Infrastructure Modeling DevBlog

Demystifying CogoPoint.Latitude and CogoPoint.Longitude API

By Partha Sarkar

AutoCAD Civil 3D .NET API 2014 Reference document clearly lists the following on CogoPoint.Latitude and CogoPoint.Longitude –

CogoPoint.Longitude -> Gets or sets the longitude for a point, relative to the coordinate zone and the transformation settings specified for the drawing.

public:

property double Longitude {

            double get ();

            void set (double value);

}

 

CogoPoint.Latitude -> Gets or sets the latitude for a point, relative to the coordinate zone and the transformation settings specified for the drawing.

 

public:

property double Latitude {

            double get ();

            void set (double value);

}

Let’s explore this API returned results. First, we need to set an appropriate coordinate system to our drawing file. For this experiment, I have used CA-II CS code as shown in the screenshot below -

Now I will create a COGO Point in the drawing area and we will investigate it’s Latitude and Longitude values from API and in UI OPM.

Now let’s run our custom application using Civil 3D .NET API CogoPoint.Latitude and CogoPoint.Longitude. Here is the code snippet :

ObjectId pointId = points.Add(pointCoord, "My_Test_Point");

CogoPoint cgPoint = trans.GetObject(pointId, OpenMode.ForRead) as CogoPoint;

 

// Point Latitude and Longitude values are in Radians

ed.WriteMessage("\nPoint Lat : " + cgPoint.Latitude.ToString() + "  "

                + "Point Long : " + cgPoint.Longitude.ToString());

 

And here is the result shown :

In the result we get decimal values whereas in the Properties window we see the values are in degree-minute-second. However the values don’t seem to match!

API returned double values are in Radians. Referring the above screenshot, if we convert the Latitude value 0.654133960948817 radians to degree we get 37.4791089757124 degree and the Longitude value 2.24952166028165 radians converts to 128.8880756575156 degree.

Hope this is useful to you!

Accessing Survey Database Points using AutoCAD Civil 3D COM API

By Partha Sarkar

Using IAeccSurveyProject:: GetPointByNumber API we can access a Survey Point instance with the input point number. Once we get the specific AeccSurveyPoint object we can access its various properties and methods. Most of the properties in COM API are read only i.e. we can get the value, but can set them using API except few e.g. -

IAeccSurveyPoint:: Name Property - > Gets or sets the name of the Point.

Here is a VB.NET sample code which demonstrates how to access Survey Database Points using COM API in Civil 3D 2014 :

 

Public Sub DemoAccessSurveyPoints()

 

  '' This sample Demonstrates How to access Survey Database Points using COM API in Civil 3D 2014

  ''

  '' Created by Partha Sarkar - DevTech, Autodesk

 

  Dim ed As Editor = Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor

 

  Dim oAcadApp As Autodesk.AutoCAD.Interop.AcadApplication = Nothing

  Dim oAeccSurveyApp As Autodesk.AECC.Interop.UiSurvey.AeccSurveyApplication = Nothing

  Dim oAeccSurveyDoc As Autodesk.AECC.Interop.UiSurvey.AeccSurveyDocument = Nothing

  Dim oAeccSurveyDB As Autodesk.AECC.Interop.Survey.AeccSurveyDatabase = Nothing

 

 

  Using trans As Transaction = HostApplicationServices.WorkingDatabase.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()

 

    Try

      If oAcadApp Is Nothing Then

        oAcadApp = GetObject(, "AutoCAD.Application")

      End If

    Catch ex As Exception

      ed.WriteMessage(ex.Message)

    End Try

 

    Try

      ' If you are using the COM API in Civil 3D 2014

      ' you need to update the object version to 10.3

      ' http://adndevblog.typepad.com/infrastructure/2013/03/whats-new-in-autocad-civil-3d-2014-api.html

 

      oAeccSurveyApp = oAcadApp.GetInterfaceObject("AeccXUiSurvey.AeccSurveyApplication.10.3")

      oAeccSurveyDoc = oAeccSurveyApp.ActiveDocument

      oAeccSurveyDB = oAeccSurveyApp.ActiveDocument.Database

 

 

      Dim oSurveyProjects As AeccSurveyProjects = CType(oAeccSurveyDB.Projects, AeccSurveyProjects)

 

      ' get the 1st Project from the Survey Projects collection

      Dim oSurveyProject As AeccSurveyProject = oSurveyProjects.Item(0)

 

      If Not (oSurveyProject Is Nothing) Then

 

        ' Get the Project Name

          ed.WriteMessage(vbCrLf + "Projcet Name : " + " " + oSurveyProject.Name.ToString())

 

        ' IAeccSurveyProject:: GetPointByNumber

        ' Gets the Survey Point instance with the input point number.

 

        Dim oSurveyPoint As AeccSurveyPoint = oSurveyProject.GetPointByNumber(1)

 

        ' Check the Point Properties Name, Easting, Northing & Elevation

 

        ed.WriteMessage(vbCrLf + "Point Name : " + oSurveyPoint.Name.ToString() )

        ed.WriteMessage(vbCrLf + "Easting : " + oSurveyPoint.Easting.ToString() + " " +

                        "Northing : " + oSurveyPoint.Northing.ToString() + " " +

                        "Elevation : " + oSurveyPoint.Elevation.ToString())

 

      End If      

 

      trans.Commit()

    Catch ex As Exception

      ed.WriteMessage("Error : ", ex.Message & vbCrLf)

    End Try

  End Using

End Sub

 

Here is a screenshot of the result from this code snippet :

 

Hope this is useful to you!

Setting the Point Style Marker Size and Scale using AutoCAD Civil 3D .NET API

By Partha Sarkar

If you want to create a new PointStyle object in AutoCAD Civil 3D and set the Marker Size and Scale using .NET API, you first need to create the new Point style or access the point style object you want to modify and then set the SizeType property to use the MarkerSizeType enum values that defines how the marker is sized such as ‘Use drawing scale’ or ‘Use fixed scale’ etc. Next set the MarkerSize or Scale values accordingly.

Here is a C# .NET code snippet demonstrating the same :

 

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

{

 

  // Create a point style that uses a custom marker

  // and set the Size and scale

 

  ObjectId pointStyleId = civilDoc.Styles.PointStyles.Add("My DEMO Point Style");

  PointStyle pointStyle = pointStyleId.GetObject(OpenMode.ForWrite) as PointStyle;

  pointStyle.MarkerType = PointMarkerDisplayType.UseCustomMarker;

  pointStyle.CustomMarkerStyle = CustomMarkerType.CustomMarkerX;

  pointStyle.CustomMarkerSuperimposeStyle = CustomMarkerSuperimposeType.Circle;

 

  // set the size to use 'Drawing Scale'

 

  pointStyle.SizeType = MarkerSizeType.DrawingScale;

  pointStyle.MarkerSize = 0.003;

 

 

  // If you want to set the size to use 'Fixed Scale'

 

  //pointStyle.SizeType = MarkerSizeType.FixedScale;

  //Point3d markerfixedscalePoint3d = new Point3d(3, 3, 3);

  //pointStyle.MarkerFixedScale = markerfixedscalePoint3d;

 

  trans.Commit();

}

 

Here is a screenshot of my new PointStyle with custom Marker :

 

Hope this is useful to you!

Assign coordinate systems to an AutoCAD Civil 3D DWG file using API

By Partha Sarkar

In AutoCAD Civil 3D user interface (UI), in the 'Drawing Settings' dialog, at 'Units and Zone' tab, we can select a geographic coordinate system from the available list and apply the same to the current DWG file.

Here is a C# .NET code snippet which demonstrates how to do the same using .NET API -

 

//start a transaction

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

{

 

    using (Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.DocumentLock locker = AcadApp.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.LockDocument())

        {                   

 

          // perform any document / database modifications here  

          SettingsDrawing settingsDWG = civilDoc.Settings.DrawingSettings;                   

          //settingsDWG.UnitZoneSettings.CoordinateSystemCode = "LL84";

          settingsDWG.UnitZoneSettings.CoordinateSystemCode = "FL83-EF";

          ed.WriteMessage("\nCoordinateSystemCode = " + settingsDWG.UnitZoneSettings.CoordinateSystemCode.ToString());

 

        }

 

    trans.Commit();

}

 

Removing ProfileXXXLabelGroup using AutoCAD Civil 3D .NET API

By Partha Sarkar

In AutoCAD Civil 3D, User Interface (UI) , we can select a Profile LabelGroup in the Profile View and from the "Edit Label Group" tool / command we can bring-up the "Profile Label" dialog box. In that dialog box, each Type of Profile Label Groups are listed and using the UI tools we can Add or Remove (X) a particular Type.

 

 

If you want to programmatically remove / erase a particular Profile Label Group, the first task is to identify the Profile Label Group Type. In the following example, we can see ProfileCrestCurveLabelGroup Type which is listed as AECC_VALIGNMENT_CRESTCURVE_LABEL_GROUP when we use the LIST command is selected first and later removed just by calling the Erase() method.

// select a Label Object

PromptEntityOptions peo = new PromptEntityOptions("Select A Profile Label Group : ");

peo.SetRejectMessage("\nOnly Label is allowed");

peo.AddAllowedClass(typeof(Autodesk.Civil.DatabaseServices.ProfileCrestCurveLabelGroup), false);

 

PromptEntityResult per = ed.GetEntity(peo);

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

 

//start a transaction

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

{

 

  ProfileCrestCurveLabelGroup profCrestCurveLabelGroup = trans.GetObject(per.ObjectId, OpenMode.ForWrite) as ProfileCrestCurveLabelGroup;

 

  profCrestCurveLabelGroup.Erase();

 

  trans.Commit();

}

 

Hope this is useful to you!

How do I change the default styles of Points in AutoCAD Civil 3D using .NET API?

By Partha Sarkar

In AutoCAD Civil 3D ‘Create Points’ dialog, under Parameter if you expand the ‘Default Styles’ collection, you will see the default ‘Point Style’ and ‘Point Label Style’ field and their corresponding values in the ‘Value’ column as shown in the screenshot below –

If you want to change these default style values using Civil 3D .NET API, you need to get the SettingsPoint object first and then update the Style and Label styles value as shown in the C# .NET code snippet below –

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

{

 

  // get the SettingsPoint object

  SettingsPoint pointSettings = civilDoc.Settings.GetSettings<SettingsPoint>() as SettingsPoint;

 

  // now set the value for default Style and Label Style

  // make sure the values exists in DWG file before you try to set them

  pointSettings.Styles.Point.Value = "Benchmark";

  pointSettings.Styles.PointLabel.Value = "Elevation Only";

 

  trans.Commit();

}

 

Once you run your custom application the default style and labels style value for Point object will be changed –

Hope this is useful to you!

Creating Offset Alignments using Civil 3D .NET API

By Partha Sarkar

In Civil 3D .NET API, Alignment class has an overloaded method named CreateOffsetAlignment() which allows us to create an offset Alignment. One of the overloaded methods Alignment.CreateOffsetAlignment (Double) is now obsolete [ 2013 & 2014 release].

 

There is a code sample on how to create offset Alignment available at Civil 3D installation folder :

<Civil 3D Installation Folder>\Sample\Civil 3D API\DotNet\CSharp\OffsetAlignmentDemo 

This sample uses the following version of CreateOffsetAlignment() -

public static ObjectId CreateOffsetAlignment(

               string alignmentName,

               ObjectId parentAlignmentId,

               double offset,

               ObjectId styleId

)

 

Alignment.CreateOffsetAlignment(String.Format("Offset {0} Right", d), alignId, d, styleId);

In the Code sample you will notice it tries to get the styleId for a specific Alignment style and if that style object is not present in your test DWG file your application will throw an error. So, you need to be careful to modify the following line of the sample code as per your requirement -

var styleId = doc.Styles.AlignmentStyles["Offsets"];

 

And here is the result you will see if you successfully run the same code sample in Civil 3D :

 

Creating Featureline using COM API IAeccLandFeatureLines:: AddFromPolyline()

By Partha Sarkar

Civil 3D .NET API is yet to get the necessary functions to add / create featureline object. We have a wish list logged for the same. Till we get the .NET API, let's see how to use the existing COM API IAeccLandFeatureLines:: AddFromPolyline() in .NET application using Interop.

 

Following VB.NET code snippet demonstrates creation of a Featureline in AutoCAD Civil 3D using COM API IAeccLandFeatureLines:: AddFromPolyline() -

 

Using trans As Transaction = HostApplicationServices.WorkingDatabase.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()

  Try

    If oAcadApp Is Nothing Then

      oAcadApp = GetObject(, "AutoCAD.Application")

    End If

  Catch ex As Exception

    ed.WriteMessage(ex.Message)

  End Try

 

  Try

    oAeccApp = oAcadApp.GetInterfaceObject("AeccXUiLand.AeccApplication.10.0")

    oAeccDoc = oAeccApp.ActiveDocument

    oAeccDB = oAeccApp.ActiveDocument.Database

 

    ' Select the 3D Polyline which you want to convert to Feature Line

 

    Dim promptEntOp As New PromptEntityOptions(vbCrLf + "Select a 3D 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

    idEnt = promptEntRs.ObjectId

 

    Dim oFtrLn As AeccLandFeatureLine = Nothing

    Dim oFtrLns As AeccLandFeatureLines = oAeccDoc.Sites.Item(0).FeatureLines

 

    Dim plineObjId As Long = idEnt.OldIdPtr

 

    oFtrLn = oFtrLns.AddFromPolyline(plineObjId, oAeccDB.FeatureLineStyles.Item(0))

 

    trans.Commit()

  Catch ex As Exception

    ed.WriteMessage("Error : ", ex.Message & vbCrLf)

  End Try

End Using

 

Once you build your application using above code snippet and run it in Civil 3D , you would see a Featureline being created -

 

 

Hope this is useful to you!

Get CogoPoint label text

By Augusto Goncalves

The CogoPoint object on Civil 3D can hold labels with more information than the regular Description, which contains only part of the information (and sometimes not the same showed on the point).

One alternative could be the CogoPoint.GetLabelTextComponentOverride method, passing the IDs obtained from. Unfortunately this will output the format of the text, as shown on the Text Component Editor, not the actual value.

So one workaround, although not very elegant, can be explode the CogoPoint in memory, then explode again and again all the containing BlockReference and MText objects, to end up with DBText, which is the information we seek. The following code show the idea.

[CommandMethod("getPointText")]

public void CmdGetPointText()

{

  Editor ed = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;

  PromptEntityResult resPoint = ed.GetEntity("Select point: ");

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

  ed.WriteMessage(GetText(resPoint.ObjectId));

}

 

private string GetText(ObjectId id)

{

  // store the DBTexts

  StringBuilder entityText = new StringBuilder();

 

  Database db = Application.DocumentManager.

    MdiActiveDocument.Database;

  using (Transaction trans = db.

    TransactionManager.StartTransaction())

  {

    // open the entity

    Entity point = trans.GetObject(id,

      OpenMode.ForRead) as Entity;

 

    // do a full explode (considering explode again

    // all BlockReferences and MText)

    List<DBObject> objs = FullExplode(point);

    foreach (Entity ent in objs)

    {

      // now get the text of each DBText

      if (ent.GetType() == typeof(DBText))

      {

        DBText text = ent as DBText;

        entityText.AppendLine(text.TextString);

      }

    }

    trans.Commit();

  }

 

  return entityText.ToString();

}

 

private List<DBObject> FullExplode(Entity ent)

{

  // final result

  List<DBObject> fullList = new List<DBObject>();

 

  // explode the entity

  DBObjectCollection explodedObjects = new DBObjectCollection();

  ent.Explode(explodedObjects);

  foreach (Entity explodedObj in explodedObjects)

  {

    // if the exploded entity is a blockref or mtext

    // then explode again

    if (explodedObj.GetType() == typeof(BlockReference) ||

        explodedObj.GetType() == typeof(MText))

    {

      fullList.AddRange(FullExplode(explodedObj));

    }

    else

      fullList.Add(explodedObj);

  }

  return fullList;

}

ODTables.Item(tableName) does not work on Windows7/Vista?

By Daniel Du

Issue

I am migrating my Map 3D VBA application to .NET, but when I call ODTables.Item(strTableName), it always crashes AutoCAD on Windows 7/Vista, and it works well on WinXP.

Solution

You can use following workaround on Windows 7/Vista to solve this problem:

VB.NET:

<code_begin>
    Dim ODTbl As AutocadMAP.ODTable
    ODTbl = Nothing
    For index = 0 To ODTbls.Count - 1
       Debug.WriteLine( ODTbls.Item(index).Name.ToString())
       If (ODTbls.Item(index).Name.ToString() = TargetTable) Then
            ODTbl = ODTbls.Item(index)
        Exit For
       End If
    Next

<code_end>

VBA code:

<code_begin>
Public Sub GetMapApp()
Dim amap As AcadMap
Dim tbl As ODTable
Dim tbls As ODTables
Set amap = ThisDrawing.Application.GetInterfaceObject("AutoCADMap.Application")
Debug.Print amap.Projects.Count 

'' workaround
Set tbls = amap.Projects(ThisDrawing).ODTables

If (tbls.Count) > 0 Then
For Each tbl In tbls
If tbl.Name = "Building" Then ‘ set OD Table name here as per your data
Debug.Print tbl.Name
End If
Next
End If

End Sub

<code_end>