Setting up HDevelop for Tool Development

The implementation of a custom MERLIC tool can be done with MVTec HALCON, i.e., in HDevelop, the integrated development environment of MVTec HALCON. However, you have to ensure to use the correct HALCON version because you have to use the same HALCON version that underlies your MERLIC version. For this MERLIC version, you need to use MVTec HALCON 24.11 Progress-Steady.

Before you start to develop a custom tool in HDevelop, we recommend to check if all requirements are met and if the HDevelop settings are correctly defined as required for the tool development.

Licensing

As stated on the start page, you require the MERLIC licensing add-on "Extension Tools" to load and use your own custom tools in MERLIC. It is part of the license package "X-Large". However, it can also be purchased as add-on to the license packages "Small", "Medium", and "Large".

HALCON Version

If you want to develop a custom tool for the use in MERLIC 5.7.1, you have to make sure to implement the tool in an HDevelop of the HALCON version 24.11 Progress-Steady because this is the HALCON version that underlies the current version of MERLIC. If you already have a custom tool that was created with a previous HALCON version, you have to update the procedure library of your custom tool for the usage in this MERLIC version. For more information, see the topic Using a Custom Tool of a Previous Version.

Required Procedure Libraries

You have to add some HDevelop procedure libraries in order to be able to use the whole range of available MERLIC procedures for the tool development. These procedure libraries are provided by MERLIC and can be found in the MERLIC installation directory. They are required especially to enable the use of interface procedures which are used to define a wide range of tool functionality, e.g., the support of regions of interest (ROIs). For more information on the available interface procedures, see the topic Interface Procedures.

In case you want to use the provided tool template as basis for your implementation or if you want to adjust the implementation of an existing custom tool, you also have to add the respective procedure libraries to the HDevelop settings to ensure that they are available in HDevelop.

Adding the Required Procedure Libraries in HDevelop

The following step-by-step description explains how to add the required HDevelop procedure libraries to the HDevelop settings.

1. Open the "Preferences" dialog in HDevelop via the menu entry "Procedures → Manage Procedures". Alternatively, you can also open the "Preferences" dialog via "Edit → Preferences" and then switch to the "Procedures" menu on the left.
2. In the tab "Directories", click on the "Add" button and select the directory "\examples\tool_development\procedures" within your MERLIC installation. This directory contains all HDevelop procedure libraries that are required for the tool development:
   • MERLICDefinedOperators.hdpl
   • MERLICHelper.hdpl
   • ToolTestFramework.hdpl

As soon as these procedure libraries have been added to the external procedure path, the interface procedures can be used for the development of custom MERLIC tools in the "Program Window" of HDevelop.