How to Make Installation Package

[846081597]

Hello, I made a Revit plug-in, and i want to make installation package for colleagues to use, I mainly want to install the DLL file into the path specified by the user, Add-in file into the Add-in folder of C disk. I have no idea at present. Thank you very much for your help.

[jeremytammik]

Dear Ariel Chen,

Thank you for your query.

As you presumably know, the installation of a Revit add-in is actually very simple; all it requires is placing the add-in manifest in a folder in which it will be detected and read by Revit.exe, and placing the add-in .NET assembly DLL somewhere in the file system that the add-in manifest con point to; in the simplest case, you place both of them together.

Here is a discussion of the locations that Revit checks on start-up:

https://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2018/10/revit-add-in-locations-and-bim360-eu.html#3

There are many different ways to achieve this.

My favourite is the Revit Python Shell single-click installer:

https://github.com/architecture-building-systems/revitpythonshell

I would suggest that you try that out, see whether you like it, and then learn how to do it yourself from that approach.

Another option is to register your add-in for the Autodesk AppStore.

If you wish to do so, the AppStore team will help you create an AppBundle for it, handle all the rest of the installation details for you, and your add-in will be installable with a single click from the Autodesk AppStore. Here are some more details and a point of contact for getting started with that:

https://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2018/10/revit-add-in-locations-and-bim360-eu.html#4

I hope this helps.

Please let us know what route you choose to go and how it works out for you.

Thank you!

Best regards,

Jeremy

[846081597]

Hello jeremytammik

Thank you very much for your help. I'm studying this project（revitpythonshell）. I haven't studied it thoroughly yet. Do you have the complete code for this project to download?

Thank you.

[jeremytammik]

The complete code is in the GitHub repository.

That is the whole point of GitHub, that is what it is for!

[846081597]

Thank you for your reply.

I don't know much about this website GitHub. I just registered recently. Now I have downloaded all the code.

The project name is: "revitpythonshell-master";

The folder contains:

I want to know how the contents of this folder("Output") are generated.

After I compiled the project, I only got three DLL files and did not generate installation files.

I want to generate an EXE installation file ，please help me , thank you.

[jeremytammik · Accepted solution]

I always thought that the Revit Python Shell GitHub repository included all the files required to generate the setup package as well.

I still think it does.

Look at the `vdproj` deployment generator file:

https://github.com/architecture-building-systems/revitpythonshell/blob/master/Setup/Setup_RevitPytho...

Learn how to use that and Bob's your uncle.

Alternatively, you can choose other paths to install your add-in.

Revit add-in installation is pretty trivial.

You just need to copy the add-in manifest and the add-in .NET DLL assembly to the appropriate location:

https://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2018/10/revit-add-in-locations-and-bim360-eu.html#3

For instance, here are two discussions on installing RevitLookup:

https://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2017/08/revit-versus-forge-ids-and-add-in-installation.htm...

https://github.com/jeremytammik/RevitLookup

This has nothing to do with the Revit API.

You can use any standard Windows installation approach you like.

Two other ways to install a Revit add-in are to either publish it in the Autodesk AppStore or to create and install your own AppStore bundle format:

https://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2018/10/revit-add-in-locations-and-bim360-eu.html#4

If you need any help on the bundle format or wish to publish your add-in in the AppStore, please feel free to contact the AppStore team for help at appsubmissions@autodesk.com.

However, please understand that none of this has anything whatsoever to do with the Revit API, and therefore this is not the appropriate place to continue a discussion like this at all.

Good luck and have fun!

Please do let us know how you end up solving this.

Thank you.

Jeremy

[846081597]

Dear jeremytammik Thank you for your help. I've already solved the problem. I used software "Nullsoft Install System"，which is much faster and suitable for beginners. Thank you.