Windows plugin installation

[samo100]

Hello,
I've created a small plugin to extend the E57 file library to add the ability to bulk export all images from this type of file.
The plugin works on linux when built from source. However, I am confused how to use this plugin on windows machines without the necessity to build the application from source. How do I correctly create a .dll file from my plugin sources and is it the only thing that is necessary?

Thanks for any response in advance.

[daniel]

Yes, you just need to compile the plugin (project) with the same version of CloudCompare as the one with which you want your plugin to work with.

Don't hesitate to add the plugin to the official project (as a submodule for instance) if you want us to maintain it in the future and integrate it with the official releases.

[samo100]

Hello,
thank you very much for the reply. However, it is still not clear to me how if it is possible to build the plugin separately and add it to a CloudCompare instance installed with the official Windows installer or if it can only be added if the program is built from source on windows. I will be happy to share the plugin with others if it helps anyone.

[daniel]

Sorry for the late reply.

To compile the plugin in a way to make it compatible with the official version, you have to download all the sources, add your plugin to the CMake configuration, and then compile the whole solution with the same configuration (= Visual Studio compiler version and the same Qt version - they can be seen in the 'About' screen of CloudCompare, currently MSVC 19.16 and Qt 5.15.2)

Then, you can only take the plugin DLL (and its potential dependencies) and share it with other users of CloudCompare using the same version.

Else, if you provide us with a git repository, we can add your plugin to the official version by adding your own as a git submodule (assuming it is properly packaged).