Download and Install
A>V>C> plugins are compatible with all the latest versions of AutoCAD and BricsCAD. Read more about compatibility here.
All A>V>C> program you can load from Autodesk AppStore. Plugins that are compatible with BricsCAD you can find in the Bricsys App Catalog. But the process of publishing new versions takes time. Therefore the AppStore are usually older versions of A>V>C> programs.
Download
To install any plugins A>V>C> just download one "install.exe" file:
or 中国下载链接
This program will help you select, download and install the plugin you need.
ATTANTION! Temporarily disable real-time protection on your antivirus BEFORE starting the installation. There are no viruses in the A>V>C> installer, but the actions of the installers are indistinguishable from the actions of viruses, so antiviruses block any unfamiliar installers.
You can use this installer if the online installer does not work. It may also be useful for distributing the plugin in your office through Windows domain group policies. Be sure to select the Custom installation type and check only the plugins you need. It is recommended to always install AVC Pro (This will not prevent you from paying only the commands you need).
You can also not use the installer, but download the plugins in the archive and unpack the plugin into ApplicationPlugins folder yourself. All archives are located in folders with version numbers. Choose the latest version.
You can also download CUIX files with All-in-1 ribbon panels for AutoCAD and BricsCAD, C# source code files for working with XData and special plug-in settings in the form of reg files.
You can test plugins on A>V>C> sample drawings. Download here:
Install.exe
The Install.exe file is in the plugins folder. This is an online installer for all A>V>C> plugins. It can do all the work for you to download and install the plugins correctly. Just download this one small file and run. The program has a minimum of settings.
Close AutoCAD and BricsCAD.
Temporarily disable real-time protection in your antivirus program. Of course, there are no viruses in the installer, but many antivirus programs block any installers unknown to them. It is even possible that the antivirus will erase the installer immediately after downloading. Then disable the antivirus and download the installer again. Disabling standard Windows antivirus is described here.
Run install.exe. The installer must be run by the user who will be using the plugin, not the administrator. If you have administrator rights, it is advisable to use the context menu to "Run the program as administrator". However, you cannot use the "Run as Another User" context menu because the plugins will end up in that other user's folder.
Windows will display the usual warning about an unknown program. Approve the launch. The program does not pose any threat to your computer.
Select a language from the list at the top of the dialog.
Select the collection A>V>C> Pro or A>V>C> Kit or tick the plugins with one command. Each item has a hint about what this program does. Please note that you can install the collection, and activate only a few necessary commands.
If you want to download the debug version of plugins in order to be the first to try new functions, then check the Install BETA version checkbox.
By default, the installer will configure Windows to run the AVC_Updater program when the system boots. If you do not need automatic plugin updates, then disable this checkbox.
It is advisable to register plugins as sources of error messages for Windows event logs. This will require restarting the installer with elevated privileges and administrator rights. But you may not register. This will not affect the work of plugins.
If you have already run BricsCAD, the installer will prompt you to register plugins in the Windows registry for automatic loading. You can turn off the plugins autorun option and you will have to register plugins for startup with the _AppLoad command (see below)
Click the Start button and the plugin installation will begin.
If you have checked the options requiring administrator rights, then the installer will try to reboot with elevated privileges.
The program will try to connect to the A>V>C> server. If you do not have access to the Internet or the outgoing TCP port 1433 is closed on the firewall, then you will not be able to use the installer. In this case, download the plugins in the 7z archives and unpack according to the instructions (see below)
In the process, you will see the messages of the program in a special window.
Upon successful completion of the installation, the program will close itself.
Add the plugin folder
"C:\Users\<your_name>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins"
and folder
"C:\Users\<your_name>\AppData\Roaming\AVC"
to your antivirus's exclusion list. Otherwise, the antivirus may erase automatic plugin update programs (since these are installer programs unknown to the antivirus and it is simply obliged to remove them). Of course, there are no viruses in A>V>C> programs, it’s a false alarm.
Features of work
All plugins are downloaded by the installer from the A>V>C> server, and not from DropBox or GoogleDrive. This is always the most recent version, even if you downloaded the install.exe file itself a long time ago.
All old versions of A>V>C> plugins that you had before will be automatically updated to the most recent version. There is no way to use old and new versions of different A>V>C> plugins at the same time.
The plugins are not big, it only takes about 5MB of traffic to download ALL plugins.
The installer does not require administrator rights, it can also work from a powerless user. But in powerless mode, errors in Windows event logs will not be saved and autoload will not be registered in Bricscad.
The installer removes old versions of plugins if it finds them.
The installer always installs plugins in the %appdata%\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins folder. You cannot select another folder.
Don't look for the checkboxes to configure plugin autoloading in AutoCAD. AutoCAD will auto-load itself when it finds a new plug-in in the correct folder.
In any case, libraries are installed for both AutoCAD and BricsCAD. It is impossible to disable unnecessary things.
The installer removes unnecessary copies of plugins if they are found in the C:\Program files\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins or C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins folders. However, to remove files from these folders, the plugin must also be run with administrator rights.
The installer cleans the Support folders of all versions of AutoCAD from the old AVC_ menu files so that AutoCAD can recreate them.
Running from the console
The installer understands the following command line arguments:
-runAsAdmin - Instantly start the installation without clicking the Start button. It is assumed that you have already given the program administrator rights.
-syslog - Log Windows event logs
-noSyslog - Don't log Windows event logs
-bricsAutorun - Register plugins to BricsCAD autoloading
-noBricsAutorun - Do not register plugins for BricsCAD autoloading
-updaterautorun - Runs the AVC_Updater program along with Windows.
-noupdaterautorun - Do not run the AVC_Updater program along with Windows.
All plugin names (short English name, as indicated in the name of the archives) - install this plugin. Don't put a minus in front of the title. You can omit the AVC_ prefix
Separate arguments with spaces.
Off-line installing
If you do not trust the automatic installer or if the Internet is disabled on your target computer, then you can install plugins from the 7z archive.
All plug-in will be packed to the archive AVC_xxx_yyyy_mm_nn.7z
xxx - name of plug-in,
yyyy_mm_nn - number of version (in contain year and month of publication).
For install any plug-in you must download only one file with maximal version number in name.
After download check the properties of the downloaded archives 7z. If you see on the first page of the file properties check box "Unblock" then be sure to set it.
For unpack you can use program 7z.
All archives actually contain the same plugin file. The only difference is the files with the interface settings - toolbars and menus. Therefore, recommended that you always download only one archive: Avc_Pro. It has a menu for all A>V>C> commands. And you can activate and use only the programs you need.
Installation into AutoCAD
You do not need administrator rights; Installing plug-ins can make the most powerless user.
You must close AutoCAD. It knows how to pick up plugins on the fly, but it can get fatal error.
Unzip folder AVC_xxx.bundle to Windows system disk to folder
c:\Users\<your login>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\
It is important to save the .bundle extension in the folder name, otherwise AutoCAD will not find the plugin.
AppData is a hidden folder and you must first enable the display of hidden files in Windows Explorer. Or you can type %APPDATA% in the address string of Windows Explorer and press Enter.
If you have not used the online plug-in installer, then the first launch of AutoCAD is recommended as an elevated administrator. Then the plugin will be able to create itself an error log in the Windows system logs. But this is not necessary and does not affect the operation of the plugin.
When you start AutoCAD it will find the new plug-in and will ask your permission to run AVC_XXX.dll. You must click the button "Always Load" that this request has not occurred again.
If new buttons appear and the commands do not start, then most likely the plugin file has been blocked by your system. Locate all the dll and arx files in the \Content\Windows folder and in the file properties check the "Unblock"
If you have any problems please read F.A.Q. If this does not help - feel free to email me avc.programming@gmail.com.
Installation into BricsCAD
You must have PRO version of BricsCAD, otherwise A>V>C> plugins will not work, because uses the .Net API.
The BricsCAD does not provide automatic loading of plug-ins. You must do everything yourself.
Unpack the plugin to any folder. Better to create the same folder as AutoCAD creates:
c:\Users\<your login>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\
Inside this folder there should be a plugin folder from the archive, with the plugin name in the name ending in ".bundle". Renaming the bundle-folder will lead to the complete inoperability of the plugin.
For automatic updates to work properly, it is necessary that all plugins be inside the same folder and in the ".bundle" subfolders.
Run BricsCAD, call the AppLoad command. You will see a dialog "Load Application Files"
Click add application button (+)
Select file
AVC_xxx.bundle\Contents\Windows\AVC_Starter_Br.dll
Check box "Autoload".
Click on the checkbox "Loaded". In this case, a check mark in the checkbox does not appear, but you will see a message on the command line about the successful loading of the plug-in.
Automatic plugin removal
If you downloaded the installer from the Autodesk store, then uninstall the plug-in through the Windows Control Panel like any other program.
If you used the A>V>C> Installer, it will write a link to the Uninstall.exe program in the Windows Control Panel and in Start menu. But there will only be one entry to remove all A>V>C> plugins at once. Typically this program is stored in the plugins folder.
You can also download the uninstaller here. The program will help remove all traces of AVC plugins from the system.
Before running the uninstaller, disable the real-time protection of your antivirus, as false positives are likely.
The uninstaller has two options:
Remove all settings of all AVC plugins from the Windows registry. If you are simply reinstalling plugins and want to keep the settings, then disable this option.
Self-destruction of the uninstallation program. At the end of its work, the program can create and run a VBA script to self-destruct (at which point most antiviruses begin to hallucinate non-existent threats).
The program deletes unnecessary copies of plugins if they are found in the system folders C:\Program files\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins or C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins. To do this, the program asks you to give it administrator rights.
Removing plugins manually
You can also remove plugins manually.
- Close AutoCAD and BricsCAD.
- Close the updater AVC_Updater.exe and the file copy program AVC_FileCopy.exe. Check that there are no icons in the system tray in the taskbar.
- Delete the folder AVC_xxx.bundle from ApplicationPlugins.
- After removing the plugin, you can delete its settings from the Windows registry. Use Regedit.exe. Delete section:
CU\Software\AVC\AVC_xxx
- If you used automatic updates, then you must also delete them from the folder:
c:\Users\<your login>\AppData\Roaming\AVC\Plugin
Update
The AVC_Updater automatic update utility is supplied with the A>V>C> plugins. By default, it is turned on in Request mode and will warn you when a new version is available. But if you don't trust automation, you can download updates yourself:- Follow A>V>C> news on Facebook or Twitter or Linked-In or Telegram. There announced the release of new versions and list all the changes.
- Also about all the changes you can read in the Changelog page.
- Close AutoCAD and BricsCAD.
- Pause your antivirus.
- Install the new version using Install.exe. Or download and extract the 7z archives. But don't download plugins from the Autodesk App Store.
- If you have downloaded the archives, then just overwrite all old files with new ones.