To start Panda3D, create a text file and save it with a .cxx extension. PSPad is a good text-editor with C++ highlighting, but any text editor will work. Enter the following text into your C++ file:
#include "pandaFramework.h"
#include "pandaSystem.h"
PandaFramework framework;
int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
//open a new window framework
framework.open_framework(argc, argv);
//set the window title to My Panda3D Window
framework.set_window_title("My Panda3D Window");
//open the window
WindowFramework *window = framework.open_window();
//here is room for your own code
//do the main loop, equal to run() in python
framework.main_loop();
//close the window framework
framework.close_framework();
return (0);
}
For information about the Window Framework to open a window, click here.
pandaFramework.h and pandaSystem.h load most of the Panda3D modules. The main_loop() subroutine contains the Panda3D
main loop. It renders a frame, handles the background tasks, and
then repeats. It does not normally return, so it only needs to be called once and must be the last line in your script. In this particular example,
there will be nothing to render, so you should expect a window
containing an empty grey area.
To run your program, follow the compile steps explained on this page.
If Panda3D has been installed properly, a gray window titled My Panda3D Window will appear.
There is nothing we can do with this window, but that will change shortly.
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