AIHostAdapter plugin Windows install

[BenVosper]

We're developing a CEP extensions which uses some events provided by the AIHostAdapter plugin (found here).

We're managing to install the plugin fine on Mac just by dragging the zipped .aip file into the plugins directory. But doing the same on Windows doesn't seem to be working. When I unzip the zipped directory into the plugins directory, the AIHostAdapter.aip file appears as a directory, not as an .aip file like the rest of the plugins in the directory:

This does not seem to be recognised by Illustrator when I open it up.

I've tried keeping the zipped folder and renaming it back to have the .aip file extension, but that still doesn't seem to work: the structure of the directory obviously isn't right.

So, questions:

1. What is the correct installation process for the AIHostAdapter plugin on Windows?
2. Is there any existing documentation on how this can be installed?
3. Is the Github version of the plugin linked above the correct version?
4. Is there any way this installation process can be automated / performed automatically when our CEP extension is installed?

Thanks for any help!

Link to Adobe Forum post

[ErinFinnegan]

Oh! I thought the last build was universal, but it turned out it was not.

Try this build: https://github.com/Adobe-CEP/CEP-Resources/tree/master/CEP_11.x/AIHostAdapter/Win

I may have to zip it first, I'm not sure.

[BenVosper]

@ErinFinnegan That works! Thanks very much 👍

Would be great to have some docs for how those files are intended to be installed - as far as I know that info isn't anywhere in the CEP docs.

On a related note, is there any way to automate that install process when we're installing our CEP extension? Either via some mechanism of the extension install process itself or via some client-side code that we can write? It must be relatively common for extensions to rely on specific host plugins like this, and the only solution currently seems to be to make the user install the plugins manually before the extension.

[ErinFinnegan]

Hi @BenVosper,

It's my understanding that the AiHostAdapter used to ship with Illustrator, but for whatever reason fell out of releases years ago. An internal support team had to track it down and update it, and my team's been distributing it here ever since...

I have asked the Illustrator desktop team for some help with this. The AiHostAdapter needs a new owner, internally. Shipping it with Illustrator would solve a lot of problems...

On a related note, is there any way to automate that install process when we're installing our CEP extension?

I believe other developers regularly write scripts and installers that take advantage of our command line tools (ExManCmd and/or the new UPIA tool) to check for the presence of their plugins and install them.

If it were legal for you to bundle and distribute the HostAdapter with your plugin, you could write a custom installer that installs both, but you'd run into Apple notarization issues.

And then there's the part where, in an unknown timeframe (2-5 years?) Illustrator will likely replace CEP with UXP, so if you're using CEP components, or the AiHostAdapter is, it'll have to be migrated anyway...

Which brings us around to this: What do you use the HostAdapter for? How many users to you have (ballpark)? You're not the only person requesting this component, but I'll need to make a business case to request the functionality you need in UXP.

[BenVosper]

@ErinFinnegan Thanks very much for the info! Really interesting. We hadn't stumbled across the UXP repo when we were exploring building our extension, so just ended up using CEP. We weren't aware that it was being deprecated. Is there a list of key differences between CEP and UXP somewhere? We'd just like to understand the ecosystem some more.

We'll look into those command line tools, thanks! Can they be called from CEP code at all, or would it just be simplifying the manual install process slightly.

We're currently using the host adapter in our extension for the "changed artboard" event, with plans to also take advantage of many of the other event types it provides. It's currently in use with our internal teams (tens of people) with plans to also provide access to external teams in the near future. It won't ever be public-facing.

[ErinFinnegan]

Since there's a new AiHostAdapter issue again this year, I'm revisiting this thread...

🙀 Sorry I never replied, @BenVosper!

Is there a list of key differences between CEP and UXP somewhere?

I didn't have one before, but now I do: https://github.com/Adobe-CEP/CEP-Resources/tree/master/UXP-Migration-Guide

We'll look into those command line tools, thanks! Can they be called from CEP code at all, or would it just be simplifying the manual install process slightly.

Yes, I believe people call commands this way from CEP... although I couldn't tell you how, precisely.

I think since you're only using the AiHostAdapter for your internal team you should be OK to bundle it and install it. If you're creating a CEP extension that installs files into different folders you may want to use an MXI file. This guide looks old but CEP hasn't changed much in several years, so it should still be good.

I still don't have a timeframe for Illustrator adopting UXP and/or deprecating CEP.

Say, are you able to reproduce issue 480?

[egmcdonald]

I think since you're only using the AiHostAdapter for your internal team you should be OK to bundle it and install it. If you're creating a CEP extension that installs files into different folders you may want to use an MXI file. This guide looks old but CEP hasn't changed much in several years, so it should still be good.

@ErinFinnegan we ended up not bundling it and just requested our users to do a one-time install as part of the process.

Say, are you able to reproduce issue 480?

Not crashing! We have a step on start-up of the extension to ping the plugin and it's passing as expected.

P.S. this issue can be closed off as far as we're concerned - the build you uploaded previously worked as expected on Windows (thanks again! 👏🏻)