Sharing work: ghuser vs gha vs ghx vs ?

Hi guys,

Fairly new to Grasshopper, and a bit confused about the topology of sharing work and how the different formats compare in utility and openness.

If I want to share work generally and have people be able to see the script that I built in GH, which format should I use?

If I want to share something and keep my work closed, which format should I use?

What about C# vs Python vs GH produced work?

If somebody shares a ghuser file with me, does that mean it was built in a certain way, and can I unpack it to see how it was put together?

Is there a primer document somewhere for these kinds of questions?

Any explanation is much appreciated.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Rutten on March 3, 2015 at 12:44pm

GH and GHX are grasshopper files. These are the files you make when you hook up components. They both contain the exact same data, but GHX is Xml based while GH is a zipped binary format. GH is smaller and safer, as some webclients and email programs sometimes reformat xml data.

If the GH file relies on geometry in Rhino, you'll also have to share the Rhino 3dm file.

GHUSER is a format for storing non-standard versions of existing components. You do not need to share GHUSER files with anyone, they just make it easier to instantiate components that have the settings/data you want right away.

GHA is a Grasshopper plugin file. These files are made by compiling .NET source code into .NET assemblies. This is usually done using Visual Studio. Unless you made your own GHA file, you do not have to share any of yours with others. Though it is possible they have to install some plugins to be able to open your GH file, if your file used those plugins.

Regarding C# and Python... it depends. Script components carry their own code along, so they work everywhere. However compiled components require the correct GHA to be loaded.

As a side-note, GH2 will probably no longer have GHA and GHX formats. GHX is too often problematic so we're discontinuing that format, and GHA will probably be merged with RHP (the Rhino plugin format).

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