Node3D plugin example

This example shows how to create a custom 3D node and how to use that node in Kanzi Studio. The Kanzi example contains a Visual Studio solution that defines the .dll for the Kanzi Engine plugin which defines the custom node, and a Kanzi Studio project that uses the plugin system to apply in the Kanzi Studio Preview the behaviors defined in the custom nodes.

You can find the example in the <KanziWorkspace>/Examples/Node3D_plugin directory.

To learn how to create a Kanzi Engine plugin, see Creating Kanzi Engine plugins.

Creating custom nodes

The two custom nodes in the example are:

Kanzi Studio reads the information about the messages and property types used by the custom nodes from the plugin .dll.

Kanzi Engine registers the plugin by calling a function with this signature from the plugin

extern "C"
{
	__declspec(dllexport) Module* createModule(uint32_t kanziVersionMajor, uint32_t kanziVersionMinor);
}

Knob and Spinner nodes are registered in the getMetaclassesOverride() function which is defined in the module that you create and that the createModule() function returns.

In order to register the Spinner node, the Spinner must contain a metaclass. By using the KZ_METACLASS_BEGIN you define a custom node and there you declare:

KZ_METACLASS_BEGIN(Spinner, Node3D, "Spinner");
	KZ_METACLASS_MESSAGE_TYPE(SpinnerUpdateLevelMessage)
	KZ_METACLASS_PROPERTY_TYPE(TextBlockProperty)
KZ_METACLASS_END();

In this example the Spinner creates its message type SpinnerUpdateLevelMessage by specifying that it uses SpinnerUpdateLevelMessageArguments.

MessageType<Spinner::SpinnerUpdateLevelMessageArguments> Spinner::SpinnerUpdateLevelMessage(kzMakeFixedString("Message.Spinner.UpdateLevel"), 0);

In order to register the message arguments for the SpinnerUpdateLevelMessage the SpinnerUpdateLevelMessageArguments must contain the metaclass that defines the message arguments. By using the KZ_MESSAGE_ARGUMENTS_METACLASS_BEGIN you define the argument for the custom message and there you declare:

KZ_MESSAGE_ARGUMENTS_METACLASS_BEGIN(SpinnerUpdateLevelMessageArguments, MessageArguments, "Spinner Update Level Message Arguments")
	KZ_METACLASS_PROPERTY_TYPE(SpinnerLevelAlterationProperty)
KZ_METACLASS_END()

See also

Kanzi Engine plugins

Creating Kanzi Engine plugins

Examples