AutoCAD DevBlog

VB.NET code snippet for printing using Design Review Control

By Gopinath Taget

If you are wondering how you could use the Autodesk Design Review control to print a DWF file in a .NET App, here is a code snippet that will help:

Private Sub SimplePrintButton_Click(

ByVal sender As System.Object,

ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles SimplePrintButton.Click

        Dim ctrl As ExpressViewerDll.CExpressViewerControl
        ctrl = AxCExpressViewerControl1.GetOcx()

        Dim plt As EPlotViewer.IAdEPlotViewer
        plt = ctrl.DocumentHandler
        plt.SimplePrint(True, True)
End Sub

Please do make sure you have the “DwfComposer EplotViewer 1.0 Type Library” COM library referenced in your application.

AutoCAD OEM Support for AutoLISP/LISP

by Fenton Webb

AutoCAD OEM does support LISP, but there are a few restrictions:

1. LISP applications must be compiled into .fas, raw .lsp files are not supported.
• You must compile your LISP applications using the inbuilt “AutoCAD OEM” (aoem.exe) application that is installed with the AutoCAD OEM CD.
• Once the .lsp has been compiled into a .fas, you must then bind the fas file to the OEM product in the build process. This means that you can never just load LISP files (.fas) into an OEM product, it must be registered at build time.
2. The ActiveX API is not supported in LISP; that means vlax functions do not work.
3. The VLIDE and APPLOAD commands are omitted in 3rd party AutoCAD OEM products.
4. The user-entered LISP interpreter is disabled in 3rd party AutoCAD OEM products. The (command) still works fine when invoked from an OEM bound .fas file.

Linking attributes and table using DataExtraction API

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

The "EATTEXT" command in AutoCAD can extract data such as attribute text and display it inside a table. Here is a sample code to do it programmatically using the DataExtraction API and to create a table that links with the data.

To try this,

1) Copy the attached "MyBlock.dwg" to "C:\Temp" folder.

2) Start AutoCAD and open the drawing

3) Run the command and select a point when prompted for the insertion point of the table.

4) Change the attribute values to a different value

5) Right-click on the table and select "Update Table Data Links" option to refresh the values.

// Add the AcDx.dll reference from the inc folder

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DataExtraction;

 

Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;

Editor ed = doc.Editor;

Database db = doc.Database;

 

// Copy the attached "MyBlock.dwg" to C:\Temp for testing

// The Dxe file will be created at runtime in C:\Temp if not found

const string dxePath = @"C:\Temp\MyData.dxe";

const string dwgFolder = @"C:\Temp\";

const string dwgName = "MyBlock.dwg";

 

if (System.IO.File.Exists(dxePath) == false)

{

    // Create the DXE file with the information that we want to extract

    DxExtractionSettings setting = new DxExtractionSettings();

 

    IDxFileReference dxFileReference

        = new DxFileReference(dwgFolder, dwgFolder + dwgName);

 

    setting.DrawingDataExtractor.Settings.DrawingList.AddFile

                                            (dxFileReference);

 

    setting.DrawingDataExtractor.DiscoverTypesAndProperties

                                        (dwgFolder + dwgName);

 

    List<IDxTypeDescriptor> types

        = setting.DrawingDataExtractor.DiscoveredTypesAndProperties;

 

    List<string> selectedTypes = new List<string>();

    List<string> selectedProps = new List<string>();

    foreach (IDxTypeDescriptor td in types)

    {

        if (td.GlobalName.Equals("BlockReferenceTypeDescriptor.Test"))

            selectedTypes.Add(td.GlobalName);

 

        foreach (IDxPropertyDescriptor pd in td.Properties)

        {

            if (pd.GlobalName.Equals("AcDxObjectTypeGlobalName") ||

                pd.GlobalName.Equals("AcDxObjectTypeName") ||

                pd.GlobalName.Equals("BlockReferenceAttribute.NAME") ||

                pd.GlobalName.Equals("BlockReferenceAttribute.PLACE"))

            {

                if (!selectedProps.Contains(pd.GlobalName))

                    selectedProps.Add(pd.GlobalName);

            }

        }

    }

 

    setting.DrawingDataExtractor.Settings.ExtractFlags

                    = ExtractFlags.Nested | ExtractFlags.Xref;

 

    setting.DrawingDataExtractor.Settings.SetSelectedTypesAndProperties

                        (types, selectedTypes, selectedProps);

 

    setting.OutputSettings.DataCellStyle = "Data";

    setting.OutputSettings.FileOutputType = AdoOutput.OutputType.xml;

    setting.OutputSettings.HeaderCellStyle = "Header";

    setting.OutputSettings.ManuallySetupTable = true;

    setting.OutputSettings.OuputFlags = DxOuputFlags.Table;

    setting.OutputSettings.TableStyleId = db.Tablestyle;

    setting.OutputSettings.TableStyleName = "Standard";

    setting.OutputSettings.TitleCellStyle = "Title";

    setting.OutputSettings.UsePropertyNameAsColumnHeader = false;

 

    setting.Save(dxePath);

}

 

//Create a DataLink

ObjectId dlId = ObjectId.Null;

DataLinkManager dlm = db.DataLinkManager;

using (DataLink dl = new DataLink())

{

    String dataLinkName = "MyDataLink2";

    dlId = dlm.GetDataLink(dataLinkName);

 

    if(dlId.IsNull)

    {

        // create a datalink

        dl.ConnectionString = dxePath;

        dl.ToolTip = "My Data Link";

        dl.Name = dataLinkName;

 

        DataAdapter da

            = DataAdapterManager.GetDataAdapter

            ("Autodesk.AutoCAD.DataExtraction.DxDataLinkAdapter");

 

        if (da != null)

            dl.DataAdapterId = da.DataAdapterId;

        dlId = dlm.AddDataLink(dl);

    }

}

 

// Ask for the table insertion point

PromptPointResult pr = ed.GetPoint("\nEnter table insertion point: ");

if (pr.Status != PromptStatus.OK)

    return;

 

// Create a table

ObjectId tableId = ObjectId.Null;

using (Transaction tr = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())

{

    Table table = new Table();

 

    // 2 rows and 4 columns

    table.SetSize(2, 4);

 

    table.Position = pr.Value;

 

    //Add the Table to the drawing database

    BlockTable bt = tr.GetObject(

                                    db.BlockTableId,

                                    OpenMode.ForWrite

                                ) as BlockTable;

 

    BlockTableRecord btr = tr.GetObject

                            (

                                bt[BlockTableRecord.ModelSpace],

                                OpenMode.ForWrite

                            ) as BlockTableRecord;

 

    tableId = btr.AppendEntity(table);

    tr.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(table, true);

 

    //table.Cells.SetDataLink(dlId, false);

    table.SetDataLink(1, 0, dlId, true);

 

    //Generate the layout

    table.GenerateLayout();

 

    tr.Commit();

}

Download MyBlock

Selecting file with standard AutoCAD file/open dialog

By Xiaodong Liang

Issue
Can I gain access to the "Open File Dialog" (with preview) found only in AutoCAD with VBA?

Solution
You can do this through the communication interface with AutoLISP and AutoCAD. The AutoLISP function, getfiled, behaves as the AutoCAD "Open File Dialog" and allows .DWG files to be previewed.

VBA:

Public Sub OpenDialog()
   Dim fileName As String
   'Using the SendCommand method, send getfiled AutoLISP expressions to the AutoCAD command line.
   'Set the return value to a user-defined system variable USERS1.
   ThisDrawing.SendCommand "(setvar " & """users1""" & "(getfiled " & """Select a DWG File""" & """c:/program files/acad2012/""" & """dwg""" & "8)) "
   'Use the GetVariable method to retrieve this system variable to store the selected file name
   fileName = ThisDrawing.GetVariable("users1")
   MsgBox "You have selected " & fileName & "!!!", , "File Message"
End Sub

VB.NET

 

    Public Sub OpenDialog(AcadApp As AcadApplication)

        Dim ThisDrawing As AcadDocument

        ThisDrawing = AcadApp.ActiveDocument

 

        Dim fileName As String

        'Using the SendCommand method, send getfiled
       ‘AutoLISP expressions to the AutoCAD command

       ‘line.Set the return value to a user-defined 

       ‘system variable USERS1.

        ThisDrawing.SendCommand("(setvar " &  

                                 """users1""" &

                                  "(getfiled " &

                          """Select a DWG File""" &

                    """c:/program files/acad2012/""" &

                   """dwg""" & "8)) ")

        'Use the GetVariable method to retrieve this 

        ‘system variable to store selected file name

        fileName = ThisDrawing.GetVariable("users1")

        MsgBox("You have selected " &

                fileName & "!!!", ,

                 "File Message")

    End Sub

AutoCAD 2014 and Security

By Gopinath Taget

Have you downloaded and installed AutoCAD 2014 yet? If you did, you will notice a new set of security features in AutoCAD that will not let you load custom applications that are not in a secure, trusted path. This behavior is controlled with SECURELOAD and TRUSTEDPATHS settings.

The easiest and best way to deploy your apps is to install your applications as Application bundles as the bundle paths are automatically treated as trusted paths. Check out this Autodesk Autoloader white paper for detailed information on its technology.

If this is not an option for you, you could try digitally signing your application. For this you will need a digital certificate from a well know certificate authority. AutoCAD 2014 will load digitally signed applications even if they are not in a trusted path.

One note for .NET developers. Digitally signing your application is different from strong naming your applications. Here is a very informative FAQ on the differences.

create a view with a twist angle using a paper space vport?

By Xiaodong Liang

Issue
I need to create a view with ActiveX that shows our drawing in a twisted view. I do not see any type of property of a view object that will create a view and rotate the view at a specified twist angle.

Solution
The View object does not have a Twist property, and the Center, Target and Direction of a View object will not allow the same effect as a Twist (With DVIEW). There is a logged wishlist to add this property.

One workaround is to use a paper space viewport and use its TwistAngle property. The following is an example that uses a paper space view port to create a view with a twist angle.

    Sub createViewWithTwistAngle(AcadApp As AcadApplication)

' This example creates a new paperspace viewport.

' It then sets the viewdirection, and the TwistAngle

' Then view is then created using SendCommand (VIEW)

' The viewport erased it is only created to set the

' TwistAngle

 

 

        Dim viewportObj As AcadViewport

        Dim myView As AcadView

        Dim int1 As Integer

        Dim ThisDrawing As AcadDocument

        ThisDrawing = AcadApp.ActiveDocument

 

 

        ' Define the pviewport

        Dim center(0 To 2) As Double

        center(0) = 3 : center(1) = 3 : center(2) = 0

 

        Dim width As Double

        Dim height As Double

        width = 4

        height = 4

 

        ' Change from model space to paperspace

        ThisDrawing.ActiveSpace =  

                  AcActiveSpace.acPaperSpace

 

        ' Create the pviewport

        Dim pviewportObj As AcadPViewport

        pviewportObj = 

     ThisDrawing.PaperSpace.AddPViewport(center,
                                         width,

                                        height)

        pviewportObj.Display(True)

        pviewportObj.ViewportOn = True

        ThisDrawing.MSpace = True

        ThisDrawing.ActivePViewport = pviewportObj

 

        ' Change the viewing direction of the ViewPort

        Dim NewDirection(0 To 2) As Double

        NewDirection(0) = -1 :

        NewDirection(1) = -1 :
        NewDirection(2) = 1

        pviewportObj.Direction = NewDirection

 

        ' Set the twist angle for the viewport

        pviewportObj.TwistAngle = 0.56999999999999995

 

 

        ' Remove view named test1

        For int1 = 0 To ThisDrawing.Views.Count - 1

            If ThisDrawing.Views(int1).Name = "my_test_view" Then

                ThisDrawing.Views(int1).Delete()

            End If

        Next int1

 

 

        ThisDrawing.Application.ZoomExtents()

 

        ' Create a view

        ThisDrawing.SendCommand("-view" & Chr(13) &

                                "Save" & Chr(13) &

                                "my_test_view" &

                                Chr(13))

 

        ' Erase the paper space view port

        pviewportObj.Delete()

 

        ThisDrawing.ActiveSpace =  

                  AcActiveSpace.acModelSpace

 

        ' Reference model space viewport and set the

          view to the one

        ' created above

        viewportObj = ThisDrawing.ActiveViewport

        myView =

            ThisDrawing.Views.Item("my_test_view")

        viewportObj.SetView(myView)

        ThisDrawing.ActiveViewport = viewportObj

 

    End Sub

Iterate each IAcadBlock in IAcadBlocks using ActiveX in C++

Issue
In C++, I don't seem to be able to iterate the IAcadBlocks to access each IAcadBlock. Is there sample code that does this?

Solution
The following two approaches iterate the IAcadBlocks to access each IAcadBloc. This assumes that you have set up your skeleton ARX/MFC project, importing the tlb of AutoCAD COM library already.

void test()

{

    try

    {

        // get application

        IAcadApplicationPtr pIAcad =

            acedGetAcadWinApp()->GetIDispatch(TRUE);

        // get blocks collection

        IAcadBlocksPtr pIBlks =

            pIAcad->GetActiveDocument()->GetBlocks();

 

        // count of blocks

        long nCnt =pIBlks->GetCount();

        for(long i=0; i<nCnt; i++)

        {

            _variant_t var(i);

            // each block

            IAcadBlockPtr pIBlk =

                pIBlks->Item(var);

            BSTR str;

            // get block name

            pIBlk->get_Name(&str);

            _bstr_t bstr(str);

            // pop out the block name

            AfxMessageBox(bstr);

            ::SysFreeString(str);

        }

    }

    catch(_com_error& err)

    {

        AfxMessageBox(err.ErrorMessage());

    }

}

 

If you want to use the #import generated files that come ObjectARX, do it as the following code shows:

static void test()

{

    try

    {

        // get application

        IDispatch* pDisp =

            acedGetAcadWinApp()->GetIDispatch(TRUE);

        if(!pDisp) _com_issue_error(E_POINTER);

        CComPtr<IAcadApplication> pIAcad;

        pDisp->QueryInterface(IID_IAcadApplication, (void**)&pIAcad);

 

        // get current document

        CComPtr<IAcadDocument> pIDoc;

        pIAcad->get_ActiveDocument(&pIDoc);

 

        // get blocks collection

        CComPtr<IAcadBlocks> pIBlks;

        pIDoc->get_Blocks(&pIBlks);

 

        long blksCnt;

        pIBlks->get_Count(&blksCnt);

        CComPtr<IAcadBlock> pIBlk;

        // iterate each block

        for(long i=0; i<blksCnt; i++)

        {

            _variant_t x(i);

            pIBlks->Item(x, &pIBlk);

            BSTR str;

            pIBlk->get_Name(&str);

            char buf[256];

            buf [0] =0 ;

            if(WideCharToMultiByte (CP_ACP,

                0,

                str,

                -1,

                buf,

                256,

                NULL,

                NULL))

       acutPrintf(_T("\nBlock name %d is: %s"), i, buf);

            ::SysFreeString(str);

        }

    }

    catch(_com_error& err)

    {

        AfxMessageBox(err.ErrorMessage());

    }

}

Get image clip boundary coordinates

By Xiaodong Liang

Issue
I can set image’s clip by AcadRasterImage.ClipBoundary, but how do I get the AcadRasterImage's clip boundary coordinates? I know if it is rectangular, I can get its bounding box, width and height. But, if the clip boundary is of a irregular shape, I can't find any exposed methods to get such data.

Solution
The ObjectARX AcDbRasterImage::clipBoundary() equivalent functionality is not exposed in the current ActiveX Automation Model.

We can work around this limitation by exposing an interface that does exactly that. The whole project is attached:  Download ImgClipBoundary

STDMETHODIMP CClipBoundaryObj::GetImageClipBoundary(

    VARIANT* pVarDblArray,

    VARIANT acadImage)

{

    // TODO: Add your implementation code here

    try

    {

        CComQIPtr<IAcadRasterImage>

            pAcadImage(acadImage.punkVal);

        if(!pAcadImage)

            throw E_POINTER;

        CComQIPtr<IAcadBaseObject>

            pBaseObj(pAcadImage);

        if(!pBaseObj)

            throw E_POINTER;

        AcDbObjectId id;

        pBaseObj->GetObjectId(&id);

        AcDbObjectPointer<AcDbRasterImage>

            pImage(id, AcDb::kForRead);

 

        if(pImage.openStatus() != Acad::eOk)

            throw E_UNEXPECTED;

        AcGePoint2dArray array =
            pImage->clipBoundary();

 

        int len = array.length();

        if(len == 0)

            throw E_FAIL;

 

        AcGeMatrix3d mat;

        pImage->getPixelToModelTransform(mat);

        mat.inverse();

        AcAxPoint2dArray pts;

        for(int i=0; i<len; i++)

        {

            AcGePoint3d pt(array[i].x, array[i].y, 0);

            pt.transformBy(mat);

            pts.append(AcGePoint2d(pt.x, pt.y));

        }

        pts.setVariant(pVarDblArray);

    }

 

    catch(const HRESULT h)

    {

        // for now

        acutPrintf(_T("\nSomething is wrong."));

        return h;

    }

 

    return S_OK;

}

To use the ability above,
1. build the attached project, load it in AutoCAD
2.  open VBA IDE
3. Tools >> Reference: select ARX. now you can see one library is available in the list.

4. Run the VBA code below. It creates an image and set its clip, and gets its clip boundary by the method provided in asdkImgClipBoundary.

Sub Example_ClipBoundary()
    ' This example adds a raster image in model space.
    ' It then clips the image based on a clip boundary.
    ' This example uses the "downtown.jpg" found in the sample
    ' directory. If you do not have the image, or it is located
    ' in a different directory, insert a valid path and name for the
    ' imageName variable below.
    Dim insertionPoint(0 To 2) As Double

    Dim scalefactor As Double
    Dim rotationAngle As Double
    Dim imageName As String
    Dim rasterObj As AcadRasterImage
    imageName = "C:\01_SDK\ObjectARX 2012\samples\graphics\AsdkTransientGraphicsSampFolder\Airport-Image.jpg"
    insertionPoint(0) = 5#: insertionPoint(1) = 5#: insertionPoint(2) = 0#
    scalefactor = 2#
    rotationAngle = 0
    On Error Resume Next

    ' Creates a raster image in model space
    Set rasterObj = ThisDrawing.ModelSpace.AddRaster(imageName, insertionPoint, scalefactor, rotationAngle)
    If Err.Description = "Filer error" Then
        MsgBox imageName & " could not be found."
        Exit Sub
    End If
    ZoomAll
    MsgBox "Clip the image?", , "ClipBoundary Example"
    ' Establish the clip boundary with an array of points

    Dim clipPoints(0 To 9) As Double
    clipPoints(0) = 6: clipPoints(1) = 6.75
    clipPoints(2) = 7: clipPoints(3) = 6
    clipPoints(4) = 6: clipPoints(5) = 5
    clipPoints(6) = 5: clipPoints(7) = 6
    clipPoints(8) = 6: clipPoints(9) = 6.75
    ' Clip the image
    rasterObj.ClipBoundary clipPoints
    ' Enable the display of the clip

    rasterObj.ClippingEnabled = True
    ThisDrawing.Regen acActiveViewport
    'MsgBox "The image has been clipped.", , "ClipBoundary Example"
    On Error GoTo 0
    Dim xObj As asdkImgClipBoundaryLib.ClipBoundaryObj
    Set xObj = ThisDrawing.Application.GetInterfaceObject("ImgClipBoundary.ClipBoundaryObj.1")
    Dim boundary As Variant
    xObj.GetImageClipBoundary boundary, rasterObj
End Sub

Create Bitmap Of Selected Entities

By Gopinath Taget

If you want to generate/create a BMP out of selected entities then you need to use Export() method of the AcadDocument class of ActiveX Automation API of AutoCAD.

The VC++ sample below creates a BMP image out of the selection set.

// Important: check ?Use MFC? option while creating the

// ObjectARX project using ObjectARX Wizard

 

void fCreateBMP()

{

 try

{

  IAcadApplicationPtr pApp;

  IAcadDocumentPtr pAtvDoc;

  IAcadSelectionSetPtr pSS;

  pApp = acedGetAcadWinApp()->GetIDispatch(TRUE);

 

  //get the active document and selectionset

  pApp->get_ActiveDocument(&pAtvDoc);

  pSS = pAtvDoc->get_ActiveSelectionSet(&pSS);

  pSS->SelectOnScreen();//without any filters

  if(S_OK == pAtvDoc->Export(_bstr_t("c:\\test"),

   _bstr_t("BMP"),pSS))

   acutPrintf(L"\nCreated BMP successfully.");

}

 catch (_com_error &es)

{

  acutPrintf(L"\nerror %s",(char *) es.Description());

}

}

Note that the bitmap is generated out of the viewable area of the current document and the size is dependent on the window size of the document while generating the bitmap.

If you want to control the size of the bitmap then before generating the bitmap, set the window size of the document using the Height() and Width() properties of IAcadDocument class. Also before changing the window size make sure that the windowState() is set to normal size. Then, zoom to the area that contains your objects, this you may have to do it programmatically after the user selects the objects on the screen.

remove a menu from the menubar _and_ memory

By Xiaodong Liang

Issue
My application creates a custom menu and uses IAcadPopupMenus.Add. Removing it later by using RemoveMenuFromMenuBar or IAcadPopupMenu.RemoveFromMenuBar works,
however, why do future attempts to add the same menu fail?

Solution
Although the custom menu can be removed from the menubar once it has been added, the popup menu itself is retained in AutoCAD's memory. This can be proven by observing the value returned by IAcadPopupMenus.GetCount() before and after removing the menu; the count remains the same because it is still effectively a
part of the popup menu collection. Please use the code demos below to test: demo adds 3 menus in the first menu group. run it again, it will removes 1 menu, and checks the menu count before & after removing.

When it is added this way, it will remain so for the remainder of the session. Any menu that has already been added during the lifetime of a loaded application can only be reinserted into the menubar. The Add method should not be called again because the program may terminate unexpectedly.

But what if your application is unloaded and the program tries to clean up solely by removing its custom menu from the menubar? The menu will remain resident in AutoCAD, but if the application is reloaded and attempts to create and add the menu back into the menubar, the program may unexpectedly terminate.

Although you might be able to avoid this problem by iterating through the popup menus to check for a menu that bears the name of the application's custom menu. If found, do not issue an Add() but instead obtain a dispatch pointer to the existing menu and use InsertMenuInMenuBar(). Unfortunately, doing this will also cause the program to terminate unexpectedly if the custom menu is
altogether inaccessible.

In this case, create your popup menus under your own menu group, which can be completely unloaded from memory upon application unload with UnLoad().

 

// Enables the menu to be loaded/unloaded with the same command.

static bool bIsMenuLoaded = false;

void

demo()

{

    AutoCAD::IAcadApplication *pAcad;

    AutoCAD::IAcadMenuBar *pMenuBar;

    AutoCAD::IAcadMenuGroups *pMenuGroups;

    AutoCAD::IAcadMenuGroup *pMenuGroup;

    AutoCAD::IAcadPopupMenus *pPopUpMenus;

    AutoCAD::IAcadPopupMenu *pPopUpMenu;

    AutoCAD::IAcadPopupMenuItem *pPopUpMenuItem;

 

    HRESULT hr = NOERROR;

    LPUNKNOWN pUnk = NULL;

    LPDISPATCH pAcadDisp = acedGetIDispatch(TRUE);

    if(pAcadDisp==NULL)

        return;

 

    hr = pAcadDisp->QueryInterface(AutoCAD::IID_IAcadApplication,(void**)&pAcad);

    pAcadDisp->Release();

    if (FAILED(hr))

        return;

 

    pAcad->put_Visible(true);

    pAcad->get_MenuBar(&pMenuBar);

    pAcad->get_MenuGroups(&pMenuGroups);

    pAcad->Release();

    long numberOfMenus;

    pMenuBar->get_Count(&numberOfMenus);

    pMenuBar->Release();

 

    VARIANT index;

    VariantInit(&index);

    V_VT(&index) = VT_I4;

    V_I4(&index) = 0;

 

    pMenuGroups->Item(index, &pMenuGroup);

    pMenuGroups->Release();

 

    pMenuGroup->get_Menus(&pPopUpMenus);

    pMenuGroup->Release();

 

 

   if (!bIsMenuLoaded) {       

        // add three menus

        HRESULT hr = pPopUpMenus->Add(

            _T("myDemoMenu1"), &pPopUpMenu);

        hr = pPopUpMenus->Add(

            _T("myDemoMenu2"), &pPopUpMenu);

        hr = pPopUpMenus->Add(

           _T("myDemoMenu3"), &pPopUpMenu);

 

        if (hr == S_OK) {

            acutPrintf(_T("\nMenu is created."));

 

        } else {

            acutPrintf(_T("\nMenu not created."));

        }

         bIsMenuLoaded = true;

    }

    else // remove the menu

    {       

       long count = 0;

        pPopUpMenus->get_Count(&count);

        acutPrintf(_T("\n Before remove, count is: %d"),count) ;

 

        long indexOfMyMenu = -1;

        AutoCAD::IAcadPopupMenu* eachMenu = NULL;

        for (long i=0; i< count; i++)

        {

          BSTR np;

          pPopUpMenus->Item(_variant_t(i),&eachMenu);

          eachMenu->get_Name(&np);

          //remove the first menu in the group

          if (_tcscmp(np, _T("myDemoMenu1"))==0)

          {

              indexOfMyMenu = i;

              break;

          }

        }

 

        // remove

        if(indexOfMyMenu > -1)

        {

            HRESULT hr = pPopUpMenus->RemoveMenuFromMenuBar(_variant_t(indexOfMyMenu));

            assert (hr == S_OK);

        }

         pPopUpMenus->get_Count(&count);

         // the count is same to before removing.

        acutPrintf(_T("\n After remove, count is: %d"),count) ;

         bIsMenuLoaded = false;

    }

 

    pPopUpMenus->Release();

}