Syres wrote: ↑Wed Aug 11, 2021 11:35 am
I'm sure we can find a solution where both binaries can share a specific set of dll's but it's going to need me to carry out some rigorous testing and even if I can get a solution then it would need @bernd to sign off on it.
bernd wrote: ↑Wed Aug 11, 2021 6:53 pm
Without CalculiX FEM does not work at all.
I think this all comes down to the search order for the .dll's
Now, we place the third party executables and associated .dll's in bin so FreeCAD finds them.
What if, for the Win distribution, we create a "ThirdPartyEXE" directory as sibling to bin? Place the executables and their associated .dll's here.
Then add this directory as a "common installation location" to the FReeCAD FEM code for Win?
I think this would isolate the dll's, and the 3rd party .exe would find them first because they are in the same directory?
My preference is still to have the user "install" these third party programs and set the Path in preferences, but I understand this is hard for a normal user which is why we provide them as a convenience in the bundle. They are not part of FreeCAD proper.
What do you guys think?