topic Plans to create a real install UX for addons? in Fusion API and Scripts Forum

Plans to create a real install UX for addons?

Anonymous — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 19:09:55 GMT

Right now the install process is poor on a mac - it's this weird layer on top of the normal full OSX app install process. Totally inappropriate for something like addon installs. Are there plans to fix this, pretty quickly?

Re: Plans to create a real install UX for addons?

ekinsb — Mon, 21 Sep 2015 23:10:02 GMT

I'm not very familiar with Mac installers but I checked with a colleague who is and he was also unclear about the problem is. Can you please explain for fully what the problem is and what you believe the correct solution is? Also, are you talking about the installers for apps installed from the Autodesk Exchange Store?

Re: Plans to create a real install UX for addons?

roambotics_scott — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 00:40:23 GMT

If you go here

thenfollow through to Exchange apps (for example) https://apps.autodesk.com/FUSION/en/Home/Index

F360 just opens a browser window. To install for example the Veroni Sketch tool https://apps.autodesk.com/FUSION/en/Detail/Index?id=appstore.exchange.autodesk.com%3avoronoisketchgenerator_windows64%3aen

you have to download that in the browser, and manually install outside of the app.

This is particularly annoying because it's not codesigned so you have to go through a dance to enable unsigned apps (which is not a good idea especially because people will likely get lazy and not turn it back on when they're done).

It should just autoinstall within the app without any need for the browser.

Re: Plans to create a real install UX for addons?

ekinsb — Tue, 22 Sep 2015 19:31:51 GMT

Thank you for the additional information. I think we have a good idea now of what you would like. This is actually the first time that this issue has been raised so there are not currently any plans to change the existing behavior. Because this will require additional functionality in Fusion itself, outside of the API, it would be best to post your idea on the IdeaStation, which I noticed you've already done for some other ideas. This way the Fusion product managers can be aware of your request and see how popular your idea is.

Re: Plans to create a real install UX for addons?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 14:26:08 GMT

roambotics_scott's post was a better way of trying to convey what I was talking about.

I think the disconnect in my mind is that I think of these things as Fusion 360 addons, and Autodesk seems to think of them as 100% full-blown OS applications (with all the associated install pain and security issues) that just happen to be able to communicate with Fusion 360 - even if it's just a javascript two-liner to do something trivial.

Even when you go to the store, you'll see that one of the items on the first page is called a "plugin" - so I'm going to claim my confusion is legit :-).

And if you go to http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/item?siteID=123112&id=24734968, it does say:

We strongly recommend you make use of the standard Exchange store app installer we create for you. Installers can be created for Windows and Mac depending on which platform(s) you submit your app for. Fusion 360 apps are installed per user in a user specific directory and do not require any additional privileges.

Which seems wrong; it's just a pkg file, and it's definitely going to require additional OS privileges to install.

Re: Plans to create a real install UX for addons?

Anonymous — Wed, 23 Sep 2015 16:29:01 GMT

FYI, you don't have to go through the dance - you can right-click and choose 'open'. That gets you different behavior than double-clicking the file. I have no idea how many users know this, though.

In any case, if Autodesk is building these unsigned packages, then Autodesk is doing it wrong. They have to be signed.

I'm not saying I know how they'd pull that off, since they clearly don't want to sign them themselves, and they can't sign for other developers using the developers' own certificates, but still, shipping an unsigned artifact from an app store is strange.