AutoCAD version handling

[ProfWolfMan]

Hi all,

I have below code to get a autocad instance.

It gets already running acad object or creates new one when acad unavailable.

'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Public Function GetACAD() As Object

        Dim regs As RegistryKey = Nothing

        'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R18.1

        Try

            regs = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R17.2")

            If regs IsNot Nothing Then Return GetAcadOpp("17")

            regs = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R17.1")

            If regs IsNot Nothing Then Return GetAcadOpp("17")

            regs = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R17.0")

            If regs IsNot Nothing Then Return GetAcadOpp("17")

            regs = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R16.2")

            If regs IsNot Nothing Then Return GetAcadOpp("16")

            regs = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R16.1")

            If regs IsNot Nothing Then Return GetAcadOpp("16")

            regs = Registry.CurrentUser.OpenSubKey("SOFTWARE\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R16.0")

            If regs IsNot Nothing Then Return GetAcadOpp("16")

        Catch ex As Exception

            MsgBox("Error Getting AutoCAD Info " & ex.Message)

        End Try

        Return Nothing

    End Function

'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Private Function GetAcadOpp(ByVal AcadString As String) As Object

        Dim AcadApp As Object = Nothing

        Try

            AcadApp = GetObject(, "AutoCAD.Application." & AcadString)

            Return AcadApp

        Catch ex As Exception

            AcadApp = Nothing

        Finally

        End Try

        If IsNothing(AcadApp) Then

            Try

                AcadApp = CreateObject("AutoCAD.Application." & AcadString)

                Return AcadApp

            Catch ex As Exception

                AcadApp = Nothing

            Finally

            End Try

        End If

        Return AcadApp

    End Function

'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i do not want to modify the code when newer version came.

 i want to run my application irrespective of any version. because my application uses very basic functions of autocad.

without checking current installed autocad version, how can i achive this?

how managed dlls handle this? please share.

note : My application task is just inserts a block and explode it & do little modifications.

all these functions are same and available from almost all acad releses.

[leefsma · Accepted solution]

Hi G,

Did you try to simply use the ProgId "AutoCAD.Application", without specifiying the version? This should launch the last version run by the user.

For any other approach, you would need to scan the registry in order to detect installed versions like you are doing currently.

The managed dlls are loaded directly by AutoCAD and they reside in its install folder, so the situation is different. For client dlls, they can be demand loaded and need to create entries in the specifc registry location corresponding to the AutoCAD version they need to be loaded by.

I hope it helps.

Philippe Leefsma
Developer Consultant
Developer Technical Services
Global Subscription & Support
 

Autodesk EMEA

www.autodesk.com/joinadn

[ProfWolfMan]

Hi Leefsma,

In my working environment we have AutoCAD2008 and AutoCAD2011. I tested both it working well.

Some time i need to run my tool in our client place, they have only AutoCAD2005.

For me, it is long time headache. Thank you very much to clear this.