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Modal Form Inside AutoCAD Command

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Message 1 of 4
MarkPendergraft
275 Views, 3 Replies

Modal Form Inside AutoCAD Command

I had the fleeting notion that it would be a good idea to add a sort of 'auto-complete' functionality to the -LAYER command.
I type everything in AutoCAD, and thought it would save some wear and tear on my wrists.
I have made similar programs, where a transparent modal form pops up, with a textbox on top, and a listbox on the bottom. As you start to type, the list box finds the entry that matches what you are typing. Essentially you can type a few letters to choose a much longer name of something.

I want to add this functionality to the -LAYER command, and the CHANGE command. However i cannot figure out how to make the program run inside the AutoCAD commands.

Would it be possible to link it to a shortcut key, say CTRL + L, or something similar, and then have the program return a value back to the AutoCAD editor?

I'm just trying to find out if anyone has any experience with this situation, before i spend hours racking my brain only to find out it can't be done.
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Message 2 of 4
Anonymous
in reply to: MarkPendergraft

just read this, I like that idea.
The only experience I have had with that kind of thing is that you can set up lisp functions and use them in a command,
like (SE) or something. Commands tend to be pretty flexible in taking a value.
I think something that put text on the clipboard might work, then you ctrl-c to past at command line.
Or, while I'm thinking, maybe you could set up a transparent command in .net that did a sendkeys to the command line. I
might just be on to something, that is what I would try first.
There is a flag for the command attribute that allows it to run transparent.
Tell us if you have any luck.

Cadkid82 <>
|>I had the fleeting notion that it would be a good idea to add a sort of 'auto-complete' functionality to the -LAYER command.
|>I type everything in AutoCAD, and thought it would save some wear and tear on my wrists.
|>I have made similar programs, where a transparent modal form pops up, with a textbox on top, and a listbox on the bottom. As you start to type, the list box finds the entry that matches what you are typing. Essentially you can type a few letters to choose a much longer name of something.
|>
|>I want to add this functionality to the -LAYER command, and the CHANGE command. However i cannot figure out how to make the program run inside the AutoCAD commands.
|>
|>Would it be possible to link it to a shortcut key, say CTRL + L, or something similar, and then have the program return a value back to the AutoCAD editor?
|>
|>I'm just trying to find out if anyone has any experience with this situation, before i spend hours racking my brain only to find out it can't be done.
James Maeding
Civil Engineer and Programmer
jmaeding - athunsaker - com
Message 3 of 4

No luck at all. I tried the transparent flag, and it doesn't work, because the layer command uses the editor's getstring method, and interprets everything as just a string, not a command.

Lisp might work, but it would mean typeing parentheses and a command, which in turn would just about equal the amount of typeing that i'm trying to get away from. i did come up with an alternative, but it's not nearly as impressive as it could be. I just wrote a program to circumvent the set layer command, and the change properties of objects to another layer. thanks for the ideas though.
Message 4 of 4
smcclure
in reply to: MarkPendergraft

You could try to register a listener for the event CommandWillStart under the Document object, and listen for the desired command.

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