Manufacturing DevBlog

Remove missing OLE Links using ReferencedOLEFileDescriptor

By Wayne Brill

Here is a VBA example that uses the Delete method of the ReferencedOLEFileDescriptor in a part file to remove OLE links. SilentOperation of the Application is set to True to avoid dialogs.

Also the Dirty property of the document is set to True. I found that without doing this the save did not save to disk with the removed Links.

This ivb has code that removes the links in a part as well as removing the links in parts in an assembly. It is an update to the AssemblyCount VBA example in the API help.

 Download RemoveOLELinks

 

Public Sub oleLinksDelete()
          
    ThisApplication.SilentOperation = True
    
     Dim oPartDoc As PartDocument
     Set oPartDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
    
     Dim bSaveDoc As Boolean
     bSaveDoc = False
   
     Dim oRefOleFileDesc As ReferencedOLEFileDescriptor
    
     If oPartDoc.ReferencedOLEFileDescriptors.Count > 0 Then
        
         For Each oRefOleFileDesc In _
                       oPartDoc.ReferencedOLEFileDescriptors
              'Debug.Print oRefOleFileDesc.ReferenceStatus
             
              If oRefOleFileDesc.ReferenceStatus = _
                                      kMissingReference Then
                  ' Debug.Print oRefOleFileDesc.DisplayName
                  oRefOleFileDesc.Delete
                  oPartDoc.Dirty = True
                  bSaveDoc = True
              End If
            Next oRefOleFileDesc
         
          If bSaveDoc = True Then
              oPartDoc.Save
              bSaveDoc = False
          End If
      End If
    ' Be sure to set this back to False
     ThisApplication.SilentOperation = False
End Sub

Save extra data in Inventor file without Inventor API

By Xiaodong Liang

I believe you have found the two articles below when you wanted to store additional data to an Inventor file.

How to use private storage and stream in C++

Save extra data in Inventor file – 3

They solutions work well in most cases until a customer was frustrated recently: she wanted to store the data but not dirty the file. While the solutions above actually use the wrapped functions of IStorage and IStream which require to make the document dirty.

But if you use IStorage and IStream of pure Windows API, you can bypass this. One 3^rd tool http://www.mitec.cz/ssv.html has proved this. I did some investigations and wrote some codes which may help you to get started with. Basically, the data of a Windows file is organized in a hierarchy of storages. The root storage can contain sub storages. In the storage, you can add stream which stores your data.

The attached project adds custom data to an Inventor file and reads it out. You can verify Document.RevisionId is not changed after the modification. And Dirty is false. It assumes a file c:\\temp\\Part1.ipt exists.

Download Save extra data

The core code:

 

//create storage

void createST()

{

            HRESULT hr = S_OK;

   IStorage *pStg = NULL;

 

  //open the root storage

   hr = StgOpenStorageEx(_T("c:\\temp\\Part1.ipt"),

                        STGM_WRITE| STGM_SHARE_EXCLUSIVE,

                          STGFMT_ANY,

                           0,

                           NULL,

                          NULL,

                           IID_IStorage,

                            reinterpret_cast<void**>(&pStg));

 

    if( FAILED(hr) )

            {

 

            }

            else

            {

                        IStorage *mystorge = NULL;

                        //create my storage

                       hr = pStg->CreateStorage(_T("ADNStorage"),

                                   STGM_WRITE|

                                   STGM_CREATE|

                                   STGM_SHARE_EXCLUSIVE,NULL,NULL,&mystorge);

                        if( FAILED(hr) )

                       {

 

                       }

                        else

                        {

                                    IStream *mystream = NULL;

                                    //create my stream

                                    hr = mystorge->CreateStream(_T("ADNStorage_Stream"),

                                                STGM_WRITE|

                                                STGM_CREATE|

                                                STGM_SHARE_EXCLUSIVE,NULL,NULL,&mystream);

                                    if( FAILED(hr) )

                                   {

 

                                   }

                                    else

                                    {

                                                //write my data to the stream

                                               constchar *data=

                                                          "mydataaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaada";

 

                                                 ULONG lsize= strlen(data);

                                                //hr=mystream->Write( &lsize,sizeof(int), NULL ) ;

                                                hr=mystream->Write( data, lsize, NULL ) ;

                                                hr = mystream->Commit(STGC_DEFAULT|STGC_OVERWRITE);

                                                hr = mystream->Release();

                                    }

 

                                    mystorge->Release();                             

                        }

 

       pStg->Release();

            }

}

 

//read data from the file

void readST()

{

            HRESULT hr = S_OK;

   IStorage *pStg = NULL;

 

   //open the root storage

   hr = StgOpenStorageEx(_T("c:\\temp\\Part1.ipt"),

                        STGM_READ| STGM_SHARE_EXCLUSIVE,

                          STGFMT_ANY,

                           0,

                           NULL,

                          NULL,

                           IID_IStorage,

                            reinterpret_cast<void**>(&pStg));

 

    if( FAILED(hr) )

            {

 

            }

            else

            {

                        IStorage *mystorge = NULL;

 

                        //open my storage

                        hr = pStg->OpenStorage(_T("ADNStorage"),

                                    NULL,

                                    STGM_READ|

                                    STGM_SHARE_EXCLUSIVE,NULL,NULL,&mystorge);

                        if( FAILED(hr) )

                       {

 

                       }

                        else

                        {

                                    IStream *mystream = NULL;

                                    //open my stream

                                    hr = mystorge->OpenStream(_T("ADNStorage_Stream"),

                                                NULL,STGM_READ|

                                                STGM_SHARE_EXCLUSIVE,NULL,&mystream);

                                    if( FAILED(hr) )

                                   {

 

                                   }

                                    else

                                    {

                                                //read the data out

                                                 constint nLen=255;

                                                 char strText[nLen]={0};                                               

                                                 ULONG actRead;

                                                 hr = mystream->Read(strText,nLen, &actRead); 

                                                hr = mystream->Release();

                                    }

 

                                    mystorge->Release();                             

                        }

 

       pStg->Release();

            }

}

Run command on browser item

By Adam Nagy

Some functionality of an object or sometimes the whole object may not be exposed directly through the API. In this case one workaround could be selecting the object and then running commands on it. This is the combination of running a commmand (this blog post also shows how to get all the command names) and finding an item in the browser. 

E.g. the WeldBead object does not have a Suppress function, and the WeldmentComponentDefinition.SuppressFeatures function does not seem to work on it either. It's also not hooked up to the selection system, i.e. when a bead is selected in the UI then ThisApplication.ActiveDocument.SelectSet(1) will return Nothing.

So the workaround is to select the object through the BrowserPane object and then run the AssemblySuppressFeatureCtxCmd command. In order to avoid this message, we'll use SilentOperation = True.

Enum SuppressOption
  kSuppress
  kUnsuppress
  kToggle
End Enum

Sub SuppressBead( _
wcd As WeldmentComponentDefinition, _
wbn As BrowserNode, _
so As SuppressOption)
  Dim name As String
  name = wbn.BrowserNodeDefinition.Label

  ' We only need to check the current state of the bead if
  ' we are not just toggling its state but want a specific one
  If so <> kToggle Then
    ' If the bead is already suppressed then its
    ' BeadFaces.Count will be 0
    Dim bfs As Faces
    Set bfs = wcd.Welds.WeldBeads(name).BeadFaces
    If bfs.Count = 0 Xor so = kUnsuppress Then Exit Sub
  End If
  
  ' Get the CommandManager object
  Dim cm As CommandManager
  Set cm = ThisApplication.CommandManager
  
  ' Get the collection of control definitions
  Dim cds As ControlDefinitions
  Set cds = cm.ControlDefinitions
      
  ' Run the "Suppress" command
  ThisApplication.SilentOperation = True
  Call wbn.DoSelect
  Call cds("AssemblySuppressFeatureCtxCmd").Execute2(True)
  ThisApplication.SilentOperation = False
End Sub

Sub SuppressWeldBead()
  Dim weldName As String
  weldName = "Fillet Weld 1"

  ' Get document
  Dim doc As AssemblyDocument
  Set doc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
  
  Dim wcd As WeldmentComponentDefinition
  Set wcd = doc.ComponentDefinition
  
  ' Get "Model" browser
  Dim bp As BrowserPane
  Set bp = doc.BrowserPanes("AmBrowserArrangement")
  
  ' Get "Welds" node
  Dim wbn As BrowserNode
  For Each wbn In bp.TopNode.BrowserNodes
    If wbn.BrowserNodeDefinition.Label = "Welds" Then
      Exit For
    End If
  Next
  
  ' Get "Beads" node
  Dim bbn As BrowserNode
  For Each bbn In wbn.BrowserNodes
    If bbn.BrowserNodeDefinition.Label = "Beads" Then
      Exit For
    End If
  Next
  
  ' Get the Beads we want to suppress
  For Each wbn In bbn.BrowserNodes
    If wbn.BrowserNodeDefinition.Label = weldName Then
      Call SuppressBead(wcd, wbn, kSuppress)
    End If
  Next
End Sub

Here is the result of the program:

 

Where is Mechanical 2015 SDK ?

By Xiaodong Liang

The same to last year, the SDK is now available at ADN Open . You can also download it directly from the link below:

  AutoCAD_Mechanical_2015_SDK.exe (exe - 6427Kb)

The SDK contains libraries, header files, documentation, and samples for AutoCAD Mechanical APIs, which provide object-oriented C++ programming interfaces for developers to use, customize, and extend AutoCAD Mechanical software. Please refer to the readme for changes to this release of SDK.

The  Developer’s Guide and ActiveX and VBA Reference Guide are also available:

 acmdevguide_19_0.chm (chm - 208Kb)

  acadmauto_19_0.chm (chm - 3972Kb)

Compile Errors in C++ with VS2012

By Xiaodong Liang

In our development, we found a compiling error in VS2012 with RxInventor.tlb. The compile error looks like:

"error C2556: 'miComponentColumnTypeEnum iPartTableColumn::GetReferencedDataType(void)' : overloaded function differs only by return type from 'iComponentColumnTypeEnum iPartTableColumn::GetReferencedDataType(void)”.

This issue is caused by VS. Microsoft has provided a hotfix which is available at the link.

Error when using Inventor classes from a separate dll

By Adam Nagy

When you have a standalone application you may want to place some of the functionality in a separate dll.

In this case if you create classes which are derived somehow from an Inventor class and try to use those from your main application then you'll get an error:

"Error	1	Type 'Classes_Inventor.Collection_Axes' from assembly
'c:\Users\Administrator\Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Projects\
InventorTestConsole\Classes_Inventor\bin\Debug\Classes_Inventor.dll' 
cannot be used across assembly boundaries because a type in its 
inheritance hierarchy has a generic type parameter that is an 
embedded interop type.	
c:\users\administrator\documents\visual studio 2010\
Projects\InventorTestConsole\InventorTestConsole\Program.cs	
12	29	InventorTestConsole"

The highlighted words provide a clue about the solution, which is the same as shown in this article:
http://modthemachine.typepad.com/my_weblog/2012/07/set-embed-interop-types-to-false-to-avoid-problems-with-events.html

Once we changed Embed Interop Types property of the reference to Inventor in the dll to False, the whole project compiled fine.

 

Detect geometry change in part document

By Adam Nagy

If you need to check if the model got modified since a certain point in time, then you could use the value of ModelGeometryVersion property of PartComponentDefinition.
This property is updated with a different value every time there’s a model change. This includes sketch changes and is for the entire part, not specific bodies.

All component definitions have this property: AssemblyComponentDefinition, SheetMetalComponentDefinition, VirtualComponentDefinition, WeldmentComponentDefinition, WeldsComponentDefinition and so does FlatPattern.

Implement multiple interface in Vault customization

By Daniel Du

When doing vault customization, we generally just make it one of the three types: explore plug-in, custom job or event hander, which means we probably just implement one of these three interfaces:  IExplorerExtension, IJob, or IWebServiceExtension. But as you know, in .net it is possible to implement more than one interface, it applies to vault customization as well, sometimes, we have to do that, implementing multiple interface to do our job.

Let’s say  we are trying to monitoring the life cycle state change event and then update the file properties on Vault Explorer, and of cause a class implementing IWebServiceExtension and then hooking the event in OnLoad is the direct solution. We can obtain IExplorerUtil within the UpdateFileLifecycleStateEvents.Post-event using LoadExplorerUtil. In general, it works fine, but when it is running in Vault Explorer, it will be problematic. When entities life cycle changed, the Explorer grid will be empty. We should use GetExplorerUtil, not LoadExplorerUtil if running inside Vault Explorer. We can call System.Diagnostics.Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName to figure out what the running process is. But if we just implement the IWebServiceExtension interface, we cannot call GetExplorerUtil, as it need a an Instance of Autodesk.Connectivity.Explorer.Extensibility.IApplication as a parameter, what should we do?

In this case, we need to implement IExplorerExtension as well, here is a code sample:

[assembly: ApiVersion("6.0")]
[assembly: ExtensionId("ff477652-5bdf-438d-975a-d8e61580d39c")]
 
namespace MultiInterfaceSample
{
    //if you rename this class name, please make sure change accordingly in vaultplugin.vcet.config
    public class Class1 : IWebServiceExtension, IExplorerExtension
    {
 
        private IApplication m_explorerApplication = null;
 
        #region IExplorerExtenion implemenation
        public IEnumerable<CommandSite> CommandSites()
        {
            return null;
        }
 
…
 
        public void OnStartup(IApplication application)
        {
            m_explorerApplication = application;
 
            DocumentServiceExtensions.UpdateFileLifecycleStateEvents.Post += 
             new EventHandler<UpdateFileLifeCycleStateCommandEventArgs>(UpdateFileLifecycleStateEvents_Post);
 
        }
        #endregion
 
 
 
        #region IWebServiceExtension implementation
        public void OnLoad()
        {
            // regeister web service command events here if running outside Vault Explorer.
            // If running inside Vault Explorer, OnStartup is where these events are registered.
            if (System.Diagnostics.Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName != "Connectivity.VaultPro")
            {
 
                DocumentServiceExtensions.UpdateFileLifecycleStateEvents.Post += 
                 new EventHandler<UpdateFileLifeCycleStateCommandEventArgs>(UpdateFileLifecycleStateEvents_Post);
            }
        }
 
        void UpdateFileLifecycleStateEvents_Post(object sender, UpdateFileLifeCycleStateCommandEventArgs e)
        {
            IExplorerUtil explorerUtil = null;
            string procName = System.Diagnostics.Process.GetCurrentProcess().ProcessName;
            if (procName == "Connectivity.VaultPro")
            {
                explorerUtil = ExplorerLoader.GetExplorerUtil(m_explorerApplication);
            }
            else
            {
                long userId = 1;
                explorerUtil = ExplorerLoader.LoadExplorerUtil("server", "vaultName", userId, "ticket");
            }
 
            //implement your logic
      
 
        }
        #endregion
    }
}

 

And here is the vcet.config file:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<configuration>
  <connectivity.ExtensionSettings3>
    <extension
      interface="Autodesk.Connectivity.WebServices.IWebServiceExtension, 
          Autodesk.Connectivity.WebServices, Version=18.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=aa20f34aedd220e1"
      type="MultiInterfaceSample.Class1, MultiInterfaceSample">
    </extension>
    <extension
      interface="Autodesk.Connectivity.Explorer.Extensibility.IExplorerExtension, 
         Autodesk.Connectivity.Explorer.Extensibility, Version=18.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=aa20f34aedd220e1"
      type="MultiInterfaceSample.Class1, MultiInterfaceSample">
    </extension>
  </connectivity.ExtensionSettings3>
</configuration>

 

In fact, the JobProcessorApiSamples sample application that is packaged with the SDK is another example. Hope this helps.

DISP_E_MEMBERNOTFOUND error from iLogic

By Adam Nagy

If you have an iLogic Rule which is using code that works fine inside a .NET application or AddIn, but throws a DISP_E_MEMBERNOTFOUND error from inside the iLogic Rule, then it could be that you just need to declare a variable using the specific type of the object. E.g. this code:

PartDoc=ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
PartcompDef=PartDoc.ComponentDefinition
ExtFeature=PartcompDef.Features.ExtrudeFeatures.item(1)
ExtDef=ExtFeature.Definition
' ...
ExtDef.Profile=ExtProfile

would need to be changed to this:

PartDoc=ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
PartcompDef=PartDoc.ComponentDefinition
ExtFeature=PartcompDef.Features.ExtrudeFeatures.item(1)
Dim ExtDef As ExtrudeDefinition =ExtFeature.Definition
' ...
ExtDef.Profile=ExtProfile

 

Feeling Foolish

By Stephen Preston

The ADN blog posts yesterday were the result of the second year of our team's internal April Fools' Challenge, where we have a little friendly competition to see who can post the 'best' April Fools' article. Of course, different people like different kinds of humor, so there's never really just one 'best'. (We try to avoid posting serious articles on April 1st in case someone thinks we're joking when we're not, but one sometimes slips through due to timezone miscalculations).

In no particular order, here is a full list of our Foolish posts (along with the name and location of the perpetrator):

• Xiaodong Liang (China) - http://adndevblog.typepad.com/aec/2014/04/avr-glass-autodesk-virtual-reality-glass-in-the-age-of-cloud.html
• Adam Nagy (UK) - http://adndevblog.typepad.com/manufacturing/2014/04/william-as-honorary-autodesk-spokesperson.html
• Kevin Vandecar (US) - http://getcoreinterface.typepad.com/blog/2014/04/preparation-for-your-3ds-max-customers-cloud-storage.html
• Augusto Goncalves (Brazil) - http://adndevblog.typepad.com/infrastructure/2014/04/infraworks-360-public-pilot.html
• Daniel Du (China) - http://adndevblog.typepad.com/cloud_and_mobile/2014/04/autodesk-exchange-is-making-it-a-real-one.html
• Jeremy Tammik (Switzerland) - http://thebuildingcoder.typepad.com/blog/2014/04/automating-large-scale-waste-recycling-and-sustainability.html
• Cyrille Fauvel (France) - http://around-the-corner.typepad.com/adn/2014/04/3d-printing-second-industrial-revolution-is-under-way.html
• Partha Sarkar (India) - http://adndevblog.typepad.com/aec/2014/04/1-2-3-d-import-a-revit-family.html
• Brian Ekins (US) - http://modthemachine.typepad.com/my_weblog/2014/04/new-age-of-cad-interaction.html
• Stephen Preston (US) - http://adndevblog.typepad.com/autocad/2014/03/autodesk-announces-microsuites-1.html

And of course, I have to mention the post by Kean Walmsley - our longstanding Master of Fools.

Although, the Autodesk-related post yesterday that made me laugh the most was this one - http://designandmotion.net/autodesk/its-autodesks-turn-to-get-acquired-by-facebook/.