topic Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles in Civil 3D Customization Forum

vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 23:38:47 GMT

all I want to do is get the point style from a user selected COGO point (& then later set it to a different one). This point might be selected along with lines, blocks, and/or whatever. I can get to where I'm dealing with the POINTENTITYobject but one can't access the style from that (or can we?). From what I gather I need to set am AECCPOINT variable from the pointentity object, using the pointentity number property as an index for the aeccpointS index method. THing is, I can't get the AECCPOINTS collection. with is a part of the civil database.

after much research I have the following relevent code:

    Dim PtNumber As Double
    Dim ePoint As PointEntity
    Dim aPoint As AeccPoint
    Dim aPoints As AeccPoints
    Dim aPointsIds As ObjectIdCollection

    Private m_oAeccDb As IAeccDatabase


    <CommandMethod("CDE")> _
    Public Sub ChangeToDemoCivil()        'this is the civil3d version, which works on COGO point styles too










        ACF.SsGetStuff("Select objects to be placed onto DEMO layers:")

        Dim idArray As ObjectId() = ACF.ssResult.GetObjectIds()

        For Each id As ObjectId In idArray

            Using acTrans As Transaction = ACF.Db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()


                Try

                    ePoint = CType(acTrans.GetObject(id, OpenMode.ForWrite), PointEntity)


                    If Not ePoint Is Nothing Then        'it is a cogo point, so change to appropriate demo style

                        PtNumber = ePoint.PointNumber


                        aPoints = m_oAeccDb.Points

ACF.getstuff () is an external funtion that stores a list of objectids of selected objects in ACF.ssResult (as Autodesk.AutoCAD.EditorInput.SelectionSet)

I am getting a fatal error on this:

aPoints = m_oAeccDb.Points

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Jeff_M — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 02:56:00 GMT

You don't need to go about it in that fashion. See if this helps:

            Dim ss() As ObjectId = ssResult.Value.GetObjectIds()
            Dim ptEnt As PointEntity
            Using tr As Transaction = doc.Database.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()
                For Each objId As ObjectId In ss
                    ptEnt = objId.GetObject(OpenMode.ForRead, False)
                    Dim ptObj As AeccLandLib.AeccPoint = ptEnt.AcadObject
                    Dim ptStyle As AeccLandLib.AeccPointStyle = ptObj.Style
                    doc.Editor.WriteMessage("Name of the selected point's syle is: " + ptStyle.Name)
                Next
            End Using

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 12:40:56 GMT

"Dim ptObj As AeccLandLib.AeccPoint = ptEnt.AcadObject"

that was the key bit of info I needed.

I never would have thouht that a PointEntity had AcadObject property which had a Style property. Now I can look into this aspect of the civil 3d object model, and probably gain enlightenment to other bizarre things.

thanks

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:27:45 GMT

OK, now how can I access the point's label style?

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:28:44 GMT

OK, I figured that out, I had to go bask to the PointEntity object

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 18:45:11 GMT

opps sorry, its under PointEntity.AcadObject

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 21:40:46 GMT

OK, now I'm trying work out how to test if a point style exists.

All I can find is a similar method that was causing my initial post, for getting the pointstyles from the document this time, which crashes.

I'm looking at the civil3d 2012 developers guide's section on COM

& so to try to retrofit my code to fit with their examples, I add this:

Dim oAcadApp As AcadApplication
Set oAcadApp = ThisDrawing.Application
' Specify the COM name of the object we want to access.
' Note that this always accesses the most recent version
' of AutoCAD Civil 3D installed.
Const sCivilAppName = "AeccXUiLand.AeccApplication.6.0"
Dim oCivilApp As AeccApplication
Set oCivilApp = oAcadApp.GetInterfaceObject(sCivilAppName)
 
' Now we can use the AeccApplication object.
' Get the AeccDocument representing the currently
' active drawing.
Dim oDocument As AeccDocument
Set oDocument = oCivilApp.ActiveDocument
' Set the viewport of the current drawing so that all
' drawing elements are visible.
oCivilApp.ZoomExtents

& the first error is that acadapplication is ambigous in the autodesk.autocad.interop

then I see that they are using "THISDRAWING" & "SET". so this documentation for COM is based on VBA, which makes sense, except VB.NET is what the guide is about.

so, anyone know of any way to test if a (point) style exists?

(anyway of copying or saving as one too?)

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Jeff_M — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:17:04 GMT

I prefer to stay with the .NET API when possible. This will check if a PointStyle exists. Use the same idea for other styles.

    Function PointStyleExists(ByVal civDoc As CivilDocument, ByVal name As String) As Boolean
        Dim exists As Boolean = False
        Dim styles As PointStyleCollection = civDoc.Styles.PointStyles
        Try
            Dim id As ObjectId = styles(name)
            exists = True
        Catch ex As ArgumentException
        End Try
        PointStyleExists = exists
    End Function

Or, depending on what you need it for, have it return the ObjectId if you need that.

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Jeff_M — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 23:07:03 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

(anyway of copying or saving as one too?)

Not sure I understand this question.

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Jeff_M — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 23:21:24 GMT

Here's how to test for the existence of a PointLabelStyle:

    Function PointLabelStyleExists(ByVal civDoc As CivilDocument, ByVal name As String) As Boolean
        PointLabelStyleExists = False
        Dim styles As Autodesk.Civil.DatabaseServices.Styles.LabelStyleCollection = civDoc.Styles.LabelStyles.PointLabelStyles.LabelStyles
        Try
            Dim id As ObjectId = styles(name)
            PointLabelStyleExists = True
        Catch ex As ArgumentException
        End Try
    End Function

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 23:24:04 GMT

anyway of copying a pointstyle. Or would I have to iterate through all the various point style pieces & recreate them in a new style? & If the only way is to iterate and copy each item into a new style using VB variables, is there a way of finding what block, if any, the marker is using?

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Jeff_M — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 23:47:09 GMT

To copy a pointstyle (assuming you have the existing style ObjectId as id):

            Using tr As Transaction = HostApplicationServices.WorkingDatabase.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()
                Dim style As PointStyle = TryCast(id.GetObject(OpenMode.ForRead, False, True), PointStyle)
                Dim newId As ObjectId = style.CopyAsSibling(style.Name + " - (Copy)")
                tr.Commit()
            End Using

As for the point style marker, use the MarkerType and MarkerSymbolName properties of the style object.

See here for more info: http://docs.autodesk.com/CIV3D/2012/ENU/API_Reference_Guide/net/html/2953dd7d-c44a-9c3a-7fa0-74a3fef39159.htm

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 23:55:20 GMT

thanks.

I kinda can't wait 'til monday morning to try it all out.

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:08:32 GMT

this:

Dim newId As ObjectId = style.CopyAsSibling(style.Name + " - (Copy)")

is causing a fatal error

I was already in a transaction, & I figured this didn't need to be in its own (sub)transaction, so while troubleshooting, since the syntax in your code is a little different from what I'm used to , I figured I'd go ahead & nest it into another transaction, when I pasted this code:

 Using tr As Transaction = HostApplicationServices.WorkingDatabase.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()

I get the following error:

Error 1 'Transactio' is not a member of 'Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices.Database'

is hostapplicationservices any different than the autocad database (which is what my transactions are started from)? I mean, is it something for civil 3d to allow transactions that work on things such as point styles?

does any of this matter regarding the crashing on copyassibling?

I also tried opening the pointstyle as write instead of read, ut that didn't help

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:16:11 GMT

it figures, as soon as I send my last question, I noticed something that did in fact casue my problem. I was suppyling the objectID from a previous operation which was from a PointEntity

Re: vb.net 2012 (cogo) point styles

Jeff_M — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:19:32 GMT

@Anonymous wrote:

it figures, as soon as I send my last question, I noticed something that did in fact casue my problem.

This happens to me more than I care to admit.