Sample plugin

Report · Jul 14, 2010

Hi,

I am totally new to Adobe Indesign, having got the task to write Indesign plugins.

So I installed IndesignCS4-SDK and tried to start with sample plugins.

In the SDK there is a batchfile buildAllSamples.bat which I started.

For every every sample project there was created a folder [project].sdk.Resources but all thes folders are empty (?).

Furthermore for every project there was created a '.pln' and a '.pdb.file'

I guess, there is something missing, the so created plugins are not recognized by Indesign.

Compiling one single project in Visual Studio I get the warning:

SDK\build\win\debug\SDK\(WFP.sdk Resources)\*.idrc could not be found.

so what's wrong here?

any help would be appreciated.

Helmut

Report · Jul 15, 2010

I've never met that issue. What about rebuild a single plug-in project to check again. If it still not work, i suggest to download sdk again.

Report · Jul 16, 2010

Hi Ady,

I compiled a single sample plugin project ('BasicMenu'), the result remains the same.

In the /win/release/SDK folder one empty folder (BasicMenu.sdk Resources) was created and outside that folder

the two files BasicMenu.pdb and BasicMenu.sdk.pln.

I would expect a folder 'BasicMenu' and a file inside it, 'BasicMenu.pln'

Perhaps the error message about a missing idrc file at compile time might be a clue?

("InDesignCS4-SDK\SDK\build\win\release\SDK\(BasicMenu.sdk Resources)\*.idrc could not be found.")

regards, Helmut

Report · Jul 16, 2010

Hi Aidy,

I probably found out the reason of my problem.

SDK CS4 requires Visual Studio 2005 whereas on my computer Visual Studio 2008 is installed.....

regards, Helmut

Report · Jul 18, 2010

Well, good news. And that's the point i didn't consider.

Regards,

Aidy

Report · Jul 19, 2010

Hi Ady,

unfortunately the problem is not yet solved.

I installed SDK CS5 (before I had CS4) and InDesign CS5, Debug version. Visual Studio 2008.

Having compiled one sample project I got the same result as I had before with CS4.

One empty (!) folder "BasicDialog.sdk.Resources" and outside that folder the two files

"BasicDialog.sdk.pln" and "BasicDialog.pdb",

Having copied "BasicDialog.sdk.pln" to the InDesign program folder and started InDesign,

I gott the error message :"BASICDIALOG.SDK.PLN is either missing plug-in resource or the Model/UI attribute is not specified in PlugIn Version resource".

But even without *my* I get the error message "Cannot load plugin FONT MANAGER.RPLN"

any ideas?

regards, Helmut

Report · Jul 19, 2010

Sorry, in my last posting I forgot an important word:

But even without *my* ****plugin**** I get the error message "Cannot load plugin FONT MANAGER.RPLN"

Report · Jul 21, 2010

For the "Cannot load plugin FONT MANAGER.RPLN" issue, InDesign CS5 Debug requires Visual Studio 2005 or at least the C++ runtimes. More information can be found in threads in this forum.

To get your plug-ins to load for CS5, you also need to copy the folder "(BasicDialog.sdk Resources)" to the same folder as the BasicDialog.sdk.pln. If this folder is empty something has gone wrong during compilation of the plug-in. Try opening the BasicDialog.sdk project in Visual Studio and see if you get any errors when you try to build it.

Report · Jul 21, 2010

Hi Mats,

according to adobe documentation, InDesign CS5 requires Visual Studio 2008.

Are you sure that the debug version requires VS 2005?

Anyway,I installed the VS 2005 runtime libraries, but nothing changed.

Compling the sample project I get this error message:

c:\Users......\SDK\build\win\debug\SDK\(BasicDialog.sdk Resources)\*.idrc could not be found.

any idea?

regards, Helmut

Report · Jul 21, 2010

That message is "normal" and nothing to worry about. This message is generated by the delete command trying to clean up old versions of the resources.

Check the contents of the "c:\Users......\SDK\build\win\debug\SDK\(BasicDialog.sdk Resources)" directory. You should see a number of directories named "idrc_XXXX" and each of those directories should contain a .idrc file. As long as they do, you should be fine. Just copy the BasicDialog.SDK.pln and the entire (BasicDialog.SDK Resources) folder to the same directory somewhere in the plug-in folder.

Check out http://forums.adobe.com/thread/667704?tstart=0 for more information regarding InDesign CS5 Debug/Visual Studio 2005.

Report · Jul 21, 2010

As I already said, the "c:\Users......\SDK\build\win\debug\SDK\(BasicDialog.sdk Resources)" directory is empty, the pln and pdb files are located on the same file system level as the correponding directory.

>Check out http://forums.adobe.com/thread/667704?tstart=0 for more information regarding InDesign CS5 Debug/Visual Studio 2005.

I followed the advices (installing VS 2005 runtime libraries and resetting preferences) but nothing changed.

Today one more advice appeared (simultaneous installation of VS 2005 AND VS 2008) but I doubt if this will help...

Report · Jul 21, 2010

To be clear, the issue with InDesign crashing at startup due to Font Manager and the problems with compiling BasicDialog.SDK project are two entirely separate issues.

InDesign CS5 debug is only supposed to require Visual Studio 2008 (or runtimes) TO RUN, but there is a bug that causes it to need VS2005 also. You need both of these installed TO RUN the program properly.

TO COMPILE the CS5 SDK projects (and your own CS5 plug-ins), you need to use Visual Studio 2008. VS2005 can NOT be used to compile CS5 plug-ins, it is only used to compile CS4/CS3 plug-ins.

Sorry if I am repeating things you already know but I find it best to be 100% clear. If you are already doing everything of the above, could you post the full Visual Studio build log from when you try to build the project?

Report · Jul 22, 2010

My administrator installed Visual Studio 2005.

Compiling a sample project, I get the same result as before.

the complete build protocol:

Die temporäre Datei "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\BAT00000148007940.bat" wird erstellt. Inhalt:
[
@echo off

odfrc "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\source\sdksamples\basicdialog\BscDlg.fr" -o ".\..\objd\BasicDialog\BscDlg.fres" -d DEBUG  -i ..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog @SDKODFRCOptions.rsp



if errorlevel 1 goto VCReportError

goto VCEnd

:VCReportError

echo Project : error PRJ0019: Ein Tool hat einen Fehlercode aus folgender Quelle zurückgegeben: "Ein benutzerdefinierter Buildschritt wird ausgeführt."

exit 1

:VCEnd
]Erstellen der Befehlszeile """c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\BAT00000148007940.bat"""Die temporäre Datei "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\RSP00000248007940.rsp" wird erstellt. Inhalt:
[
/Od /Ob1 /D "_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE" /D "DEBUG" /D "STRICT" /D "_VC80_UPGRADE=0x0710" /D "_SECURE_SCL=0" /D "_SCL_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE" /D "_HAS_ITERATOR_DEBUGGING=0" /D "_WINDLL" /FD /EHsc /MDd /GS- /Yu"VCPlugInHeaders.h" /Fp".\..\objd\BasicDialog\BasicDialog.pch" /Fo".\..\objd\BasicDialog\\" /Fd".\..\objd\BasicDialog\vc90.pdb" /W3 /WX /c /Zi /TP  /vmg @"SDKCPPOptions.rsp"   /MP

"..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog\TriggerResourceDeps.cpp"

"..\..\..\source\public\libs\publiclib\statics\PlugInStatics.cpp"

"..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog\BscDlgNoStrip.cpp"

"..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog\BscDlgID.cpp"

"..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog\BscDlgEntrypoint.cpp"

"..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog\BscDlgDialogObserver.cpp"

"..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog\BscDlgDialogController.cpp"

"..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog\BscDlgActionComponent.cpp"
]Erstellen der Befehlszeile "cl.exe @"c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\RSP00000248007940.rsp" /nologo /errorReport:prompt"Die temporäre Datei "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\RSP00000348007940.rsp" wird erstellt. Inhalt:
[
/Od /Ob1 /D "_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE" /D "DEBUG" /D "STRICT" /D "_VC80_UPGRADE=0x0710" /D "_SECURE_SCL=0" /D "_SCL_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE" /D "_HAS_ITERATOR_DEBUGGING=0" /D "_WINDLL" /FD /EHsc /MDd /GS- /Yc"VCPlugInHeaders.h" /Fp".\..\objd\BasicDialog\BasicDialog.pch" /Fo".\..\objd\BasicDialog\\" /Fd".\..\objd\BasicDialog\vc90.pdb" /W3 /WX /c /Zi /TP  /vmg @"SDKCPPOptions.rsp"   /MP

"..\..\..\source\precomp\msvc\VCPlugInHeaders.cpp"
]Erstellen der Befehlszeile "cl.exe @"c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\RSP00000348007940.rsp" /nologo /errorReport:prompt"Erstellen der Befehlszeile "rc.exe /d "_CRT_SECURE_NO_DEPRECATE" /d "DEBUG" /l 0x809 /I "..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog" /I "..\..\..\source\sdksamples\common" /I "..\..\..\source\precomp\msvc" /I "..\..\..\source\public\includes" /fo".\..\objd\BasicDialog/BscDlg.res" "..\..\..\source\sdksamples\basicdialog\BscDlg.rc""Die temporäre Datei "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\BAT00000448007940.bat" wird erstellt. Inhalt:
[
@echo off

merge_res.cmd ".\..\objd\BasicDialog"  BscDlg & echo Deleting old resources... & del /f /s "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\debug\SDK\(BasicDialog.sdk Resources)\"*.idrc > .\..\objd\BasicDialog\prevDeletedResources.txt & xcopy /Q /E ".\..\objd\BasicDialog\"*.idrc "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\debug\SDK\(BasicDialog.sdk Resources)\" /Y

if errorlevel 1 goto VCReportError

goto VCEnd

:VCReportError

echo Project : error PRJ0019: Ein Tool hat einen Fehlercode aus folgender Quelle zurückgegeben: "Prälinkereignis wird ausgeführt..."

exit 1

:VCEnd
]Erstellen der Befehlszeile """c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\BAT00000448007940.bat"""Die temporäre Datei "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\RSP00000548007940.rsp" wird erstellt. Inhalt:
[
/OUT:"..\debug\SDK\BasicDialog.sdk.pln" /INCREMENTAL:NO /DLL /MANIFEST /MANIFESTFILE:".\..\objd\BasicDialog\BasicDialog.sdk.pln.intermediate.manifest" /MANIFESTUAC:"level='asInvoker' uiAccess='false'" /DEBUG /PDB:"..\debug\SDK\BasicDialog.pdb" /SUBSYSTEM:WINDOWS /OPT:REF /DYNAMICBASE /NXCOMPAT /IMPLIB:"..\..\..\build\win\objD\BasicDialog/BasicDialog.lib" /MACHINE:X86 ..\..\..\build\win\objd\PMRuntime.lib ..\..\..\build\win\objd\Public.lib ..\..\..\build\win\objd\WidgetBin.lib kernel32.lib user32.lib gdi32.lib winspool.lib comdlg32.lib advapi32.lib shell32.lib ole32.lib oleaut32.lib uuid.lib odbc32.lib odbccp32.lib

"..\objd\BasicDialog\BscDlgActionComponent.obj"

"..\objd\BasicDialog\BscDlgDialogController.obj"

"..\objd\BasicDialog\BscDlgDialogObserver.obj"

"..\objd\BasicDialog\BscDlgEntrypoint.obj"

"..\objd\BasicDialog\BscDlgID.obj"

"..\objd\BasicDialog\BscDlgNoStrip.obj"

"..\objd\BasicDialog\PlugInStatics.obj"

"..\objd\BasicDialog\TriggerResourceDeps.obj"

"..\objd\BasicDialog\VCPlugInHeaders.obj"

"..\objd\BasicDialog\BscDlg.res"
]Erstellen der Befehlszeile "link.exe @"c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\RSP00000548007940.rsp" /NOLOGO /ERRORREPORT:PROMPT"Die temporäre Datei "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\RSP00000648007940.rsp" wird erstellt. Inhalt:
[
/outputresource:"..\debug\SDK\BasicDialog.sdk.pln;#2" /manifest

"..\objd\BasicDialog\BasicDialog.sdk.pln.intermediate.manifest"
]Erstellen der Befehlszeile "mt.exe @"c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\RSP00000648007940.rsp" /nologo"Die temporäre Datei "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\BAT00000748007940.bat" wird erstellt. Inhalt:
[
@echo, die Manifestressource wurde zuletzt um %TIME% am %DATE% aktualisiert > "..\objd\BasicDialog\mt.dep"
]Erstellen der Befehlszeile """c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\BAT00000748007940.bat"""Die temporäre Datei "c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\BAT00000848007940.bat" wird erstellt. Inhalt:
[
@echo off

restore_res.cmd ".\..\objd\BasicDialog"  BscDlg

if errorlevel 1 goto VCReportError

goto VCEnd

:VCReportError

echo Project : error PRJ0019: Ein Tool hat einen Fehlercode aus folgender Quelle zurückgegeben: "Postbuildereignis wird ausgeführt..."

exit 1

:VCEnd
]Erstellen der Befehlszeile """c:\Users\Helmut.Blass\Documents\Entwicklung\iMatchClientPlugins\IndesignCS5-SDK\SDK\build\win\objd\BasicDialog\BAT00000848007940.bat"""

Ausgabefenster

Report · Jul 22, 2010

I copied the plugin folder generated by the compiler("BasicDialog") to InDesign program folder (plug-ins), and when I start InDesign I get the following message,

"BASICDIALOG.SDK.PLN" Plug-in is either missing plug-in resource or the Model/UI attribute is not specified in PlugIn Version resource!

PlugInData::GetCoreResourceModificationDate could not get path to timestamp file: C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe InDesign CS5 Debug\Plug-ins\BASICDIALOG\(BASICDIALOG.SDK Resources)\timestamp.idrc

..\..\..\source\omlib\plugins\PlugInData.cpp (358)

Also the extension manager does not show "BasicDialog" (but all the other plugins in the program folder) and when I try to install BasicDialog with it, the extension manager only accepts files with the extension .zxp, .mxp, .mxi ?????

Report · Jul 22, 2010

There is a description in page 22 of porting guide:

plugin-manager-type — Indicates the type of plug-in extensions. Valid values are "all-users"

and "current-user". If this attribute is not specified, extension should not contain plug-ins.

Hope it helps.

Report · Jul 23, 2010

Hi Aidy,

could you give me a link to this porting guide?

Report · Jul 23, 2010

You can find it in [CS5 SDK folder]\docs\guides.

Regards,

Aidy

Report · Jul 26, 2010

In file 'BasicDialog_win.mxi' there is an entry

plugin-manager-type="all-users"

so what?

Report · Jul 26, 2010

Considering the existing plug-ins in the program folder there are a lot of folders named "idrc_...".

There is also a file "timstamp.idrc".

The build log of my sample plug-in states that there is a file "timestamp.idrc" missing.

So why does Visual Studio not create these idrc-folders nor the file timestamp.idrc?

Is this a bug or a configuration error?

Report · Jul 26, 2010

These files are created by the ODFRC compiler. (gives a great search keyword in the docs)

Make sure that in VC the path to that external compiler is configured to point into the correct SDK folder.

Also compare to the file properties or the underlying XML of .fr sources in working example projects, you might have forgotten to invoke the build step in yours.

Dirk

Report · Jul 27, 2010

Hi Dirk,

>Make sure that in VC the path to that external compiler is configured to point into the correct SDK folder.

can you specifiy the setting in the VC project properties?

I added the folder where Odfrc.exe is located, to the Path environment variable, but there was no improvement. idrc files were not generated.

>Also compare to the file properties or the underlying XML of .fr sources in working example projects, you might have >forgotten to invoke the build step in yours.

coud you be more precise? I have no experience with plug-in programming.....

Helmut

Report · Nov 23, 2010

Hi Helmut,

I had the same problem (no .idrc files) and I solve it when I checked Visual was using the correct ODFRC (from CS5).

Thank Dirk for tip.

> I added the folder where Odfrc.exe is located, to the Path environment variable

- The best way is to create a user environnement variable called ID_CS5_SDK

- Visual Tools > Options... > Projects and Solutions > VC++ Directories : in Executable Files, add folder $(ID_CS5_SDK)\devtools\bin

- Make sure that Visual longer use older versions CS ! No path to another ODFRC : its why a user variable is better than increment PATH. Also, for security, feel free to rename other CS SDKs /devtools/bin folder (in /_bin for example).

John

Report · Jul 22, 2010

Is that a build log from Visual Studio 2005 or 2008?

Report · Jul 22, 2010

The build log is from Visual Studio 2008

Report · Jul 21, 2010

Hi Helmut25,

If the message "Cannot load plugin FONT MANAGER.RPLN" still is existed even without all your personal plug-ins, i suppose that would be the problem of your CS5 debug version.

I mean if you remove all your plug-ins from folder [ID CS4 Debug]/plug-ins/, just keep it as same as its original status (just after installation), if it still has the message when starting ID CS5 application, then it should has no relationship with your compiling environment.

Hope it helps.

Regards,

Aidy