Importing OpenStudio into GHPython not Working for OpenStudio 3.5 and Above

amar · April 15, 2023, 8:29am

@chris I’m getting this error, how do I get past this? Any help would be appreciated.
Thank you!

chris · July 16, 2023, 6:12pm

Sorry for the very late response and thank you for reporting the issue. This is a bug that results from the fact that the OpenStudio CSharp bindings have been moving around in the OpenStudio installers released by NREL. I know that they’re reshuffling a lot of their bindings in order to add better support for OpenStudio Python bindings, which is going to be great once it’s available.

However, for the OpenStuido 3.5 and 3.6 installers, it seems they have forgotten to include a critical file for their CSharp bindings (OpenStudio.dll) in their installer amidst the reshuffle. So there doesn’t seem to be any way to use the OpenStudio .NET bindings using just what is included in the installer (you’d have to download some extra resources from their NuGet package). I opened up an issue on their GitHub asking if they can add this back in future OpenStudio installers or explain if I’m missing something (it’s also possible that @MingboPeng might know more as the OpenStudio CSharp master of the LBT community).

github.com/NREL/OpenStudio

Why is OpenStudio.dll no longer included in the installers?

opened 06:08PM - 16 Jul 23 UTC

chriswmackey

Enhancement Request Triage

Enhancement Request -------------- I'm opening this as an enhancement request …but it may be more of a question and I just have not found the right answer yet. Starting from OpenStudio 3.5, it seems that there is no longer an `OpenStudio.dll` included in the Windows exe installer and the only way that I have currently found to obtain this .dll is from the OpenStudio [NuGet package](https://www.nuget.org/packages/OpenStudio). This seemed odd to me because all of the other csharp dlls are in the installer but I am missing the critical one that I need in order to be able to make use of the CSharp bindings. ![image](https://github.com/NREL/OpenStudio/assets/5567574/e16cb398-2ca5-46d1-b0f4-093b0069b9f5) So I first wanted to ask if this is the intended setup and I am just not understanding how I am now supposed to be making use of the CSharp bindings (eg. should I be adding a different one of these dlls?) If it is the intended setup, could you instruct me on which dll should be added to enable me to import OpenStudio SDK in .NET. Or do I need to add all of them? If this is not the intended setup, it would be really nice if future OpenStudio installers could put back the `OpenStudio.dll` somewhere in the installation folder. I have verified that the latest OpenStudio 3.6.1 installer also lacks the `OpenStudio.dll` Thanks, as always.

In the meantime, the best way to make sure that you always have a complete set of the OpenStudio .NET bindings in a place where Ladybug Tools can find them is by using the free Pollination single-click installer. So that’s what I’d recommend doing now (and going forward until this big project with OpenStudio Python bindings is more stable in a couple of years).

MingboPeng · July 16, 2023, 7:09pm

As @chris says. The best way is to use the Pollination installer to install all compatible engines with LBT.

In terms of missing openstudiolib.dll, you probably can find it in the OpenStudio’s bin folder, and copy it to where it is looking for.

chris · July 17, 2023, 3:55pm

Thanks, @MingboPeng . The openstudiolib.dll is in that folder as you say and I can copy it but there’s still no OpenStudio.dll anywhere in the NREL installer. So this is making it impossible to import OpenStudio in IronPython unless there’s something I’m missing here.

Am I correct that all of the dlls that you’re putting in the Pollination installer come from the OpenStudio NuGet package, @MingboPeng ? I see that the NuGet package comes with an OpenStudio.dll that I can use.