AutoCAD DevBlog

New AutoCAD ActiveX API documentation

By Stephen Preston

I received a pleasant email today from a good friend in our Tech Pubs team letting me know that a new set of ActiveX Developer Documentation just went live on the AutoCAD Developer Center.  It can be found  Documentation section (where else):

This update includes or addresses the following:

• Updates to the Reference Guide to include missing classes, properties, and methods.
• Fixes some of the existing VBA samples and introduces a large set of samples in Visual LISP.
• Updates to the Developer’s Guide and makes it available now, since it was not available when AutoCAD 2013 shipped.
• API History/Changes list has been added to the Developer’s Guide.

(Thanks Lee ).

Specifying a different path for Ribbon CUIX Extended Help Tooltips using XAML

by Fenton Webb

It’s possible to supply your own XAML Tooltips by supplying a loose WPF XAML file as the ContentSource

e.g.

<Header>
  <FileReferences>
    <ToolTipFileReferences>
      <ContentSources>
        <ContentSource>toolTips.xaml</ContentSource>
      </ContentSources>
    </ToolTipFileReferences>
  </FileReferences>
</Header>

The ContentSource is actually a Uri which means you can use the Uri pack format to specify different paths or even XAML files packaged into your own resource DLLs…

e.g. a DLL Resource locator

<Header>
  <FileReferences>
    <ToolTipFileReferences>
      <ContentSources>
        <ContentSource>pack://application:,,,/MyApplicationDLL;resources/Tooltip.xaml</ContentSource>

      </ContentSources>
    </ToolTipFileReferences>
  </FileReferences>
</Header>

About AUTOSAVE and notifications/events

By Augusto Goncalves

When AutoCAD does an AUTOSAVE, it saves the drawing at the OS Temp folder with the name "DrawingName_Numbers.sv$", as specified on the OPTIONS dialog, and it sends a kSaveMsg message to all applications.

However, this kSaveMsg message may trigger some custom action on applications that are listening to this notification/event, but in the case of an AUTOSAVE, this is not the correct thing to do.

Because an AUTOSAVE does not trigger a CommandWillStart() notification, if we set a global flag from the CommandWillStart() notification tracking commands with “SAVE” on the command name, then we can detect if is an AUTOSAVE or a normal save called by the user.

Draw Horizontal Text in Custom Entity

By Philippe Leefsma

Q:

How to draw a text in a custom entity which is always horizontal irrespective of view direction and plot rotation?

A:

You can use the AcGiViewport::getCameraUpVector() function to get the up vector for the current view direction. Using the up vector one can easily calculate the flow direction for drawing the text horizontal to the current view.

During plot, one needs to take into account the plot rotation. During the plot, the drawing is rotated depending on the drawing orientation(Portrait or Landscape).

Of course, this can be implemented only in the viewportDraw() override of the custom entity, since this is where the viewport-specific graphics are drawn. The following sample shows how to implement this:

void AsdkcusEnt::viewportDraw(AcGiViewportDraw * mode)

{

       //draw the text

       AcGeVector3d vecUp;

       mode->viewport().getCameraUpVector(vecUp);

 

       AcGeVector3d vecFlow = vecUp.crossProduct(

        mode->viewport().viewDir());

 

       //check the context

       if (mode->context()->isPlotGeneration())

       {

              //Get the plot configuration of the current layout

              AcApLayoutManager *pLayMan = (AcApLayoutManager *)

                acdbHostApplicationServices()->layoutManager();

 

              AcDbLayout *pLay = pLayMan->findLayoutNamed(

                pLayMan->findActiveLayout(Adesk::kTrue),Adesk::kTrue);

 

              // Check if this plot is rotated or not

              double pi = 3.14159265;

 

              switch(pLay->plotRotation())

              {

              case AcDbPlotSettings::PlotRotation::k90degrees:

                     vecFlow.rotateBy(-pi/2,mode->viewport().viewDir());

                     break;

 

              case AcDbPlotSettings::PlotRotation::k180degrees:

                     vecFlow.rotateBy(pi,mode->viewport().viewDir());

                     break;

 

              case AcDbPlotSettings::PlotRotation::k270degrees:

                     vecFlow.rotateBy(pi/2,mode->viewport().viewDir());

                     break;

              }

 

              pLay->close();

 

              mode->geometry().text(

                AcGePoint3d(10,10,0),

                mode->viewport().viewDir(),

                vecFlow, 10, 1, 0,

                L"Test");

       }

       else

       {

              mode->geometry().text(

                AcGePoint3d(10,10,0),

                mode->viewport().viewDir(),

                vecFlow, 10, 1, 0,

                L"Test");

       }

 

       AcDbEntity::viewportDraw(mode);

}

 

Use AcDbField::getFieldCode() to get the field codes used in MText

By Philippe Leefsma

Q:

I need to get the Field Codes from MText entities. I tried using AcDbMText::explodeFragments() and AcDbMText::contents() but these functions return the value of the evaluated text.  Is there a way to get the control codes?

A:

The AcDbObject::getField() function with AcDbField::getFieldCode() provide a means to get the FieldCodes used in MText.

This example iterates through model space and displays the FieldCode of MText entities:

void AdnGetFieldCodes()

{

        AcDbDatabase * pDb =

            acdbHostApplicationServices()->workingDatabase();

        AcDbBlockTable * blkTbl;

  

        pDb->getBlockTable(blkTbl, AcDb::kForRead);

        AcDbBlockTableRecord * blkTblRec;

        AcDbObjectId * pObjId;

  

        blkTbl->getAt(ACDB_MODEL_SPACE, blkTblRec, AcDb::kForRead);

        blkTbl->close();

  

        AcDbBlockTableRecordIterator* pIterator;

        if (blkTblRec->newIterator(pIterator) == Acad::eOk)

        {

                AcDbEntity* pEntity;

                while (!pIterator->done())

                {

                     pIterator->getEntity(pEntity, AcDb::kForRead);

 

                     if (pEntity->isA() == AcDbMText::desc())

                     {

                         AcDbMText *pt = (AcDbMText *) pEntity;

                         AcDbField * pField;

                         const ACHAR* pFcode = L"TEXT";

     

                         Acad::ErrorStatus es =

                             pt->getField(pFcode, pField, AcDb::kForRead);

 

                         if (es != Acad::eOk)

                         {

                             acutPrintf(L"\n%s", acadErrorStatusText(es));

                             pIterator->step();

                             continue;

                         }

 

                         ACHAR* pszFieldCode;

                         pField->getFieldCode(

                             pszFieldCode,

                             AcDbField::kAddMarkers);

     

                         acutPrintf(L"\n%s",pszFieldCode);

                         delete pszFieldCode;

        

                         pField->close();

                     }

 

                     pEntity->close();

                     pIterator->step();

                }

        }

 

        delete pIterator;

        blkTblRec->close();

}

 

VB.NET Selection Set samples

By Philippe Leefsma

The attached zip file has a VB.NET project that demonstrates how to select objects using .NET and COM Interop. It has three commands :

SELSET: Demonstrates creating a selection set using AutoCAD Interop.

SELLINE: Demonstrates using the ActiveX GetEntity function to select and query a single entity (a line in this example).

NETSELECT: Shows how to select a AutoCAD entities using the native .NET Select function. Here is the code from this command:

    <Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime.CommandMethod("NETSELECT")> _

    Public Sub NetSel()

 

        Dim doc As Document = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument

        Dim db As Database = doc.Database

        Dim ed As Editor = doc.Editor

 

        Dim pSelRes As PromptSelectionResult = ed.SelectAll()

 

        Dim dbObj As DBObject

      

        Using tr As Transaction = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction

 

            ' Basic error handling

            Try

                If (pSelRes.Status <> PromptStatus.OK) Then

                    Return

                End If

 

                Dim objIdArray() As ObjectId = pSelRes.Value.GetObjectIds()

 

                For Each objId As ObjectId In objIdArray

                    dbObj = tr.GetObject(objId, OpenMode.ForRead)

                    ed.WriteMessage(dbObj.GetType.ToString + vbCrLf)

                Next

 

                tr.Commit()

 

            Catch ex As Exception

                ed.WriteMessage(ex.ToString())

                tr.Abort()

            End Try

        End Using

    End Sub

 

SelectSetSamples.zip

Introducing ADN Open

By Stephen Preston

(Cross posted across all ADN DevBlogs)

Those of you who have been watching carefully will have noticed that the ADN DevTech team has been doing a few things differently recently:

• We’ve launched these DevBlogs , and have been steadily moving technical content (a.k.a. DevNotes) from the members-only ADN website to here, along with posting new content.
• We’ve been increasing our presence in the Autodesk discussion groups that cover our product APIs.
• We’ve revamped our Developer Centers to update and (hopefully) more clearly document the resources available to developers who want to use Autodesk technology as part of their software solutions. That includes our recent ‘My First Plug-in’ tutorials for AutoCAD, Revit and Inventor.

This is all part of our master plan to hold the world to ransom for ONE MILLION DOLLARS! …

Oops – hang on – that was my other plan. Try again …

This is all part of our plan to make information on Autodesk technology more accessible to people who can’t afford the fee for full ADN membership, and/or who are evaluating the best technology to use to implement a new solution and want to be able to quickly find the best tools for the job via a simple web search. All of these changes have been our putting the pieces in place so that we can formally announce ADN Open.

So that’s the basics. You can quickly browse www.autodesk.com/adnopen and stop reading here if you like. But if you want more information, read on (if you’re an ADN Standard or ADN Professional member, you should have received similar information on this via the ADN DevNews newsletter) …

 

What is Changing?

Along with the two existing types of ADN membership – Standard and Professional – we now have ADN Open.  ADN Open consists of software developer focused blogs, moderated discussion groups (forums), training materials, and more - that are available to everyone and anyone for free. The two most noteworthy changes are:

 

We are migrating all non-confidential software development information previously available through the password protected ADN website to ADN Open DevBlogs.

This means that a simple Google search – something most of you already do to look for solutions to your problems - will now include crawling the thousands of DevNotes that Autodesk DevTech engineers have published.  We believe this change will result in your getting better answers to your problems faster, using the same search technology you already use every day.

We expect to complete this migration task within the next few months, and we’re posting new information to the blogs at the same time.

 

Participation in the Autodesk public API discussion groups (forums) will increase.

We will be offering ADN Standard and Professional members the option to either ask their question in private (as they have always done), or to ask their questions on the forums. The DevTech team will be monitoring the forums to ensure that these questions are answered. While we’re there, we’ll also help out with other questions. We anticipate that our involvement, and the increased involvement from ADN members who previously asked questions in private, will further enhance these already thriving communities.

Check out the ADN Open web site – www.autodesk.com/adnopen - for a current list of Autodesk technology now being actively supported through public DevBlogs and API discussion groups.

If you’re an ADN Standard or Professional member, please read your ADN DevNews newsletter for more information on this.

 

Why do we still offer Standard and Professional ADN membership?

There are additional benefits to ADN Standard and Professional membership.  You’ll want to maintain your ADN Standard or Professional membership if you:

• Need access to Autodesk desktop products – easy download and perpetual license through the ADN extranet
• Access to Autodesk beta software.
• Want an Autodesk engineer to help you with a confidential issue/question.
• Need API support for the few Autodesk technologies not supported through ADN Open – only the forums listed on www.autodesk.com/adnopen will be supported by the DevTech team.
• Want your product, services and company information visible to hundreds of thousands of Autodesk customers on www.autodesk.com/partnerproducts.

Please visit www.autodesk.com/joinadn if you’re interested in upgrading from ADN Open to ADN Standard or Professional to take advantage of these additional benefits.

 

Why the Change?

The Autodesk Developer Network was designed during a time of a rapidly expanding market for desktop design, engineering and entertainment software.  This was a time of growing sales of heavy desktop software, never enough computing power, and limited connectivity.  The investment to start and grow a software company was significant.    

The software industry is now undergoing a period of rapid change and innovation driven by cloud enabled, limitless, low cost computing power; rapidly expanding near ubiquitous connectivity through the internet and mobile devices and cross-platform support for key web technologies including HTML5 and Java.  Cloud and mobile technologies - along with the increasingly social behavior of software entrepreneurs and programmers - is changing the software industry, our personal and business lives, and the world we live in.

By modernizing the ADN program to better fit with these technology driven changes, we believe we can significantly improve the service we provide to software developers who choose ADN Professional or Standard membership levels, provide much better assistance to software developers who don’t need the additional ADN benefits, and make it easier for a new generation of innovators to discover and evaluate our technology.

 

Questions?

If you have any questions about this, then you’re welcome to comment on this blog post or email me directly.

Change the style of attributes

By Augusto Goncalves

From each AcDbBlockReference it is possible to create an attribute iterator (using AcDbBlockReference::attributeIterator()) and then step through the attributes in the INSERT.

AcDbAttribute is derived from AcDbText, so we can use AcDbText::setTextStyle() to set the next style using the id of the text style.

In this example STANDARD's object ID is used. You shouldn't have to explode/reblock the INSERTs, just remember to close() it.

Also be aware that for constant attributes you have to change the text style in the block definition not in the block reference. The code below demonstrates this.

ads_name ename ;

ads_point pt ;

Acad::ErrorStatus es;

acedEntSel (_T("Select a Block Reference: "), ename, pt) ;

AcDbObjectId id ;

acdbGetObjectId (id, ename) ;

AcDbBlockReference *pBlockReference ;

acdbOpenAcDbObject ((AcDbObject *&)pBlockReference, id,

          AcDb::kForRead);

//Get the ObjectId of the STANDARD style

AcDbTextStyleTable * pTextStyleTable;

AcDbObjectId standardStyleId;

acdbCurDwg()->getTextStyleTable ( pTextStyleTable, AcDb::kForRead );

pTextStyleTable->getAt ( _T("STANDARD"), standardStyleId );

pTextStyleTable->close();

//----- Change nested attributes

AcDbObjectIterator *pIter ;

pIter =pBlockReference->attributeIterator () ;

while ( !pIter->done () ) {

  AcDbObjectId attributeId =pIter->objectId () ;

  // open the attribute

  AcDbAttribute *pAttribute;

  es = pBlockReference->openAttribute(pAttribute,

    attributeId,AcDb::kForWrite);

  assert(es == Acad::eOk);

  // changing the style

  pAttribute->setTextStyle( standardStyleId ) ;

  pAttribute->close();

  pIter->step () ;

}   

delete pIter ;

//----- change constant attributes

id =pBlockReference->blockTableRecord () ;

AcDbBlockTableRecord *pRec ;

acdbOpenAcDbObject ((AcDbObject *&)pRec, id, AcDb::kForRead) ;

if ( pRec->hasAttributeDefinitions () == Adesk::kTrue ) {

  AcDbBlockTableRecordIterator *pIter2 ;

  pRec->newIterator (pIter2) ;

  while ( !pIter2->done () ) {

    AcDbEntity *pEnt ;

    pIter2->getEntity (pEnt, AcDb::kForRead) ;

    if ( pEnt->isKindOf (AcDbAttributeDefinition::desc ()) ){

      AcDbAttributeDefinition *pDef=

        (AcDbAttributeDefinition *)pEnt ;

      if ( pDef->isConstant () == Adesk::kTrue ) {

        pDef->upgradeOpen();

        pDef->setTextStyle( standardStyleId ) ;

      }            }            pEnt->close () ;

      pIter2->step () ;

  }        delete pIter2 ;

}    pRec->close () ;

pBlockReference->close () ;

Are you recruiting?

By Stephen Preston

I’m being a little cheeky and using this blog to make a ‘personal’ announcement …

I have a couple of friends – very good programmers – who are currently looking for employment. Please email me if your company is currently recruiting for US-based programmers with very strong AutoCAD API skills (C++ and/or .NET) and I’ll pass your details on to them.

[My email address is - [email protected]. I’m not writing mine out in full here so it doesn’t get sucked up and used by even more spambots than currently have it. Yes – I am that paranoid ].

Drawing/erasing temporary graphics with acedGrDraw

By Virupaksha Aithal

You can use acedGrDraw to Drawing/erasing temporary graphics. below code shows drawing a color vector and eraing the same. Code also shows the drawing of XOR vector (by passing color as -1)

void acedGrDrawTest(void)

{

int result = 0;

//draw color line

acedGrDraw (asDblArray (AcGePoint3d (0,0,0)),

            asDblArray (AcGePoint3d (100,100,0)), 5, 0);

 

// get user input

acedGetInt (_T("\nPress to erase blue line"), &result);

// now erase it

acedGrDraw (asDblArray (AcGePoint3d (0,0,0)), asDblArray

                        (AcGePoint3d (100,100,0)), 0, 0);

 

// get user input again

acedGetInt (_T("\nPress to draw in XOR ink"), &result);

// create a line in -1 XOR ink 

acedGrDraw (asDblArray (AcGePoint3d (0,0,0)), asDblArray

                        (AcGePoint3d (100,100,0)), -1, 0);

 

// get user input again

acedGetInt (_T("\nPress to erase XOR ink"), &result);

// erase XOR ink

acedGrDraw (asDblArray (AcGePoint3d (0,0,0)),

            asDblArray (AcGePoint3d (100,100,0)), -1, 0);

}