AutoCAD DevBlog

Copy extension dictionary

By Virupaksha Aithal

Below command shows the procedure to copy the extension dictionary entries from one entity to another. A special logic is placed at the end to set the names of the dictionary same as source object as “DeepCloneObjects” copy the objects with different names in target entity.

[CommandMethod("copyExtDic")]

public void copyExtDic()

{

    Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;

    Database db = doc.Database;

    Editor ed = doc.Editor;

 

    PromptEntityResult surRes =

                ed.GetEntity("Select source entity");

 

    if (surRes.Status != PromptStatus.OK)

        return;

 

    PromptEntityResult tarRes =

                ed.GetEntity("Select target entity");

 

    if (tarRes.Status != PromptStatus.OK)

        return;

 

    ObjectIdCollection ids = new ObjectIdCollection();

    ObjectId tarId = ObjectId.Null;

    ObjectId surId = ObjectId.Null;

 

    using (Transaction tr =

            db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())

    {

        DBObject dbObj = tr.GetObject(surRes.ObjectId,

                                       OpenMode.ForRead);

 

        surId = dbObj.ExtensionDictionary;

 

        if (surId != ObjectId.Null)

        {

            DBDictionary dbExt =

                      (DBDictionary)tr.GetObject(surId,  

                                    OpenMode.ForRead);

 

            foreach (DBDictionaryEntry entry in dbExt)

            {

                ids.Add(entry.Value);

            }

        }

        else

        {

            ed.WriteMessage("No dictionary to copy");

            return;

        }

        //find if entiy has

        DBObject target = tr.GetObject(tarRes.ObjectId,

                                          OpenMode.ForRead);

        tarId = target.ExtensionDictionary;

 

        if (tarId == ObjectId.Null)

        {

            target.UpgradeOpen();

            target.CreateExtensionDictionary();

            tarId = target.ExtensionDictionary;

        }

 

        tr.Commit();

    }

 

    IdMapping mapping = new IdMapping();

    db.DeepCloneObjects(ids, tarId, mapping, false);

 

    //

    using (Transaction tr =

            db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())

    {

        DBDictionary dbExt =

         (DBDictionary)tr.GetObject(surId, OpenMode.ForRead);

 

        DBDictionary dbTarg =

            (DBDictionary)tr.GetObject(tarId, OpenMode.ForWrite);

 

        foreach (IdPair pair in mapping)

        {

            DBObject target = tr.GetObject(pair.Value,

                                              OpenMode.ForRead);

            dbTarg.SetName(

                dbTarg.NameAt(pair.Value),

                dbExt.NameAt(pair.Key));

        }

        tr.Commit();

    }

}

Using Autoloader to setup contextual ribbon tab

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

For details on displaying contextual ribbon tab, please refer to this blog post. In this blog post, we will look at using the Autoloader to deploy the contextual ribbon tab xaml file and the custom dll that it uses. In this example, the bundle implements a command to insert a smiley. The smiley is a block reference with XData to distinguish it from any other block reference. When the smiley is selected, a contextual ribbon tab defined in the CUIX is displayed. Here are the steps to get this working using the Autoloader.

Step 1 : Create the contextual tab selector rule xaml file.

 

 <?xml version="1.0"  encoding="utf-8"?>

 <TabSelectorRules 

 xmlns="clr-namespace:Autodesk.AutoCAD.Ribbon;assembly=AcWindows" 

 Ordering="0">

 <TabSelectorRules.References>

 <AssemblyReference Namespace ="Aen1ContextualTabSelectorHelper" 

                     Assembly ="Aen1ContextualTabSelectorHelper"/>

 </TabSelectorRules.References>

 <Rule Uid="Aen1SelectionRule"  DisplayName="Aen1 Selection Rule" 

                             Theme="Green" Trigger="Selection">

     <![CDATA[

     Aen1ContextualTabSelectorHelper.Methods.ShowMyTab(Selection)

     ]]>

 </Rule>

 </TabSelectorRules>

Step 2 : Create a custom dll that our contextual tab selector rule will use to determine if the contextual tab is to be displayed. In this example, we look for block references that contain a specific XData.

namespace Aen1ContextualTabSelectorHelper

 {

         Public  Class  Methods

     {

         public  static  bool ShowMyTab(object selObj)

         {

             bool showTab = false ;

             Selection sel = (Selection)selObj;

             if  (sel.Count != 1 || !sel.ContainsOnly

                     (new string [] { "BlockReference" }))

                 return  showTab;

             IDataItem item = sel[0] as  IDataItem;

             if (item == null)

                 return  showTab;

             IDataItemTransaction trans 

                     = item.StartTransaction(OpenMode.ForRead);

             if  (trans != null)

             {

                 BlockReference bref 

                             = trans.Item as  BlockReference;

                 if  (bref != null)

                 {

                     ResultBuffer resBuf 

                         = bref.GetXDataForApplication("SMILEY");

                     if  (resBuf != null)

                     {

                         // Show tab if  the block reference

                         // has our XData

                         showTab = true ;

                         resBuf.Dispose();

                     }

                 }

                 trans.Commit();

             }

             return  showTab;

         }

     }

 }

Step 3 : Modify the PackageContents.xml of your Autoloader bundle to load the Contextual tab selector rule xaml and its custom dll during startup.

<ComponentEntry 
AppName="MyTestPlugin1" 
AppDescription="Aen1 Contextual Tab Rule" 
ModuleName="./Contents/Windows/Aen1ContextualTabSelectorRules.xaml" 
XamlType="ContextualTabRule"/>

<ComponentEntry 
AppName="MyTestPlugin1" 
AppDescription="Aen1 Contextual Tab Rule" 
ModuleName="./Contents/Windows/Aen1ContextualTabSelectorHelper.dll" 
LoadOnAutoCADStartup="True"/>

The complete Autoloader bundle can be downloaded here :

Download MyTestPlugin.bundle

To try the bundle, run the "InsertSmiley" command and place a smiley. Zoom to extents if necessary. Select the smiley and a contextual tab should appear as shown in the screenshot.

Importing Layer Filters

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

Here is a sample code snippet to import layer filters including nested layer filters from another drawing. The layers that qualify the filters are also imported.

A sample drawing with a few nested layer filters that I tested this code with can be downloaded here.

Download Test

 using  Autodesk.AutoCAD.LayerManager;

 [CommandMethod ("ImportLayerFilters" )]

 public  static  void  ImportLayerFilters()

 {

     String filePath = @"D:\\\\Temp\\\\Test1.dwg" ;

     if  (!System.IO.File.Exists(filePath))

         return ;

     Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;

     Database destDb = doc.Database;

     LayerFilterTree lft = destDb.LayerFilters;

     using  (Database srcDb

                     = new  Database(false , false ))

     {

         srcDb.ReadDwgFile(

             filePath,

             FileOpenMode.OpenForReadAndAllShare,

             false , String.Empty);

         ImportNestedFilters(

             srcDb.LayerFilters.Root,

             lft.Root, srcDb, destDb);

     }

     destDb.LayerFilters = lft;

 }

 public  static  void  ImportNestedFilters(

                             LayerFilter srcFilter,

                             LayerFilter destFilter,

                             Database srcDb,

                             Database destDb)

 {

     using  (Transaction tr

         = srcDb.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())

     {

         LayerTable lt = tr.GetObject(

                         srcDb.LayerTableId,

                         OpenMode.ForRead, false )

                         as  LayerTable;

         foreach  (LayerFilter sf in  srcFilter.NestedFilters)

         {

             // Get the layers to be cloned to the dest db.  

             // Only those that are pass the filter  

             ObjectIdCollection layerIds

                                 = new  ObjectIdCollection();

             foreach  (ObjectId layerId in  lt)

             {

                 LayerTableRecord ltr = tr.GetObject(

                     layerId, OpenMode.ForRead, false )

                                 as  LayerTableRecord;

                 if  (sf.Filter(ltr))

                 {

                     layerIds.Add(layerId);

                 }

             }

             // clone the layers to the dest db  

             IdMapping idmap = new  IdMapping();

             if  (layerIds.Count > 0)

             {

                 srcDb.WblockCloneObjects(

                                 layerIds,

                                 destDb.LayerTableId,

                                 idmap,

                                 DuplicateRecordCloning.Replace,

                                 false );

             }

             // Find if a destination database already   

             // has a layer filter with the same name  

             LayerFilter df = null ;

             foreach  (LayerFilter f in  destFilter.NestedFilters)

             {

                 if  (f.Name.Equals(sf.Name))

                 {

                     df = f;

                     break ;

                 }

             }

             if  (df == null )

             {

                 if  (sf is  LayerGroup)

                 {

                     // create a new layer filter group  

                     // if nothing found  

                     LayerGroup sfgroup = sf as  LayerGroup;

                     LayerGroup dfgroup = new  LayerGroup();

                     dfgroup.Name = sf.Name;

                     df = dfgroup;

                     LayerCollection lyrs = sfgroup.LayerIds;

                     foreach  (ObjectId lid in  lyrs)

                     {

                         if  (idmap.Contains(lid))

                         {

                             IdPair idp = idmap[lid];

                             dfgroup.LayerIds.Add(idp.Value);

                         }

                     }

                     destFilter.NestedFilters.Add(df);

                 }

                 else 

                 {

                     // create a new layer filter  

                     // if nothing found  

                     df = new  LayerFilter();

                     df.Name = sf.Name;

                     df.FilterExpression = sf.FilterExpression;

                     destFilter.NestedFilters.Add(df);

                 }

             }

             // Import other filters  

             ImportNestedFilters(sf, df, srcDb, destDb);

         }

         tr.Commit();

     }

 }

Exchange Apps Webinar Recording and Resources

By Virupaksha Aithal

The easiest way to distribute/sell your Autodesk application AddIn's is to use the Autodesk Exchange Apps Store. This is what the webinar of Jim Quanci and Stephen Preston on May 22nd was about. More info can be found on Jeremy's blog: http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2014/05/exchange-apps-webinar-recording-and-resources.html