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hello,i am new in programming and in my first succesfull attempt i developed a windows form based stand alone application in Vb.net 2010 that calculates all the geometry data needed for a Spur Gear ,my final goal is to send all Calculated data needed in Autocad 2012 and draw automatticly the Spur Gear.
At first i started to experiment my self with a simple only task (created a new project only for this) to draw 4 circles with the same center (radius1,2,3,4) in autocad with a simple click of the command button.
The code i used is the following (for 1circle) but it returned a error like this>> SendACommandToAutoCAD()-->>Could not load file or assembly 'Acmgd, Version=18.2.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null' or one of its dependencies. The system cannot find the file specified.
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime
Public Class Form1
Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
SendACommandToAutoCAD()
End Sub
<CommandMethod("SendACommandToAutoCAD")> _
Public Sub SendACommandToAutoCAD()
Dim acDoc As Document = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument
'' Draws a circle and zooms to the extents or
'' limits of the drawing
acDoc.SendStringToExecute("._circle 2,2,0 4 ", True, False, False)
acDoc.SendStringToExecute("._zoom _all ", True, False, False)
End Sub
End Class
The AutoCAD .NET API Assemblies (acadmgd.dll, acmgd.dll...) CANNOT be used in stand-alone exe app. They can ONLY be used inside AutoCAD (NETLOADed DLLs into AutoCAD).
In your case, if you must use a stand-alone app, then you can use Acad COM API to automate AutoCAD. But do not addict to use something like "SendCommand()". Explore Acad COM object model to create/manipulate AutoCAD entities and Acad environment.
However, you need to be carefully analyse the app's usability to deside if you want to automate Acad from an external exe or not.
For example, if you expect user does the data entry via the forms you provided and sees Acad in action right way, so that user can adjust the entered data, then EXE + automated Acad might not be a best approach in terms of userability, because user needs to constantly make switch between your app and Acad, no to mention possible other apps the user may have to use in the same time. Worse, user may clicked wrong place and accidently closed the running Acad session that automated by your app. So, in this case, it will be far better that your app runs inside AutoCAD, so there is no confusion to the user where he/she is working in. I'd only make EXE + Acad automation as my last option
OTH, if user mainly collects data via your app, and mostly make Acad draw something later, then your app can store the entered data somewhere (file, database) and you have code in AutoCAD that reads data in and does the drawing, thus, avoid the out-process AutoCAD automation.
