We list in this article all the Grasshopper components which are turned into inputs of a ShapeDiver model. In other words, by including these components in a definition before uploading it, the online model will expose them as ways to remote control the definition, either directly through the model view page and its built-in interface, or through one of the APIs.

Supported inputs

Native Grasshopper inputs

The table below lists the native Grasshopper components from the Params > Input category which are supported in ShapeDiver, and the corresponding ShapeDiver UI element that will be automatically included in the online model:

Grasshopper component

Platform UI element

Used properties

Number slider

The following properties of the slider defined in Grasshopper are respected:

  • Rounding

  • Digits (for floating point numbers)

  • Min

  • Max

Value List

Boolean Toggle

Color Swatch / Color Picker

  • Alpha value included.

On top of the input-specific properties mentioned in the table above, the default value of each component is also respected after uploading the model to ShapeDiver.

Including any other native Grasshopper inputs (from the Params > Input category) will not prevent the file being uploaded to ShapeDiver, but these inputs will not translate into exposed controls of the online ShapeDiver model.

ShapeDiver Direct Text Input component

The Direct Text Input component of the ShapeDiver plugin turns into a text input field on the platform which lets users of the model type in a text and use it as an input.

ShapeDiver Import components

The ShapeDiver plugin contains 3 different Import components:

  • Import Bitmap

  • Import Geometry

  • Import Text

When included in a definition, each of them turns into a file input element in the platform, which lets users of the model click and select a file in their local system.

Each component lets you specify a maximum allowed file size as well as allowed file types. Read more about these components in the Input section of the plugin documentation.

Use floating parameters as structured inputs

Almost any data type in Grasshopper can be used as a structured data input. In order to define such inputs, one should add a floating parameter of the desired data type and give it a name starting with the SD_ prefix.

For a ShapeDiver model, this means that it is possible to send data to this input directly to the model from a variety of so-called desktop clients, such as Rhino itself but also other software like Adobe Illustrator. The platform will turn structured inputs into buttons allowing to enable the selection mode in the active desktop client. The name of the platform input removes the prefix defined in Grasshopper:

You can read more about how to connect to a desktop client from the platform and send data from there to the platform in this article.

Naming inputs

The name of the corresponding Grasshopper components is used as a label for the UI element in the online platform. See below an example for number sliders:

Ordering and grouping inputs

Using the position of input components on the canvas, as well as native Grasshopper groups, it is possible to specify the order of parameters in the online platform, as well as group parameters in separate sub-categories by means of accordions. Read more about ordering and grouping inputs.