Contributing code to vtk is simple: write good, general-purpose code following our coding standards. Make sure that you include our copyright in your code Also make sure the code is compatible with our automated Tcl wrapping procedure. Finally, realize that the code you contribute can be used in commercial products by anybody (without compensation to you), and that contributed code is owned (via copyright) by Ken Martin, Will Schroeder, and Bill Lorensen.

See detailed explanations in the following.

Copyright Issues

When you contribute code to vtk, Ken Martin, Will Schroeder, and Bill Lorensen own it. We are doing it this way because of logistics issues: legal decisions or modifications to the code would become completely unworkable if there were mixed copyrights. However, we do want to credit and give thanks to those people that make the effort of creating code. To do this, modify the standard copyright notice by adding a "Thanks:" field that states your name and/or affiliation. See vtkEarthSource for an example.

If this is unacceptable to you: then either don't contribute code at all, or (optionally) we may set up a contributed code repository that we DO NOT maintain, test, or distribute, but DO reference on our web site(s).

Commercialization Issues

When you contribute code to vtk, the code may be used in commercial products without condition. You will not receive any commercial gain as a result of the use of your code in a commercial product (either do we for that matter). Only contributed code meeting this condition will be accepted.

Obligation to Integrate Code

We often find ourselves in the position of receiving code that meet the above conditions, but are unable to integrate it into vtk. This may be because the code is not general enough, is judged to require additional development, or does not add enough value to vtk.

If you are a contributor affected by a decision to not integrate your code into vtk, or delay integration into vtk, we apologize. Please recognize that we are struggling to keep the complexity of the system at a managable level, and to make sure enough testing is performed to distribute a good system.

Coding Standards

We only have a few coding standards but they have proved very useful. They have been moved to the VTK WiKi