Add-on file format

Introduction

💡 An Add-on file (extension: *.addon) is a ZIP archive with pre-defined folder- and filenames.

While an Add-on file will be created and modified with the Add-on Manager in most cases, it can also be unzipped/edited/zipped manually if necessary.

Structure

Folder structure

File	Description
<other folder>/	All other folders are containing Add-on content. The format of this content is discussed below.
doc/	Add-on documentation as displayed in the Software Store. Must contain a README.md file in markdown format.
icon.png	Add-on icon as displayed in the Add-on Manager and the Software Store
key.enc	Add-on protection and licensing information in case the Add-on is protected
license/	Terms-of-use related to this Add-on. Can contain a set of text files like license.txt , license_numpy.txt , … which will be displayed and must be acknowledged upon Add-on installation
metainfo.json	Add-on metainfo data (title, description, version, …)

Content types

💡 The top level folders determine the “content type”. Inside these top level folders, a separate sub folder must be provided for each item.

Folder / Provider name	Content type	Notes
backgrounds	Environment (rendering) backgrounds
cad_import_modes	CAD import templates
configurations	Visibility settings	INTERNAL
diagrams	Diagrams (3D view)
element_properties	Element creation properties
explorer_filter_templates	Explorer filter settings
export_templates	Element export scripts
gradient_color_maps	Templates for volume color gradient
gvf_templates	Gray value feature templates
inspection_styles	I-Inspect configurations
import_templates	Element import scripts
iso_tolerance_tables	ISO tolerance table templates
keywordsets	Project keywords
labels	Element label templates
languages	Translation files
legends	3D legend templates
lightingconfigs	Light setup templates (rendering)
materials	Material templates (rendering)
perspectives	UI configurations
range_color_maps	Templates for volume color ranges
reports	Report page templates
scripts	Scripts
scripted_elements	Scripted elements
surface_classifications	Surface defect classifications
tables	Table templates (3D view)
terms_of_use	Collection of terms-of-use for Add-on creation
tolerance_legends	Tolerance legends (3D)
user_defined_checks	User defined checks
user_defined_inspection_principles	User defined inspection principles
workspaces	Workspace definitions

Content data

💡 Each “content object” consists of a folder in one of the “content type” (top level) folders.

• A “content object” is a single template/script/element/… distributed via an Add-on.

• Each “content object” is represented by the content of a folder in the “content type” folder matching the content type.

• The exact format of the content representation depends on the “content type”.

• The name of the “content object” is the same as its folder’s name.

• For template-like objects, there is always a JSON file with administrative data present. Other types may vary.

Example: Labels

Folder layout ‘labels’

metainfo.json
labels
|-- Name
|   |--Name.json
|-- Results
|   |-- Results.json
...

• The folder names ‘Name’ and ‘Results’ are the templates’ names

• The JSON file in each folder contains both administrative data and content information

Name.json

{
    "content": {
        "!all:" {
            "label_background": "gom.Color (0, 0, 0, 0)",
            "label_border_mode": "'none'",
            "...": "...",
            "label_text": "..."
        },
        "...": "..."
    },
    "sort_index": 1,
    "uuid": "4a6ef87a-5214-4089-bdc3-5a96cf8b5108"
}

Example: Scripts

Folder layout ‘scripts’

scripts/
|-- Tools/
|   |-- Workspaces
|       |-- create_workspace.py
|       |-- create_workspace.metainfo
|-- ...
...

FAQ

Structure

Why is there a folder for every single element?

• The Add-on Manager can handle the elements transparently in this way. Just the folder is dragged & dropped, visible etc., while the content is abstracted and can edited (e.g. in a graphical editor)

• The content format specification of an element can easier be changed over time