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Developer

C++, .NET

What is a Rhino plug-in?

• A Rhino plug-in is a software module that extends the functionality of Rhino by adding commands, features, or capabilities.
• A Rhino plug-in is a Windows Dynamic Link Libraries (DLL).
• For the C++ SDK, this is a regular DLL using shared MFC DLL. For more information on MFC DLLs, read MFC Technical Notes 33 and 58 on MSDN.
• For the .NET SDK, this is a .NET assembly
• Examples of Rhino plug-ins include Bongo, Flamingo, and Penguin.

What types of plug-ins are supported?

Rhino supports five different types of plug-ins.

1. General Utility. A general purpose plug-in that can contain one or more commands.
2. File Import. A plug-in that imports data from other file formats into Rhino. A single File Import plug-in can support more that one file type.
3. File Export. A plug-in that exports data from Rhino to other file formats. A single File Export plug-in can support more than one file type.
4. Custom Rendering. A plug-in that applies materials, textures, and lights to a scene to produce rendered images.
5. 3D Digitizing. A plug-in that interfaces with 3D digitizing devices, such as those manufactured by Immersion and Faro.

Note

File Import, File Export, Custom Rendering and 3D Digitizing plug-ins are all specialized enhancements to the General Utility plug-in. Thus, all plug-in types can contain commands.

What is required to build a plug-in?

• Standard Rhino plug-ins are written in the C++ programming language. Thus, a knowledge of C++ is essential.
• Microsoft Visual C++ 6.0 is required to build a Rhino 3 plug-in.
• Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 is required to build a Rhino 4 plug-in.
• The Rhino C++ Software Development Kit (SDK). The SDK can be freely downloaded.
• Rhino.NET plug-ins are written using any compiler that will compile against the .NET 2.0 Framework. Common examples for this are VB.NET 2005 and C# 2005. This is for Rhino 4 only

What comes with the SDK (C++)?

• C++ header files to include in your plug-in project.
• Library files to link with your plug-in project.
• Documentation, in HTML help format, that provides information on SDK classes and their hierarchy.
• Getting started sample projects that demonstrate plug-in basics.
• A Visual C++ AppWizard that allows you to quickly build a skeleton plug-in project.
• A Visual C++ Add-in that provides tools to prototype new command classes and create unique identifiers (uuid).

How to get development support?

• The getting started samples, included with the SDK, demonstrate plug-in basics.
• The HTML help documentation, included with the SDK, provides information on SDK classes and their hierarchy.
• The Rhino plug-ins newsgroup, either the news reader or the web browser version, allows you to post questions to and read responses from other plug-in developers.
• Use the web browser version to search the Rhino plug-ins newsgroup archive for previously posted questions or samples.
• Email developer support directly.
• Frequent this location, the Rhino Developer Resources wiki site.