AutoCAD DevBlog

Opensource Announcement for AutoCAD AutoLISP Extension

By Madhukar Moogala

Dear Developers,

Thank you for being part of the Autodesk AutoCAD developer ecosystem.

As part of Autodesk Opensource Initiative, we are glad to announce a new member to the family, the “VSCode extension for AutoLISP” which is now Opensource in Github.

This extension adds support for AutoCAD AutoLISP source (LSP) files to Visual Studio Code. It allows you to edit and debug your lisp programs with AutoCAD 2021. For information on creating lisp programs for AutoCAD with the AutoLISP programming language, see the:

• AutoCAD AutoLISP: Developer’s Guide
• AutoCAD AutoLISP: Reference
• AutoCAD AutoLISP: Tutorials

The extension is open source and distributed under Apache License v2.0. A friendly summary can be found at tldrlegal.

Your feedback is highly appreciated! Should you have any suggestions, please create an issue here.

We welcome contributions through PR’s for more details please read through the CONTRIBUTION guide.

Using VSCode Extension for AutoLISP in AutoCAD

• Setup VSCode Extension
  Installing and configuring the AutoCAD Autolisp VSCODE extension
• Debugging AutoLisp
  Editting and debugging Autolisp files in VSCODE

Forge Partner Talks: August Webinars

By Madhukar Moogala

Worried that the end of July also means the end of Forge Partner Talks? Don't worry - the series will be extended through August! With two brand new episodes featuring trusted Autodesk partners focused on the construction industry, you can easily stay in the loop on the latest Forge-powered design + make cloud innovations. Tune in to learn more about their solutions, and how they can help your business stay ahead of the competition and win more customers.

REGISTER HERE

Join host Emily Scherbenski, Senior Forge Marketing Manager, and top Forge partners who will share the innovative solutions they have built using Forge, insights they gained along the way, and any words of wisdom for others just starting out.

Forge Partner Talks: Remote Construction Site Management

August 5th 7 am PST/4 pm CET

Hear from featured partners:

• OpenSpace uses cutting-edge technology to allow people in the real world to efficiently capture, analyze, and get their work done
• HoloBuilder assists builders and engineers to create immersive 360° progress views of construction sites
• EarthCam empowers customers to manage jobsites remotely, document compliance and generate positive public relations

REGISTER HERE

Forge Partner Talks: Tracking Progress with Reality Capture

August 19th 7 am PST/4 pm CET

Hear from featured partners:

• VisualLive provides mixed reality tools to bring the power of BIM to construction sites
• Cintoo offers a comprehensive scan-BIM platform to compare a scan with a BIM model or another scan
• DroneDeploy is a drone data solution for construction helping companies capture their site and turn that data into meaningful information, such as validating work, verifying progress, and resolving issues.

REGISTER HERE

Check out previous Forge Partner Talks recordings here

How to Import Step (.stp) Files to AutoCAD

By Madhukar Moogala

Though there is not a direct API to import a Step file in to AutoCAD drawing unlike Body.AcisIn, we use Editor.Command API to invoke Import command

public void StepIn()
{
Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
Editor ed = doc.Editor;            
ed.Command(new object[] { "_.IMPORT",
	                 "D:\\Work\\CADFiles\\Scafolf_Bracket_Asy.stp"});
}

Using Entitlement API within ObjectARX C++

By Madhukar Moogala

We have .NET (C#) example on how to secure and protect your app on AutoCAD and other Autodesk products, for AutoCAD, Kean has written long back

For Revit – A blog from Mikako

For Fusion 360 – A C++ code, which I used most part of it and made few changes to best fit with AutoCAD

There is an introductory briefing on Entitlement API by Daniel.

For reading brevity, I will give simple statement what it brings to the table.

Entitlement API is a rest enabled API, allows you to check if the user is entitled to access your app i.e., user has bought the app from Autodesk App Store

To call Rest API with in ObjectARX, we need to use a Rest Client, for this I’m using restclient-cpp from mrtazz, a Json library to parse the response and make code more readable (this an optional not a must to run the sample)

Full instructions to build the sample is provided in Github

		if (getUserId()[0] == _T('\0')) {
			//User is not logged in, we will prompt to login!
			onlineUI();
		}
		//plumbing wide
		TCHAR buffer[512];
		acedGetString(0,_T("Enter AppId To Test CheckEntitlement:\t"), buffer);
		string userId = toNarrow(getUserId().kwszPtr());	 
		string appId = toNarrow(buffer);
		string url ="https://apps.exchange.autodesk.com/webservices/checkentitlement"+
					string("?userid=") + userId + string("&appid=") + appId;
		RestClient::Response response = RestClient::get(url);

		Json::Reader reader;
		Json::Value root;

		bool isparseSuccessful = reader.parse(response.body, root);
		if (!isparseSuccessful) {
			acutPrintf(_T("Error parsing URL"));
		}
		if ((root["IsValid"].asString()) == "true")
		{
			acutPrintf(_T("IsValid is True"));
		}
		else
		{
			acutPrintf(_T("IsValid is False"));
		}

Working Gif - https://pasteboard.co/JgZaD71.gif

Separate Solid Complexes into Separate Solids

By Madhukar Moogala

You can try using Solid3d.SeparateBody Method

This method separates the solid into a list of solids representing the additional disjoint volumes.
This solid is reduced to a solid with one volume.
The calling application is responsible for the resulting entities (either appending them to a database or deleting them when they are no longer needed).
When the calling application closes this Solid3d, the resulting solid will be committed to the database.
So, if the other solids are not appended to the database, you will lose some data.

To separate solids interactively in UI, refer this knowledge article.

Please note, you need a Solid which is logical one, but visually it appears to be two or more, i.e, you can move or copy multiple disjoint solids as one.
I have attached one drawing.

public static void SepSolid()
{
Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
Database db = doc.Database;
Editor ed = doc.Editor;
PromptEntityOptions peo = new PromptEntityOptions("\nSelect solid:");
peo.SetRejectMessage("\nMust be a 3D solid.");
peo.AddAllowedClass(typeof(Solid3d), false);
PromptEntityResult per = ed.GetEntity(peo);
if (per.Status != PromptStatus.OK) return;
Transaction tr = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction();
using (tr)
{
Solid3d sol = tr.GetObject(per.ObjectId, OpenMode.ForRead)
as Solid3d;
if (sol != null)
{
sol.UpgradeOpen();
//The solid must have multiple lumps
Solid3d[] disjointSolids = sol.SeparateBody();
foreach (Solid3d v in disjointSolids)
{
    Vector3d dispVector = Point3d.Origin.GetVectorTo(v.MassProperties.Centroid);
    v.TransformBy(Matrix3d.Displacement(dispVector));
    v.ColorIndex = 3;
    using (OpenCloseTransaction oct = new OpenCloseTransaction())
    {
        // Open the Block table for read
        BlockTable acBlkTbl;
        acBlkTbl = oct.GetObject(db.BlockTableId,
                                            OpenMode.ForRead) as BlockTable;
        // Open the Block table record Model space for write
        BlockTableRecord acBlkTblRec;
        acBlkTblRec = oct.GetObject(acBlkTbl[BlockTableRecord.ModelSpace],
                                                OpenMode.ForWrite) as BlockTableRecord;
        acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(v);
        oct.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(v, true);
        // Save the new objects to the database
        oct.Commit();
    }
}
}
tr.Commit();

}
}

Demo

Redefining Help Shortcut Key with CUI API

By Madhukar Moogala

There is common need to change shortcut assigned for Help from F1 to some other key, if you look at keypad layout F1 and ESC keys are adjacent to each other, designers often use ESC to cancel running command, or deselect the objects from selection. As the F1 key is adjacent chances of pressing this key accidently is quite high, F1 pops up a Help window, which in said cases is counter productive.

To avoid this, we can assign F1 to a Cancel command and CTRL+ALT+F1 to Help.

 public static void RedefineHelpKey()
{
string mainCuiFile = (string)Application.GetSystemVariable("MENUNAME");
mainCuiFile += ".cuix";
var doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
var db = doc.Database;
var ed = doc.Editor;
CustomizationSection cs = new CustomizationSection(mainCuiFile);
AcceleratorCollection acCollection = cs.MenuGroup.Accelerators;

//This is to get Help menu macro.
var macros = from MacroGroup mg in cs.MenuGroup.MacroGroups
        from MenuMacro mm in mg.MenuMacros
        where mm.ElementID.Equals("ID_Help") || mm.ElementID.Equals("ID_Cancel")
        select mm;
foreach(MenuMacro menuMacro in macros)
{
if (menuMacro.ElementID.Equals("ID_Help"))
{

MenuAccelerator macHelp = new MenuAccelerator(menuMacro,
                            /*ShortCutKeyCombination*/"CTRL+ALT+H",
                                cs.MenuGroup);
if (acCollection.Contains(macHelp))
{
    ed.WriteMessage($"\n True MenuAccelerator Contains.");
}
else
{
    acCollection.Add(macHelp);
}
                    

}
if (menuMacro.ElementID.Equals("ID_Cancel"))
{
//Assigning Cancel to F1
MenuAccelerator macCancel = new MenuAccelerator(menuMacro,
                                        /*ShortCutKeyCombination*/"F1",
                                        cs.MenuGroup);
if (acCollection.Contains(macCancel))
{
    ed.WriteMessage($"\n True MenuAccelerator Contains.");
}
else
{
    acCollection.Add(macCancel);
}                 

}
}


//This will create backup CUIX!
cs.Save(true);
            

}            	

Note:

If the changes don't reflect immediately, a restart of AutoCAD is needed, this is because, we are attempting to change the main CUI.

A utility function to list shortcut keys we have redefined

[CommandMethod("LISTMAC")]
public static void ListMenuAccelerators()
{
var doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
var db = doc.Database;
var ed = doc.Editor;
string mainCuiFile = (string)Application.GetSystemVariable("MENUNAME");
mainCuiFile += ".cuix";
CustomizationSection cs = new CustomizationSection(mainCuiFile);
AcceleratorCollection acCollection = cs.MenuGroup.Accelerators;
var q = from MenuAccelerator menuAcltr in acCollection
        where menuAcltr.Name.Contains("Help") || 
	      menuAcltr.Name.Contains("Cancel")
        select menuAcltr;
if (q != null && q.ToList().Count > 0)
{


    foreach (var m in q.ToList())
    {
        ed.WriteMessage($"\n Name: {m.Name}\n\tAccerlerator ShortcutKey: {m.AcceleratorShortcutKey}");
    }

                
}
}

Demo

Editor.Snap Method to change the snap mode of point

By Deepak Nadig

In your workflow of using Editor.GetEntity you may sometimes want to retrieve
all the co-ordinates of pickpoint used to select the entity.

For example consider the following case by constructing a circle at point (0,0,5) and radius 5 on WCS XY-plane with top view.
On selecting a point on circle using Editor.GetEntity, PromptEntityResult.PickedPoint returns : (3.50064192661003 , 3.35618169844321 , 0)

To get all the co-ordinates,it may be useful to change the point to nearest snap mode using Editor.Snap that returns the Z co-ordinate as well. 

Code:

[CommandMethod("getEntityPickPoint")]
public static void getEntityPickPoint()
{
    Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
    Database db = doc.Database;
    Editor ed = doc.Editor;

    PromptEntityOptions peo = new PromptEntityOptions("\nSelect Entity");
    PromptEntityResult per = ed.GetEntity(peo);
    if (per.Status == PromptStatus.OK)
    {
        Point3d pickedPoint = per.PickedPoint;
        Point3d pickedPtOsnap = ed.Snap("_near", pickedPoint);

        ed.WriteMessage("\n Selected pick point: {0}", pickedPoint.ToString());
        ed.WriteMessage("\n Selected Picked Point Osnap near: {0}", pickedPtOsnap);
    }
}

Result:

Command: GETENTITYPICKPOINT
Select Entity:
Selected pick point: (3.50064192661003,3.35618169844321,0)
Selected Picked Point Osnap near: (3.60921996485993,3.46027907043009,5)

 

More about object osnaps :
https://knowledge.autodesk.com/de/search-result/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2017/DEU/AutoCAD-AutoLISP/files/GUID-4EEE5488-01D8-454F-9386-79E493E55D6E-htm.html

AutoCAD 2021 .NET API on NuGet

By Madhukar Moogala

For AutoCAD 2021 release we have posted API package on to Nuget.

We have started posting AutoCAD .NET packages from AutoCAD 2015 release, from since then we regularly update and post .NET package as per AutoCAD release cycle.

You simply select Project –> Manage NuGet Packages in your Visual Studio project:

Search for AutoCAD .NET click install on the primary AutoCAD.NET package (the third in the list). This will install acmgd.dll and its related assemblies but also the other two dependent packages. You should install AutoCAD.NET.Core (i.e. acmgdcore.dll, etc.) if you want to create a Core Console-compatible project, of course. Either way AutoCAD.NET.Model (i.e. acdbmgd.dll, etc.) will get installed.

Further reading on .NET package can be found on Kean’s old post.

Forge Partner Talks

By Madhukar Moogala

The Forge team is launching a brand new weekly web series in May called Forge Partner Talks. This is your opportunity to stay abreast of the latest Forge powered design + make cloud technology innovations by featured Autodesk partners, and see how they can help your business be more competitive and profitable.

 

Each week Emily Scherbenski, Senior Forge Marketing Manager, will host top Forge partners who will share the innovative solutions they have built on Forge and what they learned along the way. The series kicks off on Wednesday May 6th. Each session will take place at 7 am PST/4 pm CET, and every week will focus on a different industry topic or trend. Mark your calendar and join us live! We will have time for an audience Q&A at the end of each session. If you are unable to join, the recording will be posted after the event. 

 

Forge Partner Talks: Digital Twins

May 6th 7 am PDT/4 pm CET

Digital Twins were one of the top ten tech trends of 2019, according to Gartner and Deloitte. Come and hear from Forge partners who have built or leveraged successful digital twin solutions, and see how you can too!

Featured partners:

• Capgemini
• Moicon
• VueOps

 

Register here

 

 

Forge Partner Talks: AR/VR

May 13th 7 am PDT/4 pm CET

See how leading Autodesk partners are bringing Forge-powered AR/VR solutions to the design and make space - and learn how these solutions can benefit you.

 

Register here

 

 

Forge Partner Talks: Configurators

May 20th 7 am PDT/4 pm CET

Hear from Forge partners who have increased their customer satisfaction by creating Forge-powered configurators. and see how providing similar customization tools to your customers can help you maintain your competitive edge.

 

Register here

 

 

Forge Partner Talks: Dashboards & Insights

May 27th 7 am PDT/4 pm CET

It's all about the data! Discover some of the innovative dashboards our top Forge partners have built, and see how these types of solutions can help you better visualize your data, draw insights, and be more profitable.

 

Register here

 

 

ObjectARX 2021: Link Errors With VS 2019

By Madhukar Moogala

Q: We are getting link error compiling code for AutoCAD 2021 with Visual Studio 2019 and ObjectARX SDK 2021.

A. The AutoCAD code for 3D modelling entities namely AcDbSubDMesh, AcDb3dSolid, AcDbRegion, AcDbAsmBody, AcDbShape etc are now ported to new library AcGeomEnt.lib

The declaration for almost all 3D entities are moved AcGeomEnt.lib, you need to link your source code with AcGeomEnt.lib which is present in <SDK>\lib-x64\

And, you may also need to appload  the AcGeomentObj.dbx in case if you are reading a drawing with 3D entities in side databases.