Rhino Templates

Project and item templates for Rhino plug-ins: RhinoCommon, Grasshopper, Grasshopper 2, Zoo and Rhino C++. They come in three forms:

• Visual Studio extension (Windows): wizards under File › New › Project.
• dotnet new templates (Windows and macOS): for the command line and any editor, including the Xcode project for C++ plug-ins.
• Xcode templates (macOS): C++ plug-in projects and files from within Xcode. See Xcode templates.

Visual Studio

1. Download the .vsix from the latest release.
2. Close Visual Studio, then double-click the .vsix and follow the installer.
3. In Visual Studio, choose File › New › Project and search for Rhino or Grasshopper.

dotnet new

You'll need the .NET SDK.

1. Install the templates:

   dotnet new install Rhino.Templates

2. Create a project in a new folder, then build it:

   dotnet new rhino -o MyRhinoPlugIn
   cd MyRhinoPlugIn
   dotnet build

To see a template's options, add --help, for example dotnet new rhino --help, or dotnet new rhino --help -lang cpp for C++.

Templates

Template	Short name	Languages
Rhino plug-in	rhino	C#, VB, C++
Rhino command	rhinocommand	C#, VB, C++
Rhino skin	rhinoskin	C++
Rhino tests (NUnit, using Rhino.Testing)	rhinotest	C#
Grasshopper plug-in	grasshopper	C#, VB
Grasshopper component	ghcomponent	C#, VB
Grasshopper 2 plug-in	gh2	C#
Grasshopper 2 component	gh2component	C#
Zoo plug-in	zooplugin	C#, VB

C# is the default; pick another language with -lang VB or -lang cpp.

Common options for the .NET templates:

• --version: the Rhino version to target. Defaults to 9.
• -sample: include sample code.
• -yak: build a yak package with your plug-in.
• -vscode: add tasks.json and launch.json to build and debug in VS Code.
• -wpf / -wf: use WPF or Windows Forms (Windows only).

C++ plug-ins

dotnet new rhino -lang cpp creates a C++ plug-in that builds on Windows with Visual Studio, and on macOS with Xcode for Rhino 9.

Options:

• -pt: the plug-in type: utility (default), digitize, import, export or render.
• --mac: add an Xcode project. Defaults to auto, which adds it only when you create the project on a Mac.
• --cmake: add a CMakeLists.txt that generates both the Visual Studio and Xcode projects from one set of sources.
• --debuggable: when running from Xcode, re-sign Rhino so the debugger can attach. Defaults to true.
• --automation, --sockets, --sdl: Windows MFC options.

The Xcode project and CMake are Rhino 9 only, and not available for render plug-ins.

Create, open and run on macOS

You'll need Xcode, Rhino 9 for Mac, git, and the .NET SDK to create the project. On a Mac:

dotnet new install Rhino.Templates
dotnet new rhino -lang cpp -o MyPlugIn
cd MyPlugIn
git init
git submodule add https://github.com/mcneel/rhino_sdk_cpp.git SDK
open MyPlugIn.xcodeproj

The Xcode and CMake builds use the Rhino C++ SDK from that SDK submodule. Press Run in Xcode. It builds the plug-in, then starts Rhino 9 with the plug-in loaded from the build folder. Type MyPlugIn in Rhino to try the sample command.

The first run re-signs Rhino so Xcode's debugger can attach, so breakpoints work straight away. Updating Rhino undoes this; the next run re-signs it again.

To use a different Rhino, such as a BETA, choose Product › Scheme › Edit Scheme › Run › Info › Executable.

The README.md in the new project covers building on Windows and with CMake.

Xcode templates

If you'd rather work entirely in Xcode, install RhinoXcodeTemplates-<version>.pkg from the latest release, then restart Xcode. This adds:

• A Rhino Plug-In project, under File › New › Project… › macOS.
• Rhino Command, Rhino Event Watcher and Rhino User Data files, under File › New › File from Template… › macOS. These work in projects made with dotnet new too.

How they differ from dotnet new:

• Run needs setting up by hand. Xcode project templates can't include a scheme, so the first time, choose Product › Scheme › Edit Scheme › Run and:

  • Set Info › Executable to Rhino 9.app.
  • Under Arguments › Environment Variables, add RHINO_PACKAGE_DIRS with the value $(BUILT_PRODUCTS_DIR), so Rhino loads the plug-in from the build folder.

  The project from dotnet new comes with this already set up.

• Debugging follows a build setting instead of the scheme. The project re-signs the Rhino in the RHINO_APP build setting (default /Applications/Rhino 9.app). If you run a different Rhino, change RHINO_APP to match, or the debugger won't be able to attach.

• macOS only. There's no Visual Studio project or CMake, so use dotnet new if the plug-in also needs to build on Windows.

The SDK submodule is needed here too; the new project's README.md explains how to add it.

Additional Resources

See https://developer.rhino3d.com/guides/rhinocommon/ for guides on how to start with Rhino Plug-In development, and https://developer.rhino3d.com/guides/cpp/ for C++.