normdoering <nor### [at] yahoocom> wrote:
>> Windows has dll's and *nices have .so's etc.

> I don't know anything about "nices have .so's etc."

  "*nices" is a kind of geek-word meaning "unix operating systems".
In them dynamically linkable libraries use the .so format (which is
different from the .dll format used in windows, even though for the
exact same purpose).

> It seems code for plugins could be as platform independent as the POV-ray
> code...

  The problem is not the plugin code. The problem is how POV-Ray will read
this plugin binary and link it dynamically to itself. This can't be done in a
platform-independent way.

  Even if a plugin system was implemented, it would certainly need serious
and thorough changes to the POV-Ray code. Probably too much for a simple
patch.

> Make headers and include files for the various platforms available like you
> make different compilations of POV-ray available.

  That's not enough for a plugin system. It's not only the headers, you need
also some actual C++ code to handle the plugins. This code can't be done
in a portable way.

-- 
#macro N(D)#if(D>99)cylinder{M()#local D=div(D,104);M().5,2pigment{rgb M()}}
N(D)#end#end#macro M()<mod(D,13)-6mod(div(D,13)8)-3,10>#end blob{
N(11117333955)N(4254934330)N(3900569407)N(7382340)N(3358)N(970)}//  - Warp -

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