AutoCAD DevBlog

Freeze a layer when switching between Layouts using VLisp

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

Below is a Visual LISP example that uses :VLR-commandEnded to freeze and thaw a layer named Test when switching between layouts. "LAYOUT_CONTROL" is the name of the command that switches between layouts (the function only runs if this was the command that just ended).

To test this function use a default DWG file and create a layer named "Test".

Note: A different layer needs to be current or the example will fail.  Error checking would need to be added for this issue (no error checking here for simplicity).

(vl-load-com)

(defun com_end (reactorObject callbackdata)

   (setq acadDoc (vla-get-ActiveDocument (VLAX-GET-ACAD-OBJECT)))

   (setq test (nth 0 callbackdata))

   (if (= test "LAYOUT_CONTROL")

      (progn

         (setq testSpace (vla-get-activespace acadDoc))

         (if (= testSpace 0)

            (progn

               ;;get paperspace.

               (setq paperSpace (vla-get-paperspace acadDoc))

               ;; paper space viewport

               ;; using this to get the viewport had problems unless

               ;; the Paper space viewport was previously activated

               ;; using get-activepviewport instead

               ;; (setq pvPort(vla-item paperSpace 1))

               (setq pvPort (vla-get-activepviewport acadDoc))

               ;; make a viewport active and displayed

               (vla-put-activepviewport acadDoc pvPort)

               (vla-display pvPort :vlax-true)

               (vla-put-viewporton pvPort :vlax-true)

               (vla-update pvPort)

               (vla-put-mspace acadDoc :vlax-true)

               ;; get and freeze the layer

               (setq Layers (vla-get-layers acadDoc))

               (setq LayObj (vla-item Layers "Test"))

               (vla-put-freeze LayObj :vlax-true)

            ) ; progn

            (progn

               ;; Thaw the layer - in Model Space

               (setq Layers (vla-get-layers acadDoc))

               (setq LayObj (vla-item Layers "Test"))

               (vla-put-freeze LayObj :vlax-false)

               (vla-regen acadDoc acAllViewports)

            ) ; progn

         ) ; if

      )

   )

)

 

;;; run stuff

(mapcar 'vlr-remove-all '(:VLR-COMMAND-Reactor))

(VLR-command-Reactor

   nil

   '((:VLR-commandEnded . com_end))

)

List of frozen Layers in a Paperspace Viewport

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

The names of frozen layers in a paperspace viewport are stored with xdata. Below is a VB.Net example that gets the xdata attached to the paperspace viewport you select. If the xdata contains a group code 1003 then there are frozen layers for the pspace vport. A message is displayed listing the frozen layers.

<CommandMethod("ListFrozenLayers", CommandFlags.NoTileMode)> _

Sub ListFrozenLayersMethod()

    Dim doc As Document = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument

    Dim ed As Editor = doc.Editor

    Dim db As Database = doc.Database

 

    Dim peo As New PromptEntityOptions("Select a viewport : ")

    peo.SetRejectMessage("Sorry, Not a viewport")

    peo.AddAllowedClass(GetType(Viewport), True)

    Dim per As PromptEntityResult = ed.GetEntity(peo)

    If per.Status <> PromptStatus.OK Then

        Return

    End If

    Dim vpid As ObjectId = per.ObjectId

 

    Using tr As Transaction = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()

        Dim vp As Viewport = tr.GetObject(vpid, OpenMode.ForWrite)

 

        Dim resBuf As ResultBuffer

        resBuf = vp.XData()

        If resBuf Is Nothing Then

            ed.WriteMessage("No layers frozen in this viewport")

        Else

            For Each tv As TypedValue In resBuf

                Dim typeCode As Short

                typeCode = tv.TypeCode

 

                If typeCode = 1003 Then

                    ed.WriteMessage( _

                                    String.Format("{0}{1}", _

                                    Environment.NewLine, _

                                    tv.Value.ToString))

                End If

            Next

        End If

 

        tr.Commit()

    End Using

End Sub

Remove all proxy entities from a drawing using ObjectARX

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

Issue

I want to be able to work with a drawing which contains custom entities, for which I do not have the relevant application.  I would like to be able to use the data in the drawing, for example for constructing new geometry.  Some entities I can explode, but others I cannot, as they are are marked as being not-erasable, I get the AutoCAD entity(ies) equivalent but the custom entity is still there.  What can I do?

Solution
It is possible to use ObjectARX to change all proxy entities for something else. The sample code does the following: Iterate through the entire drawing, and swaps all proxy entities for anonymous blocks. The blocks contain the equivalent geometry of the proxy entities. Note that this will not allow the creating entity to recover the information stored in the original entities.

AcDbObjectIdArray proxies;  

 

// Iterate through the records  

// Make a list of all the proxies, and then process them afterwards. 

AcDbBlockTable* pTable; 

acdbHostApplicationServices()->workingDatabase()->getBlockTable

                                                    (

                                                        pTable,

                                                        AcDb::kForRead

                                                    );

if(pTable == NULL)

    return; 

 

AcDbBlockTableIterator* pTableIter;

for( pTable->newIterator(pTableIter); !pTableIter->done(); pTableIter->step())

{     

    AcDbBlockTableRecord* pRecord;     

    pTableIter->getRecord(pRecord,AcDb::kForRead);  

    if(pRecord == NULL)

    {   

        acutPrintf(_T("\nCannot open a BTR"));  

        continue;   

    } 

 

    AcDbBlockTableRecordIterator* pRecordIter;

    for (    pRecord->newIterator(pRecordIter);

            ! pRecordIter->done();

            pRecordIter->step()

        )

    {

        AcDbEntity*pEnt;    

        pRecordIter->getEntity(pEnt, AcDb::kForRead);

        if(pEnt != NULL )

        {

            if( pEnt->isKindOf(AcDbProxyEntity::desc()))

            {        

                proxies.append(pEnt->objectId() );   

            }          

            pEnt->close();    

        }    

    }   

    delete pRecordIter;   

    pRecord->close(); 

}  

 

delete pTableIter;

if( Acad::eOk != pTable->upgradeOpen())

{   

    acutPrintf(_T("\nCannot open table for Write"));

    pTable->close();

    return;

}

int nProxies = proxies.length(); 

for( int i=0;i<nProxies; i++ )

{ 

    AcDbProxyEntity* pProxy;  

    AcDbObject* pObj;   

    acdbOpenAcDbObject(pObj, proxies[i], AcDb::kForRead);

    pProxy = AcDbProxyEntity::cast(pObj); 

    if( NULL == pProxy )

    {   

        pObj->close () ;  

        continue; 

    }    

    AcDbVoidPtrArray explodedEnts; 

    pProxy->explode(explodedEnts);

    int nExplodedEnts = explodedEnts.length();

    if( nExplodedEnts > 0 )

    {       

        AcDbBlockTableRecord*pRecord = new AcDbBlockTableRecord();

        pRecord->setName(_T("*B")); 

        AcDbObjectId blockId;   

        pTable->add(blockId, pRecord ); 

        for( int j=0; j<nExplodedEnts; j++)

        {        

            AcDbEntity*pEnt =(AcDbEntity*)(explodedEnts[j]);

            pRecord->appendAcDbEntity(pEnt);

            pEnt->setColorIndex(0);     

            pEnt->close();       

        }      

        pRecord->close(); 

        AcDbBlockTableRecord* pOwningRecord; 

        acdbOpenObject    (   

                            pOwningRecord,

                            pProxy->ownerId(),

                            AcDb::kForWrite

                        ); 

        if( NULL != pOwningRecord)

        {   

            AcDbBlockReference* pRef = new AcDbBlockReference; 

            pRef->setBlockTableRecord(blockId);      

            pOwningRecord->close();       

            pProxy->upgradeOpen();         

            pProxy->handOverTo(pRef); 

            pRef->setColor(pProxy->color()); 

            pRef->setLayer(pProxy->layerId()); 

            pRef->setVisibility(pProxy->visibility());

            delete pProxy;      

            pRef->close();       

        }     

    }     

    else

    { 

        pProxy->close();

    }  

}

pTable->close();

Asking for a password on the command line of AutoCAD using ObjectARX

by Fenton Webb

Issue

I have a command line that is asking the user for a password. In this situation I need to display a * for each entered character by the user. How is it possible to do it?

Solution

It would not help to use acedGetString, as it always echoes the characters as they are typed. If you don't want to use a dialog, you can create your own function in ObjectARX to prompt the user for a password in AutoCAD, yet have the console show only "*" for each character typed, much like password entry in Windows.

The basic idea is to set a Windows Hook which can monitor any keyboard input to a normal call to acedGetString() before AutoCAD gets it. From there you can record what has been typed in your own buffer, and replace the keystroke with a generic "*". When the function is done, you can return your buffer instead of what AutoCAD has actually received (i.e. a string of "****"s).

This example creates the function adskGetPassword() which has the identical signature and return type as acedGetString(), and it can be used interchangeably, however any typed input will appear as '*' in adskGetPassword(). For questions about the arguments, have a look at the ObjectARX online help under acedGetString() for details.

As far as security is concerned, the routine is safe to use except if any applications have set hooks in the chain before this one, or if any application has sub classed the AutoCAD frame window. These applications may be able to monitor the keystrokes before our function is able to change them. If more security is desired, take a look at the Password Dialog available from Microsoft.

Here is the code:

ACHAR*pResult; // a global pointer to the result...

int resultLen; // a global lengh

int crTerminated;// a global flag for cronly

 

int adskGetPassword(int cronly,ACHAR* prompt,ACHAR* result)

{

  ACHAR tempResult[256];

  pResult=result;// set our global pointer...

  resultLen=0;// and reset our length.

  int resultVal;// this is what acedGetString returns (ie escape etc)

  crTerminated=cronly;// set our global flag for cronly

 

  acedRegisterFilterWinMsg(MessageFilter);// Set the Hook.

  resultVal=acedGetString(cronly,prompt,tempResult);// Call GetString...

  acedRemoveFilterWinMsg(MessageFilter);// Remove the Hook.

  result[resultLen]='\0';// Null terminate the result

  return resultVal;

}

 

// Here is the callback...it will be called for many types of messages sent to AutoCAD.

BOOL MessageFilter(MSG *pMsg)

{

  if(pMsg->message==WM_CHAR)// a char has been typed...

  {

    int keyCode=pMsg->wParam;

    if(keyCode!=8 && keyCode!=13 && keyCode!=27 && ((keyCode!=32)||crTerminated))

    {

      // keyCode 8 is Backspace

      // Keycode 27 is Escape

      // Keycode 32 is Space (only avoided if cronly is used)

      pMsg->wParam=42;// For Security against subsequent hooks, and display,

      pMsg->lParam=589825;// Set these two to reflect '*' keystroke

      pResult[resultLen]=keyCode;// but keep the real keycode.

      resultLen++;

    }

    if(keyCode==8 && resultLen)

      resultLen--;

  }

  return FALSE;

}

Inputpointmonitor and Inputpointfilter sometimes don't get called

By Gopinath Taget

If you uncheck the "Display Hyperlink Cursor and Shortcut menu" item on the User Preferences page of the Options dialog, your input point monitors and filters might not receive notifications. How can you force them to be called in this situation?

To work around this problem, you will have to invoke the AcEdInputPointManager::turnOnForcedPick() method of your global input point manager. This is demonstrated in the cmdForcedPickOn() function of the inputpoint sample in the ObjectARX SDK.

Removing an embedded VBA macro programmatically using Lisp

By Gopinath Taget

You can embed VBA macros in a DWG file and in some situations, you might feel the need to get rid of the embedded macros.

If so, the following lisp routine will help you remove the embedded macro:

(defun removeEmbedMacro()
  (entdel (cdr(car (dictsearch (namedobjdict) "ACAD_VBA"))))
  )

In this lisp routine, we remove the dictionary item “ACAD_VBA” in the Named Object Dictionary. This is because embedded macros live under the ACAD_VBA dictionary item.

Source & destination database's are the same while Wblocking in AutoCAD

by Fenton Webb

Issue

Why is it that the source and destination databases are the same in 'otherWblock' method of AcRxEventReactor? This happens while wblocking an entire database.

Solution

This behavior is as designed. For performance reasons, there are certain cases where it will wblockClone() into the same database, write the cloned objects into the drawing file and then erase the cloned objects.

If you do not wish so then you have to call for AcDbDatabase::forceWblockDatabaseCopy().

Note: This method is non-functional unless called from within the AcRxEventReactor::wblockNotice() or
AcEditorReactor::wblockNotice() sent out for the wblock operation on which this method is to force the database copy.

For a more detailed description please refer to ObjectARX help files.

Use LayerFilterTree to add a new Layer Filter

By Wayne Brill

Here is a C# example that creates a new layer filter. If a layer filter named "MyFilter" already exists, the code makes it the active Layer Filter instead of creating a new one.

[CommandMethod("addFilt")]

public void addLayerFilter()

{

    Editor ed = Application.DocumentManager.

                    MdiActiveDocument.Editor;

 

    try

    {

        // Access tree of layer filters.

        LayerFilterTree lyrTree =

            HostApplicationServices.

                 WorkingDatabase.LayerFilters;

 

        int fltCount = lyrTree.Root.

                          NestedFilters.Count;

 

        for (int i = 0; i <= fltCount - 1; i++)

        {

            LayerFilter lyrFilt = lyrTree.Root.

                               NestedFilters[i];

            if (lyrFilt.Name == "MyFilter")

            {

                ed.WriteMessage

("\nMyFilter already exists, making it current");

                // This is the way I found to

                // make a Layer Filter current

                //use LayerFilterTree constructor

                LayerFilterTree lyrTree2 =

                     new LayerFilterTree

                           (lyrTree.Root, lyrFilt);

                HostApplicationServices.

                    WorkingDatabase.LayerFilters =

                                          lyrTree2;

                return;

 

            }

        }

 

        // If we get here then Layer

        // Filter named MyFilter does not exist

        // create it

        LayerFilter lyrFilt2 = new LayerFilter();

        lyrFilt2 = new LayerFilter();

        lyrFilt2.Name = "MyFilter";

        lyrFilt2.FilterExpression =

                            "NAME==\"WBLayer*\"";

        // Add the Layer Filter to the

        // NestedFilters of the LayerFilters

        lyrTree.Root.NestedFilters.Add(lyrFilt2);

        // Use the constructor to make the Layer

        // Filter current

        // and update the Layer Palette. Without

        // this you can run the

        // LAYER command and see the new

        // layer filter

        lyrTree = new LayerFilterTree

                         (lyrTree.Root, lyrFilt2);

        HostApplicationServices.WorkingDatabase.

                           LayerFilters = lyrTree;

    }

    catch (System.Exception ex)

    {

        // Do something here

        ed.WriteMessage("Oops!" + ex.ToString());

    }

}

Use the Name property of the RibbonTabSource to Identify a WSRibbonTabSourceReference in the WorkspaceRibbonTab Collection

By Wayne Brill

If you need to remove an existing tab from workspace tabs using the name of the tab, you can iterate the RibbonTabSource elements and get the ElementID from the RibbonTabSource. (The RibbonTabSource class has a name property) The ElementID will be the TabId of the WSRibbonTabSourceReference. Below is the pertinent code from the AutoCAD 2013 C# project. (_TestFindWithRibbonTab) The command "DELTAB" finds the Home 2D Tab and removes it from a workspace.

Download _Test_FindWithRibbonTab

Note: Keep in mind that it could be possible that there is more than one RibbonTabSource with the same name. (ElementID and TabId are unique in a menu group however)

[CommandMethod("DELTAB")]

public void delTab()

{

 

    WSRibbonRoot wrkSpaceRibbonRoot = null;

    WorkspaceRibbonTabCollection

              wsRibbonTabCollection = null;

 

    Editor ed =

        Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.

                 Application.DocumentManager.

                    MdiActiveDocument.Editor;

 

    try

    {

        WorkspaceCollection WsCollect =

                                cs.Workspaces;

        if ((WsCollect.Count <= 0))

        {

            ed.WriteMessage

    ("Failed to Get the WorkspaceCollection\n");

            return;

        }

 

        string strWrkSpaceName = "Acme Workspace";

 

        // If the workspace doesnot exist

        if (-1 == cs.Workspaces.

            IndexOfWorkspaceName(strWrkSpaceName))

        {

            // Create the workspace

            Workspace nwWs = new Workspace

                            (cs, strWrkSpaceName);

            wrkSpaceRibbonRoot =

                         nwWs.WorkspaceRibbonRoot;

        }

        else

        {

            for (int i = 0; i < WsCollect.Count; i++)

            {

                // If name of workspace is

                // "Acme Workspace" then get

                // the WSRibbonRoot

                if (WsCollect[i].Name ==

                                     strWrkSpaceName)

                {

                   wrkSpaceRibbonRoot =

                    WsCollect[i].WorkspaceRibbonRoot;

                   break;

                }

            }

        }

        //Get the Tabcollection in the

        // Acme Workspace

        wsRibbonTabCollection =

                   wrkSpaceRibbonRoot.WorkspaceTabs;

        if (wsRibbonTabCollection.Count <= 0)

        {

            ed.WriteMessage

     ("Acme Workspace does not contain any Tabs\n");

            return;

        }

 

        RibbonRoot ribbonRoot =

                      cs.MenuGroup.RibbonRoot;

        RibbonTabSourceCollection tabs = null;

        tabs = ribbonRoot.RibbonTabSources;

        // Change this to the name of the

        // tab to be removed

        string strRibTabSrcName = "Home - 2D";

        string strRibTabSrcTabId = null;

 

        foreach (RibbonTabSource ribTabSrc in tabs)

        {

 

            if (ribTabSrc.Name != null)

            {

                if (ribTabSrc.Name.ToString() ==

                                   strRibTabSrcName)

                {

                    strRibTabSrcTabId =

                     ribTabSrc.ElementID.ToString();

                    break;

                }

            }

        }

 

        foreach (WSRibbonTabSourceReference wsTabRef

                             in wsRibbonTabCollection)

        {

            if (wsTabRef.TabId.ToString() ==

                                   strRibTabSrcTabId)

            {

                wsRibbonTabCollection.Remove

                                          (wsTabRef);

                break;

            }

        }

        saveCui();

    }

    catch (System.Exception ex)

    {

        ed.WriteMessage(ex.ToString());

    }

}

 

Note: If you are debugging the ribbon may be not shown the next time you start AutoCAD. (Run the RIBBON command).

Converting C# to Java – An Experiment (Part 6)

By Stephen Preston

(Links to previous installments: Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5).

I left this series hanging because I was busy with our ADN DevCamps for a while, and then I had some frustration finishing off my app. I had intended to add functionality to allow the user to save/load as many prioritization lists as they wanted (as I did for my AutoCAD version), but after much searching I discovered that the Android SDK doesn't include a file picker (open/save) activity or dialog. This seems to be a fairly common question among new Android developers, and it took me a long time to find out because I refused to believe it was true :-). (Please let me know if I overlooked something in a newer Android SDK. Its always a problem googling for information on an SDK that has been around for a while - you find lots of old comments and samples that no longer apply to the latest SDK version).

The options to use a file picker in your app seem to be either to rely on one already being installed on the device that will respond to an intent you broadcast, or to 'roll your own'. I found a promising looking project on GitHub for the 'roll your own' option, and another one on code.google.com.

To avoid going off on a tangent, I decided to abandon the multiple file option, and instead use the serialization interfaces I'd already implemented to persist the same list between application sessions, and also to handle the Android OS destroying and later restoring my App Activities in the background if it needed to free up resources. Handling your Activities being destroyed and restored is a very important aspect of Android app development.

To cut a long story short, I've posted a new version of the Prioritizer app for you to download here. It extends the previous version I walked through by adding:

• A new Activity to perform the binary comparison between activities.
• A button to sort Items by priority.
• A button to clear the list.
• The ability to delete an Item (from the edit activity).
• Persistence of the list between states and also better handling of the Activity lifecycle. 
• Use of string resources in layouts instead of hardcoded strings.

The app is far from optimized - saving the entire Item list every time anything is updated is particularly klunky - but it works. Hopefully the comments in the code are self-explanatory. The additions are really more of the same, which is why I've not documented the changes step-by-step.

To summarize what we've found during this exercise:

• Converting C# to Java is pretty straightforward. Their syntax is very similar, as are the class libraries they provide. This syntax comparison sheet is a great help when you're trying your first few migrations.
• The big differences when porting between platforms are the interfaces to the specific platforms - for example, the UI and the file system. This is why its important to separate your business logic from platform specific code whenever you write an app you plan to port between platforms. This was the reason for the AutoCAD Big Split project (which Kean has described on his blog).
• Android apps consist of Activities. Information is passed between Activities using an Intent. Once you know how to do that you're up and running.
• Android programming is much easier to setup on MacOS than on Windows or Linux ;-), with the added advantage that you can learn iOS programming as well if you buy a Mac :-).

I'm off to play around with Windows Azure now to see what all the fuss is about. Some of the guys on our C&M DevBlog are well ahead of me there, so I may not get to blog about it. I'm also looking forward to coming back to Android and trying the Rajawali SDK that Kean told me about.