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Automatically adding a new Add-in to Fusion without using the ''Add existing Add-in'' button

charles-olivier.lamarche
Participant

Automatically adding a new Add-in to Fusion without using the ''Add existing Add-in'' button

charles-olivier.lamarche
Participant
Participant

Hi,

 

I developed an Add-in for Fusion 360 that will be integrated in the installer of a proprietary software. Since it will be utilized by users to transfer shapes, planes etc. directly to Fusion 360, I was wondering if there could be a way to automatically add the Add-in to a user's Fusion 360 app without having to add it manually via the Scripts window in Fusion. I'm trying to make it more convenient for clients wishing to use our feature. Thank you for your help.

 

Kind regards,

Charles

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BrianEkins
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Accepted solution

When Fusion starts up, it looks in four locations for add-ins and will automatically load them at start-up.

 

  1. Default Path that is specified in the API preferences, as shown below. The example below shows the default path, which is user-specific, but the user can edit this to be any location. Because this isn't consistent, it's probably not the best location to install an add-in.

    addinPath.png
  2.  A user-specific folder. This location is consistent but is meant to be where add-ins from the App Store are installed. However, nothing is preventing you from installing your add-in here. One thing that's strange about add-ins installed here is that they are expected to be in a .bundle folder. This folder on my Windows computer is: "C:\Users\brian\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins". There's an equivalent user-specific folder on Mac.

    An add-in called "MyTestAddIn" will need to have a structure like this:
    MyTestAddIn.bundle  (This is a folder with your add-in name and appended with ".bundle")
         PackageContents.xml  (This file contains information about an App Store app.)
         Contents (This is a folder.)
              (Your add-in Files. This is the contents of the "MyTestAddIn" of the original add-in.)

    I'm not sure if the PackageContents.xml file is required in the case where the add-in is not coming from the App Store. I would try it without it first and if Fusion doesn't see the add-in, add an empty file; if it still doesn't see it, copy the file from an existing add-in from the store and edit it to represent your add-in.

  3. There's a machine-specific folder that on Windows is "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins" and there is an equivalent folder on Mac. This folder is rarely used and I'm not sure if it requires a .bundle folder or not but some quick testing can tell you.

  4. A specified location. The final location is defined when you use the green "+" at the top of the "Scripts and Add-Ins" dialog. When you do this you can browse to any location on the machine and choose the add-in folder. This is unique for each add-in and Fusion remembers it so the next time Fusion starts up it will go through the list of add-ins that were added in this way and load each one.

    There isn't a way to add an add-in to this list outside of using the "Scripts and Add-Ins" dialog, so this isn't a viable option for installing a new add-in.

I would suggest using option 2. You'll have to do a bit of experimenting to see what's required, but it won't be hard.
      

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Brian Ekins
Inventor and Fusion 360 API Expert
Website/Blog: https://EkinsSolutions.com
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