounts of data, so I thought in using
> >> C++ because I suppose C++ programs run faster than Python ones (is this
> >> right?), which is a desirable feature in this type of applications.
> >> Anyway, I can't proof this at this time.  Also, I have a little more
> >> knowledge and experience on C++ programming.  Finally, I have a
> >> question: Is the complete QGIS API available for developers of Python
> >> plugins (as is
> >> the case for C++ plugins) or is there any restriction in the API for
> >> Python
> >> plugins?  I mean, the QGIS API that developers of QGIS plugins can use
> >> in the development process is the same API that is used by developers of
> >> C++ plugins, or it is a restricted or limited version of it?
> >>
> >> Regards.
> >
> > --
> > Dr. Marco Hugentobler
> > Institute of Cartography
> > ETH Zurich
> > Technical Advisor QGIS Project Steering Committee
> > _______________________________________________
> > Qgis-user mailing list
> > Qgis-user at lists.osgeo.org
> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/qgis-user



-- 
Dr. Marco Hugentobler
Institute of Cartography
ETH Zurich
Technical Advisor QGIS Project Steering Committee