Do I need to run Visual Studio everytime I want to run my plugin

[fsdolphin]

Hi,

Can someone be so kind an describe the options we have when creating an Inventor plugin? In other words, I followed the My First Inventor Plugin tutorial and I got it working but I was wondering what the options are as far as installing and using the plugin after being created because the way I got it working is basically by having the plugin running from Visual Studio.

1- How can the plugin be installed in Inventor in multiple machines?

2- Can a stand along applicaiton be created within Visual Studio?

3- Can someone describe the options the developer has after creating an Inventor plugin in Visual Studio?

Sorry but I'm completely new to Inventor Plugins.

Thanks

[fsdolphin]

Any suggestion?

[ekinsb · Accepted solution]

The terms used for programs that work with an application can be a bit confusing because they're not used consistently.  The program that you create in the "My First Plugin" tutorial is technically a Windows application.  When you build the solution it results in the creation of an exe.  You run the program by running the exe, just like you do with any other Windows application.  The only difference is that this application happens to connect to Invnentor and talk to it through its programming interface.

So to answer your question, you don't need to run Visual Studio each time but can instead execute the .exe file.

If you want a more integrated solution so you can create a custom command and execute it by clicking a button in Inventor, then a better solution is an "add-in".  It's another term that's not always consistently used but within the world of Inventor it does have a specific meaning.  It's a COM component that supports the Inventor Add-In interface.  What this means is that when Inventor is started it's able to find the loaded add-ins and load them.  Add-in's aren't a .exe file but are .dll files instead and run within Inventor.  It's relatively easy to package up an add-in and deliver it to someone else.  There's some information on add-ins in the Inventor Programming Help.

[fsdolphin]

Got it, thanks a lot for the good explanation.