Plug In Export/Migration

[TurtleBuilds]

I have a number of plug ins that I am trying to share with a new pc and with a coworker. What is the best way to export them to share them? I know that I can essentially copy and paste to recreate them on the other machine but I'd like to avoid that if possible. When installing a plug in it looks for a vectorworks library file or a plug in package, how would I go about making these?

 

Thanks.

[Pat Stanford]

Every PIO is created as a separate file. They should have the name you have given the PIO and an extension showing the type.

 

.vso = Plug-in Object

.vst = Plug-in Tool

.vsm = Plug-in Menu Command.

 

If you created them they are likely in your User Folder:Plug-ins

 

Send those files to your coworker and have them put them in their Plug-ins folder and restart VW and edit their workspace to include the tools. Or share your workspace file as well User Folder:Workspaces.

 

If you want/need to be able to update these, then create a workgroup folder and store them there. Then when you edit them everyone will have the newest version the next time they restart VW.

 

Ask again if you need more details.

[Jesse Cogswell]

Pat's method above totally works, but I found the easiest way to share multiple plug-ins is to "zip" them all into a .zip file and then use the Install button in the Plug-in Manager.  To do this, follow these steps below:

1. Get to the Plug-ins folder inside the User Folder.  The quick and dirty way to do this is to open up the Vectorworks Preferences dialog, select the User Folder tab, and click on the Explore button (or the Open in Finder button on Mac).  This will open up the User Folder in an explorer window.
2. Open up the Plug-ins folder.  You should find all of your written plug-ins here, as file types .vsm, .vso, and .vst as @Pat Stanford mentioned above.
3. Your signature says that you're on Windows, so you can select all of the plug-in files that you want to share, then right-click and select Send To - Compressed (zipped) folder.  This should create a .zip file containing all of the selected plug-ins.  If you're using Windows 11, you will probably need to select Show More Options before Send To is visible.
4. Move (not copy, move or cut-and-paste) the .zip file to a location outside of the User Folder.
5. Send your colleague the .zip file.
6. On your colleague's machine, open up the Plug-in Manager by going to Tools - Plug-ins - Plug-in Manager.
7. Navigate to the Third-party Plug-ins tab.
8. Click on the Install button.
9. Navigate to the downloaded .zip file that you made earlier.
10. Restart Vectorworks.