Installing Kanzi Studio plugins

Kanzi Studio plugins extend the functionality of Kanzi Studio and run in Kanzi Studio.

For example, you can extend the functionality of Kanzi Studio to:

• Automate tasks that take a lot of time to do manually in Kanzi Studio, or are prone to errors.

• Import and export content from Kanzi Studio, such as localization tables in a format that Kanzi Studio does not support

• Create editors that abstract the details and speed up the workflow, such as visualization tools that support work on your projects in Kanzi Studio.

To install a Kanzi Studio plugin:

1. Copy the Kanzi Studio plugin DLL file to the %ProgramData%\Rightware\<KanziVersion>\plugins directory.

   If the plugins directory does not exist in %ProgramData%\Rightware\<KanziVersion>, create it.

   Tip

   In File Explorer, create a shortcut from your Kanzi Studio plugin DLL file and move the shortcut to the %ProgramData%\Rightware\<KanziVersion>\plugins directory.

   When you build the plugin, you can see in the Output window the location where Visual Studio stored the plugin DLL file.

   Tip

   To install a plugin that has dependency DLLs:

   1. In the plugins directory, create a subdirectory for your plugin and place all plugin files there. For example:

      plugins/
         MyPlugin/
            MyPlugin.manifest.json
            MyPlugin.dll
            SomeDependency.dll
      

   2. In the subdirectory, create a manifest file with any name ending in .manifest.json that declares the entry point:

      {
         "entryPoint": "MyPlugin.dll"
      }
      

   Kanzi Studio loads only the declared entry point DLL and resolves dependencies from the same directory on demand.

2. Open Kanzi Studio.

   Kanzi Studio loads the plugins in the plugins directory and adds them to either the main menu or the context menus invoked from nodes and resources.

   Tip

   When you download a Kanzi Studio plugin from the internet, Windows can block access to the plugin files, which prevents Kanzi Studio from loading the plugin.

   If a plugin does not load in Kanzi Studio:

   1. Open the Kanzi Studio log file

      %USERPROFILE%/AppData/Local/Temp/KanziStudioLogs/KanziStudio.log
      

   2. If the log contains this error message:

      Plugin loading failed for: <PathToPlugin>. Error "Unable to load one or more of the requested types."

      Open Windows PowerShell in the plugin directory, and execute this command:

      Get-ChildItem . -Recurse | Unblock-File
      

      This way you unblock all the files in the directory.

   3. Restart Kanzi Studio.

Hot reloading plugins

Kanzi Studio monitors the plugins directory for changes while it is running:

• When you add a plugin DLL or a plugin subdirectory with a manifest file, Kanzi Studio automatically loads the plugin.

• When you update an existing plugin DLL, Kanzi Studio reloads it with the new version.

• When you remove a plugin, Kanzi Studio automatically unloads it, closes any open plugin windows, and removes the associated menu items.

You do not need to restart Kanzi Studio for these changes to take effect.

See also

Creating Kanzi Studio command plugins

Creating Kanzi Studio window plugins

Creating Kanzi Engine plugins

Kanzi Studio plugins