AutoCAD DevBlog

Switching assembly references based on build configuration

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

Recently, a developer came up with this query :

Is there a simple way to have a single copy of my code configured to compile to different folders with different references based on the desired version of AutoCAD to be run ?

This is not strictly an AutoCAD API related query but it is very relevant to how we build plugins for AutoCAD. It is a common requirement that we add references from different paths based on the AutoCAD version for which we are building the plugin.

A simple way to get this working is to create separate build configurations in your Visual Studio solution.

Now, open the .csproj in a text editor and manually include the "Condition" for each of the references.

As an example, here is the change to include different versions of the interop assembly for Sheetset manager for each build configuration.

<Reference Include="Interop.ACSMCOMPONENTS20Lib" Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug2015'">
<HintPath>..\..\..\..\ObjectARX 2015\inc-x64\ACSMCOMPONENTS20Lib.dll</HintPath>
<EmbedInteropTypes>True</EmbedInteropTypes>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="Interop.ACSMCOMPONENTS20Lib" Condition="'$(Configuration)'=='Debug2016'">
<HintPath>..\..\..\..\ObjectARX 2016\inc-x64\ACSMCOMPONENTS20Lib.dll</HintPath>
<EmbedInteropTypes>True</EmbedInteropTypes>
</Reference>

If you are using any other technique to achieve this already, please do share by posting your comments. I am sure that will help many other developers. Thank you.

DGNIMPORT to a new document and document switching

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

Recently, one of my colleague had this query :

• I am importing the DGN (not to the current drawing). This creates a new drawing and I want to switch to the new drawing and perform other commands. What is the best way to switch the current drawing to the other open drawing.

Here is a code snippet to do that.

The command that invokes the "DGNIMPORT", makes the newly imported document as Active. After the document is made active, you are in the new document’s context and to verify it, the editor.writemessage will output the message in the new document's command prompt.

[CommandMethod("Test1", CommandFlags.Session)]
public async static void Test1Method()
{
    DocumentCollection dm = Application.DocumentManager;
    Editor ed = 
    Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;
    try
    {
        PromptResult promptDgnPath
                = ed.GetString("\nEnter DGN file name: ");
        if (promptDgnPath.Status != PromptStatus.OK)
            return;

        try
        {
            await dm.ExecuteInCommandContextAsync(
                async (obj) =>
                {
                    await ed.CommandAsync(new object[] 
                    { 
                        "_.-DGNIMPORT", 
                        promptDgnPath.StringResult, 
                        "Default", 
                        "Master", 
                        "Standard" 
                    });
                },
                null
            );
        }
        catch (System.Exception ex)
        {
            ed.WriteMessage("\nException: {0}\n", ex.Message);
        }

        DocumentCollection docs = Application.DocumentManager;
        foreach (Document doc in docs)
        {
            if (doc.Name.StartsWith("Drawing"))
            {
                Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument 
                                                        = doc;
                break;
            }
        }
        ed.WriteMessage("Hello !!");
    }
    catch (System.Exception ex)
    {
        ed.WriteMessage(ex.Message);
    }
}

Drive AutoCAD and ARX from C++ app

By Adam Nagy

Just like in case of a .NET application, in a C++ application as well you'll need to handle certain COM messages like 0x80010001 (RPC_E_CALL_REJECTED) in order to keep things running:
Handling COM calls rejected by AutoCAD from an external .NET application

You also need to take care of making sure your add-in will be allowed to load otherwise a security dialog will pop up:
AutoCAD 2016: Trusted paths and AutoLoader

For testing purposes, the easiest thing might be to add the path of your arx/dll to the trusted paths in the Options dialog: Options >> Files >> Trusted Locations

The rest should be relatively straight-forward.

Here is a sample app that demonstrates this. It includes and exe and an ARX project. In the exe you just have to modify the path of the arx and dwg files which are being used by the sample:
https://github.com/adamenagy/AutoCAD-CppExeAndARX

 

Mapping a material texture on a SubDMesh

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

When a material is assigned to the SubDMesh, the mapper (AcGiMapper) associated with the material takes care of most of the details involved in mapping the texture on to the SubDMesh. The mapper can be configured for its projection, scaling, translation, tiling and such parameters that affect the texture mapping. This approach is suitable for complex texture mapping and if your mapping fits one of the existing projection methods that AcGiMapper provides. In this blog post, we will look at another approach that relies on AcDbSubDMesh::setVertexTextureArray to set the texture mapping. If the SubDMesh was created using vertex and face information and you have an image that needs to be mapped, the "setVertexTextureArray" can be used to control the mapping.

Thanks to Erik Larsen from our AutoCAD engineering team for his help in getting the mapping right. Please note that the texture coordinates are normalized and does not depend on the actual image dimensions.

Here is a screenshot of an image mapped on to a box shaped SubDMesh.

Here is the code :

static void SubDMeshWithTexture()
{
	AcDbSubDMesh *ptrMesh = new AcDbSubDMesh();
		
	int imgWidth = 320;
	int imgHeight = 160;

	// We will create a box shaped SubDMesh
	// The four side put together match the 
	// image width. 
	// This will let us fully wrap the image on the box shaped mesh.
	int cx = imgWidth / 4;
	int cy = cx;
	int cz = imgHeight;

	double points[30];
	int triangles[24];

	// Vertices 
	points[0]=0.0; points[1]=0.0; points[2]=0.0;
	points[3]=cx; points[4]=0.0; points[5]=0.0;
	points[6]=cx; points[7]=cy; points[8]=0.0;
	points[9]=0.0; points[10]=cy; points[11]=5.0;

	points[12]=0.0; points[13]=0.0; points[14]=cz;
	points[15]=cx; points[16]=0.0; points[17]=cz;
	points[18]=cx; points[19]=cy; points[20]=cz;
	points[21]=0.0; points[22]=cy; points[23]=cz;

	points[24]=0.0; points[25]=0.0; points[26]=0.0;
	points[27]=0.0; points[28]=0.0; points[29]=cz;

	// Face information as triangles
	triangles[0]=0; triangles[1]=1; triangles[2]=5;
	triangles[3]=0; triangles[4]=5; triangles[5]=4;

	triangles[6]=7; triangles[7]=6; triangles[8]=2;
	triangles[9]=7; triangles[10]=2; triangles[11]=3;

	triangles[12]=6; triangles[13]=5; triangles[14]=1;
	triangles[15]=6; triangles[16]=1; triangles[17]=2;

	triangles[18]=8; triangles[19]=7; triangles[20]=3;
	triangles[21]=8; triangles[22]=9; triangles[23]=7;

	// Create the subDMesh using vertex and face data
	Acad::ErrorStatus es  = CreateSubDMesh
				(10, 8, points,triangles, ptrMesh);
	if(es == Acad::eOk)
	{
		AcDbObjectId meshId = AcDbObjectId::kNull;
		AcDbBlockTable*        pBlockTable;
		AcDbBlockTableRecord*  pSpaceRecord;

		AcDbDatabase *pDb = acdbCurDwg();

		pDb->getBlockTable(pBlockTable, AcDb::kForRead);
		pBlockTable->getAt(
			ACDB_MODEL_SPACE, 
			pSpaceRecord, AcDb::kForWrite);
		es = pSpaceRecord->appendAcDbEntity(
										meshId, ptrMesh);
		es = ptrMesh->close();

		es = pSpaceRecord->close();
		es = pBlockTable->close();

		AcDbEntity* pEnt = NULL;
		acdbOpenAcDbEntity(pEnt, meshId, AcDb::kForWrite);

		// Create a material with our custom image 
		// as its texture
		CreateMaterial(_T("Fusion"));

		AcDbSubDMesh *pSubDMesh = AcDbSubDMesh::cast(pEnt);
		if(pSubDMesh != NULL)
		{
			// Assign the material to the subDMesh
			pSubDMesh->setMaterial(L"Fusion", Adesk::kTrue);

			// Ensure the material mapping is as we expect
			// fully wrapped around the faces
			AcGePoint3dArray textureArray;
			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(0.0, 0.0, 0.0));
			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(0.25, 0.0, 0.0));
			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(0.5, 0.0, 0.0));
			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(0.75, 0.0, 0.0));
			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(0.0, 1.0, 0.0));
			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(0.25, 1.0, 0.0));
			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(0.5, 1.0, 0.0));
			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(0.75, 1.0, 0.0));

			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(1.0, 0.0, 0.0));
			textureArray.append(AcGePoint3d(1.0, 1.0, 0.0));

			pSubDMesh->setVertexTextureArray(textureArray);
		}
		pEnt->close();
	}
}

static Acad::ErrorStatus CreateSubDMesh(int numberOfPoints, 
									int numberOfTriangles,
									double *points,
									int *triangles, 
									AcDbSubDMesh *ptrMesh) 
{
	if((numberOfPoints <3) || (numberOfTriangles<1)) 
		return eNotImplementedYet;

	Acad::ErrorStatus es;
	AcGePoint3dArray *vertexArray 
			= new AcGePoint3dArray ();
	AcArray *faceArray 
			= new AcArray();

	vertexArray->setPhysicalLength(numberOfPoints*3);
	faceArray->setPhysicalLength(numberOfTriangles*3);

	for(int i=0; iappend(pt);
	}

	int id=-1;
	for(int i=0; iinsertAt(id,3); 
		
		id++; faceArray->insertAt(id,triangles[i*3]);

		id++; faceArray->insertAt(id,triangles[i*3+1]);

		id++; faceArray->insertAt(id,triangles[i*3+2]); 
	};

	es = ptrMesh->setSubDMesh(*vertexArray,*faceArray, 0);

	delete vertexArray;
	delete faceArray;

	return es;
}

static void CreateMaterial(
		const ACHAR* name, AcDbDatabase *pDb) 
{ 
	AcDbDictionary *pMaterialDict; 
	Acad::ErrorStatus es; 
	es = pDb->getMaterialDictionary(
		pMaterialDict, AcDb::kForWrite);
	if (es == Acad::eOk)
	{ 
        AcGiImageFileTexture tex;
		tex.setSourceFileName(
			_T("D:\\TestFiles\\FusionLogo.jpg"));
 
		double uScale = 1.0;
		double vScale = 1.0;
        double uOffset = 0;
		double vOffset = 0;
 
        AcGeMatrix3d mx;
		mx(0, 0) = uScale;
		mx(0, 1) = 0;
		mx(0, 2) = 0;
		mx(0, 3) = uScale * uOffset;

		mx(1, 0) = 0;
		mx(1, 1) = vScale;
		mx(1, 2) = 0;
		mx(1, 3) = vScale * vOffset;

		mx(2, 0) = 0;
		mx(2, 1) = 0;
		mx(2, 2) = 1;
		mx(2, 3) = 0;

		mx(3, 0) = 0;
		mx(3, 1) = 0;
		mx(3, 2) = 0;
		mx(3, 3) = 1;
			 
        AcGiMapper mapper;
		mapper.setProjection
			(AcGiMapper::Projection::kBox);
		mapper.setUTiling
			(AcGiMapper::Tiling::kCrop);
		mapper.setVTiling
			(AcGiMapper::Tiling::kCrop);
		mapper.setAutoTransform
			(AcGiMapper::AutoTransform::kNone);
		mapper.setTransform(mx);

        AcGiMaterialMap map;
		map.setSourceFileName(name);
		map.setTexture(&tex);
		map.setBlendFactor(1.0);
		map.setMapper(mapper);

		AcDbMaterial *pMaterialObj 
			= new AcDbMaterial(); 
		pMaterialObj->setName(name);

		AcDbObjectId materialId; 
		es = pMaterialDict->setAt
			(name, pMaterialObj, materialId); 

		AcGiMaterialColor diffuseColor; 
		pMaterialObj->setDiffuse
			(diffuseColor, map);
		pMaterialObj->setMode
			(AcGiMaterialTraits::kRealistic);

		pMaterialObj->close(); 
		pMaterialDict->close(); 
	} 
}