topic Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's in Archicad C++ API

Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

JGoode — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 09:52:24 GMT

Hello,

How difficult would it be to create an add-on that could calculate how many groups / SEO's there are in a project?

Thanks

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

Tibor Lorantfy — Tue, 14 Aug 2018 15:18:37 GMT

Hi,

It's very easy to get the number of the groups:
1. Get all elements using ACAPI_Element_GetElemList
2. Get the header for each retrieved element using ACAPI_Element_GetHeader
3. The groupGuid member in the API_Elem_Head structure identifies the group of the element.
So for example if you add these guids into a GS::HashSet, then the size of the HashSet will be the number of the groups.

Regards,
Tibor

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

Tibor Lorantfy — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 09:25:36 GMT

static USize	GetNumberOfGroups () {
	GS::HashSet<API_Guid> groups;

	GSErrCode		err = NoError;
	GS::Array<API_Guid>	allElements;
	ACAPI_Element_GetElemList (API_ZombieElemID, &allElements);

	for (const API_Guid& guid : allElements) {
		API_Elem_Head head = {};
		head.guid = guid;
		err = ACAPI_Element_GetHeader (&head, APIElemMask_FromFloorplan);
		if (err != NoError)
			continue;
		if (head.groupGuid != APINULLGuid)
			groups.Add (head.groupGuid);
	}

	return groups.GetSize ();
}


static USize	GetNumberOfSolidLinks () {
	USize numberOfSolidLinks = 0;

	GSErrCode		err = NoError;
	GS::Array<API_Guid>	allElements;
	ACAPI_Element_GetElemList (API_ZombieElemID, &allElements);

	for (const API_Guid& guid : allElements) {
		API_Guid**	guid_Operators = nullptr;
		Int32		nLinks;
		err = ACAPI_Element_SolidLink_GetOperators (guid, &guid_Operators, &nLinks);
		BMhFree (reinterpret_cast<GSHandle> (guid_Operators));
		if (err != NoError)
			continue;
		numberOfSolidLinks += nLinks;
	}

	return numberOfSolidLinks;
}

I'm not sure this does exactly what you want, but if you need any further help, feel free to ask!

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

JGoode — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 12:06:24 GMT

Thanks for this, I haven't used the DevKit before, is there anything else I should know before implementing this?

Thanks

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

Tibor Lorantfy — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 12:50:27 GMT

To be able to create a new AddOn, you will have to be able to generate new identifier (MDID). So first you have to register at archicadapi.graphisoft.com.
After the registration, which is free (the extra paid services are optional), you will be able to download the API DevKit and read the API documentation and our blog. You can find many usefull informations to getting started with development.
I recommend these articles:
http://archicadapi.graphisoft.com/getting_started_with_api_development_kit
http://archicadapi.graphisoft.com/life-of-an-archicad-add-on
http://archicadapi.graphisoft.com/hello-world-part-2-dialog-with-text-svg-icon-and-button

Feel free to ask any questions related to API on this forum or via email (archicadapi@graphisoft.com)!

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

JGoode — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 12:59:38 GMT

I have registered, do I need to install anything besides the API DevKit to be able to create this add-on?
Thanks

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

Tibor Lorantfy — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 13:12:15 GMT

You need a proper build environment:
On Windows platform Visual Studio 2015 (2017 can be used also, see http://archicadapi.graphisoft.com/working-in-visual-studio-2017) and Microsoft Visual C++ 2015 Update 3 installed. Only the 64-bit architecture is supported.
On macOS platform Xcode 7+ (Xcode 8+ recommended).

After you successfully installed the build environment, then I recommend you to test your environment by opening any example project from the API DevKit (can be found inside the Examples subfolder) and try to build them.

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

JGoode — Wed, 15 Aug 2018 13:16:31 GMT

Okay, thanks!

Do I need to do anything to the piece of code that you sent previously for it to work?
I am an absolute beginner so I'm not too sure. All I need is that one simple add-on but I haven't been able to find any add-ons that include those features!

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

JGoode — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 10:03:55 GMT

I've spent most of yesterday evening trying to figure it out in terms of the process of creating an add-on and I can't find much information other than people saying if you don't know how then don't try which is obviously not very useful! Even a vague step by step would be useful as I'd be able to research it myself but I can't even seem to find that! The addon would be incredibly useful but it's not looking very promising

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

Tibor Lorantfy — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 10:24:35 GMT

JGoode wrote:
I've spent most of yesterday evening trying to figure it out in terms of the process of creating an add-on and I can't find much information other than people saying if you don't know how then don't try which is obviously not very useful! Even a vague step by step would be useful as I'd be able to research it myself but I can't even seem to find that! The addon would be incredibly useful but it's not looking very promising

As I said, we have many useful blog posts on our site. For example the following post is a step-by-step guide to create an Add-On:
http://archicadapi.graphisoft.com/hello-world-part-2-dialog-with-text-svg-icon-and-button
I hope soon you will be able to write comment to our blog posts, but until then please ask your questions here. Which steps are not detailed enough for you in this blog post? I can update it if I know what is not clear enough.

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

JGoode — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 10:45:41 GMT

Well as a start, where do the files come from in the RFIX, RINT, Src folders? Like the GRC, rc2, cpp, h, hpp...etc?
Little things like how to get from the example project file to having the apx file would be a very useful thing to have somewhere.
Although I understand why people say if you don't know this or that then don't bother, it wouldn't hurt to have a few beginner help tips just to get started then we can research on our own to develop further.
Also, where to install the Add-on manager exactly, or where to save the database (I couldn't get it to work and it was just showing as red)

I hope this makes sense.

Thanks very much

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

Tibor Lorantfy — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 11:18:51 GMT

JGoode wrote:
Well as a start, where do the files come from in the RFIX, RINT, Src folders? Like the GRC, rc2, cpp, h, hpp...etc?

As you can read in the blog post, I wrote down how I created those files and why:

So I placed my SVG image here into the Images folder and created the HelloWorld_ExampleFix.grc for the non-localizable resources...
RINT folder contains the localizable resources (for example strings and dialogs). I created the HelloWorld_Example.grc into this folder with the following content...
Src is for the C++ source code. Main.cpp contains the 4 required functions of the Add-On...

JGoode wrote:
Little things like how to get from the example project file to having the apx file would be a very useful thing to have somewhere.

If you successfully installed the proper build environment (for example Visual Studio 2017) then you just have to open any of the example projects and execute the build command. The .apx file will be on the build output folder.

JGoode wrote:
Also, where to install the Add-on manager exactly, or where to save the database (I couldn't get it to work and it was just showing as red)

AddOnAdmin tool is inside the DevKit, you don't have to install it. Just execute it and use your Developer ID to generate new unique ID for your AddOns. You can save the database anywhere, it's just for you. Only the IDs are needed to be placed into the MDID resource in your Fix GRC.

It's true that at least a little software developer experience (especially C++ knowledge) is needed to get started and understand our blog posts and the API documentation.
But I will write a new much more detailed blog post for beginners.

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

JGoode — Thu, 16 Aug 2018 11:31:58 GMT

Thanks very much for taking the time to respond.

The one thing I'm not quite sure about is how you created the .grc etc, even after reading the blog post, do you create it inside Visual Studio? How do you save it as a .grc file type?

Sorry if you've explained it somewhere and I've missed it!

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

Steve Jepson — Sun, 14 Jul 2019 20:43:26 GMT

JGoode wrote:
Hello,

How difficult would it be to create an add-on that could calculate how many groups / SEO's there are in a project?

Thanks

Now that you have that all figured out You may not need an add-on for that. You can use the Element ID Manager to assign ID counters/text to elements or groups of elements, and you use an Interactive Schedule to see how many of each there is. Also, the Interactive Schedule is a great way to select and view things like that in 2D or 3D window.

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

JGoode — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 13:07:43 GMT

Steve wrote:

JGoode wrote:
Hello,

How difficult would it be to create an add-on that could calculate how many groups / SEO's there are in a project?

Thanks
Now that you have that all figured out You may not need an add-on for that. You can use the Element ID Manager to assign ID counters/text to elements or groups of elements, and you use an Interactive Schedule to see how many of each there is. Also, the Interactive Schedule is a great way to select and view things like that in 2D or 3D window.

How would I assign ID counters to groups of elements?

Re: Creating an Add-on for No. groups / SEO's

Steve Jepson — Thu, 01 Aug 2019 00:24:55 GMT

JGoode wrote:

Steve wrote:

JGoode wrote:
Hello,

How difficult would it be to create an add-on that could calculate how many groups / SEO's there are in a project?

Thanks

Now that you have that all figured out You may not need an add-on for that. You can use the Element ID Manager to assign ID counters/text to elements or groups of elements, and you use an Interactive Schedule to see how many of each there is. Also, the Interactive Schedule is a great way to select and view things like that in 2D or 3D window.
How would I assign ID counters to groups of elements?

Assign the same ID to each element using Element ID Manager - for each set of Operators and in each set of Targets.
First set of Operators all have ID (001-OPERATOR). Second set of Operators all have ID (002-OPERATOR). First set of Targets all have ID (001-TARGET), Second set of Targets all have ID(002-TARGET) ....... in an Interactive Schedule, Merge Uniform Items and Flag Field to display a separate sum or quantity for each set/group of elements. Lots of variations on how to sort and schedule, merge uniform items, sum...
Perhaps all you need is to add a suffix to ID or Layer Extension. anything like that to add a O or T to elements that are Operators or Targets.
Just curious, but why do you want to know how many sets of Targets and/or Operators there are in a project?