Infrastructure Modeling DevBlog

Adding Notes to an entity programmatically

By Mikako Harada

Civil 3D and AutoCAD Architecture/MEP share the common base module called AecBaseMgd.dll. Notes, which appear on the Extended Data tab of Property Palette, is exposed in this module. I just published one blog post about adding Notes to an entity on our AEC DevBlog. I'm cross-referencing here in case C3D API audience finds it useful someday.

Set Parcel UserDefined Property using Civil 3D API

By Partha Sarkar

One of our valued Civil 3D customer and application developer had asked the following question:

I am trying to set the value of the existing userdefine​d property "Address" of Parcels using the com method SetUserDefinedPropertyValue but have had no luck.....

 

If you have the same question and looking for a solution using the SetUserDefinedPropertyValue() API, here you go :

 

//start a transaction

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

{

 

  //get the list of properties

  Autodesk.AECC.Interop.Land.AeccUserDefinedPropertyClassification parcelUDPClass =

      aeccDb.ParcelUserDefinedPropertyClassifications.Item(0);

 

  //get one property - create or access

  Autodesk.AECC.Interop.Land.AeccUserDefinedProperty propItem;

  if (parcelUDPClass.UserDefinedProperties.Count == 0)

  {

    //create a new property

    propItem = propItem = parcelUDPClass.UserDefinedProperties.Add("Address", "DESC",

        Autodesk.AECC.Interop.Land.AeccUDPPropertyFieldType.aeccUDPPropertyFieldTypeInteger,

        true, false, 10, true, false, 20, true, 15, null);

  }

  else

    //or access an existing one

    propItem = parcelUDPClass.UserDefinedProperties.Item(0);

 

  //apply classification changes

  aeccDb.Sites.Item(0).Parcels.Properties.SetUserDefinedPropertyClassification(

      Autodesk.AECC.Interop.Land.AeccUDPClassificationApplyWay.aeccUDPClassificationApplyAll, "Unclassified");

 

  //assuming the drawing contain at least one site, with at least one parcel

  if (aeccDb.Sites.Item(0).Parcels.Count > 0)

  {

    Autodesk.AECC.Interop.Land.AeccParcel parcel = aeccDb.Sites.Item(0).Parcels.Item(0);

    //get the property by name

    object value = parcel.GetUserDefinedPropertyValue(propItem.Name);

    //also the SET the value

    parcel.SetUserDefinedPropertyValue(propItem.Name, 13);

  }

 

  trans.Commit();

}

 

Here is the result of running the above code snippet:

 

 

Hope this helps!

"Live Q & A" session on AutoCAD Civil 3D API

By Partha Sarkar

Those who have already registered for AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013 .NET API webcast must have received an earlier communication from ADN team about our intention to upload the recoded DevTV on what’s new in 2013 release of AutoCAD Civil 3D API followed by a "Live Q & A" on July 17 2012, starting at 9:30 am PDT.

 

Participation in "Live Q & A" session on AutoCAD Civil 3D API is open and free for all. If you haven’t registered for it yet, I suggest you to complete the registration process now.

 

Here is the link to download :

AutoCAD Civil 3D API Recording 

Join us for "Live Q & A" session on AutoCAD Civil 3D API, on July 17 2012, starting at 9:30 am PDT. (Duration 45 min). 

Thanks, 

Partha Sarkar

Team ADN

 

 

Mixing Civil 3D .NET and COM APIs

By Augusto Goncalves

On each new version, Civil 3D includes more and more .NET coverage, but a few features still missing or maybe not available on older versions. This article how go from COM to .NET and back.

Every time any Aecc-object is used, the code will require COM objects to be loaded. A common practice is to add reference to those objects (either from COM registered objects prior 2012 or from Interop namespaces on 2013), but that makes the plug-in version dependent. One alternative is to use Late-binding, where no COM reference is added, so the code is binary version independent, but the bad side is that we have no ‘auto-complete’ feature while writing code. If the project have references, declare objects As Aecc-something, like on the sample below, otherwise declare them As Object (late binding).

Several Civil 3D .NET objects have an AcadObject property, which will return the equivalent COM object type. One small consideration is to use TryCast (VB.NET) or the as operation (C#), instead of making the direct cast, which can avoid some casting problems when you are not sure about the conversion.

'the .NET Corridor object

Dim oCorridor As Autodesk.Civil.Roadway.DatabaseServices.Corridor

'...

'initialize the .NET corridor object somehow...

'...

 

'now let's cast to COM

'first create the COM Corridor object

Dim oAeccCorridor As Autodesk.AECC.Interop.Roadway.AeccCorridor

'second try cast, which will return Nothing case it is impossible

oAeccCorridor = TryCast(oCorridor.AcadObject, AeccCorridor)

'cast succeeded?

If (oAeccCorridor Is Nothing) Then

  'yes! it is valid!

  'do something here

End If

Now, how do we cast from COM to .NET? The AcadObject property is read-only and there is no property available to cast to the .NET equivalent of the same object. One solution is to open the object using the ObjectId from the COM object. The following code shows the typical, basic coding for accessing an object for read, in this case a Corridor object.

'the COM Corridor object

Dim oAeccCorridor As Autodesk.AECC.Interop.Roadway.AeccCorridor

'...

'initialize the COM corridor object somehow...

'...

 

'get the .NET Database object

Dim db As Database = Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices. _

    ApplicationDocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Database

 

'start a transation with "using" keyword

Using trans As Transaction = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction

 

  'create the .NET corridor object

  Dim oCorridor As Autodesk.Civil.Roadway.DatabaseServices.Corridor

 

  'open it using the transaction, for READ or for WRITE

  'like from COM to .NET, try cast before use it

  Dim corridorId As ObjectId = New ObjectId(New IntPtr( _

                                 oAeccCorridor.ObjectID))

  oCorridor = TryCast(trans.GetObject(corridorId, _

                      OpenMode.ForRead), Corridor)

 

  'cast succeeded?

  If Not (oCorridor Is Nothing) Then

    'yes! it is valid!

    'do something here

  End If

End Using 'this will Dispose the transaction object

This code was demonstrated with Corridor and AeccCorridor objects, but the same will work for any other object with AcadObject or ObjectId.

Export Civil 3D Corridor Feature Lines to Polyline using.NET API

By Partha Sarkar

If you are looking for a way to export Civil 3D Corridor Feature Lines to Polyline using .NET API, you are at the right place! :) 

Following code snippet demonstrates how to export corridor Feature Lines to Polyline using Civil 3D .NET API :

Using (trans)

 

  '' get the Corridor Object.

  '' In this Case I am getting a specific Corridor from Civil 3D Tutorial DWG - "Corridor-5c.dwg"

  corridor = trans.GetObject(civilDoc.CorridorCollection.Item("Corridor - (1)"), OpenMode.ForRead, True, True)

 

  For Each bLine In corridor.Baselines

    fTLCollMap = bLine.MainBaselineFeatureLines.FeatureLineCollectionMap

    For Each fTLColl In fTLCollMap

      For Each corFTL In fTLColl

        fTLPointColl = corFTL.FeatureLinePoints

        ReDim fTLPArray(0 To fTLPointColl.Count * 3 - 1)

        For i = 0 To fTLPointColl.Count - 1

          fTLPoint = fTLPointColl.Item(i)

          pt3d = fTLPoint.XYZ

          fTLPArray(i * 3) = pt3d.X

          fTLPArray(i * 3 + 1) = pt3d.Y

          fTLPArray(i * 3 + 2) = pt3d.Z             

        Next i

 

        ' Draw the Polyline line

        pline = acadDoc.ModelSpace.AddPolyline(fTLPArray)

        pline.LinetypeGeneration = True

        pline.Lineweight = ACAD_LWEIGHT.acLnWt050

        Dim col As AcadAcCmColor = New AcadAcCmColor

        col.ColorIndex = AcColor.acCyan

        pline.TrueColor = col

        pline.Update()

        pline.Highlight(True)

      Next

    Next

  Next

  trans.Commit()

End Using

 

Hope this is useful to you!

What controls the radius of the curves when we create Alignment?

By Partha Sarkar

In 'Do you want to programmatically convert polyline to Civil 3D Alignment object?' I showed how to convert a Polyline to a Civil 3D Alignment object. Christopher of CIVIL 3D REMINDERS asked about what controls the radius of the curves? I thought I will take a quick look into this and share my findings with you all.

Radius of the curve is determined by the value set for "Default radius" under 'Create from Entities' in "Edit Command Settings - CreateAlignmentEntities" dialog box as shown in the screenshot below.

And this value can be accessed using following code snippet -

 

Dim settingsCmdCrAlignmentEnt As Autodesk.Civil.Settings.SettingsCmdCreateAlignmentEntities = civilDoc.Settings.GetSettings(Of Autodesk.Civil.Settings.SettingsCmdCreateAlignmentEntities)()

ed.WriteMessage(vbCrLf + "SettingsCmdCreateAlignmentEntities.SettingsCmdCreateFromEntities.Radius =  :  " + settingsCmdCrAlignmentEnt.CreateFromEntities.Radius.Value.ToString())           

 

Hope this helps !

Do you want to programmatically convert polyline to Civil 3D Alignment object?

By Partha Sarkar

If you have a requirement to convert polyline to Civil 3D Alignment object programmatically i.e. using Civil 3D API, you are at the right place :) 

This VB.NET code snippet demonstrates how to create (or convert) a Polyline to a Civil 3D Alignment object. 

 

  ' Select the Polyline

  Dim promptEntOp As New PromptEntityOptions(vbCrLf + "Select a Polyline : ")

  Dim promptEntRs As PromptEntityResult

  promptEntRs = ed.GetEntity(promptEntOp)

  If promptEntRs.Status <> PromptStatus.OK Then

      ed.WriteMessage("Exiting! Try Again !")

      Exit Sub

  End If

  Dim idEnt As ObjectId = promptEntRs.ObjectId       

 

  Try

 

      Dim poptions As Autodesk.Civil.DatabaseServices.PolylineOptions

      poptions.AddCurvesBetweenTangents = True

      poptions.EraseExistingEntities = True

      poptions.PlineId = idEnt

 

      ' Check the Alignment Style Name and labelSetName

      ' To use the following default names you can use the "Align-6A.dwg " from Help\Civil Tutorials\Drawings\

      ' and make sure to create a empty Site named "Site 1"(if it is already not there in the DWG file), also draw a polyline to convert it to Alignment.

 

      Dim alignId As ObjectId = Nothing

      alignId = Alignment.Create(civilDoc, poptions, "Test_Alignment", "Site 1", "0", "Design Style", "All Labels")

 

      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 Alignment created (like below ) :

 

 

Hope this helps!

 

Disposing COM objects

By Augusto Goncalves

While programming with Civil 3D COM objects, it is very common create AeccXxxx variables as class variables (modifiers shared in VB.NET or static in C#), like in the code below. This makes like easier, but leaves the Aecc reference longer than required, which can result in problems.

One way to improve that is call ReleaseComObject for each variable declared with this modifier. This is not required for variables declared inside methods, which are automatically disposed when the method ends. Also, as the AcadApplication is the host, there is no need to manually release it either.

Private Shared _acadApp As AcadApplication

Private Shared _aeccApp As AeccApplication

 

Private Sub GetCivilObjects()

  ' get Acad App

  _acadApp = Application.AcadApplication

 

  ' get Aecc App

  _aeccApp = _acadApp.GetInterfaceObject( _

      "AeccXUiLand.AeccApplication.10.0")

End Sub

 

' in the end (before exit)

Private Sub ReleaseCivilObjects()

  ' then release/dispose Aecc App

  System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.ReleaseComObject(_aeccApp)

  _aeccApp = Nothing

 

  ' call garbage collector (suggested only once at the end)

  System.GC.WaitForPendingFinalizers()

  System.GC.Collect()

End Sub

 

Public Sub MyRoutine()

  GetCivilObjects()

 

  'use aeccApp the variable

  '...

  '...

 

  ReleaseCivilObjects()

End Sub

Creating a Profile object using Civil 3D .NET API

By Partha Sarkar

Profile object in Civil 3D is a 3D geometric object which joins the Surface elevations along a horizontal Alignment. Profiles are used to visualize the terrain along a route of interest, such as a proposed road, or simply to show how the elevation changes across a particular region.

Profile.CreateFromSurface() method creates a new profile and derives its elevation information from the specified surface along the alignment. Following C# code snippet demonstrates creating a Civil 3D Profile object using .NET API :

// Get the AutoCAD Editor

Editor ed = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;

 

//select an Alignment which we will use to create a Profile

PromptEntityOptions selalignment = new PromptEntityOptions("\nSelect an Alignment Object: ");

selalignment.SetRejectMessage("\nOnly Alignment Object is allowed");

selalignment.AddAllowedClass(typeof(Alignment), true);

PromptEntityResult resalignment = ed.GetEntity(selalignment);

if (resalignment.Status != PromptStatus.OK) return;

ObjectId alignmentId = resalignment.ObjectId;

 

Database db = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Database;

CivilDocument civilDoc = CivilApplication.ActiveDocument;

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

{

 

    try

    {

        Alignment alignment = trans.GetObject(alignmentId, OpenMode.ForRead) as Alignment;

 

        // Profile.CreateFromSurface() has 4 overloaded versions

        // In this code snippet we will use - public static ObjectId CreateFromSurface(string profileName,   

        // ObjectId alignmentId, ObjectId surfaceId, ObjectId layerId, ObjectId styleId, ObjectId labelSetId )

 

        // prepare the input parameters

        ObjectId layerId = alignment.LayerId;

 

        // let's get the 1st Surface object in the DWG file

        ObjectId surfaceId = civilDoc.GetSurfaceIds()[0];

 

        // let's get the 1st Profile style object in the DWG file

        ObjectId styleId = civilDoc.Styles.ProfileStyles[0];

 

        // let's get the 1st ProfileLabelSetStyle object in the DWG file

        ObjectId labelSetId = civilDoc.Styles.LabelSetStyles.ProfileLabelSetStyles[0];

 

        // Create the Profile Object

        ObjectId profileId = Profile.CreateFromSurface("Profile_Created_using_API", alignmentId, surfaceId, layerId, styleId, labelSetId);

 

        trans.Commit();

    }

 

    catch (Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime.Exception ex)

    {

        ed.WriteMessage("/n Exception message :" + ex.Message);

    }

 

}

As a result of running the custom command containing above code snippet, you would see a new profile (like the following) being added to Civil 3D’s Profiles collection node :

Reducing the number of points on a triangulated irregular network (TIN) surface

By Partha Sarkar

If you want to make Civil 3D TIN surface smaller and easier to process faster by reducing the number of points, what you do ?

In Civil 3D UI tools, you can select the Edits -> 'Simplify Surface...' option to bring up the "Simplify Surface - SurfaceName" dialog box and there in the "Reduction Options" you can specify the 'Percentage of points to remove' as shown in the picture below -

The same operation, you can perform by calling your custom command and invoking the TinSurface.SimplifySurface() function. Here is a C# .NET code snippet on the same :

 

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

{

    TinSurface surface = trans.GetObject(surfaceId, OpenMode.ForRead) as TinSurface;

 

    // SurfaceSimplifyOptions

    // This class represents the options for simplifing a TinSurface object.

 

    SurfaceSimplifyOptions ssop = new SurfaceSimplifyOptions(SurfaceSimplifyType.PointRemoval);

    //specify the 'Percentage of points to remove'

    ssop.PercentageToRemove = 0.40;

 

    // Call SimplifySurface() now

    surface.SimplifySurface(ssop);

 

    // Rebuild the Surface

    surface.Rebuild();               

 

    trans.Commit();

}