The messiahAPI was written in C, though it has also beed designed to work with C++ code as well. The one exception to this is that your Main Plugin File (See Concepts - Projects) must be a C language file. This means that it should be named PluginMain.c when using MSVC or compiled with gcc as opposed to g++ when using the GNU compilers. If you decide to use C++ for your plugin then it is assumed you are aware of the issues involved in mixing languages so they will not be covered here.
Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 (MSVC)
Select "File->New"
From the "Projects" tab select "Win32 Dynamic-Link Library"
Type in the name of your plugin in the field labeled "Project Name"
Select the location where you would like the project to be built under "Location"
Click "OK"
Make sure "An empty DLL project" (the default) is selected and click "Finish"
A dialog will popup informing you of what files were created, click "OK"
Add or create new source files (see MSVC documentation if nescessary) Project Settings
Select "Project->Settings"
In the window to the left select the project (first item in the list)
Switch "Settings For:" to "All Configurations"
Under "C/C++" tab choose "Preprocessor" from the "Category" pulldown
Add to "Additional include directories" the path to your messiahAPI files
Under the "Link" tab you may clear the field labeled "Object/library modules"
Switch the "Settings For:" pulldown to "Win32 Release"
Change the "Output file name" from *.dll to *.mp
Switch the "Settings For:" pulldown to "Win32 Debug"
Change the "Output file name" from *.dll to *.mp
Microsoft Visual C++ .NET (.NET or MSVC 7.0)
Select "File->New->Project"
Select "Win32 Project" from the "Visual C++ Projects" folder
Type in the name of your plugin in the field labeled "Name"
Select the location where you would like the project to be built under "Location"
Click "OK"
In the "Win32 Application Wizard", choose "Application Settings"
Under "Application Type" choose "DLL"
"Under Additional Options" choose "Empty Project"
Click "Finish"
Add or create new source files (see .NET documentation if nescessary) Project Settings
In the "Solution Explorer" select the project
Select "Project->Properties"
Switch "Configuration" to "All Configurations"
In the left window select "C/C++" and then "General"
Add to "Additional include directories" the path to your messiahAPI files
Select "Linker->General"
Switch "Configuration" to "Release"
Change the "Output File" from *.dll to *.mp
Switch "Configuration" to "Debug"
Change the "Output File" from *.dll to *.mp
Warning:
messiahAPI has not been tested with MFC or the .NET framework
Note:
Users of MSVC 6.0 and higher can use a provided file to display messiah data types and macros in a different color in their IDE. To do this follow these steps:
Copy the file SDK/usertype.dat to the directory where your msdev.exe file is located
Launch MSVC and select Tools->Options
Scroll over to the Format tab and choose User Defined Keywords from the list in the Colors group
Choose a color you think would work best, we suggest a blue-green color