AutoCAD DevBlog

How to Crop a Point Cloud using API

By Madhukar Moogala

In this post we will discuss about cropping a point cloud, first we will look at how we can attach a point cloud from *.rcs which is an Autodesk Recap Scan File.

Later, in the code we will crop the attached Point Cloud, I will add two types of cropping boundary namely, Rectangular and Circular.

The core logic of cropping is to ensure giving the proper cropping plane and cropping points that fits within cropping boundary.

The other elements in API used is self explanatory.

namespace PointCloudData
{
public class Class1
{
    //Get RCP file from Solution Directory
    private static string getPCFile()
    {
        /*
        SolutionFolder
        │   
        ├───bin
        └───Debug
        │
        assembly.dll

        */
        var assemblyLoc =
                Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location;
        var debugFolder = 
                Path.GetDirectoryName(assemblyLoc);
        var binFolder = 
                Path.GetDirectoryName(debugFolder);
        var solutionFolder = 
                Path.GetDirectoryName(binFolder);
        var FilePath = 
                solutionFolder +
                       "\\MyOfficeRoom.rcs";
        return FilePath;
    }
    //Write to Editor
    private static void Report(string v)
    {
        Editor ed = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;
        ed.WriteMessage("\n" + v);
    }

    public static ObjectId AttachPointCloudEx(string filename,
                                              double scale, 
                                              double rotation)
    {
        Point3d location = new Point3d(0, 0, 0);
        Database db = HostApplicationServices.WorkingDatabase;
        ObjectId objid = PointCloudEx.AttachPointCloud(filename,
                                                        location,
                                                        scale,
                                                        rotation,
                                                        db);
        if (objid.IsNull)
            Report("\nFail to get object id of attach point cloud"+
                "by PointCloudEx.AttacPointCloud API");

        return objid;

    }
    
    //Cropping Logic
    //
    public static ErrorStatus addcropping(PointCloudEx pointcloud,
                                          PointCloudCropType type, 
                                          Point3d pt1, Point3d pt2,
                                          bool bInside, bool bInverted)
    {

        PointCloudCrop crop = PointCloudCrop.Create(IntPtr.Zero);
        if (crop == null)
            Report("\nFail to create crop by pointcloudcrop.Create method");
        Point3dCollection points = new Point3dCollection();
        points.Add(pt1);
        points.Add(pt2);
        crop.Vertices = points;
        //In SW Isometric View or OrthoGraphic View
        Vector3d norm = new Vector3d(0, 1, 0);           
        Plane cropPlane = new Plane(pt1, norm);
        crop.CropPlane = cropPlane;
        crop.CropType = type;
        crop.Inside = bInside;
        crop.Inverted = bInverted;
        pointcloud.addCroppingBoundary(crop);
        return ErrorStatus.OK;
    }

       
    [CommandMethod("CropPC")]
    public static void CropPC()
    {
        //attach point cloud into the drawing
        Database db = 
            HostApplicationServices.WorkingDatabase;
        ObjectId objid = 
            AttachPointCloudEx(getPCFile(), 1.0, 0.0);
        Editor ed = 
            Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;
        //get the point cloud object
        using (Transaction t = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
        {
            ViewTableRecord activeVTR = ed.GetCurrentView() as ViewTableRecord;
            //Set VS Preset to Realistic, in Wireframe PC Attach is not supported.
            DBDictionary dict = t.GetObject(db.VisualStyleDictionaryId,
                                OpenMode.ForRead) as DBDictionary;
            activeVTR.VisualStyleId = dict.GetAt("Realistic");
            ed.SetCurrentView(activeVTR);
            ed.UpdateTiledViewportsFromDatabase();
                

            PointCloudEx pcloudex = 
                t.GetObject(objid, OpenMode.ForWrite) as PointCloudEx;

                             
            //Add two cropping to the point cloud
            Point3d crop1_pt1 = new Point3d(-7.0, 12.0, 0);
            Point3d crop1_pt2 = new Point3d(-4.0, 9.0, 0);
            Point3d crop2_pt1 = new Point3d(3.5, 15.0, 0);
            Point3d crop2_pt2 = new Point3d(6.0, 13.0, 0);
            /*Cropping PC in not supported in PerspectiveView*/
            if (activeVTR.PerspectiveEnabled)
            {
                activeVTR.PerspectiveEnabled = false;
            }
            //Rectangle - first corner point, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and first corner point again. 
            addcropping(pcloudex, 
                        PointCloudCropType.Rectangular, 
                        crop1_pt1, crop1_pt2,
                        false, false);
            //Circular - there are 2 points, center point and any point which is on the circle's circumference. 
            addcropping(pcloudex, 
                        PointCloudCropType.Circular, 
                        crop2_pt1, crop2_pt2,
                        false, true);

            //show Cropping
            pcloudex.ShowCropped = true;
            //Now lets us traversing list of croppings
            for (int Index = 0; Index < pcloudex.getCroppingCount(); Index++)
            {

                //Retrieving Croptype
                PointCloudCrop tmpcrop = pcloudex.getPointCloudCropping(Index);
                Report(tmpcrop.CropType.ToString());
            }

            //Zoom the View to PC Extents
            using (ViewTableRecord vtr = new ViewTableRecord())
            {
                vtr.CenterPoint = 
                    new Point2d(pcloudex.Location.X, pcloudex.Location.Z);
                Extents3d extents = 
                    pcloudex.GeomExtents;
                Point2d min2d = 
                    new Point2d(extents.MinPoint.X, extents.MinPoint.Y);
                Point2d max2d =
                    new Point2d(extents.MaxPoint.X, extents.MaxPoint.Y);
                vtr.Height = 
                    max2d.Y - min2d.Y;
                vtr.Width =
                    max2d.X - min2d.X;
                vtr.Target = 
                    activeVTR.Target;
                                       
                ed.SetCurrentView(vtr);
            }
                
            t.Commit();

        }
           
    }

        

    }
}

 

Source project can be downloaded from here

Note: I intentionally didn’t upload Pointcloud file (*.rcs), as it is bulky size.

How to create Space Style with Display Overrides

By Madhukar Moogala

We have received  this query from one of our ADN publisher, I’m blogging it for benefit every developer.

Thanks to Amod for helping me out. As I’m fairly new to OMF and >NET API for ACA_MEP.

The following code is self explanatory.

public static void PrintToCmdLine(string str)
{
    Editor ed = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;
    ed.WriteMessage(str);
}
[CommandMethod("createSpaceStyle")]
public static void createSpaceStyle()
{
    Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
    Database db = doc.Database;
    Editor ed = doc.Editor;
    try
    {
        using (Transaction trans = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
        {
            Autodesk.Aec.Arch.DatabaseServices.DictionarySpaceStyle dict =
             new DictionarySpaceStyle(db);
            // space style
            string stylename = "My_SpaceStyle";
            Autodesk.Aec.Arch.DatabaseServices.SpaceStyle style = 
            new SpaceStyle();
            //Append To DB
            style.SetToStandard(db);
                   
            /*Check*/
            if (dict.Records.IndexOf(style.ObjectId) == -1)
            {
                dict.AddNewRecord(stylename, style);
                trans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(style, true);
                /*How to Add overrides to Style */
                DisplayRepresentationManager dispRepMg = 
                 new DisplayRepresentationManager();
                Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.ObjectId dispRepsDictId = 
                  dispRepMg.DisplayRepresentationsDictionaryId;
                DBDictionary dispRepsDict = 
                  (DBDictionary)trans.GetObject(dispRepsDictId, OpenMode.ForWrite, false);
                Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.ObjectId dispRepId = 
                   dispRepsDict.GetAt("AecDbDispRepSpaceModel");
                DisplayRepresentation dispRep = 
                trans.GetObject(dispRepId, OpenMode.ForWrite, false) as DisplayRepresentation;

                Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.ObjectId DispPropId = 
                  dispRep.DefaultDisplayPropertiesId;
                OverrideDisplayProperties ovr = new OverrideDisplayProperties();
                ovr.SubSetDatabaseDefaults(db);
                ovr.SetToStandard(db);
                ovr.DisplayPropertyId = DispPropId;
                ovr.ViewId = dispRepId;
                style.Overrides.Add(ovr);
            }
            /*Access Display Overides*/
            for (int c = 0; c < style.Overrides.Count; c++)
            {
                Override ovr = style.Overrides[c];
                OverrideDisplayProperties odp = 
                            (OverrideDisplayProperties)ovr;
                if (odp != null)
                {
                    string str = "Space style " + 
                                style.Name +
                                " has display overrides\n";
                    PrintToCmdLine(str);
                }
            }                 
                    
            trans.Commit();
        }
    }
    catch (System.Exception ex)
    {
        ed.WriteMessage(ex.ToString());
    }

           
    }

 

Please find our style residing STYLEMANAGER:

How to Deploy OEM with SCCM

By Madhukar Moogala

Large corporations prefer to deploy custom AutoCAD OEM suites using SCCM, here is preferred way to do, in the configuration manager tool

you need to enter

setup.exe /t /q /c AOEM: INSTALLDIR="C:\Program Files\MyApp" InstallLevel=5

Where MyApp is OEM program name.

From AutoCAD OEM 2023-

We have changed the installer technology, we moved to ODIS which is a On Demand Installer Service, its purpose is to create an installation, deployment, and update experience that's fast, easy, predictable, and painless for customers.

For Silent Install -

setup.exe --silent --pf abc --sn defghijk

Note abc-defghijk is the serial number assigned to your account

The silent mode won’t allow you to change the INSTALLDIR.

How To Make MultiViewBlocks Annotative

By Madhukar Moogala

Though the post is very much related to AutoCAD Architecture or MEP, I have taken little liberty to attract AutoCAD audience too

There isn’t a direct API to make annotative MVBlock, however if the internal ACAD block is annotative, same behaviour can be exposed to MVBlocks, we will get all referenced blocks and set annotation on each block which is an ACAD block.

[CommandMethod("MakeMVBlockAnnotative")]
        public static void makeMVBlockAnnotative()
        {
            /*You need to include AecBaseMgd reference from OMF SDK or available with ACA\MEP installations*/
            Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
            Database db = doc.Database;
            Editor ed = doc.Editor;
            PromptEntityOptions peo = new PromptEntityOptions("Select a MVBlockreference");
            PromptEntityResult result = ed.GetEntity(peo);
            if (result.Status != PromptStatus.OK) return;
            try
            {
                using (Transaction tr =
                    db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
                {
                    MultiViewBlockReference mvBref = 
                        tr.GetObject(result.ObjectId, OpenMode.ForWrite) as MultiViewBlockReference;
                    MultiViewBlockDefinition mbBdef = 
                        tr.GetObject(mvBref.BlockDefId, OpenMode.ForWrite) as MultiViewBlockDefinition;
                    /*Each MVBlockDefination has various internal ACAD Blocks,
                     *  each such block holds view dependent entities                     
                     * If a internal ACAD Block has annotative behavior, 
                     * same can be exposed to mvblocks.                
                     
                     */

                    Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.ObjectIdCollection BrefIds =
                        mbBdef.GetAllBlocksReferenced();
                    /*Utility*/
                    printHandlesToEditor(BrefIds);
                    foreach(Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.ObjectId id in BrefIds)
                    {
                        BlockTableRecord btr = tr.GetObject(id, OpenMode.ForWrite) as BlockTableRecord;
                        btr.Annotative = AnnotativeStates.True;
                    }
                    BrefIds.Clear();
                    
                    bool status = mvBref.UpdateAnnotative();
                    tr.Commit();

                }
            }
            catch (System.Exception ex)
            {
                ed.WriteMessage(ex.ToString());
            }
        }
        /*Helper*/
        private static void printHandlesToEditor(Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.ObjectIdCollection ids)
        {
            Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
            Database db = doc.Database;
            Editor ed = doc.Editor;
            foreach (Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.ObjectId id in ids)
            {
                Handle handle = id.Handle;
                ed.WriteMessage("\n" + handle.Value.ToString());
            }

        }

Updating Parametric Dimensions of Entities In-Memory Database

By Madhukar Moogala

I have received a query from ADN  on how to update the parameters of a drawing which is not an active document but read as in-memory database.

For active drawing, we can use DIMREGEN in case if associated dimensions are updated, associated dimension may not act automatically in certain workflows, where a manual dimension regen is required.

But, for in-memory database, after modifying Parameter values(AcDbAssocVariable), to take effect on underlying entities of dimensions it is preferable to always evaluate the top level network of the database by calling AcDbAssocManager::evaluateTopLevelNetwork(). Evaluation of the whole top level network guarantees that all actions that need to be evaluated, are evaluated. There is no performance penalty by always evaluating the whole top level network of the database even if it contains many sub networks and many actions.

Following code assumes, user is trying to update dimensions on parametric rectangle of 20.0 and 30.0, test drawing and test project is appended at the bottom.

namespace filer
{
    ///<Summary>
    /// How to update Parameters on entities  of in-memory database
    ///</Summary>
public class TestFiler
{
    ///<Summary>
    /// How to update Parameters on entities  of in-memory database
    ///</Summary>
    ///
[CommandMethod("DIMUPDATE")]
public static void testDimUpdate()
{
Editor ed = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;
try
{
    string drawingFile = getDrawingLocation();
    using (Database db = new Database(false, true))
    {
        db.ReadDwgFile(drawingFile,
                        FileOpenMode.OpenForReadAndWriteNoShare,
                        false, null);
        db.CloseInput(true);
        using (Transaction tr = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
        {
            BlockTableRecord btr = 
            (BlockTableRecord)tr.GetObject(SymbolUtilityServices.GetBlockModelSpaceId(db),
                                            OpenMode.ForRead);
            /*Width*/
            ObjectId wActionId = GetVariableByName(btr.ObjectId, "Width", false);
            string name = string.Empty;
            ResultBuffer rbuf = null;
            string expression = string.Empty;
            GetVariableValue(wActionId, ref name, ref rbuf, ref expression);
            expression = "30";//Width Value
            SetVariableValue(wActionId, null, expression);
                /*Check  if our values Got reflected in DB*/
            GetVariableValue(wActionId, ref name, ref rbuf, ref expression);
            if (String.Compare(expression, "30"/*hardCoded For Width*/).Equals(0))
                Application.ShowAlertDialog("Hey Success!");
            else //Quit processing further
                return;
            /*Length*/
            ObjectId lActionId = GetVariableByName(btr.ObjectId,
                                                    "Length", false);
            rbuf = null;
            GetVariableValue(lActionId, ref name, ref rbuf, ref expression);
            expression = "40";//height Value
            SetVariableValue(lActionId, null, expression);
            tr.Commit();
        }

        bool isEvaluationSuccess = AssocManager.EvaluateTopLevelNetwork(db, null, 0);
        if (isEvaluationSuccess)
        {
            //Now Check if the Values Updated in Entity
            using (Transaction tr = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
            {
                BlockTableRecord btr = 
                (BlockTableRecord)tr.GetObject(SymbolUtilityServices.GetBlockModelSpaceId(db),
                                                OpenMode.ForRead);
                foreach (ObjectId id in btr)
                {
                    Entity ent = (Entity)tr.GetObject(id, OpenMode.ForRead);
                    Polyline pline = ent as Polyline;
                    if (pline != null)
                    {
                        //stream the points to Editor Console
                        for (int i = 0; i < pline.NumberOfVertices; i++)
                            ed.WriteMessage("\n" + 
                                            pline.GetPoint3dAt(i).ToString());
                    }


                }
                tr.Commit();
            }
        }
        else return; //We will quit

        //Now save the in-memory DB to Disk.
        db.SaveAs(new StringBuilder(drawingFile).Replace(".dwg",
                                                        "_new.dwg").ToString(),
                                                        DwgVersion.Current);


    }
}
catch (System.Exception ex)
{
    ed.WriteMessage(ex.ToString());
}

}

private static string getDrawingLocation()
{
    /*
    SolutionFolder
    │   
   |───bin
    └───Debug
    │
    assembly.dll

    */
    var assemblyLoc = Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location;
    var debugFolder = Path.GetDirectoryName(assemblyLoc);
    var binFolder = Path.GetDirectoryName(debugFolder);
    var solutionFolder = Path.GetDirectoryName(binFolder);
    var drawingLocationFilePath = solutionFolder + 
                                "\\TestParameters.dwg";
    return Path.GetFullPath(drawingLocationFilePath);
}

///<Summary>
/// Get Variable Name for Given variableId
///</Summary>
///
private static ObjectId GetVariableByName(ObjectId btrId,
string name,
bool createIfDoesNotExist)
{
    if (name.Length == 0)
        throw new Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime.Exception(
        ErrorStatus.InvalidInput);

    ObjectId networkId = AssocNetwork.GetInstanceFromObject(
    btrId,
    createIfDoesNotExist,
    true,
    "ACAD_ASSOCNETWORK");

    if (networkId == ObjectId.Null)
        return ObjectId.Null;

    using (Transaction Tx =
    btrId.Database.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
    {
        using (AssocNetwork network =
        Tx.GetObject(networkId, OpenMode.ForRead, false)
        as AssocNetwork)
        {
            foreach (ObjectId actionId in network.GetActions)
            {
                if (actionId == ObjectId.Null)
                    continue;

                if (actionId.ObjectClass.IsDerivedFrom(
                RXObject.GetClass(typeof(AssocVariable))))
                {
                    //Check if we found our guy
                    AssocVariable var = Tx.GetObject(actionId, 
                                                    OpenMode.ForRead,
                                                    false)
                    as AssocVariable;

                    if (var.Name == name)
                        return actionId;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    //If we don't want to create a new variable, returns an error
    if (!createIfDoesNotExist)
        return ObjectId.Null;

    return ObjectId.Null;//We didnt find what we are looking
}
private static void GetVariableValue(ObjectId variableId,
ref string name,
ref ResultBuffer value,
ref string expression)

{
    using (Transaction Tx =
    variableId.Database.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
    {
        AssocVariable assocV =
        Tx.GetObject(variableId, OpenMode.ForRead)
        as AssocVariable;

        name = assocV.Name;

        assocV.EvaluateExpression(ref value);

        expression = assocV.Expression;

        Tx.Commit();
    }
}
///<Summary>
/// Set Expression for Given variableId
///</Summary>
///
private static void SetVariableValue(ObjectId variableId,
ResultBuffer value,
string expression)
{
    using (Transaction Tx =
    variableId.Database.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
    {
        AssocVariable assocV =
        Tx.GetObject(variableId, OpenMode.ForWrite)
        as AssocVariable;

        if (expression != string.Empty)
        {
            string errMsg = string.Empty;

            assocV.ValidateNameAndExpression(
            assocV.Name,
            expression,
            ref errMsg);

            assocV.SetExpression(
            expression, "", true, true, ref errMsg, true);

            ResultBuffer evaluatedExpressionValue = null;

            assocV.EvaluateExpression(ref evaluatedExpressionValue);

            assocV.Value = evaluatedExpressionValue;
        }
        else
        {
            assocV.Value = value;
        }

        Tx.Commit();
    }
}
}
}

Sample Project with Drawings.

UpdateParameters