AutoCAD DevBlog

Can I Run AutoCAD P&ID/Plant 3D in Console Mode?

By Marat Mirgaleev

Issue

I would like to do some batch processing in AutoCAD Plant 3D. May I use AcCoreConsole.exe for it?

Solution

For Plant 3D it should work, but with some limitations, of course:

1) In the Windows Explorer, go to the C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD Plant 3D 2013 – English;

2) Start AcCoreConsole.exe;

3) Load the Object Enablers – type in the command line:
     arx
     L
     PnP3dObjects.dbx

I should clarify that the Plant 3D Object Enablers work, but the “Plant Environment” is full of ARX apps that will not load into AcCoreConsole.exe. Therefore, none of the PLANT product’s commands are available.

Unfortunately, the same approach will not work for AutoCAD P&ID, since it does not have Object Enablers usable outside of AutoCAD.

I want to say “Thank you” to Jorge Lopez from the Plant development team for his infinite help in answering questions like this!

AutoCAD P&ID/Plant 3D: Is there any API to recalculate Tags?

By Marat Mirgaleev

Issue

When a tag format changes, manual update of the respective tags is a very time consuming operation. Can I update the tags with the API?

Solution

To update a tag, you can simply write out a blank tag value with the DataLinksManager.SetProperties() which causes a recalc.

Here is a sample how to do this. It works for Piping and P&ID.

[CommandMethod("PexTagUpdate", CommandFlags.Modal)]

public void PexTagUpdate() // This method can have any name

{

  Editor ed = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;

  ed.WriteMessage("\nUpdate tag values");

  string dwgtype = PnPProjectUtils.GetActiveDocumentType();

 

  if (dwgtype != "PnId" && dwgtype != "Piping")

  {  //"PnId", "Piping", "Ortho", "Iso"

    ed.WriteMessage("\nDrawing must be a PnId or Piping drawing"

                  + " in the current project.\n");

    return;

  }

  Project prj = PnPProjectUtils.GetProjectPartForCurrentDocument();

  DataLinksManager dlm = prj.DataLinksManager;

 

  PromptSelectionOptions pso = new PromptSelectionOptions();

  pso.MessageForAdding = "\nSelect " + dwgtype

                       + " objects to update <All>: ";

  PromptSelectionResult selResult = ed.GetSelection(pso);

  if (selResult.Status == PromptStatus.Cancel)

    return;

  if (selResult.Status != PromptStatus.OK)

    selResult = ed.SelectAll();

  SelectionSet ss = selResult.Value;

  ObjectId[] objIds = ss.GetObjectIds();

  int nTags = 0, nTagsModified = 0;

 

  foreach (ObjectId objId in objIds)

  {

    Database oDB =

               Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Database;

    Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.TransactionManager tmgr

      = oDB.TransactionManager;

    using (Transaction t = tmgr.StartTransaction())

    {

      StringCollection strNames = new StringCollection();

      StringCollection strNewValues = new StringCollection();

      strNames.Add("Tag");

      strNewValues.Add("");  // A blank value causes a recalc.

                  // A tag that is currently blank will remain blank.

      try

      {

        DBObject obj = t.GetObject(objId, OpenMode.ForRead);

        if (!dlm.HasLinks(objId))

          continue; // Not a Plant object

        nTags++;

        StringCollection strOldValues =

            dlm.GetProperties(objId, strNames, true);

 

        //----- HERE IT IS. UPDATE OF THE TAG ------------------------

        dlm.SetProperties(objId, strNames, strNewValues);

        //------------------------------------------------------------

 

        t.Commit();

 

        // Get new values

        StringCollection strRecalcValues =

            dlm.GetProperties(objId, strNames, true);

        if (strRecalcValues[0] == "")

          continue;

        nTagsModified++;

        // Report changes

        ed.WriteMessage("\n   tag=" + strRecalcValues[0]);

        if (strOldValues[0] != strRecalcValues[0])

          ed.WriteMessage("  oldtag=" + strOldValues[0]);

      }

      catch (System.Exception e)

      {

        if (t != null)

        {

          t.Abort();

          t.Dispose();

        }

        ed.WriteMessage("\nCould not update tag: "

                      + e.Message.ToString());

      }

    }

  }

  ed.WriteMessage("\nDone (" + nTagsModified + " of " + nTags

                + " modified).");

}

Getting started with AutoCAD P&ID/Plant 3D 2013 API

By Augusto Goncalves

If you plan to start developing for any new product, a quick ‘getting started’ guide can be very useful. Here is what you need to develop for AutoCAD P&ID/Plant 3D 2013.

Setting up the environment:

1. Product: there are two options: AutoCAD P&ID and AutoCAD Plant 3D. Check the trial versions available at http://usa.autodesk.com/products/free-product-trials.
   
   From the API perspective, the second includes the first. An application developed for P&ID can load on Plant 3D and work according to the current project/drawing type.
   
2. Develop interface: to develop for AutoCAD P&ID and Plant 3D we need a programming environment.
   
   The P&ID/Plant 3D API was developed in .NET, which means we can use any .NET programming language, where VB.NET and C# are supported by Autodesk. It’s also possible to use Managed C++, also supported, but recommended for advanced developers.
   
   Microsoft offers the Visual Express edition to get started, just keep in mind that the version 2010 is required for AutoCAD 2013 based products. Make sure you download either Visual C# 2010 Express or Visual Basic 2010 Express.
   
   There is no relevant difference between C# to VB.NET regarding API features, so it’s a matter of which one you fell more confortable. Anytime you find code on one language and want to translate to the other, consider translate using online services like Developer Fusion. Most of posts on this blog are in C#.
   
3. SDK: the software development kit (SDK) contains all the files required to compile the code. Download it from ADN P&ID/Plant 3D Developer Center, make sure you download the proper version, e.g. 2013. As this product is based on AutoCAD, we also need to download the AutoCAD SDK (again make sure you select 2013).
   
   Due changes on the APIs, 2012 is not compatible with 2013, so applications developed for 2012 will not load on 2013. Some code change may be required before recompile.
   
   Documentation is available under \Plant SDK 2013\docs\ folder. The plantsdk_dev.chm file is like a book, with first steps at the beginning and the topics advance throughout the reading. Now the plantsdk_ref.chm contains a full list of API objects and methods, useful for daily basis consult.
   
   The SDK also contains several interesting samples under \Plant SDK 2013\Samples\ folder. The same applies to AutoCAD SDK under \ObjectARX 2013\samples\.

With all the above downloaded and installed, launch Visual C# Express or Visual Basic Express. Here I’ll show some images on Visual C#. Go to menu ‘File’, then ‘New Project’. On the window, select ‘Class Library’ as project type, finally give it a name, that cannot contains spaces or start with numbers (e.g. MyFirstPlant3DApp).

Now, following the image below, (1) go to ‘Solution Explorer’ palette. If you cannot see it, go to menu ‘View’, then submenu ‘Other Windows’ and select it. Now (2) right click on references to ‘Add Reference’.

On the window that opens (not shown), click on ‘Browse’ and navigate to AutoCAD SDK folder. Under \ObjectARX 2013\inc\ select AcMgd.dll, AcCoreMgd.dll and AcDbMgd.dll. These references will be used to access AutoCAD basic features required to build an application, such as command line and selection mechanism.

Now to add P&ID and/or Plant 3D references, navigate to \Plant SDK 2013\inc-x64\ or \Plant SDK 2013\inc-win32\ depending on your OS configuration. References prefixed with PnID*** are for P&ID and Plant 3D, references prefixed with PnP3d*** are for Plant 3D only.

All AutoCAD and P&ID/Plant3D references must be marked with Copy Local equals false. This is extremely important. Otherwise, AutoCAD may crash unexpected.

Now you have a .NET project ready to use any C# sample available at this blog, try any sample for P&ID or Plant 3D.

After copy & paste any sample code or write your own, go to menu ‘Debug’ then ‘Build Solution’, which will build a .dll, for this sample project, it should be at bin\Release\MyFirstPlant3DApp.dll (Visual Express always create .dll at Release folder for Build and at Debug folder while debugging, pay attention).

Now start AutoCAD P&ID/Plant 3D and run NETLOAD command, choose the .dll generated by your project, finally run the custom command.

Identifying the group name of a command

By Virupaksha Aithal

You can use “AcEdCommandIterator:: commandGroup” API class to identify the group name of the command. Below code shows the procedure to identify the command group name of the “layer” command

AcEdCommand *pCmd = acedRegCmds->lookupCmd(_T("LAYER"), true);

 

if(pCmd == NULL)

{

    acutPrintf(_T("Unable to find the command\n"));

    return;

}

 

AcEdCommandIterator *pCmdItr = acedRegCmds->iterator();

 

for(;! pCmdItr->done(); pCmdItr->next())

{

    if(pCmdItr->command() == pCmd)

    {

        acutPrintf(_T("layer command belongs to Group : %s\n"),

                                        pCmdItr->commandGroup());

        break;

    }

}

 

delete pCmdItr;

Invoking commands in localized versions

By Virupaksha Aithal

You can append the following prefixes to all AutoCAD commands and options in order to avoid localization issues:

An underscore _
This calls the English version of the command. For example, the command, _LINE, can be issued from all localized releases and English AutoCAD.

A period .
This calls the original command when a command was redefined. For example, whena user redefines the LINE command. In such a case, _.line can be issued from all localized releases and English AutoCAD. It will always invoke the original LINE command.

A hyphen -
This calls the command-line version of the command (when available). For example, _.-layer calls the command line version of the original layer command in all AutoCAD releases, independent of the localization.

How can I start learning AutoCAD P&ID/Plant 3D API?

By Marat Mirgaleev

Issue

I would like to customize AutoCAD Plant 3D for my company needs. Is there any API for this? How can get it?

Solution

A good point to start with is the page on the Autodesk Developer Center, describing the API for AutoCAD P&ID and AutoCAD Plant 3D:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=15460551

The API for these two products is called Plant SDK and can be downloaded from the page mentioned above. It includes documentation, code samples, include files and libraries for C++ development and .NET libraries.

Maximize document window in mdi environment

By Xiaodong Liang

Issue
How do I maximize an active document window in AutoCAD environment?

Solution
The sample code that follows maximizes an active document window. Before proceeding, be sure that the project supports MFC and .DLL as file extensions.

    static void test(void)

    { 

     CMDIChildWnd   *m_pWnd;

     CMDIFrameWnd    *m_pWndFrame; 

    //   get the pointer to AutoCAD's main frame window.

    m_pWndFrame = acedGetAcadFrame();

    // get the handle of the active window

    m_pWnd         = m_pWndFrame->MDIGetActive();

    // maximize it

    m_pWnd->ShowWindow(SW_MAXIMIZE); 

    }

Angles in AcDbArc and AcGeCircArc2d

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

Issue

I use the AutoCAD RECTANG command to draw an unrotated rectangle with the FILLET option. When prompted for the startAng and endAng of the resulting AcDbPolyline's corner arcs, the values are always 0 and 90 degree.

However, if the polyline is selected and LIST is typed, the values for startAng and endAng are displayed correctly with only the upper-right corner sweeping from 90 to 0 degrees. Why ?

Solution

The LIST command and entity definition data for an arc uses AcDbArc class information, whereas a polyline provides AcGeCircArc2d information.

Querying the arcs of a filleted rectangle, which is represented as a polyline entity, pPoly:

Acad::ErrorStatus es;

AcDbDatabase *pDb = acdbHostApplicationServices()->workingDatabase();

 

ads_point pickPnt;

ads_name ent_name;

int ret = acedEntSel(

                        ACRX_T("\n Select a polyline\n"),

                        ent_name,

                        pickPnt

                    );

if(ret != RTNORM)

    return;

 

AcDbObjectId plOid;

es = acdbGetObjectId(plOid, ent_name);

if (es != Acad::eOk)

    return;

 

AcDbTransactionManager* pTM = pDb->transactionManager();

AcTransaction *pTransaction = pTM->startTransaction();

AcDbObject *pCurveObj = NULL;

 

es = pTransaction->getObject(

                                pCurveObj,

                                plOid,

                                AcDb::kForRead

                            );

AcDbPolyline *pPoly = AcDbPolyline::cast(pCurveObj);

if(pPoly != NULL)

{

    int n = pPoly->numVerts();

    AcGeCircArc2d arc; AcGeVector2d dir;

 

    for (int i=0; i < n; i++)

    {

        if (pPoly->segType(i) != AcDbPolyline::kArc)

            continue;

 

        if ((es = pPoly->getArcSegAt(i, arc)) == Acad::eOk)

        {

            dir =  arc.refVec();

            acutPrintf(

                ACRX_T("\nVertex %d:\tstartang= %f \t endang= %f \trefvec= {%i %i}"),

                i,

                arc.startAng(),

                arc.endAng(),

                (int)dir[0],

                (int)dir[1]);

        }

    }

}

pTM->endTransaction();

Printed results are:
Vertex 0: startang= 0.000000 endang= 1.570796 refvec= {-1 0}
Vertex 2: startang= 0.000000 endang= 1.570796 refvec= {0 1}
Vertex 4: startang= 0.000000 endang= 1.570796 refvec= {1 0}
Vertex 6: startang= 0.000000 endang= 1.570796 refvec= {0 -1}

This is the expected result because the angles are measured with respect to the arc's reference vector, which in this case is always oriented to contain the startpoint of the arc. Therefore, vertex 0 is the upper left arc (corner) of an unrotated rectangle. Its reference vector of [-1 0] proceeds from the arc's center point along the -x axis in WCS. The startpoint of the arc then lies on this reference vector, and thus the start angle from the reference vector is 0. The arc's endpoint is found 1.57 rads away from the startpoint/reference vector in a + clockwise direction.

The start and end angles for an AcDbArc are invariably measured in respect to the +x axis. Also, the positive direction for rotation is considered to be counter-clockwise. Vertex 0, the upper-left corner will then list a start angle=180 and an end angle=90.

Creating a 2D dynamic AcDbObjectIdArray

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

Issue

I need to use a 2 dimensional array in my program. I would like to know if it's possible using a dynamic array (like AcDbIntArray, AcDbObjectIdArray, ...) in 2 dimensions. How can I do this ? In C++ I can use array[][]...and in ObjectARX ? I'll need an array with 3 lines and x (dynamic) columns : [3][x]

Solution

If you had two static dimensions, then of course you could simulate the use of a 2D array with a linear array. As you have one static dimension (3), you can create a static array of AcDbObjectIDArrays (for example), which are of course dynamic. Here is some code which creates an array of IMAX x JMAX, though JMAX could be variable for each sub-array. I have populated the array with IDs from entities the user must select, and then you can see how it is simple to use the typical syntax idArray[i][j] to access the contents of the array.

#define IMAX 2

#define JMAX 3

 

static void AdskTestCommand(void)

{

    AcDbEntity *pEnt = NULL;

    AcDbObjectId entId;

    AcGePoint3d pick;

 

    AcDbObjectIdArray idArray[IMAX];

 

    int i, j;

    for ( i = 0; i < IMAX; i++ )

    {

        idArray[i].setPhysicalLength( JMAX );

        for ( j = 0; j < JMAX; j++ )

        {

            pEnt = SelectEntity

                    (

                        ACRX_T("\nSelect entity: "),

                        entId,

                        pick,

                        AcDb::kForRead

                    );

            if ( NULL == pEnt)

                entId = AcDbObjectId::kNull;

            else

                pEnt->close();

 

            idArray[i].insertAt( j, entId );

            acutPrintf

                (

                    ACRX_T("\nObjectID %d inserted at [%d][%d]"),

                    entId,

                    i,

                    j

                );

        }

    }

 

    for ( i = 0; i < IMAX; i++ )

    {

        for ( j = 0; j < JMAX; j++ )

        {

            acutPrintf

                (

                    ACRX_T("\nObjectID at [%d][%d] is %d"),

                    i,

                    j,

                    idArray[i][j]

                );

        }

    }

}

 

static AcDbEntity * SelectEntity

                            (

                                 const ACHAR *prompt,

                                 AcDbObjectId& id,

                                 AcGePoint3d& pick,

                                 AcDb::OpenMode openMode

                            )

{

    AcDbEntity *ent = NULL;

    ads_name ename;

 

    if ( RTNORM == acedEntSel(prompt, ename, (ads_real*)&pick ))

    {

        if ( Acad::eOk == acdbGetObjectId( id, ename ))

        {

            if ( Acad::eOk == acdbOpenAcDbEntity( ent, id, openMode ))

                return ent;

        }

    }

    return ent;

}

Trial licensing and Usage metrics gathering for AutoCAD Plugin using Azure Cloud

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

Here is an application that Viru and I have been working intermittently for a few months now.

It is an application for the trial licensing of AutoCAD plugins and more importantly, to track the usage of the commands by the end-user using a cloud based service. This will help the plugin developers by providing an insight into the features of their plugins that are frequently used by the end-users.

This sample application is to provide a simple example on using Windows Azure Cloud in an AutoCAD plugin and is not meant to be a robust trial licensing or application metrics gathering utility.

Here is a diagram and an explanation of its working at a broad level.

The “AppMetrics Manager” is a module that the AutoCAD plugins use to check for the availability of the trial license and to report the usage of their commands.

The “AppMetrics Manager” passes on the request for a trial license and the command usage information to the Azure worker role.

An Azure worker role manages the details of the trial licensing based on the records stored in the Azure table storage and lets the AppMetrics Manager know about the remaining duration of the trial license. The Worker role also records the command usage statistics in its Azure Table storage.

An Azure web role retrieves the details from the Azure Table Storage, which is then displayed in a web browser.

The sample projects for these modules and an AutoCAD plugin bundle to try out its working can be downloaded from the link below.

To try it, you will need the Windows Azure SDK to be installed in your system and if haven’t installed it already, you can install it from here

The Visual Studio solutions for the various modules have been kept separate for ease of debugging and can be built in the following order to resolve its dependencies:

1) “AppMetricsDatabaseModel”: This implements the common methods required for accessing the Azure Table storage. Before building this solution, ensure that the references to “Microsoft.WindowsAzure.ServiceRuntime” and “Microsoft.WindowsAzure.StorageClient ” are correctly resolved.

2) “AppMetricsInterface”: This defines the common interface that will be used by the Worker role and the “AppMetricsManager” to communicate. There are no additional references for this solution and building it should be straight-forward.

 3) “AppMetricsManager” :  This solution has dependencies on the usual AutoCAD references such as “AcDbMgd.dll”, “AcMgd.dll” and “AcCoreMgd.dll”. Ensure that these are referenced from the ObjectARX 2013 folder and it should then build ok.

 4) “AppMetricsWorkerRole”: The Azure Worker role solution needs references to the “AppMetricsDatabaseModel” and “AppMetricsInterface” assemblies that have been built. Also, ensure that the other references to “Microsoft.WindowsAzure.XXXX” are correctly resolved.

 5) “AppMetricsWebRole”: The Azure Worker role solution needs reference to the “AppMetricsDatabaseModel” assembly that has been built. Also, ensure that the other references to “Microsoft.WindowsAzure.XXXXXX” are correctly resolved.

 6) “AppMetricsTestPlugin.bundle”: This is a bundle of a AutoCAD plugin in the Autoloader bundle format. Copy the entire bundle to folder from which AutoCAD can load it at startup. The folder to copy the bundle is “%appdata%\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins”. The bundle folder has the source for a test
plugin which can be built and debugged. The Visual Studio solution can be found under the “Contents\Source” folder inside the bundle folder. Build this solution just as you would build a regular AutoCAD .Net plugin. After the build has succeeded, copy the “AppMetricsManager.dll” that has already been built and place it in the “Contents\Windows” folder inside the bundle folder.

Now, after all the solutions have been built, you are all set to try it using the Azure compute/storage emulator.

Here are the steps to try it out:

1) Start the Worker Role : Open the “AppMetricsWorkerRole“solution and hit F5. This should start the Azure compute emulator and start the worker role. It might take a few minutes to start it in the emulator and can be verified by clicking on the small icon in the tray and starting the compute emulator UI as shown here :

2) Start the Web Role : Open the “AppMetricsWebRole“solution and hit F5. This should start the Azure compute emulator and start the web role. It might take a few minutes to start it in the emulator and can be verified by clicking on the small icon in the tray and starting the compute emulator UI just as we did
for the worker role. After the Web role starts, it should open the web browser and display the app details which is now empty as shown here :

3) Start AutoCAD 2013 : Navigate to the “%appdata%\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins” folder and open the Visual Studio solution under “AppMetricsTestPlugin1.bundle\Contents\Source” sub folder. Set the path to AutoCAD 2013 as the external program to launch, by changing the project settings just as you would do for any AutoCAD .Net plugin. Hit F5 key to launch AutoCAD 2013 and to load the bundle.

4) Provide Contact Details: On startup, the test plugin displays a form prompting the end-user to provide the contact details. This information is requested only if the plugin is being installed
for the first time and not when AutoCAD is restarted. The contact details are used for display in the Web browser as we will see a little later.

After you provide the contact details, the trial duration of the plugin is displayed in the command prompt as shown here:

5) Using the AppMetricsTest plugin : The ribbon panel for the test plugin can be found under the “Plugins” tab as is the case with most of the plugins available in the AutoCAD Exchange store. While using the commands to insert smileys in the drawing, the remaining trial duration is displayed in the command prompt as shown in the screenshot.

6) Viewing the usage statistics in a web browser: The web browser which is already open should now display the usage metrics and the trial duration available for the application as shown in this screenshot.

 

Download AppMetricsSample