AutoCAD DevBlog

Change Profile settings from .NET

By Adam Nagy

There are many settings which are stored in various parts of the registry folders that AutoCAD is using. Many of them you can also read and write through getenv/setenv in LISP or acedGetEnv/acedSetEnv in ObjectARX - here is a .NET version:
http://adndevblog.typepad.com/autocad/2012/06/a-simple-alternative-to-accessing-the-com-preferences-object-in-autocad.html

If it's not an environment variable then you can use Registry API to modify the value.
Note: if the value you are interested in is a string value then you could also use the UserConfigurationManager object for read/write:
http://through-the-interface.typepad.com/through_the_interface/2008/05/storing-custom.html

As an example, let's try to toggle the state of "Enable Balloon Notification" for plotting from .NET.

If you want to find out where a given setting is stored in the Registry (if it is stored there) then you can use a tool like Process Monitor to see which property in the registry gets modified when you change the setting through the UI. In case of the plot balloon this property was set:

So now we can change it using a code like this:

using System;

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;

using acApp = Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.Application;
using Win32 = Microsoft.Win32;

[assembly: CommandClass(typeof(SimpleDotNet.Commands))]

namespace SimpleDotNet
{
  public class Commands
  {
    [CommandMethod("ToggleDisplayPlotBubble", CommandFlags.Session)]
    public void ToggleDisplayPlotBubble()
    {
      const string sectionName = "General";
      const string propertyName = "DisplayPlotBubble";

      string productKeyName = HostApplicationServices.Current.UserRegistryProductRootKey;
      string profileName = acApp.GetSystemVariable("CPROFILE").ToString();
      using (RegistryKey genKey = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey(
        string.Format(@"{0}\Profiles\{1}\{2}", productKeyName, profileName, sectionName), true))
      {
        int displayOn = (int)genKey.GetValue(propertyName);
        displayOn = (displayOn == 0) ? 1 : 0;
        genKey.SetValue(propertyName, displayOn, Win32.RegistryValueKind.DWord);
      }
    }
  }
}

Create multi sheet PDF from ARX using DSD

By Adam Nagy

We already have a blog post on doing this from .NET, but it could take a bit of time to convert the code to ARX, so here it is.
It's not doing exactly the same but close enough :)

You'll have to include acplmisc.h and make sure your project links to AcPublish_crx.lib

static void plot (AcDbDatabase *pDb)
{
  CString pdfPath = "C:\\temp\\pdf\\myPDF.pdf";
  CString deviceName =  L"DWG To PDF.pc3";
  Acad::ErrorStatus es = Acad::eOk;

  const TCHAR *docName;
  es = pDb->getFilename(docName);   

  AcDbLayoutManager *layoutManager =
    acdbHostApplicationServices()->layoutManager();
  AcDbDictionary *layoutDict = NULL;
  es = pDb->getLayoutDictionary(layoutDict, AcDb::OpenMode::kForRead);

  // Start collecting info for the DSD data
  AcPlDSDEntries dsdEntries;
  AcDbDictionaryIterator *layoutIterator = layoutDict->newIterator();

  // If we only want to plot paper spaces and not the model layout
  AcDbObjectId msId = acdbSymUtil()->blockModelSpaceId(pDb);

  for (; layoutIterator && !layoutIterator->done(); layoutIterator->next())
  {
    AcDbObjectPointer<AcDbLayout> layout(
      layoutIterator->objectId(), AcDb::OpenMode::kForRead);

    if (layout->getBlockTableRecordId() == msId)
      continue;

    const ACHAR *layoutName;
    layout->getLayoutName(layoutName);

    AcPlDSDEntry dsdEntry;
    dsdEntry.setLayout(layoutName);
    dsdEntry.setDwgName(docName);
    dsdEntry.setTitle(layoutName);
    dsdEntries.append(dsdEntry);     
  }

  delete layoutIterator;
  layoutDict->close();

  AcPlDSDData dsdData;
  dsdData.setDSDEntries(dsdEntries);  

  dsdData.setProjectPath(L"c:\\temp\\pdf\\");
  dsdData.setLogFilePath(L"c:\\temp\\pdf\\logdwf.log");
  dsdData.setSheetType(AcPlDSDEntry::SheetType::kMultiPDF);
  dsdData.setNoOfCopies(1);
  dsdData.setDestinationName(pdfPath);
  dsdData.setPromptForDwfName(false);
  dsdData.setSheetSetName(L"PublisherSet");

  AcPlPlotConfig *plotConfig;
  acplPlotConfigManager->setCurrentConfig(plotConfig, deviceName);    

  // We need this for acplPublishExecute
  acedArxLoad(L"AcPublish.arx");

  acplPublishExecute(dsdData, plotConfig, false);
}

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

 

"I Love DWG" meetup in Prague

By Adam Nagy

Working with DWG files using third party libraries? Querying? Viewing? Editing?
Wrestling with how to expand your solutions to mobile and the web?  And really want to avoid having to build different/new code bases to support desktop, mobile and web apps?
Near Prague? 
Join us at the upcoming “I Love DWG” MeetUp in Prague on Tuesday evening September 8th.

Autodesk wants to help. Really.

Maybe you are familiar with Autodesk’s RealDWG libraries for reading and writing DWG files.  But do you know about AutoCAD I/O – “AutoCAD on the Cloud” with much of the power and capability of full AutoCAD but tuned for web development?  How about the Autodesk View & Data web service that can help you deliver a customized viewing experience on any device in just a few hours of development time?  The View & Data web service has a broad and deep API – as well as supporting over 60 3D and 40 2D file formats (most not Autodesk file formats).  RealDWG, AutoCAD I/O and the translation engine driving the Autodesk View & Data web service are all from the same codebase, too.

Kean and I will be showing you a number of sample applications based on the AutoCAD I/O and View & Data web services.  You’ll get to see how sites such as http://jigsawify.com (AutoCAD I/O) and http://vrok.it (View & Data) were implemented.

Want to learn more?

Please join us at the Meetup this Tuesday evening (September 8^th) from 6pm-9pm at the Autodesk office in Prague.  Just a 10 minute drive from the Diplomat Hotel.

Register Now

Beer and snacks provided.  And if you want to talk longer, we’ll take you to dinner too! :)

Questions?

Please do reach out!  If the timing of this session doesn’t work for you, let us know: we'll also have some time to chat during the afternoon of the 8^th and the morning of the 9^th.

See you there! :)

[email protected]
[email protected]

Introduction to RealDWG .Net Programming

By Balaji Ramamoorthy

My colleague Adam Nagy had created an nice video recording back in 2008 on "Introduction to RealDWG .Net programming". You can download the recording here

DevTV on RealDWG programming

Here is another recording with the same sample project. The changes are mainly in the installer creation and in the licensing steps which have changed since the last recording was created.

The sample project and the slides can be downloaded here :

SampleCode_DevTV

LoadOnCommandInvocation and Commands tag

By Adam Nagy

When you do not want to get your module loaded as soon as AutoCAD starts up, since this may slow down that process, you can wait till the user actually wants to use your command.

In that case instead of LoadOnAutoCADStartup="True" you can use LoadOnCommandInvocation="True". However, this requires that you specify the commands that AutoCAD should recognize even without your AddIn being loaded. You can do that by creating a Commands section in the PackageContents.xml of your autoloader bundle. All the commands listed here must also be registered on the command stack inside AutoCAD with the exact same parameters. 

E.g. if this is how you register your command in .NET:

[CommandMethod("MyGroup", "MyCommand", CommandFlags.Modal)]

Then this is what the Commands section should look like:

<Commands GroupName="MyGroup">
<Command Global="MyCommand" Local="MyCommand"/>
</Commands>

You register commands on the command stack inside AutoCAD differently depending on the programming language. E.g. in C++/ARX it would be acedRegCmds->addCommand(), or a macro like ACED_ARXCOMMAND_ENTRY_AUTO, while in .NET you would use the CommandMethod() attribute. After this AutoCAD will know what function to call when one of your commands is executed.

Note: if you use the single parameter version of CommandMethod("MyCommand") then the name of the command group will be generated by AutoCAD - not sure what that will be exactly. So it's better to stick with the version that lets you specify the command group name as well - like in the above example - if you want to use them in the bundle's Commands section. 

As mentioned in this blog post, it's not strictly necessary to include the Commands element if you don’t set your plug-in to LoadOnCommandInvocation="True", but it is required if you want the F1 help integration.

Here is a link to detailed info about the Autoloader bundle format: http://adndevblog.typepad.com/autocad/2013/01/autodesk-autoloader-white-paper.html

 

NETLOAD crash

By Adam Nagy

A developer reported a crash when using the NETLOAD command. Just before NETLOAD dialog should come up AutoCAD shuts down. In case of demand loading instead of directly loading the AddIn this error happened when trying to execute a command from the AddIn:

System.ArgumentNullException: Value cannot be null.
Parameter name: key
at System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2.FindEntry(TKey key)
at System.Collections.Generic.Dictionary`2.TryGetValue(TKey key, TValue& value)
at Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime.PerDocumentCommandClass.Invoke(MethodInfo mi, Boolean bLispFunction)
at Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime.CommandClass.CommandThunk.Invoke()

Once the video drivers got updated on the laptop the above issues went away and everything seems to work fine now. This example is just there to show what strange issues can be caused by outdated drivers on the system.

Xline to Line and LTSCALE override

By Adam Nagy

Just a couple of utility functions here.

One converts all the Construction Lines (AcadXline/Xline/AcDbXline - in case someone is searching for a different name :)) to Line entities (AcadLine/Line/AcDbLine). You may need this if you have xline's in a block and you would like to snap to them outside the block. It does not seem possible, whereas line's are snappable even outside the block:

' Application Session Command with localized name

<CommandMethod("AcmUtilityConvertXlines")> _

Public Shared Sub AcmUtilConvertXlines() ' This method can have any name

  Dim doc As Document = acApp.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument

 

  Dim db As Database = doc.Database

 

  Using tr As Transaction = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()

 

    ' Just something crude to start with

    Dim length As Double

    length = db.Extmin.DistanceTo(db.Extmax) * 2

 

    Dim bt As BlockTable

    bt = tr.GetObject(db.BlockTableId, OpenMode.ForRead)

 

    For Each blockId In bt

      Dim block As BlockTableRecord

      block = tr.GetObject(blockId, OpenMode.ForRead)

 

      Dim modified As Boolean = False

 

      For Each entId In block

        If entId.ObjectClass = Xline.GetClass(GetType(Xline)) Then

          If Not modified Then

            block.UpgradeOpen()

            modified = True

          End If

 

          Dim xl As Xline = tr.GetObject(entId, OpenMode.ForWrite)

 

          Using l As New Line

            l.StartPoint = xl.BasePoint.Add(xl.UnitDir.MultiplyBy(-length))

            l.EndPoint = xl.BasePoint.Add(xl.UnitDir.MultiplyBy(length))

            l.Layer = xl.Layer

            l.Color = xl.Color

            block.AppendEntity(l)

            tr.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(l, True)

          End Using

 

          xl.Erase()

        End If

      Next

 

      ' If the block got modified then let's update its references

      If modified Then

        For Each brId As ObjectId In block.GetBlockReferenceIds(True, True)

          Dim br As BlockReference

          br = tr.GetObject(brId, OpenMode.ForWrite)

          br.RecordGraphicsModified(True)

        Next

      End If

    Next

 

    tr.Commit()

  End Using

End Sub

The  other overrides the LTSCALE value before using the HATCH command and then sets it back afterwards. You may need this if you have dashed lines closing an area you want to hatch - the hatch preview looks OK but the created hatch might extend beyond the selected area. This can be prevented by using a smaller LTSCALE value:

Shared ltscale As Double

 

' Application Session Command with localized name

<CommandMethod("AcmUtilityHatch")> _

Public Shared Sub AcmUtilHatch() ' This method can have any name

  Dim doc As Document = acApp.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument

 

  ltscale = doc.Database.Ltscale

  doc.Database.Ltscale = 0.01

  doc.Editor.Regen()

 

  doc.SendStringToExecute("_.HATCH ", False, False, False)

 

  AddHandler doc.CommandEnded, AddressOf doc_CommandEnded

  AddHandler doc.CommandCancelled, AddressOf doc_CommandEnded

  AddHandler doc.CommandFailed, AddressOf doc_CommandEnded

End Sub

 

Public Shared Sub doc_CommandEnded(sender As Object, e As Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.CommandEventArgs)

  If e.GlobalCommandName = "HATCH" Then

    Dim doc As Document = sender

    RemoveHandler doc.CommandEnded, AddressOf doc_CommandEnded

    RemoveHandler doc.CommandCancelled, AddressOf doc_CommandEnded

    RemoveHandler doc.CommandFailed, AddressOf doc_CommandEnded

 

    doc.Database.Ltscale = ltscale

    doc.Editor.Regen()

  End If

End Sub

There might be nicer solutions to the problem. This is just a quick solution: Download AcmUtility
The attachment also contains the compiled project for AutoCAD 2013/2014 and the bundle that can be simply placed in the appropriate folder on the system so that it will be loaded automatically into AutoCAD: http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2013/ENU/index.html?url=files/GUID-5E50A846-C80B-4FFD-8DD3-C20B22098008.htm,topicNumber=d30e503195  

Get and set layer and entity transparency using LISP

By Adam Nagy

Why doesn't the following code work? vla-get-transparency highlights as blue in the VLIDE, but I get this error:

"Error: ActiveX Server returned the error: unknown name: Transparency"

(setq ENT (entsel))

(if ENT

  (progn

    (setq VLA_OBJ_NAME (vlax-ename->vla-object (car ENT))

    VLA_OBJ_LAYER (vla-get-layer VLA_OBJ_NAME)

    VLA_ACT_DOC (vla-get-ActiveDocument (vlax-get-Acad-Object))

    LAYERNAME (vla-Item (vla-get-Layers VLA_ACT_DOC) VLA_OBJ_LAYER)

    )

    (if (>= (atof (substr (getvar "acadver") 1 4)) 18.1)

      (setq PROPTRAN (vla-get-transparency LAYERNAME))

    )

  )

)

Solution

The properties that you access when using the COM helpers of LISP are based on the ActiveX API.

If you look for the Transparency property in the ActiveX API, then you’ll find that it is only available for AcadRasterImage and AcadWipeout entities.

The Transparency for entities (which is only available in AutoCAD 2011) is provided by new interfaces like IAcadEntity2 and they are called EntityTransparency.

In case of layers however, there is no property like that.

That transparency value can be calculated from the layer’s XData. If it’s not there, then it’s the default 0%

; gets transparency in percentage 
(defun getLayerTransparency (layerName / layer transparency) 
  (setq layer (tblobjname "LAYER" layerName)) 
  ; get the XData of AcCmTransparency    
  (setq transparency (cdr (assoc 1071 (cdar (cdr (assoc -3 
    (entget layer '("AcCmTransparency")))))))) 
  (if (= transparency nil) 
    ; if we did not get a value it must be the default 0% 
    (setq transparency 0) 
    ; if we got a value then calculate from it 
    (progn 
      ; get the lower byte of the value 0..255 
      ; (100%..0% in the AutoCAD user interface) 
      (setq transparency (lsh (lsh transparency 24) -24)) 
      ; convert the value to a percentage 
      (setq transparency (fix (- 100 (/ transparency 2.55))))    
    ) ; (progn 
  ) ; (if  
)

(defun c:testGet (/ ent layerName transparency) 
  (setq ent (car (entsel))) 
  (setq layerName (cdr (assoc 8 (entget ent))))
  (setq transparency (getLayerTransparency layerName)) 
  (princ transparency) 
  (princ) 
)

It does not seem possible to set the value the same way - by adjusting the XData value -, but you can use the _LAYER command for that:

(defun c:testSet (/ ent layerName transparency) 
  (setq ent (car (entsel))) 
  (setq transparency (getint "Transparency value")) 
  (setq layerName (cdr (assoc 8 (entget ent))))
  (command "_LAYER" "_TR" transparency layerName "") 
  (princ) 
)

Code has been updated based on BlackBox's comments. Now it is not using unnecessary ActiveX function calls.

Updating .NET dlls and ObjectARX applications of an OEM product

By Adam Nagy

Issue

We have an OEM application which is using .NET dlls and ObjectARX applications. We would like to update these on the customer's computer without having to reinstall the product. Is it possible to do it?

Solution

Yes, it is possible. Just follow these steps:

1. Rebuild your .NET and ObjectARX applications
2. Rebind them using OEM Make Wizard, which will update the files in [AutoCAD OEM folder]\oem\[OEM Project folder]
3. Replace the existing .NET dlls and arx files in the install folder of your product on the customer's computer with the newly created ones residing in the above folder