[ODE] Fwd: [ opende-Patches-1589445 ] Update vs2003 solution to add gimpact

[Jason Perkins]

Remi just submitted patch #1589445 to make the VS project files use
GIMPACT. We can't accept that patch for the time being, and I wanted
to give everyone the explanation.

Ideally, we would include both OPCODE and GIMPACT in the build, with a
#define to control which one got used. We aren't at that point; there
is no way to "turn off" OPCODE with just a define. Consequently, you
have to choose which trimesh engine you want at the time you run
`configure` or `premake`, and then you are stuck with it until you
configure again.

The VS project files are autogenerated with premake, so you should be
patching the "premake.lua" files, not the actual project files (this
is described in ode/build/README.txt). I have to pick a trimesh engine
when I generate the files, and for now that's OPCODE.

I'll leave the future of the two trimesh engines open for discussion.
I have not seen a ton of feedback on GIMPACT yet, certainly not enough
to make me IMHO feel comfortable switching it for an 0.8 release. I
think the best, if not the easiest, way forward is to work on making
it possible to switch engines with a #define.

In the meantime, you can create a new VS project file by getting
premake from http://premake.sf.net/, dropping it on your path
somewhere, and running:

  $ cd ode/build
  $ premake --with-tests --with-gimpact --target vs2003   # ...or...
  $ premake --with-tests --with-gimpact --target vs2005

...which will create a new ode/build/ode.sln configured for GIMPACT.

HTH, IMHO, YMMV, IANAL

Jason