By the end of this guide, you should have all the tools installed necessary for authoring, building, and debugging C/C++ plugins using the Rhino C/C++ SDK on Windows.
Prerequisites
This guide presumes you have:
- A PC running Microsoft Windows 8.1 or later.
- Rhino 7 for Windows.
Install Visual Studio
In order to author, build, and debug C/C++ plugins for Rhino, you will need Microsoft Visual Studio 2019.
Visual Studio 2019 comes in three editions: Community, Professional, and Enterprise. All of these editions will work with the Rhino C/C++ SDK.
Step-by-Step
- Visual Studio 2019 Community is free from Microsoft for students, open-source contributors, and small teams. Details here. Click the Community button to download the installer.
- Run the Visual Studio installer you downloaded from Microsoft, in this case vs_community_[build_number].exe.
- Follow the onscreen prompts to install Visual Studio. Make sure to select all of the Desktop development with C++ features.
- Click the Individual components tab, scroll to the SDKs, libraries, and frameworks section, and check Visual Studio SDK.
- When finished, click Install.
- Depending on your internet connection, this can take several minutes to complete.
Modifying Visual Studio
If you already have Microsoft Visual Studio 2019 installed, then you will want to re-run the Visual Studio Installer and verify you have all the the components required to build Rhino plug-in installed.
Step-by-Step
- Open the Visual Studio Installer.
- In the installer, look for the 2019 edition of Visual Studio that you installed, and then choose Modify.
- As mentioned in Install Visual Studio above, select all of the Desktop development with C++ features.
- Also mentioned above, click the Individual components tab, scroll to the SDKs, libraries, and frameworks section, and check Visual Studio SDK.
- When finished, click Modify.
- Depending on your internet connection, this can take several minutes to complete.
Install the Rhino C/C++ SDK
The Rhino C/C++ SDK is a set of tools for creating plug-in using the C++ language. The SDK includes headers, libraries and Visual Studio project wizards to get you started creating plugins quickly.
Step-by-Step
- Exit Visual Studio.
- Download the Rhino C/C++ SDK.
- Run the SDK installer you downloaded, in this case rh70sdk_[build_number].msi.
- If the installation is successful, run Visual Studio.
Next Steps
Congratulations! You have the tools to build a C/C++ plugin for Rhino for Windows. Now what?
Check out the Creating your first C/C++ plugin for Rhino guide for instructions building - you guessed it - your first plugin.
