Autodesk DWF Viewer

[#1]

We're doing some low end GIS work for clients and last night they asked if
it's possible to click on a hyperlink attached to a valve (Lets call it
V-100) and it pulls up a database that has info for the valves in the entire
system. Is there a way when the database is pulled up, it highlights the
info for V-100 or is this not possible?

Thanks

--
remove .ns to email

[#2]

It entirely depends on how the hyperlinks are authored into the DWF and what
your database app does with the hyperlinks when it receives them. I don't
think this is a function of the viewer, really.

"Zach" wrote in message
news:664D71739D5CF14F586CCB2596C70127@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> We're doing some low end GIS work for clients and last night they asked if
> it's possible to click on a hyperlink attached to a valve (Lets call it
> V-100) and it pulls up a database that has info for the valves in the
entire
> system. Is there a way when the database is pulled up, it highlights the
> info for V-100 or is this not possible?
>
> Thanks
>
> --
> remove .ns to email
>
>
>
>

[#3]

How would you go about doing something like that then?

--
remove .ns to email


Jeffrey Klug (Autodesk) wrote in
message news:3FB31B669244F2F21A4E688AFA8491F3@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> It entirely depends on how the hyperlinks are authored into the DWF and
what
> your database app does with the hyperlinks when it receives them. I don't
> think this is a function of the viewer, really.
>
> "Zach" wrote in message
> news:664D71739D5CF14F586CCB2596C70127@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > We're doing some low end GIS work for clients and last night they asked
if
> > it's possible to click on a hyperlink attached to a valve (Lets call it
> > V-100) and it pulls up a database that has info for the valves in the
> entire
> > system. Is there a way when the database is pulled up, it highlights
the
> > info for V-100 or is this not possible?
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > --
> > remove .ns to email
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>

[#4]

If you were doing it in ASP.NET, you could attach a
hyperlink to the valve that directed it to an ASPX page with some argument/value
pairs.  You could then use the ASPX page to query your database and display
the results.

For example, say the valve in question is
V-100.  You could attach a URL to the valve in the drawing like
so:

face="Courier New"
size=2>http://myserver/mydir/queryvalves.aspx?valve_id=V-100

You would then publish the DWF to a web page. 
When the user picked on the link, it would open up the
QUERYVALVE.ASPX page.  As part of the
face="Courier New">Page_Load code behind, you could 1) Assign
Request.QueryString("valve_id") to a variable,
 2)  Setup the database connection, 3) Assemble and execute the
SQL to bring back the valve information in a dataset, and 4) Traverse the
dataset to display the resultant data onto the page using
face="Courier New">Response.Write.

HTH,

"Zach" <
href="mailto:kkacadman@yahoo.com.ns">
size=2>kkacadman@yahoo.com.ns> wrote in
message
href="news:7DFB86F9E1E45EB355B084A89A3DDC0A@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb">
face=Arial
size=2>news:7DFB86F9E...
face=Arial size=2>...

> How would you go
about doing something like that then?
>
> --
> remove .ns to
email
>
>
> Jeffrey Klug (Autodesk) <jeffrey dot klug at
autodesk dot com> wrote in
> message
href="news:3FB31B669244F2F21A4E688AFA8491F3@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb">
face=Arial
size=2>news:3FB31B669...
face=Arial size=2>...
> > It entirely depends on how the hyperlinks are
authored into the DWF and
> what
> > your database app does with
the hyperlinks when it receives them.  I don't
> > think this is a
function of the viewer, really.
> >
> > "Zach" <
href="mailto:kkacadman@yahoo.com.ns">
size=2>kkacadman@yahoo.com.ns> wrote in
message
> >
href="news:664D71739D5CF14F586CCB2596C70127@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb">
face=Arial
size=2>news:664D71739...
face=Arial size=2>...
> > > We're doing some low end GIS work for
clients and last night they asked
> if
> > > it's possible to
click on a hyperlink attached to a valve (Lets call it
> > > V-100)
and it pulls up a database that has info for the valves in the
> >
entire
> > > system.  Is there a way when the database is
pulled up, it highlights
> the
> > > info for V-100 or is this
not possible?
> > >
> > > Thanks
> >
>
> > > --
> > > remove .ns to email
> >
>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>
>
>

[#5]

Hey Peter.

SO the only way to do this is with HTML code and not just with attaching a
URL to text and plot to the DWF? I'm not a programmer so it seems I'm
getting over my head already. The URL to the DWF file is
C:\mapping\filename.dwf, so would the URL to attach be
C:\mapping\filename.dwf?valve id=V-100 ? Probably not...

--
remove .ns to email


Peter Lone wrote in message
news:E5303EC7C8A512D7EC68AC4026A70321@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> If you were doing it in ASP.NET, you could attach a hyperlink to the valve
that directed it to an ASPX page with some argument/value pairs. You could
then use the ASPX page to query your database and display the results.
>
> For example, say the valve in question is V-100. You could attach a URL
to the valve in the drawing like so:
> http://myserver/mydir/queryvalves.aspx?valve_id=V-100
>
> You would then publish the DWF to a web page. When the user picked on the
link, it would open up the QUERYVALVE.ASPX page. As part of the Page_Load
code behind, you could 1) Assign Request.QueryString("valve_id") to a
variable, 2) Setup the database connection, 3) Assemble and execute the
SQL to bring back the valve information in a dataset, and 4) Traverse the
dataset to display the resultant data onto the page using Response.Write.
>
> HTH,
>
>
>
>
> "Zach" wrote in message
news:7DFB86F9E1E45EB355B084A89A3DDC0A@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > How would you go about doing something like that then?
> >
> > --
> > remove .ns to email
> >
> >
> > Jeffrey Klug (Autodesk) wrote in
> > message news:3FB31B669244F2F21A4E688AFA8491F3@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > It entirely depends on how the hyperlinks are authored into the DWF
and
> > what
> > > your database app does with the hyperlinks when it receives them. I
don't
> > > think this is a function of the viewer, really.
> > >
> > > "Zach" wrote in message
> > > news:664D71739D5CF14F586CCB2596C70127@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > > We're doing some low end GIS work for clients and last night they
asked
> > if
> > > > it's possible to click on a hyperlink attached to a valve (Lets call
it
> > > > V-100) and it pulls up a database that has info for the valves in
the
> > > entire
> > > > system. Is there a way when the database is pulled up, it
highlights
> > the
> > > > info for V-100 or is this not possible?
> > > >
> > > > Thanks
> > > >
> > > > --
> > > > remove .ns to email
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>

[#6]

You definitely need a programmer for this, as what you're talking about is
not a trivial piece of work. It's not really a LOT of work, but it's
certainly more than just a hyperlink.

"Zach" wrote in message
news:E66A31D9A7CBF377BAC084AE84842ACA@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Hey Peter.
>
> SO the only way to do this is with HTML code and not just with attaching a
> URL to text and plot to the DWF? I'm not a programmer so it seems I'm
> getting over my head already. The URL to the DWF file is
> C:\mapping\filename.dwf, so would the URL to attach be
> C:\mapping\filename.dwf?valve id=V-100 ? Probably not...
>
> --
> remove .ns to email
>
>
> Peter Lone wrote in message
> news:E5303EC7C8A512D7EC68AC4026A70321@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > If you were doing it in ASP.NET, you could attach a hyperlink to the
valve
> that directed it to an ASPX page with some argument/value pairs. You
could
> then use the ASPX page to query your database and display the results.
> >
> > For example, say the valve in question is V-100. You could attach a URL
> to the valve in the drawing like so:
> > http://myserver/mydir/queryvalves.aspx?valve_id=V-100
> >
> > You would then publish the DWF to a web page. When the user picked on
the
> link, it would open up the QUERYVALVE.ASPX page. As part of the Page_Load
> code behind, you could 1) Assign Request.QueryString("valve_id") to a
> variable, 2) Setup the database connection, 3) Assemble and execute the
> SQL to bring back the valve information in a dataset, and 4) Traverse the
> dataset to display the resultant data onto the page using Response.Write.
> >
> > HTH,
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Zach" wrote in message
> news:7DFB86F9E1E45EB355B084A89A3DDC0A@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > How would you go about doing something like that then?
> > >
> > > --
> > > remove .ns to email
> > >
> > >
> > > Jeffrey Klug (Autodesk) wrote
in
> > > message news:3FB31B669244F2F21A4E688AFA8491F3@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > > It entirely depends on how the hyperlinks are authored into the DWF
> and
> > > what
> > > > your database app does with the hyperlinks when it receives them. I
> don't
> > > > think this is a function of the viewer, really.
> > > >
> > > > "Zach" wrote in message
> > > > news:664D71739D5CF14F586CCB2596C70127@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > > > We're doing some low end GIS work for clients and last night they
> asked
> > > if
> > > > > it's possible to click on a hyperlink attached to a valve (Lets
call
> it
> > > > > V-100) and it pulls up a database that has info for the valves in
> the
> > > > entire
> > > > > system. Is there a way when the database is pulled up, it
> highlights
> > > the
> > > > > info for V-100 or is this not possible?
> > > > >
> > > > > Thanks
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > remove .ns to email
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> >
>
>

[#7]

I think that Zach and I are looking for the same thing. Only I have a VB form that already accesses the database. Anyone have any ideas on how to use a hyperlink to open a form in VB.

[#8]

You wouldn't necessarily need the name of your DWF
in the URL string, unless for some reason you wanted that information to be
passed to the ASPX page for use there.  The URL to be attached to the DWF
would have to be constructed like so:

href="http://myserver/queryvalve.aspx?valve_id=V-100&myvar1=something&myval2=somethingelse">
face="...

face="Courier New" size=2>...

To break this down...

size=2>http://myserver

... is the webserver where the ASPX page
resides

queryvalve.aspx

... is the actual ASPX page that will do all of the
heavy lifting, like connecting to the database and writing out the data that is
returned to a browser

face="Courier New">?valve_id=V-100&myvar1=something
...  

... is simply a few name/value pairs that you can
pass along the URL string for use in the target ASPX page.  In this case,
we're telling the ASPX page that it should have access to a parameter named
"valve_id".  This parameter, when
retrieved, will have a value of V-100. 
Similarly, you could attach the same URL to any other valve on the drawing,
changing only the value of the "valve_id" in the URL to identify the valve to
query the database against uniquely.  So, for example, another valve on
that DWF might have a URL of
href="http://myserver/queryvalve.aspx?valve_id=V-143">
size=2>http://myserver/queryvalve.aspx?valve...
size=2> for valve number V-143.

Once in the ASPX page, you could use
face="Courier New">Request.QueryString("valve_id") to retrieve the value
you passed into the ASPX via the clicked URL that was attached to the valve in
the DWF.

From there, you would use code to connect to a
database and query back information on that valve, ie:

Dim strSql
As String

strSql = _

"SELECT valve_id, description,
manufacturer, date_installed, useful_life " & _

"FROM valves " & _

"WHERE valve_id = '" &
Request.QueryString("valve_id") & "'"

If you have Visual Studio .NET in the office, I can
help you get that set up.  As an alternative, I could help you do it in
regular ASP.

HTH,

"Zach" <
href="mailto:kkacadman@yahoo.com.ns">
size=2>kkacadman@yahoo.com.ns> wrote in
message
href="news:E66A31D9A7CBF377BAC084AE84842ACA@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb">
face=Arial
size=2>news:E66A31D9A...
face=Arial size=2>...

> Hey
Peter.
>
> SO the only way to do this is with HTML code and not
just with attaching a
> URL to text and plot to the DWF?  I'm not a
programmer so it seems I'm
> getting over my head already.  The URL
to the DWF file is
> C:\mapping\filename.dwf, so would the URL to attach
be
> C:\mapping\filename.dwf?valve id=V-100 ?  Probably
not...
>
> --
> remove .ns to email
>
>
>
Peter Lone <
face=Arial size=2>plone@livingworkplace.com
size=2>> wrote in message
>
href="news:E5303EC7C8A512D7EC68AC4026A70321@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb">
face=Arial
size=2>news:E5303EC7C...
face=Arial size=2>...
> > If you were doing it in ASP.NET, you could
attach a hyperlink to the valve
> that directed it to an ASPX page with
some argument/value pairs.  You could
> then use the ASPX page to
query your database and display the results.
> >
> > For
example, say the valve in question is V-100.  You could attach a
URL
> to the valve in the drawing like so:
> >
href="http://myserver/mydir/queryvalves.aspx?valve_id=V-100">
size=2>http://myserver/mydir/queryval...

face=Arial size=2>> >
> > You would then publish the DWF to a web
page.  When the user picked on the
> link, it would open up the
QUERYVALVE.ASPX page.  As part of the Page_Load
> code behind, you
could 1) Assign Request.QueryString("valve_id") to a
> variable, 
2)  Setup the database connection, 3) Assemble and execute the
> SQL
to bring back the valve information in a dataset, and 4) Traverse the
>
dataset to display the resultant data onto the page using
Response.Write.
> >
> > HTH,
> >
> >

> >
> >
> > "Zach" <
href="mailto:kkacadman@yahoo.com.ns">
size=2>kkacadman@yahoo.com.ns> wrote in
message
>
href="news:7DFB86F9E1E45EB355B084A89A3DDC0A@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb">
face=Arial
size=2>news:7DFB86F9E...
face=Arial size=2>...
> > > How would you go about doing something
like that then?
> > >
> > > --
> > > remove
.ns to email
> > >
> > >
> > > Jeffrey Klug
(Autodesk) <jeffrey dot klug at autodesk dot com> wrote in
> >
> message
href="news:3FB31B669244F2F21A4E688AFA8491F3@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb">
face=Arial
size=2>news:3FB31B669...
face=Arial size=2>...
> > > > It entirely depends on how the
hyperlinks are authored into the DWF
> and
> > > what
>
> > > your database app does with the hyperlinks when it receives
them.  I
> don't
> > > > think this is a function of
the viewer, really.
> > > >
> > > > "Zach"
<
size=2>kkacadman@yahoo.com.ns> wrote in
message
> > > >
href="news:664D71739D5CF14F586CCB2596C70127@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb">
face=Arial
size=2>news:664D71739...
face=Arial size=2>...
> > > > > We're doing some low end GIS
work for clients and last night they
> asked
> > > if
>
> > > > it's possible to click on a hyperlink attached to a valve
(Lets call
> it
> > > > > V-100) and it pulls up a
database that has info for the valves in
> the
> > > >
entire
> > > > > system.  Is there a way when the
database is pulled up, it
> highlights
> > > the
> >
> > > info for V-100 or is this not possible?
> > > >
>
> > > > > Thanks
> > > > >
> >
> > > --
> > > > > remove .ns to email
> >
> > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> >
>
> > >
> >
>
>

[#9]

VB forms are a little bit more tricky.  I
assume you're using VB6?  See, web pages, for the most part, don't have the
same security considerations as do standalone EXE or DLL VB forms.  You
could theoretically call the EXE directly from your URL, ie:

href="http://myserver/myappdir/myform.exe?myvar=something">http://myserver/myappdir/myform.exe?myva...

This should launch your app, provided that it is
installed from an accessible location for anyone who might want to access
it.  Usually, this is local to the user, making deployment a
pain.  But inherent Windows security comes heavy into play
here,  Examples: 1)  The browser security settings for each user
must be set to accept this behavior, and 2) Users will almost certainly have to
contend with that "Save or Open" download prompt dialog each time a link to your
form is selected.  Of course, your VB app would have to be configured to
accept the passed in myvar command parameter as
well.

Something you could try is to compile your form as
an OCX.  Without too terribly much effort, you could embed your OCX
in a web page using an object tag, not much unlike what AEV does.  The
problem here is that without a digital certificate, or altering each client
browser to extend full trust to your deployment site (unlikely going
to get past IT), the user would still get prompted each time.

I would take a hard look at migrating your form to
a web-based form.  There are many deployment benefits, and with DHTML
behaviors or Visual Studio .NET, many of the features that you are currently
doing in your VB form can be replicated in an ASPX page.

HTH,

style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">

"ctallman" <
href="mailto:ctallman@bonargroup.com">ctallman@bonargroup.com> wrote in
message
href="news:f154876.5@WebX.maYIadrTaRb">news:f154876.5@WebX.maYIadrTaRb...

I
think that Zach and I are looking for the same thing. Only I have a VB form
that already accesses the database. Anyone have any ideas on how to use a
hyperlink to open a form in VB.

[#10]

another tip would be to add the ?target parameter to your URL toopen a
new window with the record data in it (if AEV does support that ?target
parameter like WHIP! did, I would assume that it would, although I have
not tested it yet with AEV, I still use the old WHIP! for netscape
compatibility).

add to:
<<>>
to become:
http://myserver/mydir/queryvalves.aspx?valve_id=V-100?target=_blank

   That is the way that I do it, that way, you do not loose the current
view of the dwf (and have to find that entity again in the .dwf) as it
get replaced with your data record in the current window. I use
ColdFusion instead of .asp though, and MSACCESS for the database...

It works GREAT! The data record from the entity even serves up the
project number that the item was intalled under. From that project
number I have a link to my document management system, the document
mgt. sys. has links to scanned .tiff files in acrobat format and .dwf
files if autoCAD files are available, bringing us full circle to the
installation record drawing. I have several applications that do this
type of thing. All using AutoCAD, MS Access, Adobe Acrobat, and ColdFusion.

ColdFusion is SO easy use. The only problem is that you need to have a
server hosting it and the database. With a few lines of code, you can
accomplish SO much, and it is pretty much ROCK SOLID for stability!

I wrote a custom LISP routine to attach the attribute values of the
blocks to the entity. It gets the attibute value(s), puts them into a
string, along with the url, then attaches the url value to the entity.
Assigning thousands of links at the drop of a hat, all automated! I
wrote some script files to automate the loading of the .dwgs attaching
of urls and writing of .dwf files! When I update the .dwg file (and
database) with new info, just run the script file and all is done!

K.