AEC DevBlog

CloningHelper moved to AecCoreMgd.dll

Q. I cannot find CloningHelper in ACA/AME 2017.  

A. The CloningHelper class has been moved to new assembly “AecCoreMgd.dll”. Please include reference to AecCoreMgd.dll.

Using LISP with AutoCAD Architecture and MEP

Occasionally, we still seem to get questions about using LISP with AutoCAD Architecture (ACA) and MEP (AME). ACA and AME dropped DXF/LISP support since ADT 2004. This blog post gives you a little bit of history and reasoning behind the decision. 

As new people joins, they sometimes assume whatever AutoCAD supports will be automatically extended to verticals. As it's been a while since we had this discussion, I'm bringing up this topic for the sake of people who are new to AutoCAD community.   

The hard fact is that LISP uses DXF code to function, and ACA/MEP do not implement DXF. If you try to use LISP to access AEC objects, it simply does not return values. (Please see the earlier post for details.) 

You can still use LISP as a vanilla AutoCAD. While AutoCAD is not adding any enhancement to LISP, the functionality it has already should remain. Same for VBA; ACA and AME do not support VBA/ActiveX. You can use it only to the level that access non-AEC objects.  

If you are trying to customize ACA and AME, we recomend .NET API.

Mikako

 

ACA API: Accessing Project Properties

Q.  Using AutoCAD Architecture, we want to take information about the Project properties (Name, Number, Description). All the examples I can find online are to create a new project file using the API. I want to read the Project properties for the currently open Project in Architecture through the API. Is there a simple way to do this? 

A.  You can use Autodesk.Aec.ProjectConfiguration class.  It allows you to access information about the project, such as the name, description, and number. Below is a simple code snippet I added to the API sample AecProjectBaseSampleMgd:

        private void Config()
        {
              
            ProjectConfiguration projConfig = proj.Configuration; // new ProjectConfiguration();

            string s = projConfig.Name + ", ";
            s += projConfig.Number + ", ";
            s += projConfig.Description;
            Print(s);
        }

For your convenience, I have attached a modified version of the sample: Download AecProjectBaseSampleMgd

To use this class, you will need to reference AecProjectBaseMgd.dll
Attached was built with ACA 2016, using .NET 4.5 

Mikako

Where is OMF SDK?

Q. Where can find OMF SDK?  

A. OMF SDK is posted on the ADN extranet http://adn.autodesk.com, the members only site.  

After logged into the ADN extranet, go to "Software & Support" >> AutoCAD Architecture >> Download >> Object Modeling Framework (OMF). Follow the link and accept the license agreement. It will take you to the download page.

Note: OMF requires a separate license agreement and is provided to the member of ADN only.  

Mikako

DevTech Americas Meeting and Update on AutoCAD 2016 DLL libraries.

By Jaime Rosales

Last week we had our annual DevTech Americas meeting in the San Francisco Autodesk office. 3 full days of activities with my teammates where we shared knowledge about the different roles and technologies, each one of us have expertise on and also experienced the culinary demand that San Francisco has to offer. Some examples will be Curry Up Now food truck and Roli Roti Gourmet Rostisserie, amazing food and the wait is worth it.

We also had the chance to spend some time playing with Arduinos with our ADN Sr. Director  Jim Quanci, who without much experience with the hardware got impressive results and even a couple of songs played by the mini speaker the Arduino kit brings. Me on the other side ended up with a burned finger when using the temperature sensor in the wrong way, I guess that happens when you have very big chubby fingers and use really small pieces.

AutoCAD 2016 DLL Libraries Update.

This week I got a developer asking about a missing DLL in the new version of AutoCAD 2016 Architecture. Check it out.

Question:Where is the DLL "AecUIBaseMgd.dll" in AutoCAD Architecture 2016. I use the method Autodesk.Aec.ApplicationServices.Utility.CloningHelper. I can't find any hint to any changes to this dll.

Response: CloningHelper now resides in <install folder>\ACA\AecCoreMgd.dll. Most of the legacy API from AecUIBaseMgd.dll has been moved to the new assembly in ACA 2016 release.

Thank you to Tony Zou from the ACRD AutoCAD team for sharing this important information with our developer community.

Thanks for reading until next time.

Using AutoCAD MEP Object Enablers in AcCoreConsole

By Jeremy Tammik.

Question: Using AcCoreConsole I'd like to move an object via AcCoreConsole.

The object type in question happens to be an AutoCAD MEP MVBlock.

Is this possible?

Would AcCoreConsole recognise the object as valid or would it be a zombie, i.e. a proxy object?

Answer: I checked with the development team and received several confirmations saying that this should work:

AcCoreConsole does recognise MVBlock, and the object can be moved in the same way as in AutoCAD.

The AutoCAD MEP object enablers get loaded on demand in AcCoreConsole.exe.

Here is a test suite proving it:

1. accoreconsole.exe: Just run accoreconsole.exe, following modules were loaded. Please note AEC modules are not loaded:

2. accoreconsole.exe /i oneBox.dwg: Open a dwg with only one box. A few more AutoCAD modules get loaded, but no AEC modules:

3. accoreconsole.exe /i oneWall.dwg: Open a dwg with only one wall. AEC modules are loaded. Also note that AECB modules are loaded, even though there are no MEP objects in the DWG:

Following is the output of list command:

4. accoreconsole.exe /i oneDuct.dwg: Open a dwg with only one duct. AEC and AECB module are loaded:

Following is the output of list command:

I hope this helps.

Autodesk Viewer and BIM 360 Glue API Entities

This week I got to play a bit with the new Autodesk View & Data API (available in Beta from http://developer.autodesk.com). Many other functions can be used when in full screen mode, like exploding the model and being able to see all parts that conform the model (this happens only if the model format allows it). Many of our other blogs are talking about this exciting new technology and since we are AEC here is a little house for you guys to play with. 

Also you will need a WebGL-enabled browser. You can use this site to test.

Here is a link to download the recording of our recent webcast explaining how to get started.

Download Autodesk View and Data API 10-23-14 8.05 AM.mov (129231.5K)

 

The current loaded model is NWD file which contains information on the selected object such as the Entity Handle Value, which brings me to the next topic for this week. 

This week I had a question from a developer regarding the use of Entities and GUID in AutoCAD, BIM 360 Glue and Navisworks. Here is the question. 

Question: When I looked at the entity properties in Navisworks and BIM 360 Glue I can see a GUID for each entity. Does the GUID assignment happen when the entity is created in AutoCAD or by the Navisworks viewer? 

What about when the model is published to Glue from AutoCAD via the 360 Glue plugin?
Does the Glue plugin use the Navisworks exporter? Also, is the GUID stored on the entity in the drawing?

Answer: Thank you for your questions here are a couple of answers to that.

-What about when the model is published to Glue from AutoCAD via the 360 Glue plugin?

What BIM 360 Glue uses when a model gets glued from AutoCAD is the entity handle that AutoCAD has and this gets transferred with the DWG during the Gluing process.

-Does the Glue plugin use the Navisworks exporter? 

Glue does not use the Navisworks exporter, Glue is able to open the DWG model due to the Navisworks Viewer. 

-Also, is the GUID stored on the entity in the drawing?

So when you see the model you sent from AutoCAD to Glue, you can see the entity handle displayed at each element followed by the Element ID. When you have a model that goes from either AutoCAD or Glue to Navisworks the exporter assigns the GUID you are seeing on Navisworks. 

AutoCAD to Glue will not have a GUID is an Entity Handle what is using. But when you send the DWG from Glue to Navisworks the GUID will get added using the Navisworks exporter to be displayed in Navisworks. Hope it makes sense. 

Response: Thanks for the answers. Now I have a few more questions.
I want to implement my own GUID using the entity extension dictionary, is the dictionary accessible through the Glue API? How about AutoCAD Groups?

Answer: Currently the Glue API does not allow such access to either AutoCAD Groups or Entity Extension Dictionary, but bare with me, there is a highly demanded feature and there is already a wish logged to enhance the API to something that might help you with your desire workflow. The enhancement wished for is to add ability to get object properties from models in the API, if your dictionary is included in the properties you will be able to query it.

BIM 360 Glue is a very exciting software to use, I have a personal attachment to it since I come from the initial steps of creation of this technology, and the API is getting bigger and bigger everyday. If I had started your curiosity regarding this product don't wait anymore and go check it out. 

Thank you for reading and until next time.

Adding TrimPlanes to Structural Members in ACA.NET

By Jeremy Tammik.

Question: How can I add TrimPlanes to structural members using ACA .NET API?

I tried the code provided in 2012 with little success.

When I try to write to the TrimPlanes property, e.g. like this, it returns a 'ReadOnly'" error:

  member.TrimPlanes = trimPlanes

Any ideas how to fix this?

Answer: Basically, the following sample code skeleton should work:

  trimPlanes= owner.TrimPlanes;
 
  plane1 = new TrimPlane();
  ...
  trimPlanes.Add(plane1);

Here is a complete command implementation sample:

    <CommandMethod("testmemberTrim")> _
    Public Sub testmemberTrim()
      Dim db As Database = HostApplicationServices.WorkingDatabase
      Dim tm As Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.TransactionManager = db.TransactionManager
      Dim trans As Transaction = tm.StartTransaction()
      Dim ed As Editor = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor
      Try
        Dim member As Member = New Member()
        member.MemberType = MemberType.Column
        member.SetDatabaseDefaults(db)
        member.SetToStandard(db)
        ' Set the start and end point of Member in WCS
        member.Set(New Point3d(0.0, 0.0, 0.0), New Point3d(5000.0, 0.0, 0.0))
        ' create a trim plane at the start
        Dim ptOrigin As Point3d = New Point3d(1.0, 1.0, 1.0)
        Dim vec As Vector3d = New Vector3d(1, 0, 0)
        Dim tp1 As TrimPlane = New TrimPlane()
        tp1.SubSetDatabaseDefaults(db)
        tp1.SetToStandard(db)
        tp1.End = TrimPlaneFrom.Start
        tp1.Plane = New Plane(ptOrigin, vec.GetNormal())
        member.TrimPlanes.Add(tp1)
        ' create another trim plane at the end
        Dim tp2 As TrimPlane = New TrimPlane()
        tp2.SubSetDatabaseDefaults(db)
        tp2.SetToStandard(db)
        tp2.End = TrimPlaneFrom.End
        tp2.Plane = New Plane(ptOrigin, vec.GetNormal())
        member.TrimPlanes.Add(tp2)
        Dim blkTbl As BlockTable = trans.GetObject(db.BlockTableId, OpenMode.ForRead)
        Dim ms As BlockTableRecord = trans.GetObject(blkTbl(BlockTableRecord.ModelSpace), OpenMode.ForWrite)
        ms.AppendEntity(member)
        trans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(member, True)
        trans.Commit()
      Catch
        MsgBox("\nMember creation failed")
        trans.Abort()
      Finally
        MsgBox("\nMember created!")
        trans.Dispose()
      End Try
    End Sub

Cannot get the C# samples that are installed with AutoCAD MEP 2014 to compile?

By Gopinath Taget

Some of you may find that MEP .NET samples do not compile because the references to the AecArchMgd.dll and AecBaseMgd.dll assemblies could not be found.

You will find these assemblies (as well as other ACA specific assemblies) in the subfolder <AutoCAD MEP Install Folder>\ACA.

You will also find MEP specific assemblies in the subfolder <AutoCAD MEP Install Folder>\MEP.

Welcome to AppHack 2.0

By Jeremy Tammik.

Connecting Autodesk to the Cloud

Win up to $5000, a newly released tablet computer and a trip to Las Vegas!

APPHACK 2.0 is a virtual code-fest to produce apps and plug-ins for AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor and BIM 360 Glue. The theme of the event is Connecting Autodesk to the Cloud – and is open to creative interpretation. Perhaps you can think of a way to wire our software into your favorite social media network or make use of infinite cloud computing to carry out CPU-intensive tasks. Or maybe you have a way to help users better visualize and share their ideas using a web browser. Build a standalone app for an AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor or a BIM 360 Glue product. Or build an app that takes advantage of the integration capabilities of BIM 360 Glue with either of the three other AutoCAD, Revit or Inventor product families. It’s up to you. Code a new app, finish coding one you already have in progress or submit one you already have but haven’t published yet.

More details about the event are provided by the main AppHack 2 announcement.

Please note that AppHack is open to ADN members and US residents only. See the competition page for more details.