ArcGIS Engine Developer Guide

C++ APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE
° GTK ArcGIS control applications with the make utility
Once you have read that documentation, continue with Step 2.
2. Now that you know what platform you will be developing on, install the
ArcGIS Engine Developer Kit on that platform, if you have not done so
already. Make sure to register your ArcGIS Engine!
3. Before beginning with a new API, it can be helpful to have some idea why
things might not be working. Some of the common configuration mistakes are
covered in the ‘Troubleshooting’ section in this chapter.
4. You should now have a computer configured for C++ development and know
how to set up, compile, and run ArcObjects C++ code in your development
environment of choice. The next step is to become familiar with ArcObjects
and the C++ API.
Getting to work
1. If you are programming on either Solaris or Linux, you now need to initialize
your ArcGIS Engine.
You should also be aware that if a C++ API application crashes on Solaris or
Linux, you need to run mwcleanup, as discussed in ‘Solaris and Linux postcrash
cleanup’ in this chapter.
2. ArcObjects is based on the Microsoft Component Object Model, or COM, and
successful ArcObjects programming requires a basic understanding of COM.
Read ‘Building an understanding of COM and ArcObjects’ earlier in this
chapter for information on developing COM knowledge and the ArcGIS
system. The resources in that document are only a brief introduction. A more
complete understanding of the ArcObjects system can be developed through
the overviews in the Library Reference for each of the ArcGIS libraries and
by taking ESRI courses targeted at ArcObjects programmers.
3. Now you will begin to get into the details of the ArcObjects C++ API. To get
started, step through one of these walkthroughs. The walkthrough you complete
should reflect your ArcObjects C++ goals:
• For command-line application programmers (Windows, Solaris, or
Linux): See the section ‘Building a command-line C++ application’ in
Chapter 6.
• For ArcGIS control application programmers (Solaris or Linux): See the
section ‘Building applications with C++ and Motif widgets’ in Chapter 6.
4. You should now be able to write your own applications using the ArcObjects
C++ API. If you are programming on either Solaris or Linux, or if you are
programming on Windows using the Visual Studio command-line tools, you
will need to write a makefile to go with your application. Template makefiles
have been provided for your use. Select the makefile appropriate for your
developer environment and modify it as discussed in the platform configuration
document you were directed to above.
• Windows command-line programming with nmake
• Solaris command-line programming with make
210 • ArcGIS Engine Developer Guide