topic Re: How should I start to customization? in Civil 3D Customization Forum

How should I start to customization?

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 09:30:44 GMT

Hi all,

I am very new to customization any programme.Still i never write any code to autoCAD or Civil 3D.But I want to some customization to civil 3D .

How I start?What is first step?

I not want to do big change some simple things like custom report creation,expoting points etc.

I know there are autolisp,.net,com like things.What is best for simple customization?

What is easy to learn?

Pls give me some idea.

Re: How should I start to customization?

michael_robertson — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:18:32 GMT

First question: Do you know any programming languages at all?

If not, I would suggest learning one of the .NET languages (either VB or C#). Learning one of these languages will provide you the skills to write many different types of programs, not just Autodesk based programs. There are lots of examples/support for both regular windows programming and programming ACad/C3D on the web.

ObjectARX is the strongest most versatile language for programming Autodesk based products and thus it also has the highest learning curve. If your goal in the long run is to right commercial software for ACad based products this is something you would want to look into later.

AutoLISP is another choice for programming, I haven't done LISP programming but it appears very strong for procedural type tasks but not as intuitive for GUI/Event driven programming. AutoLISP programmers please correct me if I'm wrong!

The one language Autodesk provides that I would skip is VBA (Visual Basic for Applications, not to be confused with Visual Basic .NET). Autodesk is trying to dump support for that language.

Re: How should I start to customization?

Anonymous — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:39:40 GMT

I know c++ and java some what (not lot).I want to create custom report types,export points ,some land surveying type things.They are not big programme.

What languege should i learn?

I want customization autoCAD and civil 3D.

What is the stating point?

Re: How should I start to customization?

michael_robertson — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 14:47:36 GMT

Since you know C++ & Java I would suggest looking into using C#.

A good place to start is the AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide lcoated here: http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2010/ENU/AutoCAD%20.NET%20Developer's%20Guide/index.html

You'll need to learn the AutoCAD programming basics before jumping into Civil3D programming.

Re: How should I start to customization?

Jeff_M — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 15:01:07 GMT

There is also the sample source code for the free version SincpacC3D. This was created before most of the C3D objects were exposed in the .NET API, so most (if not all) of it is based on the COM Interops, but it could still help get acquainted with the things available to you. In addition, there are a number of examples in the C3D install location under Sample\Civil 3D API\DotNet\CSharp

SincpacC3D Source Code

Re: How should I start to customization?

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Jun 2012 18:03:21 GMT

A big help for me is at:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=1911627&siteID=123112

In particular, the self paced Atocad NET Training labs.

Tom

Re: How should I start to customization?

Anonymous — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 22:17:44 GMT

I also began to learn civil3d .net customization recently and can reccomend:

for me a kick-start for learning AutoCAD .net programming was buying Jerry Winters book "VB.NET For AutoCAD 2010";

you can register (for free) and check online classes covering .net programming for both AutoCAD and Civil3D: http://au.autodesk.com/

Then of course you should find and bookmark links to both AutoCAD and Civil3D API Reference Guides and Developers Guides as well as to .NET Framework Class Library. Buy a good book for the language of your choice. Another recommendation is to do everything on a 32-bit windows because there are certain things that will not work on a 64-bit platform (mostly connected to debugging). Good luck!