SilverEngineEllipse

SilverEngine Basics

Overview

A SilverEngine application is one that manipulates, and typically views or renders, SilverScreen drawings using the SilverEngine DLL. Manipulation of SilverScreen drawings is largely the province of the SilverScreen API, which is covered in a separate section. What is relevant here is the startup and shutdown of the SilverEngine DLL, and aspects relating to viewing and rendering SilverScreen drawings.

Loading SilverEngine

SilverEngine is implemented as a Win32 DLL. A SilverEngine application should link implicitly to SilverEngine. This means that the bookkeeping tasks associated with locating and loading the DLL, resolving its symbolic references, and unloading SilverEngine are handled by the operating system.

It is possible, albeit impractical, to link to SilverEngine explicitly, by using the Win32 API function LoadLibrary. Such an approach would require that any needed SilverScreen API functions be obtained via the Win32 API function GetProcAddress.

SilverEngine Startup

The SilverEngine DLL must be initialized before it may be used. To do this, the engine_initialize function is used. The engine_initialize function supplies SilverEngine with the name of a SilverScreen environment file (.ENV). This environment file contains a number of important startup settings for SilverEngine.

Other functions that may be called in the initialization phase are:

Function	Description
engine_set_frame_window	Define frame window to SilverEngine, for purposes of attachment of UI elements
set_qmessage_handler	Define a handler for SilverEngine status messages
set_show_error_handler	Define a handler for SilverEngine error messsages
set_location_change_handler	Define a handler for SilverEngine WORLDXYZ location change notifications
set_status_change_handler	Define a handler for SilverEngine status changes (e.g. grid, space, snap, etc. changes)
set_tempfile_create_handler	Define a function that is notified when a temporary file is created by SilverEngine
set_tempfile_close_handler	Define a function that is notified when a temporary file is created by SilverEngine

SilverEngine Shutdown

SilverEngine shutdown is accomplished automatically when the SilverEngine DLL is unloaded. Typically this means when the SilverEngine client exits.

Help URL: http://www.yourdomain.com/help/index.html?idh_silverengine_development_loading_silverengine.htm