Infrastructure Modeling DevBlog

AU Virtual 2012 Call for Proposals Is Open

By Partha Sarkar

Would you like to teach a class at AU Virtual 2012? Now is the time to submit your ideas. 

Becoming an instructor at AU Virtual gives you the opportunity to share your knowledge with thousands of users from around the world without leaving your office. More than 35,000 customers from around the world are expected to attend AU Virtual this year. 

Submit your ideas now and join this prestigious group of experts for AU Virtual 2012. Virtual class proposals will be accepted till August 3, 2012. 

To learn more about presenting at AU Virtual, visit the Call for Proposals website.

Using CogoPointCollection.ImportPoints() to Import Points in a drawing file

By Partha Sarkar

While navigating through an array of new functionalities provided in COGO Point .NET API, I stopped at CogoPointCollection.ImportPoints() and thought, let me show a simple code snippet on how to use this API to import point data in Civil 3D. 

CogoPointCollection class in Civil 3D 2013 .NET API, has overloaded method ImportPoints() which we can use to import COGO Points in a DWG file. In this example, we will explore how to use CogoPointCollection.ImportPoints (String, PointFileFormat) that takes a string pointFileFullName and PointFileFormat fileFormat.

While trying to execute my C# code sample to import points from a point file using CogoPointCollection.ImportPoints() I stumbled upon an issue. I was trying to import Point data in an empty DWG file from a Civil 3D tutorial text data file and I found CogoPointCollection.ImportPoints() call throws an exception -"No Points were transferred from the source". After a discussion with a colleague from Civil 3D engineering team we found there is an issue in .NET version of ImportPoints(). Since we have spotted this issue now, we will work on fixing it ASAP; in the meantime, simple workaround is just adding a single COGO point in the drawing which you can delete later. If there is any existing COGO point object in the Civil 3D drawing file then you will find ImportPoints() function call brings in all the point from the desired data source without any issue.

BTW – You will also see the “Duplicate Point Number” dialog box while trying to import the points to resolve the duplicate point number conflicts. I find Isaac already mentioned about this in his blog post on COGO Points Renumbering.

 

  // This point file is included as a sample for Civil 3D tutorials:

  string pointFilePath = @"C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013\Help\Civil Tutorials\";

  string pointFileName = pointFilePath + "Existing Ground Points - PENZD.txt";

 

  //The 2nd parameter is the file format for the point file

  // of type Autodesk.Civil.DatabaseServices.PointFileFormat.

  string pointFileFormatName = "PENZD (space delimited)";

  PointFileFormat pointFileFormat = PointFileFormatCollection.GetPointFileFormats(db)[pointFileFormatName];

 

  CogoPointCollection.ImportPoints(pointFileName, pointFileFormat);

AEC DevCamp 2012 – Class materials

By Partha Sarkar

Two days of intense technical sessions in AEC DevCamp 2012 followed by an ever busy DevLab in our Waltham office was successfully ended on 8^th June. The materials from the recent AEC DevCamp 2012 are finally posted to the following locations:

• ADN extranet >> Events >> Autodesk DevCamps 2012 (members only access)
• Autodesk Developer Network Open site >> API Training Archive section (public)

These links provide one zip for the ease of download. Classes are divided in five tracks:

1. Revit Beginners
2. Revit Advanced
3. Infrastructure (includes – Civil 3D, Map 3D and AIMS)
4. Cloud and Mobile, and other Autodesk AEC technologies
5. Business

For the complete list of classes and course description, please take a look at AEC DevCamp 2012 - List Of Classes.

Once again, many thanks to those who have participated in the event and made it successful! We truly enjoyed meeting you in person.  For those who could not join, we hope you will find those materials useful for your future customization work.  

(Please note that DevCamp 2012 project site on Buzzsaw which we have used during the event will be closed on July 2nd.)

 

Creating a new "Point Description Key sets" using Civil 3D .Net API

By Partha Sarkar

In this post, I will show you how to create a new "Point Description Key sets" and add Point code using wildcards "*".

 

//start a transaction

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

{

 

  // Access the collection of all  Description key sets in a document         

  PointDescriptionKeySetCollection pointDescKeySetColl = PointDescriptionKeySetCollection.GetPointDescriptionKeySets(db);

 

  // Add a new Descp. Key Sets

  ObjectId PointDescKeySetsId = pointDescKeySetColl.Add("ADN_Point_Desc_Key");

  PointDescriptionKeySet pointDescKeySet = trans.GetObject(PointDescKeySetsId, OpenMode.ForWrite) as PointDescriptionKeySet;

 

  // Create a new key in the set with code = "TR*"

  // The wildcards “?” and “*” are allowed in the code.

 

  ObjectId pointDescKeyId = pointDescKeySet.Add("TR*");

  PointDescriptionKey pointDescKey = trans.GetObject(pointDescKeyId, OpenMode.ForWrite) as PointDescriptionKey;

 

  // set a specific Style and Label style

  // in the following line we are presuming a Point Style named "Tree" exists in the DWG file           

  pointDescKey.StyleId = civilDoc.Styles.PointStyles["Tree"];

  pointDescKey.ApplyStyleId = true;

 

  // in the following line we are presuming a Point Label Style

  // named "Point#-Elevation-Description" exists in the DWG file

  pointDescKey.LabelStyleId = civilDoc.Styles.LabelStyles.PointLabelStyles.LabelStyles["Point#-Elevation-Description"];

  pointDescKey.ApplyLabelStyleId = true;

 

  trans.Commit();

}

 

Once you build your application using the above code snippet and run the custom command in Civil 3D 2013, you should see a new Point Description Key sets added to the collection like the screenshot shown below -

 

 

Hope this helps!

 

Using CogoPoint.ApplyDescriptionKeys() to apply DescriptionKeys to a CogoPoint

By Partha Sarkar

As you know, we can use description keys to automatically control point appearance and some point properties when creating or importing a point into a drawing.

We use description keys to automatically control some drawing point properties, such as the appearance of a point in the drawing at the time of import points or when we create point in the drawing. Before you create drawing points using description keys, create a series of description keys. Then, when you create or import a drawing point, the raw description for the point specifies which description key is used to create the point in the drawing. The properties defined for that description key are applied to the point as it is added to the drawing.

AutoCAD Civil 3D provides a nice UI tool "Apply Description Keys" to apply  description keys to a single point or a collection of points.

 

The following C# code snippet demonstrates how to apply description keys to a selected point after updating it's RawDescription value.

 

  //start a transaction

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

  {

 

    //open the COGO Point

    CogoPoint cogoPoint = trans.GetObject(per.ObjectId, OpenMode.ForRead) as CogoPoint;

 

    // Change it's RawDescription

    cogoPoint.RawDescription = "TREE";            

 

    // ApplyDescriptionKeys() to apply DescriptionKeys to a CogoPoint

    cogoPoint.ApplyDescriptionKeys();

 

    trans.Commit();

  }

 

Once you build your application using the above code snippet and run the custom command in Civil 3D 2013, you should see the Point appearance changed(like below ) :

Hope this helps!

Introducing the Cloud and Mobile DevBlog

By Gopinath Taget

We’re pleased to announce the launch of another ADN DevBlog which is focused on using or hooking up Autodesk technologies with cloud and mobile platforms. Click on the image below to go take a look:

Setting coordinate system for map using .net API

By Daniel Du

You probably have already known that we can get the current coordinate system of map with following code snippet:

    [CommandMethod("GetMapCoordinateSystem")]

    public void GetMapCoordinateSystem()

    {

      AcMapMap currentMap = AcMapMap.GetCurrentMap();

      string srs = currentMap.GetMapSRS();

 

      Editor ed = Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.Application

        .DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;

      ed.WriteMessage("current coordinate system is : " + srs);

 

    }

And I have been asked many times, how to set a coordinate system to a map? Here is the solution:

    [CommandMethod("SetMapCoordinateSystem")]

    public void SetMapCoordinateSystem()

    {

      //the parameter is coordinate system code

      SetMapSRS("CA-I");

 

      string wkt = AcMapMap.GetCurrentMap().GetMapSRS();

      Editor ed = Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.Application

        .DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;

      MgCoordinateSystemFactory coordSysFac =

                  new MgCoordinateSystemFactory();

      string code = coordSysFac.ConvertWktToCoordinateSystemCode(wkt);

      ed.WriteMessage("\n MapSRS is Changed to: " + code + "\n");

    }

 

    public void SetMapSRS(string srsCode)

    {

      Autodesk.Gis.Map.MapApplication mapApp = Autodesk.Gis.Map

        .HostMapApplicationServices.Application;

      Autodesk.Gis.Map.Project.ProjectModel projModel

        = mapApp.ActiveProject;

 

      projModel.Projection = srsCode;

    }

Hope this helps.

Is this COGO Point a Survey Point or Project Point?

By Partha Sarkar

When you select a COGO Point in Civil 3D Model space and look into the Properties dialog, under "Data" node, there is "Survey Point" property and with a value True or False. If the COGO Point is part of Survey Database, it will be shown as 'True' -

 

 

Similarly, if the COGO Point is from Vault Project Points, You would see associated 'Project version' in OPM window -

We can use the following CogoPoint properties to find out if it is Survey Point, project point or normal COGO point object created in the Civil 3D drawing file. 

CogoPoint.IsSurveyPoint property indicates whether this Cogo Point is a Survey Point.

CogoPoint.IsProjectPoint property indicates whether the CogoPoint is a project point.

 

Here is the relevant C# code snippet : 

  //open the COGO Point

  CogoPoint cogoPoint = trans.GetObject(per.ObjectId, OpenMode.ForRead) as CogoPoint;

 

  // Access COGO Point Properties

  // CogoPoint.IsSurveyPoint property indicates whether this Cogo Point is a Survey Point

  if (cogoPoint.IsSurveyPoint)

  {

    // DO your stuff

    ed.WriteMessage("\nSelected COGO Point is a Survey Point");

  }

 

  //  CogoPoint.IsProjectPoint property indicates whether the CogoPoint is a project point

  //  i.e. if the COGO point is from Vault Project Points

  else if (cogoPoint.IsProjectPoint)

  {

    // DO your stuff

    ed.WriteMessage("\nSelected COGO Point is a Project Point");

  }

  // normal COGO point object created in the Civil 3D drawing file

  else           

  {

    // DO your stuff

    ed.WriteMessage("\nSelected COGO Point is neither Survey nor Project Point");

  }

Hope this is useful to you!

Creating custom control for Mobile Viewer of AIMS

By Daniel Du

Do you browse maps on mobile devices such as iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch? Do you use the Mobile Viewer on your mobile devices to browse MapGuide maps?  The Mobile Viewer was introduced in Autodesk Infrastructure Map Server 2012, enabling you to browse your map on the go. 

I just delivered a presentation  during our biannual event – DevCamp in Waltham. This class shows you how to create a simple custom control for the Mobile Viewer, helping you getting started turning the Mobile Viewer into an efficient task specific tool. Please click here to download the PPT and samples of all materials for DevCamp,  this class can be found in 3 Infrastructure –> 3.6 Creating a Custom Control for Mobile Viewer.

Creating a Civil 3D COGO Point using .NET API

By Partha Sarkar

AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 .NET API has exposed the COGO Points (CogoPoint) and associated functionalities which enables us creating, updating or removing COGO Points. In next few series of posts I am going to share some basics of COGO Points and related .NET API which are new in Civil 3D 2013. In this post we will see how to create a Civil 3D COGO Point at a specified location.

For those, who didn't have to deal with COGO Points earlier, some basics of COGO Points : COGO is short form of "Coordinate Geometry". COGO Points in Civil 3D are more complex than AutoCAD points, which have only coordinate data. A CogoPoint object, in addition to a location, also has properties such as a unique ID number, name, raw (field) description, and full (expanded) description.

Here is a C# code snippet which demonstrates creation of Civil 3D COGO Point at a specified location :

 

  // Select the location for COGO Point

  PromptPointOptions ppo = new PromptPointOptions("\nSelect the location to Create a COGO Point :");

  PromptPointResult ppr = ed.GetPoint(ppo);

 

  if (ppr.Status != PromptStatus.OK)

    return;

  Point3d location = ppr.Value;

 

  //start a transaction

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

  {

 

    // All points in a document are held in a CogoPointCollection object

    // We can access CogoPointCollection through the CivilDocument.CogoPoints property

 

    CogoPointCollection cogoPoints = CivilApplication.ActiveDocument.CogoPoints;

 

    // Adds a new CogoPoint at the given location with the specified description information

    ObjectId pointId = cogoPoints.Add(location, "Survey Point");

    CogoPoint cogoPoint = pointId.GetObject(OpenMode.ForWrite) as CogoPoint;

 

    // Set Some Properties

    cogoPoint.PointName = "Survey_Base_Point";

    cogoPoint.RawDescription = "This is Survey Base Point";

 

    trans.Commit();

 

Hope this helps!