Developer guide

The Basics

• Installation for developers
  • Virtual environment
  • STEP 1 - Geant4 and Qt
  • STEP 2 - ITK
  • STEP 3 - opengate_core module (cpp bindings)
  • STEP 4 - opengate module (python)
  • STEP 5 - Before running
  • Documentation for the documentation
• How to contribute (for developers)
  • Propose a pull request:
  • Tests and documentation
  • Code formatting

Get coding

• Architecture: Managers and Engines
  • References among managers and engines
• Geant4 bindings
  • How to add a Geant4 bindings ?
• Philosophy behind objects implemented as GateObject
• How a class in GATE 10 is (usually) set up?
  • Naming convention
  • __init__() method
  • User info: handling parameters set by the user
  • Initialization of Geant4 objects
  • Implement a close() method if needed
  • Implement a __getstate__() method if needed.
  • Optional: Implement a __str__() method
  • Reference
• How to implement an actor
  • Mandatory basic class structure
• Dynamic parametrisations
  • Overview
  • General architecture
  • Examples in the existing code base
  • How to make a parameter dynamic
  • Common pitfalls
  • Summary
  • References
• How to implement an auxiliary attribute
  • Overview
  • Mental model
  • When to use an auxiliary attribute
  • Basic architecture
  • Where to look in the code
  • Implementing the Python-side class
  • Implementing the C++-side class
  • Example: stateless getter-only attribute
  • Storing per-track information
  • Example: integer counter
  • Example: string value
  • Declaring hooks
  • Volume-based auxiliary attributes
  • Propagating state to secondaries
  • Exposing the value to ROOT-based actors
  • Accessing an auxiliary attribute from a non-ROOT actor
  • Accessing an auxiliary attribute from a filter
  • Typed runtime getters
  • Lifecycle and ownership
  • Checklist for a new auxiliary attribute
  • See also

Good to know

• Notes for developers
  • Pybind11 hints
  • Memory management between Python and Geant4 - Why is there a segmentation fault?
  • ITK
  • Geant4 seems to be frozen/sleeping - the GIL is to blame - here is why
• Initialization sequence for actors
  • Single threaded (ST) Initialization Sequence
  • Multithreaded (MT) Initialization Sequence
• Coincidence Detection in Multi-Threaded Simulations
  • Problem Statement
  • Component Overview
  • Data-Flow Diagram
  • GateTimeSorter: Design and Threading Model
  • Correctness of the Lock-Free Processing Path
  • GateCoincidenceSorterActor: Consuming the Sorted Stream
  • Thread Lifecycle Summary
• Helpers
• Engines
  • SimulationEngine
  • VolumeEngine
  • PhysicsEngine
  • ActorEngine
  • SourceEngine
  • ActionEngine
• OPENGATE Simulation
• OPENGATE elements: volumes, physic, sources, actors
  • UserInfo (before initialization)
• OPENGATE Geometry
• OPENGATE Physics
• OPENGATE Source
• OPENGATE Actors
  • How to develop a new Actor?