Archicad Add-On CMake Template

This repository contains a CMake template for Archicad Add-On Development.

Prerequisites

• Development environment:
  • Windows: Visual Studio
  • MacOS: Xcode
• CMake (3.16 minimum version is needed).
• Python for resource compilation and build script usage (3.8+).

Quick setup

The easiest way to generate projects and build the Add-On is to use the provided build script. The project and the binaries will be created in the Build folder.

1. Open a command prompt.
2. Clone this repository:

git clone https://github.com/GRAPHISOFT/archicad-addon-cmake.git --recurse-submodules

3. Run the build script from the root of the repository:

python Tools/BuildAddOn.py --configFile config.json

Config file

The build script reads the config.json file for required build parameters:

• addOnName: name of the Add-On.
• defaultLanguage: a single language for which the Add-On is built when localization is not enabled.
• languages: list of languages, for which localization can be done / for which the .grc files are present in their respective directories.
• additionalCMakeParams (optional): a list of additional Add-On specific CMake parameters as JSON key-value pairs. The build script will forward it to CMake.

See the example config.json.

Detailed instructions

If the provided build script doesn't work for you, you can set up your environment manually.

Clone this repository

This repository uses archicad-addon-cmake-tools as a submodule, so in order to use this repository you need to be sure that all submodules are cloned properly.

To clone the repository with submodules, use the following command.

git clone https://github.com/GRAPHISOFT/archicad-addon-cmake.git --recurse-submodules

To get the latest changes together with submodule changes, use the following command.

git pull --recurse-submodules

To update only the submodules, use the following command.

git submodule update --remote

Build with downloaded Archicad API Development Kit

• Clone this repository as it's described in the previous section.
• Download the Archicad Add-On Development Kit from here or from here.
• Generate the IDE project with CMake, and set the following variables (see example below):
  • AC_VERSION: The version number of Archicad that the Add-On is built for.
  • AC_API_DEVKIT_DIR: The Support folder of the installed Archicad Add-On Development Kit. You can also set an environment variable with the same name so you don't have to provide this value during project generation.
  • AC_ADDON_NAME: (optional) The name of the project file and the result binary Add-On file (default is "ExampleAddOn").
  • AC_ADDON_LANGUAGE: (optional) The language code of the Add-On (default is "INT").
• To release your Add-On you need to provide valid MDIDs, you can generate them on the Archicad API site.

Visual Studio (Windows)

See the list below for the matching Visual Studio and platform toolset versions for different Archicad versions.

Archicad	Visual Studio	Platform toolset
Archicad 28	Visual Studio 2019	v142
Archicad 27	Visual Studio 2019	v142
Archicad 26	Visual Studio 2019	v142
Archicad 25	Visual Studio 2019	v142
Archicad 24	Visual Studio 2017	v141
Archicad 23	Visual Studio 2017	v141

Please note that you can always use the latest Visual Studio, but make sure you provide the correct platform toolset.

Example for using Visual Studio 2022 with platform toolset 142:

cmake -B Build -G "Visual Studio 17 2022" -A x64 -T v142 -DAC_API_DEVKIT_DIR=<DevKitSupportDir> -DAC_VERSION=28 .

XCode (MacOS)

See the list below for the matching deployment targets for different Archicad versions.

Archicad	Deployment target
Archicad 28	11.0
Archicad 27	10.15
Archicad 26	10.15
Archicad 25	10.15
Archicad 24	10.13
Archicad 23	10.12

Run this command from the command line to generate the XCode project:

cmake -B Build -G "Xcode" -DAC_API_DEVKIT_DIR=<DevKitSupportDir> -DAC_VERSION=28 .

Visual Studio Code (Platform Independent)

• Install the "CMake Tools" extension for Visual Studio Code.
• Set the "AC_API_DEVKIT_DIR" environment variable to the installed Development Kit Support folder.
• Open the root folder in Visual Studio Code, configure and build the solution.

Archicad Compatibility

This template is tested with all Archicad versions starting from Archicad 25.

Use in Archicad

To use the Add-On in Archicad, you have to add your compiled .apx or .bundle file in Add-On Manager. The example Add-On registers a new command into the Options menu. Please note that the example Add-On works only in the demo version of Archicad.

You can start Archicad in demo mode by the following command line commands:

• Windows: ARCHICAD.exe -DEMO
• MacOS: ARCHICAD\ 26.app/Contents/MacOS/ARCHICAD -demo