Installing Plug-ins

How to install GeoDin plug-ins from the plug-in archive and how to configure a custom plug-in under Installed Plugins in the system configuration.

Plug-ins are external modules - programs or .NET assemblies - that are integrated into the GeoDin user interface and launched from it. A software developer who wants to add, for example, a special export operation or a new calculation function can integrate the start of that application into the GeoDin program interface.

For the GeoDin user, a plug-in presents itself as an ordinary GeoDin method. All information about the selected object or objects that the plug-in needs is taken from the object manager, so supplementary evaluation functions for a chosen set of objects can be offered by the plug-in. A plug-in does not have to work with the GeoDin database at all: a plug-in can just as well integrate the call of the operating system "Calculator" into the GeoDin program interface.

This page covers installing and configuring plug-ins. For what a plug-in receives at runtime - command-line parameters, the [Params] block, and the interface a plug-in has to implement - see Method Reference.

Requirements

• A GeoDin edition that shows the Installed Plugins node in the system configuration.
• The plug-in file (DLL or EXE) on a path that GeoDin can reach, plus the plug-in version and the minimum GeoDin version it requires.
• For plug-ins with GeoDin Monitor and WPF plug-ins: the Assembly ID and ProgID, which are created and verified by the GeoDin team.
• Network access to the plug-in archive if you install a ready-made plug-in.

Defining and configuring plug-ins through the configuration file GEODIN.INI is no longer possible from GeoDin 9.5. Use the system configuration as described below. The GEODIN.INI parameters documented in Method Reference apply to older installations only.

Install a plug-in from the plug-in archive

Ready-made plug-ins - for example GeODinML Import and GeODinML Export - are distributed through the plug-in archive.

1

Step 1: Open the Plugins node

In the system configuration, go to the Plugins node. It lists the plug-ins that can be installed.

2

Step 2: Connect to the archive

Press Connecting to get access to the plug-in archive. The list is filled with the plug-ins available for your installation.

3

Step 3: Install the plug-in

Select the plug-in you want and press Install. The plug-in is added to GeoDin and appears afterwards under Installed Plugins, where its display conditions and user settings can be adjusted.

A more detailed description of the individual archive plug-ins is published on the GeoDin website.

Configure a plug-in manually

Plug-ins that are not in the archive - custom plug-ins written in-house or supplied by a third party - are configured by hand on the system configuration page under the node Installed Plugins.

1

Step 1: Add the plug-in entry

Add an entry under Installed Plugins. The plugin GUID is a unique assignment created automatically; it cannot be changed.

2

Step 2: Choose the plug-in type

Set the Type field to the format of the plug-in: plug-in with GeoDin Monitor, WPF plug-in, or EXE plug-in. See Plug-in types for what each type means.

3

Step 3: Point to the plug-in file

Use the ... button below the plugin DLL/EXE field to specify the path to the plug-in's storage location.

4

Step 4: Enter the version information

Enter the version of the plug-in in the Plugin version field, and in the following field the minimum GeoDin version the plug-in can be used with.

5

Step 5: Enter the Assembly ID and ProgID

Fill in Assembly ID and ProgID. These keys are created and verified by the GeoDin team. Both fields are not selectable for EXE plug-ins; they are mandatory for plug-ins with GeoDin Monitor and for WPF plug-ins.

6

Step 6: Name and describe the plug-in

Set the display name per language in the Display name submenu and the description in the Description submenu. Name and description can be defined for German, English, Dutch, French, Russian, Italian, Portuguese, Turkish, Spanish, Polish, Swedish and Lithuanian.

7

Step 7: Decide where and for whom it appears

Define the Display conditions and the User settings for the plug-in. If user groups have been set up in the user administration, groups or individual users can be added in the fields provided; only users and groups defined in the user configuration are offered for selection.

---

Reference: Plug-in types

Three types of plug-in can be integrated:

Type	Behavior
Plugin with GeoDin Monitor	A plug-in without its own user interface. It uses GeoDin as a monitor to display messages - for example the function being executed and its progress - through a progress bar.
WPF Plugin	A plug-in built on Windows Presentation Foundation, the .NET Framework UI technology from Microsoft. It brings its own user interface.
EXE Plugin	GeoDin starts the integrated application when the method is launched and passes all necessary parameters for the selected branch in the object manager to it. With this information the plug-in performs its special processing for the object.

Reference: Installed plug-in settings

Setting	Description
Plugin GUID	Unique assignment created automatically. Read-only.
Type	Plug-in with GeoDin Monitor, WPF plug-in, or EXE plug-in.
Plugin DLL/EXE	Path to the plug-in file, selected with the ... button.
Plugin version	Version of the plug-in itself.
Minimum GeoDin version	Lowest GeoDin version the plug-in can be used with.
Assembly ID / ProgID	Keys created and verified by the GeoDin team. Not selectable for EXE plug-ins, mandatory for the other two types.
Display name / Description	Multilingual texts shown to the user, maintained per language in their submenus.
Display conditions	Where in the object manager the plug-in method is offered.
User settings	Which users or user groups may see and run the plug-in.