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# Loading .NET plug-ins

To be considered by Maya, a .NET plug-in assembly must have the extension .nll.dll; for example, myplugin.nll.dll. These DLLs must appear in the Maya plug-in path, which is defined by the Maya environment variable (MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH). By default, this value is <…>\bin\plug-ins. Load .NET plug-ins like any other type of plug-in, via the Plug-in Manager (select Window > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager) or via script.

NoteThis environment variable is set by Maya. Use the MEL command getenv MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH in the Maya Script Editor to obtain its value.
Important.NET plug-ins cannot be loaded by versions of Maya prior to Extension 2 for Maya 2013. Plug-ins must be deployed on machines with Extension 2 for Maya 2013 or Maya 2014 installed.

To allow Maya to discover your compiled plug-in, you can do either of the following:

- Place the target plug-in assembly (for example, examples.nll.dll) into your MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH or <…>\bin\plug-ins; or

- Add your plug-in assembly directory to the MAYA_PLUG_IN_PATH environment variable.

  Tip If you are using the Browse button in the Plug-in Manager to load your plug-in, you must set Files of type to All Files (instead of Plug-in Files) in the Load Plugin browser window to see your .nll.dll plug-ins.