Infrastructure Modeling DevBlog

One Million Downloads! And some cool Civil 3D apps

By Augusto Goncalves

We’re glad to announce One Million Downloads at the Autodesk Exchange Store! And a big-super-mega special thanks to all developers with apps on the store! This was only possible with a lot of great apps!

Although we have different stores for different Autodesk products, let me show a list of popular Civil 3D apps:

• Slope Across Pipes
• Add Labels to Contours
• GradePoly
• Extract Point Blocks
• Surfaces Toggle
• Export Profiles to DXF
• SmartDraft Inverse Points
• 3DPolyToProfile
• Change Polyline Origin and Direction
• TBN2CAD

Don’t have your app live on the store? It’s time! Get more technical information here and publish your app!

Read TinVolumeSurface triangles in Civil 3D

By Augusto Goncalves

The TinSurface object has a Triangle property, which allow access to the list of triangles of the surface. But the TinVolumeSurface does not offer this property. The workaround is to use the COM version of this object, AeccTinVolumeSurface, which has a OutputTriangles property, that returns a array of doubles, but this need to be interpreted as points (XYZ coordinates).

On C# this property can be used with dynamic types, which allow late-binding of COM Interop types. To make the points, it’s a matter of playing with arrays.

At this sample you’ll find a Triangle and TriangleCollection classes to use this array of doubles. This sample also create AutoCAD Faces of each triangle, just for testing.

[CommandMethod("getTriangles")]
public static void CmdGetTriangles()
{
  Editor ed = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;
 
  PromptEntityOptions peo = new PromptEntityOptions(
    "\nSelect tin volume surface: ");
  peo.SetRejectMessage("\nOnly tin volume surface");
  peo.AddAllowedClass(typeof(TinVolumeSurface), true);
  PromptEntityResult per = ed.GetEntity(peo);
  if (per.Status != PromptStatus.OK) return;
 
  Database db = Application.DocumentManager.
    MdiActiveDocument.Database;
  using (Transaction trans = db.TransactionManager.
    StartOpenCloseTransaction())
  {
    TinVolumeSurface tvs = trans.GetObject(
      per.ObjectId, OpenMode.ForRead) as TinVolumeSurface;
    dynamic tvsCOM = tvs.AcadObject; // get the COM representation
    TriangleCollection triangles = 
      new TriangleCollection(tvsCOM.OutputTriangles);
 
    // for testing, let's create faces using the triangle data
    BlockTableRecord currSpace = trans.GetObject(
      db.CurrentSpaceId, OpenMode.ForWrite) as BlockTableRecord;
    foreach(Triangle t in triangles)
    {
      Face f = new Face(
        t.Vertex1, t.Vertex2, t.Vertex3, 
        true, true, true, true);
      currSpace.AppendEntity(f);
      trans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(f, true);
    }
 
    trans.Commit();
  }
}
 
public class TriangleCollection : List<Triangle>
{
  public TriangleCollection(double[] arrayDoubles)
  {
    if (arrayDoubles.Length % 9 != 0) 
      throw new ArgumentException(
        "Double array must have mulitple of 9 values.");
 
    int numberOfDoubles = arrayDoubles.Length;
    int numberOfPoints = numberOfDoubles / 3 / 3;
    for (int p = 0; p < numberOfPoints; p++)
    {
      double[] pointValues = new double[9];
      for (int v = 0; v < 9; v++)
        pointValues[v] = arrayDoubles[p * 9 + v];
      base.Add(new Triangle(pointValues));
    }
  }
}
 
public struct Triangle
{
  private Point3d[] _points;
 
  public Triangle(double[] values)
  {
    if (values.Length != 9) throw new ArgumentException(
      "Double array must have 9 values.");
 
    _points = new Point3d[3];
    for (int p = 0; p < 3; p++)
      _points[p] = new Point3d(
        values[p * 3],
        values[p * 3 + 1],
        values[p * 3 + 2]);
  }
 
  public Point3d Vertex1 { get { return _points[0]; } }
  public Point3d Vertex2 { get { return _points[1]; } }
  public Point3d Vertex3 { get { return _points[2]; } }
}

Changes on Infraworks 360 REST API

By Augusto Goncalves

First things first

If you are not aware, we have a Infraworks 360 API Pilot going on since mid last year and you can even try a small sample with Civil 3D Alignments. If you want to work with this API, contact us with more information about your needs.

Back to the topic

A new version of the Infraworks 360 REST API is now live! There are some cool new representations available.

First, we removed the /data/ on all URIs, which made it more simple. The objects on the model, previously known as classes, are now features, and the model object now has boundary information and proposals list.

The major addition is the Proposal representation that can be fully accessed via /model/::mode_id::/proposals/::proposal_name:: and is also available under the model representation (just a list of names).

With proposals, all the features are now listed under each proposal with models/::model_id::/proposals/::proposal_name::/::feature_name::/:feature_id::

Now the new basic structure is: models that contains proposals that contains features (e.g. roads, buildings, trees, constraints, etc).

TLS 1.2 security is required on calls to the server. If you are using .NET it should be easy, just set the security protocol with:

ServicePointManager.SecurityProtocol = SecurityProtocolType.Tls12

Updated .NET library and sample

To demonstrate the new and previous representations available on the API, we have remodeled the library and sample available at the Github repository. This project was also migrated to .NET 4.5 (required to support TLS 1.2) and all references migrated to newest versions (e.g. RestSharp).

Below is a quick view of the sample running with: models, proposals, features types, list and details.

Overrule pipe network part in profile view

By Augusto Goncalves

Using this simple overrule skeleton we can change the pipe or structure representation on a profile view. We just need to overrule the ProfilePartView class and do some additional geometry. Here is a quick sample.

class PipePartOverrule : DrawableOverrule
{
  public override bool WorldDraw(
    Drawable drawable, WorldDraw wd)
  {
    bool ret = base.WorldDraw(drawable, wd);
 
    ProfileViewPart viewPart = drawable as ProfileViewPart;
    if (viewPart == null) return ret; // for safety
 
    // get the database
    // if the entity is database resident, if not,
    // then get the active on
    Database db = (viewPart.Database != null ? 
      viewPart.Database :
      Application.DocumentManager.
      MdiActiveDocument.Database);
 
    // get the model part type
    if (viewPart.ModelPartId.ObjectClass ==
      RXClass.GetClass(typeof(Pipe)))
    {
      // ok, this view part represents a Pipe
      // let's draw something... just a crossing line
      wd.Geometry.WorldLine(
        viewPart.Bounds.Value.MinPoint,
        viewPart.Bounds.Value.MaxPoint);
    }
 
    // if you consider handle Structures
    //else if (viewPart.ModelPartId.ObjectClass ==
    //  RXClass.GetClass(typeof(Structure)))
    //{
    //}
 
    return ret;
  }
}

And here is the command based on the skeleton

public class Commads
{
  [CommandMethod("profilePartOverrule")]
  public static void CmdProfilePartOverrule()
  {
    if (_overrule == null)
    {
      _overrule = new PipePartOverrule();
      Overrule.AddOverrule(
        RXClass.GetClass(typeof(ProfileViewPart)),
        _overrule, false);
    }
    else
    {
      Overrule.RemoveOverrule(
        RXClass.GetClass(typeof(ProfileViewPart)),
        _overrule);
      _overrule = null;
    }
    Application.DocumentManager.
      MdiActiveDocument.Editor.Regen();
  }
 
  private static PipePartOverrule _overrule = null;
}

Autodesk University 2015 - Las Vegas

Autodesk University Las Vegas just started receiving submissions for classes! See the announcement!

Want to present? Go ahead and submit your proposal! We’ll love to have API programming classes on Civil 3D, Map 3D, Infraworks 360.

Want to suggest some specific topics? Contact us or use comments below, we’ll love to hear from you!

And see you in Las Vegas, December 1-3

New Features in the AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016 API

By Augusto Goncalves

We’re glad to announce AutoCAD Civil 3D 2016 it’s available for download at our main portal. Here I would like to point what’s new on the API:

.NET Changes

This section covers changes to the AutoCAD Civil 3D .NET API for the 2016 release.

• Alignments
• A parameter named attainmentRegionType has been added to SuperelevationCriticalStationCollection::Add(…). This parameter is used to specify the attainment region type: AutoAttainmentRegionType, BeginingAttainmentRegion, or EndingAttainmentRegion. Specifying AutoAttainmentRegionType as the attainment region type will replicate the behavior that was in previous releases.
• Pipe Networks
• A new property named CrossPipeProfile is exposed in the SettingsCmdCreateNetwork::SettingsCmdLabelNewParts class to enable you to get whether a new crossing pipe is labeled by default when placed in profile view.

COM Changes

If you are using the COM API, you need to update the object version to 10.5 (from 10.4 used in AutoCAD Civil 3D 2015). The objects and interfaces exposed have remained the same, but you should reference the new libraries, which are installed by default to: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Autodesk Shared\Civil Engineering 105.

First sample with Infraworks 360 Commuter API

By Augusto Goncalves

Back in July 2014, Scott Sheppard announced the Project Commuter availability for Infraworks 360. From the main project website, here is the description: Project Commuter can be used for transport analysis — modeling all modes of transport, or it can be used for pedestrian-only analysis in urban spaces — both inside and outside buildings.

Although the main usage is around traffic commute, we also decided to focus this sample on inside building commute, as many employees are living and working at the same building, even at the same space (such as home-office or home-at-office).

Autodesk will allow local customization according to each country (or city) culture (as we understand each social group deals with commute in different ways). And a good way it to allow API customization via custom DLLs loaded into the product, just like other Autodesk products.

To have your local community behavior added to the product, first you’ll need to create a new project on Visual Studio, based on the interfaces available on the DLL inside the product, under TrafficAnalysis folder. As you may notice, it’s a .NET Managed API (the suffix mgd is widely used on Autodesk products).

Now it’s easy to use: just create a .NET 4.5 project on Visual Studio, add reference to the DLL (commuter64mgd.dll) and implement the interface. For this sample, we’ll use the IMorningBehavior interface, which implements human morning behavior. The VS project should look like the following image.

To run this custom code, place the DLL under the same TrafficAnalyst folder, start Infraworks 360, it should automatically load it and recognize the class (via the interface implemented). When you launch Traffic Simulation on Infraworks 360, select “Human Morning Commute” and the DLL will trigger (make sure you select the “Traffic Study Area” as “In Home Behavior”).

As of today, this API is an early pilot, we’re gathering feedback around local cultures. Our social study group would love to hear feedback. For now, you can get first version of the documentation at this link.

Using Civil 3D 2015 via console

By Augusto Goncalves

Since release 2013, we can use AutoCAD in console mode. This is intended to developers, there is no graphical interface and only the command line is available through the console window or via programming.

Back on Autodesk University 2012, this class covered the basics on how use and automate AutoCAD Console, including how to load custom .NET applications. Is this possible on Civil 3D? Yes!

To use the console with Civil 3D 2015 .NET API we just need to launch the console and load an additional .NET assembly: AeccDbMgd.dll. After that, a custom .NET DLL should work. The image below show the result. Note how we NETLOAD the AeccDbMgd, then NETLOAD a custom DLL C3D_2015_CS.dll that contains a simple command that count alignment styles.

Of course the AutoCAD Console was not designed to be used like this (via Windows Console), this is just a test. To take full advantage, you can use .bat files (simplest approach) or a full .NET application that will manage and control instances of it. As mentioned above, the AU class show several samples and ideas, just need to include the additional NETLOAD AeccDbMgd.

 

Tip: AutoCAD is now blocking DLLs that are not on the trusted folders. On the UI we can simply include our folders on the trusted path list. Via console this can take extra time, that’s why I copied my custom DLL to Program Files folder (which is trusted by default).

The console approach can significantly reduce batch processing time and, as you can launch one instance per drawing, also improve error handling (if one instance freeze, just kill the process and start again). In summary, at least consider and evaluate this option!

Is a Civil 3D instance?

By Augusto Goncalves

This is a .NET version of the code posted by a colleague, see original here, redesigned to Civil 3D naming.

When we get a running instance of AutoCAD, we don’t know which vertical is actually running as all of them are basically the same root object. To determine which version we have, we need to try. And that’s what this code is doing.

' get the running instance of AutoCAD (or any vertical)
Dim acadApp As Object = GetObject(, "Autocad.Application")
' is it a Civil 3D? let's try!
Dim civilLandApp As Object
Try
  ' the 10.4 stands for 2015 release
  civilLandApp = acadApp.GetInterfaceObject
                 ("AeccXUiLand.AeccApplication.10.4")
Catch ex As Exception
  Return ' not Civil 3D
End Try
 
' now we know is Civil 3D
' do something

And in C# it’s basically the same, except that you need to decide whenever to use var or dynamic. The above code uses Object, that enables late-binding. If that is your option, then use the C# equivalent: dynamic

Network Pipe/Structure data fields

By Augusto Goncalves

Civil 3D has different ways to store custom data on different objects. On the specific case of Network Parts (Pipe or Structure), a user can store custom property values as described on this blog post. In this case, the information is stored under the Part.PartData property, that contains a list/array of PartDataField objects. An easy way to output this data is using the code below:

[CommandMethod("pipedatafield")]
public static void CmdSelectPipe()
{
  Editor ed = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;
  PromptEntityOptions peo = new PromptEntityOptions("\nSelect network part: ");
  peo.SetRejectMessage("\nOnly network parts");
  peo.AddAllowedClass(typeof(Part), false);
  PromptEntityResult per = ed.GetEntity(peo);
  if (per.Status != PromptStatus.OK) return;
  ObjectId partId = per.ObjectId;
 
  Database db = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Database;
  using (Transaction trans = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
  {
    Part p = trans.GetObject(partId, OpenMode.ForRead) as Part;
    PartDataField[] fields = p.PartData.GetAllDataFields();
    foreach(PartDataField field in fields)
    {
      ed.WriteMessage("\n{0}: {1}", field.Description, field.Value);
    }
  }
}