Skp2xml Sample 2013 SDK crash VS 2012?

[RSullivan]

Hello.
I have Sketchup 2013.
I have the Sketchup 2013 C++ SDK.

I have VS 2008 On a Windows 7 Machine and VS 2012 On A Windows 8 machine
(No VS 2010).

I was under the impression that I could build the skp2xml.dll sample and
drop it into the 'Exporter' directory. I then thought that Sketchup would
then list 'XML Exporter (*.xml)' on the File->Export menu.

I have build the skp2xml.dll in both debug and release (Win32) modes.
Windows 8: Sketchup crashes when I click on the 'File' menu (With an object).

Windows 7: Sketchup does not crash but does not display the expected
'XML Exporter (*.xml)' on the File->Export menu.

I believe that the sample is for VS 2010. I cannot open it with VS 2008.
VS 2012 'Converted' it for me. What am I missing? Compiler/Linker options?

Thanks for any help.

[bugra]

Hi,
The XML Exporter sample builds an exporter plugin for SketchUp and runs in the same process. Due to its C++ interface, it has to be built with the same Visual Studio version as SketchUp, which is VS2010. If you let VS2012 upgrade the project, the resulting DLL will not be compatible and it will likely cause crashes.
Thanks,
Bugra

[RSullivan]

Thanks Bugra.

Not to start an argument, I am just curious.
I am a native C++ Win32,Com,WinRt programmer.
My forte is defiantly not frameworks (Mfc, Stl, Parallel Process Library,...).
Needless to say I am not a Ruby programmer.

I have some down time right now so I thought I would plunk around
with the Sketchup Sdk (This is not for a client, It is personal).

With that said why exactly is it that I need to compile the skp2xml
sample with 2010? What could possibly be different with the 'C++ Interface'
( I am assuming you are referencing the SketchUpModelExporterInterface struct)?

Is it packing?
Is it the calling convention on the SketchUpModelExporterInterface member functions?

Thanks.

[bugra]

Hi Robert,
The problem is heap allocations. More specifically the std::string parameters being passed back and forth. They can't be allocated in one heap and deallocated in another. Binaries built with 2010 and 2012 will operate on different heap managers. To make this work, we would need to expose a C interface (as we did with the new API). But that causes very verbose code, especially when dealing with strings. Since plugins have to run in the SU process anyway, it was implemented with a more convenient C++ interface. The downside is you have to use the same compiler.
Maybe when C++ gains modules support, we can implement a better solution. but as it stands, the standard makes no guarantees of ABI compatibility between binaries, unfortunately.
Regards,
Bugra

[RSullivan]

Thanks Bugra.

Ohh, The CRT.

You said
"To make this work, we would need to expose a C interface
(as we did with the new API). But that causes very verbose code,
especially when dealing with strings."

Ok, I assume I can write my exporter using the 'C' portion
of the Sdk.

To be clear then (If you could kindly verify):

1.) I cannot write a 'C' exporter that will appear within Sketchup
as a plugin (i.e appear within the Sketchup Export menu). I will need to write
it as a stand alone application and have the user manually select the Sketchup file
for export.
2.) The Sdk has a director: C:\Source\Sketchup2013\Sdk\SketchUp-SDK-Win\binaries\x64
which contains a slaip.dll and .lib. I assume these are valid for x64?
3.) I am not able to write any sort of Sketchup 'plugin' with the C Sdk (Like
the ones available via the Sketchup Extension Warehouse. These are all Ruby based).

Thanks again for your time.

[bugra]

@rsullivan said:

1.) I cannot write a 'C' exporter that will appear within Sketchup
as a plugin (i.e appear within the Sketchup Export menu). I will need to write
it as a stand alone application and have the user manually select the Sketchup file
for export.

Correct. Plugins have to go through a C++ interface but they use the C API to implement the actual import/export. They'll need to use the same CRT since they'll communicate with SketchUp via the C++ interface. For a standalone application, you can use any VS version you'd like. Our slapi.dll will still need Visual C++ 2010 redistributable package installed in order to run. But you can write your code in any other VS version (or even any programming language that can talk to a C API, which is almost any language).

@rsullivan said:

2.) The Sdk has a director: C:\Source\Sketchup2013\Sdk\SketchUp-SDK-Win\binaries\x64
which contains a slaip.dll and .lib. I assume these are valid for x64?

Yes, they are the 64-bit binaries.

@rsullivan said:

3.) I am not able to write any sort of Sketchup 'plugin' with the C Sdk (Like
the ones available via the Sketchup Extension Warehouse. These are all Ruby based).

Yes, the SDK can currently only read/write .skp files and it is not a replacement for the Ruby API.

[RSullivan]

Thanks Bugra.
The information you have provided has been most helpful.

Thanks again.

[IngMaroPari]

What if I want to build a custom exporter, just like skp2xml but to export to my own custom format? There is out there any sort of tutorial? I have to use the SDK or (since I have a C dll library that is already able to create my structure, only needs the input model) I can use the Ruby API with

require; "custom.dll"

or something like that? Sorry if this reply is OT but I found no other way to contact Bugra.

[Dan Rathbun]

If the DLL does not have Ruby interfaces, then you will need to load and use it via the Ruby Fiddle library.

Index of Classes & Methods in fiddle: Ruby Standard Library Documentation (Ruby 2.0.0)

(ruby-doc.org)

Module: Fiddle (Ruby 2.0.0)

Module : Fiddle - Ruby 2.0.0

(ruby-doc.org)