Collaboration with other software
About model and data exchange with 3rd party solutions: Revit, Solibri, dRofus, Bluebeam, structural analysis solutions, and IFC, BCF and DXF/DWG-based exchange, etc.

ODBC Driver to access ArchiCAD project data

Anonymous
Not applicable
Where is this driver ? I remember having seen one in a 8 version, but can't remember where and can't find it back.

Does it still exist ?

Where does it reside ?
4 REPLIES 4
Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
Hi Geoffroy,

Yes - at the Graphisoft developer center. You have to sign the agreement if you didn't before to get a password/etc for the download. Do a search on this list for ODBC as this was discussed briefly in another thread recently.

Regards,
Karl
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
Anonymous
Not applicable
Karl wrote:
Hi Geoffroy,

Yes - at the Graphisoft developer center. You have to sign the agreement if you didn't before to get a password/etc for the download. Do a search on this list for ODBC as this was discussed briefly in another thread recently.

Regards,
Karl


Thank you Karl,

I'll post my result if I get anything interesting (template in OpenOffice to get the complete schedule in one spreadsheet file...)

I saw you can also download the API developer kit... the price for this is huge. I understand GS wants some $$$ back if you develop and sell API, but what if you develop and give your API as freeware ? Shouldn't there be some kind of GPL for API, where the API wouldn't be paid and the tools made wouldn't be sold ?

I think a lot of small utilities would be quickly available for the benefit of everybody : common users, developers, and even GS !
Karl Ottenstein
Moderator
Geoffroy wrote:
I saw you can also download the API developer kit... the price for this is huge. I understand GS wants some $$$ back if you develop and sell API, but what if you develop and give your API as freeware ? Shouldn't there be some kind of GPL for API, where the API wouldn't be paid and the tools made wouldn't be sold ?

I think a lot of small utilities would be quickly available for the benefit of everybody : common users, developers, and even GS !
I agree of course on the last point. For utilities to be 'quickly available', though, the API SDK needs to be completely re-architected to bring it into the 21st century.

Unless something has changed, there are no royalties that are paid back to GS if you produce and sell add-ons. Also, there is no cost for the API SDK. One can freely produce add-ons that work only in the demo version of AC.

The fee is for a license that allows the developer to produce add-ons that operate in the full version of AC - and then an annual fee for continuing technical support. The fee structure is such that it is insignificant to a company such as Cigraph, but is a huge hurdle for people who want to produce small add-ons that solve someone's wish, but which have a small potential market. In the case of one member of this list who was thinking his business plan out loud with me recently, the cost of the SDK is greater than his anticipated revenue.

I like your idea of a special situation for free-ware, but cannot imagine how it could be enforced other than by good faith. A license is a license - there's no way for GS to assure that a person didn't pay for something that was supposed to be free. Any ideas on how your idea could be made to work?

I have great hopes and expectations for the new management team in Budapest with their deep experience from Macromedia and Autodesk, two companies that understand the 3rd party development process. Of course, there are many other issues that need to be addressed ahead of the SDK, but perhaps this will come across their radar within the next year. 😉
One of the forum moderators
AC 27 USA and earlier   •   macOS Ventura 13.6.6, MacBook Pro M2 Max 12CPU/30GPU cores, 32GB
Anonymous
Not applicable
I think our community is probably small and interconnected enough that it would be impossible to sell add-ons profitably without Graphisoft knowing about it. It seems to me that some form of good faith or honor system could work.

Alternatively, a license fee per copy might be possible using the hardware key. That way it would be possible to create custom solutions for a single office, sole practice, or limited distribution (the unlimited distribution version could retain the existing terms).