Re: [brlcad-devel] Scripting TGMs: Which Method Is Preferred?

[Christopher S. M. <br...@ma...>]

On Jan 4, 2011, at 2:21 PM, Tom Browder wrote:

> As I see it now, I can script (automate) the building of a BRL-CAD TGM
> in several ways, three of which are:
>
> 1.  List mged commands in a file and source the file into mged
>
>   $ mged -c tgm.g < source-file
>
> 2.  Write BRL-CAD TCL commands into a BRLCAD ascii file and convert
> the target with:
>
>   $ asc2g tgm.asc tgm.g
>
> 3. Create a native BRL-CAD .g file via the library API.
>
> Between methods 1 and 2, are there any pros or cons such that one
> method is preferred?

Methods 1 and 2 are nearly equivalent as they both pass through a Tcl  
interpreter; you're just going through different tools.  There is a  
very minor "security measure" in place on method 2 such that it will  
only parse geometry-related commands, but the v5 ascii files are just  
command scripts that could also be fed to MGED.

So a pro and a con, depending on your situation, is that you can use  
additional commands and tcl scripting logic with method 1 that you  
can't use with method 2.

Cheers!
Sean