Introduction

Welcome to the ZToolkit repository!
This guide provides an overview of the toolkit, its purpose, structure, and how contributors can work within the project’s two interconnected .NET ecosystems: Dynamo for Revit and Grasshopper for Rhino.

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What Is ZToolkit?

ZToolkit is a collection of geometry, transformation, and workflow utilities built to support AEC automation across two major computational design platforms:

• Autodesk Revit → Dynamo
• Rhino → Grasshopper

The purpose of ZToolkit is to provide stable, reusable, and version‑consistent tools to help automate:

• AEC modelling workflows
• Data extraction and transformation
• Civil and architectural geometry generation
• Cross‑platform logic (Revit ⇄ Rhino)

The toolkit consists of two separate but related .NET projects:

Project	Description
ZToolkit	A Dynamo ZeroTouch package containing nodes for Revit automation.
ZToolkit.Grasshopper	A Grasshopper plugin providing components for Rhino 7 & 8.

Both live in the same repository to enable unified development, shared logic, and easier version control.

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🏗 Repository Structure

1. ZToolkit (Dynamo Package)

A ZeroTouch library targeting Revit and Dynamo, built on .NET Framework 4.8.

Generated Files

• ZToolkit.dll
• ZToolkit.xml (documentation)
• Optional debugging symbols (ZToolkit.pdb)
• pkg.json for package metadata

Supported Builds

Configuration	Dynamo Version	Revit Version	Constants
DebugV23	2.18	2023	REVIT2023;DYNAMO218
DebugV24	2.19	2024	REVIT2024;DYNAMO219
DebugV25	3.0	2025	REVIT2025;DYNAMO30
Debug/Release	2.19	2024	–

Automatic Deployment Builds are deployed automatically to:

%AppData%\Dynamo\Dynamo Revit\<DynamoVersion>\packages\ZToolkit

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2. ZToolkit.Grasshopper (Grasshopper Plugin)

A Grasshopper plugin supporting Rhino 7 & 8.

Key Features

• Targets .NET Framework 4.8 (GH7) or .NET 7 (GH8)
• Produces .gha assemblies
• Automatically installs into the Grasshopper Libraries folder
• Debugging launches Rhino directly

Build Configurations

Configuration	Framework	Rhino Version	Output Path
GH7	net48-windows	Rhino 7	bin/GH7
GH8	net7.0-windows	Rhino 8	bin/GH8
Debug/Release	Varies	–	–

Auto-install Locations

• Windows:
  %AppData%\Grasshopper\Libraries\<Configuration>
• macOS:
  ~/Library/.../Grasshopper/Libraries/<Configuration>

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⚙️ Prerequisites

To build and contribute effectively:

• Visual Studio (latest recommended)
• .NET Framework 4.8
• .NET 7.0 (Windows) for GH8 builds
• Rhino 7 / Rhino 8 installed
• Revit + Dynamo installed for your target version

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🚀 Usage Overview

Dynamo

1. Select the correct DebugV23/24/25 config.
2. Build → package auto-installs.
3. Open Revit → Dynamo → ZToolkit nodes appear.

Grasshopper

1. Build using GH7 or GH8.
2. Rhino launches automatically during debugging.
3. ZToolkit shows under Grasshopper panels.

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🧩 Contribution Workflow

Branch Naming Standard

Development branches should follow:

dev/<initials>/<feature-name>

Example for MJ Mthimunye:

dev/mjmt/element-utils

This ensures a clean, searchable, and contributor‑friendly version control structure.

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🎯 Why ZToolkit Exists

ZToolkit aims to unify automation across Revit and Rhino so firms can:

• Reuse logic across platforms
• Create predictable geometry workflows
• Reduce duplicated scripting between Dynamo & Grasshopper
• Build robust, testable, maintainable automation tools

Contributions help strengthen these foundations and push the toolkit further across both ecosystems.

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🙌 Welcome Contributors!

Whether you're improving geometry functions, adding utilities, fixing bugs, or enhancing documentation—your contributions matter.

Let’s build something powerful for the AEC community.

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