Grasshopper

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Grasshopper

Tools

Grasshopper

The Grasshopper command opens the Grasshopper® plug-in window. Grasshopper is a graphical algorithm editor tightly integrated with Rhino's 3-D modeling tools.

To access command-line options

  • Type a hyphen in front of the command name: -Grasshopper.

Command-line options

Window

Loads the Grasshopper plug-in and controls the visibility of the Grasshopper window.

Load

Loads the Grasshopper plug-in, but does not open the Grasshopper window.

Show

Opens the Grasshopper window. The Grasshopper plug-in will be loaded if it is not.

Hide

Hides the Grasshopper window when it is open.

Toggle

Changes visibility of the Grasshopper window.

Document
Open

Browses, or enters a path to open a Grasshopper file (*.gh, *.ghx).

Save

Saves the current Grasshopper file.

SaveAs

Saves the current Grasshopper file with a different name.

Close

Closes the current Grasshopper file. Unsaved data will be lost.

CloseAll

Closes all the opened Grasshopper files. Unsaved data will be lost.

Solver
Enable

Unlocks the Grasshopper solver. Grasshopper resumes computing interactive data.

Disable

Locks the Grasshopper solver. Grasshopper stops computing interactive data.

Toggle

Changes the locking status of the Grasshopper solver.

Banner

Changes visibility of the Grasshopper banner when the scriptable version command, -Grasshopper, is loading the Grasshopper plug-in.

Enable

Shows the Grasshopper banner.

Disable

Hides the Grasshopper banner.

Separate V5 and V6 components

There are two different ways to hide plug-ins from Grasshopper for Rhino 5 and Rhino 6 respectively.

To hide a plug-in from Grasshopper in V5

  • Place V6 GH plug-ins in /Users/~/Library/Application Support/McNeel/Rhinoceros/6.0/Plug-ins/Grasshopper... /Libraries where GH for Rhino 5 does not look. Or place them next to a Rhino plug-in .rhp file that only loads in Rhino 6.

To hide a plug-in from Grasshopper in V6

  • Place a file with the same name as the plugin file (.gha), but with an extension of ".no6". The file must be placed next to the .gha file. This file can be empty as long as it exists. You can also use the GrasshopperIgnorePlugin command to do this.

Reset Grasshopper settings back to default

You may need to erase all custom settings or disable plug-ins in Grasshopper to have a fresh start in some situations.

To erase all custom settings

  1. In Grasshopper, select File > Special Folders > Settings Folder to open the folder containing the setting files.

  2. Close the Rhino application.

  3. Delete the .xml files in the folder, or move them elsewhere if you need to put the settings back later.

To disable plug-ins

Grasshopper plug-ins can be disabled in different ways.

See Also

PackageManager

Assists in the discovery, installation, and management of Rhino and Grasshopper plug-ins.

Find more plug-ins on food4Rhino.

 

GrasshopperDeveloperSettings

Toolbar Menu

Not on toolbars.

Not on menus.

The GrasshopperDeveloperSettings command manages Grasshopper plug-in (*.gha) loading behavior and locations. There are better functionalities in the current Grasshopper that can entirely replace this command.

Memory load *.GHA assemblies using COFF byte arrays

Windows systems do not allow loading DLL files from "unsafe" locations such as network drives. When checked, plugin files are first read from the disk into memory, and then loaded from memory into the application. This option makes it possible to load a plug-in stored on a server. It is not recommended to change this option. There are now better ways to set per plug-in loading behavior in Grasshopper (File > Preferences > Solver > Plug-in loading).

Library folders
Add Folder

Click to add an extra folder from where *.gha files will be loaded in addition to the default locations. Plug-in developers can add the Visual Studio build folder and load *.gha files from there.

Valid Folders

Click to show the folders from where Grasshopper attempts to load plug-ins. You cannot edit the list, but the list can help to find the location of specific plug-ins.

See also

Make Grasshopper ignore a plug-in

 

GrasshopperFolders

Toolbar Menu

Not on toolbars.

Not on menus.

The GrasshopperFolders command opens the folders where Grasshopper stores files of settings, user objects, clusters or components.

Open one of the folders

  1. Run the command.
  2. Select one of the options.

 

GrasshopperGetSDKDocumentation

Toolbar Menu

Not on toolbars.

Not on menus.

The GrasshopperGetSDKDocumentation command downloads the Grasshopper SDK help document (.CHM) from the Internet.

 

GrasshopperIgnorePlugin

Toolbar Menu

Not on toolbars.

Not on menus.

The GrasshopperIgnorePlugin command allows selecting a .gha file that will be ignored by Grasshopper. A *.no6 file is created beside the .gha file that tells Grasshopper not to load it.

Make Grasshopper ignore a plug-in

  1. Run the command.

  2. Select a .gha file.

    If the .gha file is in a folder that you do not have full control, you will have to run Rhino by right-clicking on the Rhino desktop icon and select "Run as administrator," otherwise the *.no6 file cannot be created.

Make Grasshopper load an ignored plug-in

  • Delete the *.no6 file beside the ignored .gha file.

 

GrasshopperLoadOneByOne

Toolbar Menu

Not on toolbars.

Not on menus.

The GrasshopperLoadOneByOne command prompts before loading every plug-in. Use this command to find out the plug-in that crashes Grasshopper on startup.

Steps

  1. Run the command when Grasshopper is not loaded.
  2. Click Yes to load a plug-in. The path of the *.gha file is copied to Windows clipboard.
  3. Click No to disable a plug-in in this Rhino session.

GrasshopperPlayer

Toolbar

Menu

Grasshopper

Tools

Grasshopper Player

The GrasshopperPlayer command allows to load and execute a grasshopper definition (*.gh, *.ghx) without showing the Grasshopper window.

Steps

  1. Start the command.

  2. Select a *.gh or *.ghx file to open.

To script the command

Type a hyphen in front of the command name: -GrasshopperPlayer

The scriptable command supports system environment variables for file paths.

For example:

-_GrasshopperPlayer $HOME/myghcommand.gh

or -_GrasshopperPlayer ~/myghcommand.gh

opens /Users/{Username}/myghcommand.gh

 

  • The variable and file path are case sensitive.

  • Enclose the file path in double-quotes if it contains any spaces like:

    "$HOME/my gh command.gh"

If the grasshopper definition file is missing, Rhino would look for the file in these locations:

  • The folder where the 3dm is stored and its sub-folders.

  • The folders set in Rhino Settings > Files and their sub-folders.

If the grasshopper definition file is stored in one of the locations, you can enter the file name without the full path like:

-_GrasshopperPlayer myghcommand.gh

GrasshopperPluginList

Toolbar Menu

Grasshopper

Tools

Grasshopper Plug‑in List

The GrasshopperPluginList command shows the plug-ins used in the currently loaded Grasshopper file.

 

  • The plug-in list will output to a dialog box. Type a hyphen in front of the command name, -GrasshopperPluginList, to output the plug-in list to the History Panel.