[vtk-developers] Update on VTK modularization progress

[Marcus D. Hanwell]

Hi,

I just pushed an update to the VTK modular repository that adds
support for export macros, and includes some refactoring in rendering
to remove GL dependence.

http://www.gitorious.org/kitware/vtkmodular

I am attempting to actually get a render window up and running, and am
pretty close right now. Due to the way that vtkGraphicsFactory was
written it has become clear that the approach cannot be used in a
modular VTK. I am working on an addition that uses the
vtkObjectFactory, and that seems to work well but will require some
initialization in static builds that was not necessary before.

This means that some adjustment to existing applications will be
required - likely including a header that will ensure the correct
overrides are in place before a window is instantiated. I would like
to add this to the ARB's next agenda, but this seems like a reasonable
change that will reduce the coupling. I will also be watching the
nightly dashboards, and hopefully have a few render tests working.

We have already been exercising various portions of VTK modular with
Sandia, and with some internal projects looking at getting VTK working
on embedded platforms. I will be updating the manifest.txt file soon
in the modularization branch on the topic stage, and have some new
Python code to fix up our source code for export headers and other
pieces.

Thanks,

Marcus