Through the Interface

Using a modeless .NET dialog to display AutoCAD object properties

In this previous post we looked at creating a simple modal dialog and using it to display object properties. This post looks at the structural changes you need to make to your application for the same dialog to be used modelessly. In a later post we'll look at the benefits you get from leveraging the Palette system for modeless interaction inside AutoCAD. Firstly, let's think about the interaction paradigm needed by a modeless dialog. A few things come to mind: There is no longer a need to hide and show the dialog around selection Rather than asking the user... Read more →

Using a modal .NET dialog to display AutoCAD object properties

Firstly, a big thanks for all your comments on the first anniversary post. It's good to know that people are finding this blog useful, and I hope the flow of ideas (internal and external) doesn't dry up anytime soon. So keep the comments coming! :-) This post is going to start a sequence of posts that look at how to integrate forms into AutoCAD. This post looks at modal forms, and later on we'll look more at modeless forms and - in particular - palettes. Just to be clear, these posts will focus on the basic integration - the... Read more →

One year wiser?

Well, would you believe it: Through the Interface was started exactly a year ago today. I hope you've found this blog helpful over the past 12 months; I've certainly enjoyed sharing my (and above all, my team's) knowledge with you, and look forward to doing so for a long time to come. But please keep the post suggestions coming, as many of the best posts over the last year (in my opinion, at least) have originated from suggestions from this blog's readership. By the way, for those of you who are interested: I'm now back from Beijing - we... Read more →

Creating a table of block attributes in AutoCAD using .NET - Part 2

In the last post we looked at some code to create a table of attribute values for a particular block. In this post we'll extend that code and show how to use a formula to create a total of those values. Below is the C# code. I've numbered the lines, and those in red are new since the last post. The complete source file can be downloaded here. Firstly, a quick breakdown of the changes: Lines 60-81 deal with user input, and the forcing of the decision to "embed" rather than "link", if we're performing the total (table formulae... Read more →

Creating a table of block attributes in AutoCAD using .NET - Part 1

This post was inspired by suggestions from a few different people (you know who you are! :-). I'm going to take it in two parts: this post will focus on creating a table automatically that lists the values of attribute references included in block references in the modelspace that point to a particular block table record selected by the user. Phew. The next post will add some functionality to create a "total" of one of the columns in the table we create, by using a table formula that performs a sum of the appropriate cells. The below code is... Read more →

Embedding fields in an AutoCAD table using .NET

This post is in response to a few requests I've received to show how to embed fields in tables. It follows on from this previous post, where we looked at how to embed a block preview icon in a table. The technique I'm showing in this post is far from being specific to tables, however. You could very easily use it for any other text object that supports fields inside AutoCAD (MText, Text, Attributes, etc.) Fields are very cool objects: they allow you to access a very wide array of information and embed them inside textual objects in AutoCAD.... Read more →

Creating an AutoCAD table containing block images using .NET

Further to the previous post showing the creation of a simple table, this shows how to add a column that contains a preview image of a particular block definition. I had to modify the code somewhat to open the block table sooner than we did before (I tend not to leave it open for longer than I have to, but in this case we want to check it for appropriate block definitions earlier on, while we're creating the table). Then I added a simple check, to see whether a block definition corresponding to our "name" field exists for a... Read more →

Creating an AutoCAD table using .NET

This suggestion came in a few weeks ago from Kélcyo Pereira, and I've borrowed some code from Sreekar Devatha, from DevTech India, to help implement the suggestion. The following C# code creates a very simple table and inserts it at the position selected by the user. The table is really very simply - a 5 (row) x 3 (column) table created from string values, no other data-types. It picks up the current style and aligns each cell as "middle, center". That's really all there is to it. using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices; using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices; using Autodesk.AutoCAD.EditorInput; using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Geometry; using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime; namespace TableCreation... Read more →

Showing a splash-screen from your AutoCAD .NET application

Thanks once again to Viru Aithal for the inspiration behind this post, although I did write most of the code, this time. :-) Adding a splash screen can give a touch of class to your application, assuming it's done non-intrusively. This post focuses on how best to do so within AutoCAD, and use the time it's displayed to perform initialization for your application. The first thing you need to do is add a Windows Form to your project: You should select the standard "Windows Form" type, giving an appropriate name (in this case I've used "SplashScreen", imaginatively enough). Once... Read more →