Archicad Add-On CMake Template

This repository contains a CMake template for Archicad Add-On Development. You can use it to generate native Visual Studio or XCode project or to develop an Add-On directly in Visual Studio Code without using any other environments.

Prerequisites

• CMake (3.16 minimum version is needed).
• Python for resource compilation (version 2.7+ or 3.8+).
• Conan for convenience.

There are several possibilities to build this Add-On, using different IDEs, with downloaded Archicad API Development Kit or by using the Conan C++ package manager.

Build with downloaded Archicad API Development Kit

• Download the CMake Template from here.
• Download the Archicad Add-On Development Kit from here.
• Generate the IDE project with CMake, and set the following variables:
  • 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").
  • AC_MDID_DEV: (optional) Your Developer ID. Omitting this will result in a 1 value.
  • AC_MDID_LOC: (optional) Add-On Local ID. Omitting this will result in a 1 value.
• To release your Add-On you have to provide valid MDIDs.

Visual Studio (Windows)

Run these commands from the command line.

mkdir Build
cd Build
cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017" -A "x64" -DAC_API_DEVKIT_DIR="C:\API Development Kit 24.3009\Support" ..
cd ..

XCode (MacOS)

Run these commands from the command line.

mkdir Build
cd Build
cmake -G "Xcode" -DAC_API_DEVKIT_DIR=/Applications/GRAPHISOFT\ ARCHICAD\ API\ DevKit\ 24.3009/Support ..
cd ..

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.

Build using the Conan Package Manager

Prepare

• Download the package manager

• Run conan to create the default profile (use Command Prompt on Windows and Terminal on MacOS):

  conan profile new default --detect
  

• Set the proper version of the compiler:

  • Windows

    conan profile update settings.compiler.version=16 default
    

  • MacOS

    conan profile update settings.compiler.version=13 default
    

• Install dependencies

  conan install . -pr:b=default --install-folder=build/
  

Visual Studio (Windows)

Run these commands from the command line.

cd build
cmake -G "Visual Studio 15 2017" ..
cd ..

XCode (MacOS)

Run these commands from the command line.

cd build
cmake -G "Xcode" ..
cd ..

Visual Studio Code (Platform Independent)

• Install the "CMake Tools" extension for Visual Studio Code.
• 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 23 using the downloaded Archicad API Development Kit and starting fro Archicad 25 using Conan.

Use in Archicad

To use the Add-On in Archicad, you have to add your compiled .apx 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 with the following command line commands:

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

Modifications

If you use the same source structure as the template, you probably won't have to modify anything in the project generation process.

Possible Improvements

• Multilingual support (provide example for another localized version).
• The generated XCode source structure could be improved.