Hi guys!
I want to write plugins (dlls) for Maya (it's a 3D app) but I can't get it to work.
First of all, I don't know very much about header files and all that stuff, but basically what I need to do, is I need to access a set of classes in the Maya API such as:

MFnObject
MDagNode

and so on. So I wrote a basic hello world plugin that I got from a site, and tried to compile it with my Dev C++ compiler. Of course I got errors, because the header files related with Maya were not present in my Dev library, nor were they pointing to Maya's include file library.

I tried to copy the header files from Maya's include dir (into my Dev C++ include dir) but it didn't work.

I am sorry if I am really being a noob, but I don't know very much about programming for other apps, or using and API. I hope someone else can point me in the right direction.

The tutorial I was reading mentioned that Visual C++ 6.0 automatically sets up the link between Maya's directory and all that, but I can't afford Visual C++ :(

I hope someone can help :)

Cheers :)

The purpose that headers serve is to provide declarations for names used in the program where the definition may be on one file, but the name must be used in another. An external declaration is required, or there would be compilation errors, and the header does this. However, to link the program you need definitions for everything you use, that's where library files come in. You need to find out what the library for the Maya 3D API is and then tell Dev-C++ to link with it when the project is built.

Ok thanks Eggbert! :)
Sorry for the late reply, I dont have internet at home, so have to use the internet cafe
cheers :)