Through the Interface

Generating Koch fractals in AutoCAD using .NET - Part 1

I'm currently waiting to get my RealDWG license through, so I'll interrupt the previous series on side databases to focus on something a little different. I'll get back to it, in due course, I promise. :-) A long time ago, back during my first few years at Autodesk (which logically must have been some time in the mid- to late-90s, but I forget now), I developed an ObjectARX application to create fractals from linear geometry. I first got interested in the subject when I stumbled across something called the Koch curve: a very basic fractal - in fact one... Read more →

YASA (Yet Another Simpsons Avatar)

For those of you that haven't noticed the current obsession in the CAD blogosphere of creating Simpsons avatars of oneself, check out this post from the Autodesk Labs blog for some background. Now, to enter the fray myself. I spent some time a week or so ago playing around with the avatar creation tool on The Simpsons Movie website, but was pretty disappointed with the results: But then I discovered the Simpsonize Me website, and my life changed. :-) This site allows you to upload a photo, and it generates an avatar for you pretty much automatically (you have... Read more →

Updating a specific attribute inside a folder of AutoCAD drawings using .NET

In the last post we looked at some code to search the current drawing for a particular attribute and update its value. In this post - as promised - we're going to look at how to extend this application to work on a folder of drawings, updating those that contain the attribute and saving them to a new filename. Rather than implement a fancy, graphical user interface, I've stuck with my approach of using the command-line for input and output. If you wish to implement your own UI, please do - it's really easy using .NET. I get the... Read more →

Updating a specific attribute inside an AutoCAD drawing using .NET

This suggestion came up in reference to this previous post about using side databases. The request is to be able to open a number of DWG files and modify a particular attribute, saving the files back. Rather than jumping in and solving both problems in one post, we'll start today with the problem of updating the attribute and then in the next post we'll look at some code we can use to process a folder of DWGs, opening, updating and saving each one. I'll probably then go one step further and look at the steps needed to extract this... Read more →

Coming in September: Autodesk DevCamps - Customization and Application Development Conferences

I’m really excited about two new events we’re holding in September: an AEC DevCamp in Boston and a Manufacturing DevCamp in Portland. These are 3-day API-oriented workshops at locations close to our product development centres in Massachusetts (for AEC) and Oregon (for Manufacturing). Various members of my team and of our Engineering teams will be presenting introductory and in-depth sessions on the APIs for our industry-focused products. This is a great opportunity to improve your technical knowledge of the APIs to our AEC products (the focus being AutoCAD Civil 3D, Revit Architecture/Structure/MEP and AutoCAD Architecture/MEP) or Manufacturing products (Inventor,... Read more →

Accessing DWG files not open in the AutoCAD editor using .NET

This topic was briefly introduced almost a year ago, in this post. I then looked into the code a little further in a follow-up post. But at the time this topic wasn't the main thrust of the post, it was really more of an implementation detail. So now it's time to do the topic a little more justice. :-) Let's start with some terminology. What we're talking about today are often referred to as "side databases" or "external databases". Basically they're DWG files that are not open in the AutoCAD editor, but ones we want to access programmatically to... Read more →

Using a palette from .NET to display properties of multiple AutoCAD objects

After a brief interlude we're back on the series of posts showing how to implement basic user-interfaces inside AutoCAD using .NET. Here's the series so far: Using a modal .NET dialog to display AutoCAD object properties Using a modeless .NET dialog to display AutoCAD object properties Using a modeless .NET dialog to display properties of multiple AutoCAD objects In this post we're going to swap out the modeless form we've been using in the last few posts in the series and replace it with an instance of AutoCAD's in-built palette class (Autodesk.AutoCAD.Windows.PaletteSet). Firstly, why bother? Well, the PaletteSet class... Read more →

Accessing the AutoCAD objects referred to by fields using .NET

Thanks to Wolfgang Ruthensteiner for suggesting this excellent topic a comment to this previous post. Here's Wonfgang's question: How do I read back the field code with C# (from an attribute e.g.)? I am linking room-label blocks with polylines, using fields inside an attribute to display the polyline's area property. Later I want to find out programatically, which polyline a certain block is linked to by evaluating the field in the attribute (extracting the objectId). This was actually quite tricky, and one I needed the help of our old friend, ArxDbg, to solve (see here for some information on... Read more →

Free advanced AutoCAD .NET/ObjectARX webcasts

Over the last few years my team has been delivering more and more webcasts about the APIs to our various products. I'd strongly recommend checking the schedule on http://www.autodesk.com/apitraining from time to time, to see what's there. These webcasts are free to everyone, not just ADN members (although the ADN site does reference the various recorded presentations). Right now we're in the process of delivering a series of webcasts covering advanced AutoCAD programming topics, with information relevant to those programming with either ObjectARX or .NET. The first was delivered a few weeks ago, and covered "Storing Custom Data in... Read more →

Using a modeless .NET dialog to display properties of multiple AutoCAD objects

After a few comments on this previous post I decided that, rather than rushing on to show palettes, I'd first extend the existing code to work with multiple entities and provide specific support for solids. Here are the main changes to the way the code works: Changes to the Commands class The form object is now a static member, and so is shared across documents To support this I added a DocumentCreated event to make sure it gets added when new documents are created or opened Initialization/termination happens via IExtensionApplication, not on class construction/destruction In OnMonitorPoint we get the... Read more →

Applying a gradient fill to an AutoCAD hatch using .NET

So, back in the saddle after an eventful week off, back in the UK. Aside from the extremely changeable weather (even by British standards) and the heightened security at UK airports, the week went swimmingly... :-) It's now Friday night, and disappointingly I've spent nearly two days regaining control of my inbox. I really wanted to make a quick post before the weekend, so rather than diving into the issue I'd planned on tackling (Palettes), I decided to take a shot at a request I'd received by email a few weeks ago: to show how to create a gradient... Read more →