Installation Guide

These are some things I learnt when trying to use Open Inventor for the first time. The basic reference is the installation guide for LHC++ which contains details relevant to use of all LHC++ components. It can be found at:

Z:\P32\lhcxx\specific\windows_NT\Hepexplorer\dev\install\install_NT.txt

The following are tips that may help interpret the instructions contained in the above file. After doing the following I was able to compile, link and run my own Open Inventor application. My example was developed using Visual C++ V5.

Setting Environment variables up correctly in batch file

1) Firstly the environment has to be setup and to do this you should install the setup batch file by running the program
Z:/P32/lhcxx/specific/windows_NT/Hepexplorer/dev/install/preinstall.exe.

This will install some shortcuts in the LHC++ Folder on your Start Menu and will also copy the setup script (hepexp.bat) into your profiles directory, which is normally   found in c:/wnt/profiles/your_name/hepexp.bat. This file must be edited to set some environment variables correctly as follows : (see also this example that worked for me)

  i) To set the environment variable MsDevDir correctly, comment and uncomment the relevant lines to read as follows :

REM -- If MsDevDir ends in SharedIDE directory, use these settings --
REM set include=%MsDevDir%\..\vc\include;%MsDevDir%\..\vc\atl\include;%MsDevDir%\..\vc\mfc\include;%include%
REM set lib=%MsDevDir%\..\vc\lib;%lib%
REM set path=%MsDevDir%\..\vc\bin;%MsDevDir%\..\SharedIDE\bin;%PATH%

ii) You must then set the following variable up : set EXPLORERUSERHOME=h:\harvey\explorer

iii) If you do not want to use Objectivity then add the following line : set NO_INSTALL_HISTODB=1

Setting Environment variables up in Control Panel

You must also check the environment variables specified in the System utility reached from the Control Panel.

From Start menu select Settings/Control Panel/System

In the User variables window set the following
   Variable                                    Value
Path                                       add to path ;Z:\P32\lhcxx\specific\windows_NT\OpenInventor\2.4.0\Program
MsDevDir                             P:/DevStudio97
TGS_LICENSE_FILE         z:/p32/lhcxx/specific/windows_NT/OpenInventor/2.4.0/license/password.dat

Execute the Batch File

Run Z:/P32/lhcxx/specific/windows_NT/Hepexplorer/dev/install/f_inst

Compiling and Linking LHC++ Libraries

To be able and compile and link using the standard Open Inventor header files and libraries the relevant directories must be specified. From Developer Studio, select Tools/Options and then click on the directories tab.
Select Include files from the "Show directories for" tab and add      Z:/P32/lhcxx/specific/windows_NT/OpenInventor/2.4.0/include
Slect Library Files from the same tab and add        Z:\P32\lhcxx\specific\windows_NT\OpenInventor\2.4.0\lib

Open Inventor Example

I have made an example taken from the Inventor Mentor reference book that I was able to build and run successfully :
see S:\LHCb\Software\Hellocone