topic Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType in Inventor Programming Forum

Get TypeName from DocumentType

PolemEngineering — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 15:22:23 GMT

I like to use the settings "Option Explicit On" and "Option Strict On" in my code.
This helps me to catch any errors during the design phase.

Unfortunately, this sometimes also costs a lot of extra code (For example, to prevent Late Binding).

I try to avoid creating a Class myself (I know that the Class ThisRule is created at runtime anyway). But this helps to keep using IntelliSense. A Global Module with Shared variables is not possible because of this. Because of this I have to, among other things, pass everything ByVal or ByRef when calling Sub-routines.

I ensure the existence of (1) User Parameters and (2) custom iProperties (create if not existing). Then (3) I provide these Parameters with a specific format (and export settings) and (4) I provide iProperties (if different) with a calculated value, based on certain conditions. In (3) and (4) I walk through all States if FactoryDocument with ModelStates.Count >=1.

For this, I have an extensive iLogic rule (multiple subs and functions) for managing User Parameters and (Custom) iProperties. This Rule starts abstract, arranges some general matters (writeability, referencing factory document, etc.) and then executes some more explicit actions based on DocumentType.
For this I have to perform a type conversion on "oDoc" to AssemblyDocument, PartDocument or DrawingDocument in several places in my code.
Is it possible to get the TypeName of oDoc.DocumentType and use it as input for CType(oDoc, <here>)?

I want to call a series of subroutines with a "For Each oModelState as ModelState in oDoc.ModelStates". The code for Parts and Assemblies is the same in this respect.

The subroutines themselves further determine how they handle Parts and Assemblies.

Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType

PolemEngineering — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 15:33:40 GMT

I could use Shared Variables, if:
- I make sure they are removed when the Rule is finalized
- I am sure that, when multiple documents trigger the External Rule, they are still processed one by one (and document 2 does not continues with information from document 1).

Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType

hollypapp65 — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 16:49:58 GMT

Dim oTempDoc As Inventor.DrawingDocument Dim oDoc As Inventor.Document Dim oDrawDoc As Inventor._DrawingDocument Dim oPartDoc As Inventor.PartDocument Dim oAssemDoc As Inventor.AssemblyDocument oDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument Select Case oDoc.DocumentType Case DocumentTypeEnum.kDrawingDocumentObject oDrawDoc = TryCast(oDoc, Inventor._DrawingDocument) DrawingUpdate(oDrawDoc) Case DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject oPartDoc = TryCast(oDoc, Inventor.PartDocument) PartUpdate(oPartDoc) Case DocumentTypeEnum.kAssemblyDocumentObject oAssemDoc = TryCast(oDoc, Inventor.AssemblyDocument) AssemUpdate(oAssemDoc) End Select

Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType

hollypapp65 — Tue, 10 Dec 2024 16:54:03 GMT

I use:

Option Explicit On Option Strict On Option Infer Off

Also try to use pure VB code.

This keep intellisense working and no type error when late blinding failed.

Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType

PolemEngineering — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 09:58:24 GMT

Of course, there are many roads that lead to Rome.

It is precisely the specific creation of variables such as oPartDoc, oAsmDoc etc. that makes the code less abstract.

I have now solved it by giving an extra argument ByRef to my GetFactoryDocument function. This is already working with the ModelStates object. Then it can also assign a reference to the ModelStates object.

Function GetFactoryDocument(ByRef oDoc As Document, ByRef oModelStates As ModelStates) As Document If (oDoc Is Nothing) Then Return Nothing Dim oDocType As DocumentTypeEnum = oDoc.DocumentType If Not ((oDocType = DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject) Or (oDocType = DocumentTypeEnum.kAssemblyDocumentObject)) Then Return oDoc End If If (oDocType = DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject) Then Dim oDef As PartComponentDefinition = TryCast(oDoc, PartDocument).ComponentDefinition oModelStates = oDef.ModelStates If (oDef.IsModelStateMember) Then Return oDef.FactoryDocument ElseIf (oDef.IsModelStateFactory) Then Return oDoc End If End If If (oDocType = DocumentTypeEnum.kAssemblyDocumentObject) Then Dim oDef As AssemblyComponentDefinition = TryCast(oDoc, AssemblyDocument).ComponentDefinition oModelStates = oDef.ModelStates If (oDef.IsModelStateMember) Then Return oDef.FactoryDocument ElseIf (oDef.IsModelStateFactory) Then Return oDoc End If End If 'senseless Return oDoc End Function

Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType

WCrihfield — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 17:15:28 GMT

Hi @PolemEngineering. When it comes to checking document type in my codes, I have mostly switched over from using the Document.DocumentType property, and the DocumentTypeEnum Enum, to using the TypeOf Operator. It seems to process faster, looks easier to read, and often takes a little less code, so typing it that way is also a bit faster. Since you are already using TryCast Operator, which requires the a 'type name' (not a String), using the 'TypeOf' operator would be a very natural and logical adaptation to go along with it. There are obviously more variations within the DocumentTypeEnum than there are 'type names' to check against with the 'TypeOf' operator, but 99% of the time I'm only checking for those 3 main types (drawing, part, assembly) anyways. Sometimes, depending on the situation, I also like to just create my own set of Boolean type variables, which have their values set from those checks, as seen in my examples below.

I actually did some local testing using the System.Diagnostics.StopWatch, and found that the 'TypeOf' checks processed 2 to 3 times faster than the DocumentTypeEnum checks. Below are two extremely basic iLogic rules you can test this theory with, as I did.

TypeOf checks test

Dim oDoc As Inventor.Document = ThisDoc.Document Dim bIsDrawing, bIsPart, bIsAssembly As Boolean Dim oSW As New System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch() oSW.Start() bIsDrawing = (TypeOf oDoc Is DrawingDocument) bIsPart = (TypeOf oDoc Is PartDocument) bIsAssembly = (TypeOf oDoc Is AssemblyDocument) oSW.Stop() Logger.Info("TypeOf Test Elapsed Ticks = " & oSW.ElapsedTicks.ToString) oSW.Reset()

DocumentTypeEnum checks test

Dim oDoc As Inventor.Document = ThisDoc.Document Dim bIsDrawing, bIsPart, bIsAssembly As Boolean Dim oSW As New System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch() oSW.Start() bIsDrawing = (oDoc.DocumentType = DocumentTypeEnum.kDrawingDocumentObject) bIsPart = (oDoc.DocumentType = DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject) bIsAssembly = (oDoc.DocumentType = DocumentTypeEnum.kAssemblyDocumentObject) oSW.Stop() Logger.Info("DocumentTypeEnum Test Elapsed Ticks = " & oSW.ElapsedTicks.ToString) oSW.Reset()

If this solved your problem, or answered your question, please click ACCEPT SOLUTION .
Or, if this helped you, please click (LIKE or KUDOS) 👍.

Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType

PolemEngineering — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 09:51:50 GMT

Wow, I didn't know it made that much of a difference. I'm going to make this habit my own.

Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType

WCrihfield — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 13:18:19 GMT

If taking the next logical step, and checking DocumentSubType, there are a couple other tips that you may find useful.

Most of us who have been writing code to automate Inventor for a while have come across the following common properties of the Document object, and attempted to use them.

Document.DocumentSubType

Document.SubType

That first one 'DocumentSubType' appears to now be 'retired', because we can no longer find any further information about how to check its value within the online help documentation, and the links to the value type it returns are now broken. However, it seems as though Autodesk has chosen to continue supporting its functionality in the background, to keep from 'breaking' the functionality of 'legacy' solutions, for now. It claims to return a value that is DocumentSubType Type (not a String or Enum), and when we look older code examples using it, they use it like this [Document.DocumentSubType.DocumentSubTypeID = ], which indicates that value Type was an object that had a property named 'DocumentSubTypeID, which had a String type value, which was one of those long GUID type, unreadable pattern of letters, numbers, & symbols.

The second one 'Document.SubType' actually returns the same value as 'Document.DocumentSubType.DocumentSubTypeID' did, and does so with far less code or complication.

However, both of them leave us with a value we can not directly read, or understand clearly.

And, there is yet another way to get that same value from a Document, through its standard iProperties, in its third PropertySet named 'Design Tracking Properties' (aka 'Project'), and its property at index 16, named 'Document SubType'.

However, if you want a value that you can actually read, and understand, we can use the very next iProperty in that same set, named 'Document SubType Name' (index 17). If it is a regular part, it will return "Modeling" (for some reason), if a sheet metal part, it will contain "Sheet Metal" text, if regular assembly, it will contain "Assembly" text, if a weldment type assembly, it will contain "Weldment" text, and so on. This same exact value can be seen within the standard iProperties dialog, on the Project tab, beside the label "File Subtype:" in every document.

The last year or two, I have mostly switched from checking SubType using any of the above mentioned ways, to using the 'TypeOf' operator on the ComponentDefinition object directly, instead. It seems to require less code, and is equally easy to read and understand (at least for me). This is because pretty much every SubType has a unique type of ComponentDefinition to match it, and then some. ComponentDefinition is a base type, which has several other, more specific types derived from it, for special purposes/uses. And some of those sub types even have other more specific sub types derived from them also. At this point in my codes, I am usually about to declare a variable for the ComponentDefinition anyways, which usually requires me typing that TypeName anyways, so this is another relatively efficient and logical way to check it.

Below is a simple iLogic rule which extracts that same SubTypeID value from the Document object in all 3 ways that I know of, plus shows the 'readable' way I mentioned, but does not show the 'TypeOf' check on the ComponentDefinition, because it does not fit this situation very well.

Dim oDoc As Inventor.Document = ThisDoc.Document Dim sSubType_ID_1 As String = oDoc.DocumentSubType.DocumentSubTypeID Dim sSubType_ID_2 As String = oDoc.SubType Dim sSubType_ID_3 As String = oDoc.PropertySets.Item(3).Item(16).Value Dim sSubTypeName As String = oDoc.PropertySets.Item(3).Item(17).Value MessageBox.Show("Document SubType Info:" & vbCrLf & _ "Document.DocumentSubType.DocumentSubTypeID = " & sSubType_ID_1 & vbCrLf & _ "Document.SubType = " & sSubType_ID_2 & vbCrLf & _ "'Document SubType' iProperty Value = " & sSubType_ID_3 & vbCrLf & _ "'Document SubType Name' iProperty Value = " & sSubTypeName, _ "This Document's SubType Info", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Information)

Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType

PolemEngineering — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 14:45:17 GMT

I was wondering about that too. How do you get the TypeOf variables? Logger.Info(TypeName(ThisDoc.Document)) after using it a few times it suddenly gives _DocumentClass.

For DocumentSubType I now use a standard piece of code.

Sub Main ... If Not SharedVariable.Exists("DocSubType") Then Dim ReadableDocSubType As Inventor.NameValueMap = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateNameValueMap() SharedVariable.Value("DocSubType") = ReadableDocSubType Call AddDocSubTypes(ReadableDocSubType) End If ... End Sub

Sub AddDocSubTypes(ByRef ReadableDocSubType As Inventor.NameValueMap) '[ Populate the ReadableDocSubType NameValueMap for easy translation later on... ReadableDocSubType.Add("{E60F81E1-49B3-11D0-93C3-7E0706000000}", "Assembly") ReadableDocSubType.Add("{BBF9FDF1-52DC-11D0-8C04-0800090BE8EC}", "Drawing") ReadableDocSubType.Add("{4D29B490-49B2-11D0-93C3-7E0706000000}", "Part") ReadableDocSubType.Add("{9C464203-9BAE-11D3-8BAD-0060B0CE6BB4}", "Sheet Metal Part") ReadableDocSubType.Add("{28EC8354-9024-440F-A8A2-0E0E55D635B0}", "Weldment") '] End Sub

Re: Get TypeName from DocumentType

WCrihfield — Tue, 07 Jan 2025 16:05:34 GMT

That's not a bad idea. I also had the thought to create my own DocumentSubTypeEnum within an external rule, so I could reference it with 'AddVbFile' from other rules, but I don't recall if I ever finished that thought / idea, to be honest, because I am certainly not using it right now.

Below is a link to my Inventor Ideas post where I am asking Autodesk to add a DocumentSubTypeEnum, or something similar, to make that step easier.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/create-enum-for-documentsubtype-amp-or-document-subtype/idi-p/9402300

Checking TypeOf ComponentDefinition is not universal way of checking document sub type, but just another tool to keep in the tool belt. I have found it very useful in some situations, but it might not be ideal for 100% of situations. For instance drawings do not have one, and there are some types of ComponentDefinition that do not have a Document associated with them, even if they do have that Property named Document. Below is just a generic sample code I just threw together, because I usually just use a single line in various rules and methods, in various places.

Dim oDoc As Inventor.Document = ThisDoc.Document Dim oCD As ComponentDefinition = Nothing Try : oCD = oDoc.ComponentDefinition : Catch : End Try Dim bIsDrawing, bIsPart, bIsSheetMetal, bIsFlatPattern, bIsAssembly, bIsWeldment, bIsWelds, bIsVirtual As Boolean 'I do not know of any sub types of drawings, plus they do not have a ComponentDefinition bIsDrawing = (TypeOf oDoc Is DrawingDocument) 'next one may be true for both regular parts and sheet metal, since sheet metal is derived from part bIsPart = (oCD IsNot Nothing) AndAlso (TypeOf oCD Is PartComponentDefinition) 'this one is more specific bIsSheetMetal = (oCD IsNot Nothing) AndAlso (TypeOf oCD Is SheetMetalComponentDefinition) 'this is similar, but not derived from sheet metal definition type bIsFlatPattern = (oCD IsNot Nothing) AndAlso (TypeOf oCD Is FlatPattern) 'this one may be true for regular assembly and weldment, because weldment derived from assembly bIsAssembly = (oCD IsNot Nothing) AndAlso (TypeOf oCD Is AssemblyComponentDefinition) 'this one is more specific bIsWeldment = (oCD IsNot Nothing) AndAlso (TypeOf oCD Is WeldmentComponentDefinition) 'this is not derived from weldment type, and is just the welds in a weldment bIsWelds = (oCD IsNot Nothing) AndAlso (TypeOf oCD Is WeldsComponentDefinition) 'no actual document, just for adding useful rows into BOM bIsVirtual = (oCD IsNot Nothing) AndAlso (TypeOf oCD Is VirtualComponentDefinition) MsgBox( _ "IsDrawing = " & bIsDrawing & vbCrLf & _ "IsPart = " & bIsPart & vbCrLf & _ "IsSheetMetal = " & bIsSheetMetal & vbCrLf & _ "IsFlatPattern = " & bIsFlatPattern & vbCrLf & _ "IsDrawing = " & bIsDrawing & vbCrLf & _ "IsAssembly = " & bIsAssembly & vbCrLf & _ "IsWeldment = " & bIsWeldment & vbCrLf & _ "IsWelds = " & bIsWelds & vbCrLf & _ "IsVirtual = " & bIsVirtual)