How to use Rhino function in my stand alone application

Hello,
I am developing a software for 3D manufacturing, and I would like to implement the Rhino functions (e.g. MeshFromPoints, Hatching, etc) in my own stand alone application, without running the Rhino software.

What I have found out about RhinoCommon or Rhino C++ SDK is that I can only create a plugin within Rhino software. I do not want Rhino software to be running, or at most it is running as a background process, is this possible? Of course I would want to pay for the Rhino license for each copy of my software.

You can’t do anything except read and write .3dm files (using openNURBS) without having a licensed Rhino running.

Have you looked at this: http://developer.rhino3d.com ?

@brian: The much-improved V6 developer site doesn’t seem to directly and obviously address this issue of using Rhino in the background with no visible user interface except that supplied by the plugin. I’m pretty sure this is possible and may have even been discussed on discourse.

Hi @Jun_Xiang_Goh,

External access to Rhino is usually accomplished using ActiveX Automation.

Doing this from C++ isn’t for the faint of heart. But do have a developer sample that demonstrates how you can do this.

https://github.com/mcneel/rhino-developer-samples/tree/5/cpp/SampleAutomation

– Dale

Hi AIW,
thanks very much for your prompt reply and info. I am quite familiar with the site as I am now learning RhinoCommon to make some plugins.

Hi Dale,
thanks very much for your prompt reply and info. I will take a deeper look into those sample code.

Hi @Jun_Xiang_Goh,

If you are using C# and RhinoCommon, then this sample is worth looking at.

https://github.com/mcneel/rhino-developer-samples/tree/5/rhinocommon/cs/SampleCsAutomation

– Dale