topic Re: Title block Update and Print PDF in Inventor Programming Forum

Title block Update and Print PDF

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 16:10:47 GMT

I am a novice at Ilogic. So for give me if there is a simple fix for this.

Here is what I need to do.

I need to make pdfs for each of the components in the assembly. I have found some ones code for this.

What I want to before it makes a PDF is this.

***indicate I have a working ilogic code

1. Copy old prompted entry***

3. Update the Scale***

4. Replace the Title Block***

5. Print PDF***

Shouldn't it just be as simple as adding the line below for each of the separate rules?

iLogicVb.RunExternalRule("ruleFileName")

When I add this to the code and run it I get and error code.

Please help

Thanks,

Josh

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

MechMachineMan — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 16:22:17 GMT

It should be. With PROPER programming.

You use "ActiveDocument" calls in your code. Active Document calls only grab the document that is at the forefront of the application, not the document the rule was called from.

You should be using ThisDoc.Document to get the document the rule is called from.

Also, you might not need to activate each sheet, which slows down code, and could probably just access them directly, but that depends on the capabilities of the functions called.

**The 2 rules below, the first is the modified version of OP's "PDF Print", the 2nd one is the verbatim text from OP's attached "Change Titleblock.txt"**

Sub Main()

On Error Resume Next
    Dim oDrawingDoc As Inventor.DrawingDocument: oDrawingDoc = ThisDoc.Document
    If Err.Number <> 0 Then
        MsgBox ("Please open a Drawing to work on.")
        Exit Sub
    End if
On Error GoTo 0

'reference template
ThisDrawing.ResourceFileName = "C:\Work\InventorResources\Templates\R2017\XXXX.idw"   'XXXX removed name
ThisDrawing.KeepExtraResources = False

Dim SheetNumber As Integer

'Clear out the old Titleblocks & Sheetformats
For SheetNumber = 1 To oDrawingDoc.Sheets.Count
    oDrawingDoc.Sheets(SheetNumber).Activate
    If Not oDrawingDoc.ActiveSheet.TitleBlock Is Nothing Then
        oDrawingDoc.ActiveSheet.TitleBlock.Delete
    End If
Next SheetNumber

'Delete the previous title blocks as the API does not support replacing Sheet Formats.'DeleteSheetFormatsAll (oDrawingDoc)'DeleteBorders (oDrawingDoc)
DeleteTitleBlocks (oDrawingDoc)

Dim resu1t As String="Result"
Dim T1TLE As New ArrayList
T1TLE.Add("XXXX")			'XXXX removed name

    ActiveSheet.SetTitleBlock("XXXX", "", "", "")	'XXXX removed name

End Sub

Sub DeleteTitleBlocks(oActiveDoc As Inventor.DrawingDocument)
'Iterate through the collection deleting any titleblocks that are not referenced by the drawing object
Dim oTitle As TitleBlockDefinition
    For Each oTitle In oActiveDoc.TitleBlockDefinitions
        If oTitle.IsReferenced = False Then
        oTitle.Delete
        End If
    Next
End Sub

'define the active document as an assembly file
Dim oAsmDoc As AssemblyDocument
oAsmDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
oAsmName = Left(oAsmDoc.DisplayName, Len(oAsmDoc.DisplayName) -4)

'check that the active document is an assembly file
If ThisApplication.ActiveDocument.DocumentType <> kAssemblyDocumentObject Then
MessageBox.Show("Please run this rule from the assembly file.", "iLogic")
Exit Sub
End If

'get user input
RUsure = MessageBox.Show ( _
"This will create a PDF file for all of the asembly components that have drawings files." _
& vbLf & "This rule expects that the drawing file shares the same name and location as the component." _
& vbLf & " " _
& vbLf & "Are you sure you want to create PDF Drawings for all of the assembly components?" _
& vbLf & "This could take a while.", "iLogic  - Batch Output PDFs ",MessageBoxButtons.YesNo)

If RUsure = vbNo Then
Return
Else
End If

'- - - - - - - - - - - - -PDF setup - - - - - - - - - - - -
oPath = ThisDoc.Path
PDFAddIn = ThisApplication.ApplicationAddIns.ItemById("{0AC6FD96-2F4D-42CE-8BE0-8AEA580399E4}")
oContext = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateTranslationContext
oContext.Type = IOMechanismEnum.kFileBrowseIOMechanism
oOptions = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateNameValueMap
oDataMedium = ThisApplication.TransientObjects.CreateDataMedium

If PDFAddIn.HasSaveCopyAsOptions(oDataMedium, oContext, oOptions) Then
'oOptions.Value("All_Color_AS_Black") = 0
oOptions.Value("Remove_Line_Weights") = 1
oOptions.Value("Vector_Resolution") = 400
oOptions.Value("Sheet_Range") = Inventor.PrintRangeEnum.kPrintAllSheets
'oOptions.Value("Custom_Begin_Sheet") = 2
'oOptions.Value("Custom_End_Sheet") = 4
End If

'get PDF target folder path
oFolder = oPath & "\" & oAsmName & " PDF Files"

'Check for the PDF folder and create it if it does not exist
If Not System.IO.Directory.Exists(oFolder) Then
    System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(oFolder)
End If
'- - - - - - - - - - - - -

'- - - - - - - - - - - - -Component Drawings - - - - - - - - - - - -
'look at the files referenced by the assembly
Dim oRefDocs As DocumentsEnumerator
oRefDocs = oAsmDoc.AllReferencedDocuments
Dim oRefDoc As Document

'work the the drawing files for the referenced models
'this expects that the model has a drawing of the same path and name 
For Each oRefDoc In oRefDocs
idwPathName = Left(oRefDoc.FullDocumentName, Len(oRefDoc.FullDocumentName) - 3) & "idw"
'check to see that the model has a drawing of the same path and name 
If(System.IO.File.Exists(idwPathName)) Then
        Dim oDrawDoc As DrawingDocument
    oDrawDoc = ThisApplication.Documents.Open(idwPathName, True)
    oFileName = Left(oRefDoc.DisplayName, Len(oRefDoc.DisplayName) -3)
    
iLogicVb.RunExternalRule("CAD NAME")
iLogicVb.RunExternalRule("FINISH")
iLogicVb.RunExternalRule("SCALE X")
iLogicVb.RunExternalRule("CHANGE TITLE BLOCK")


    On Error Resume Next ' if PDF exists and is open or read only, resume next
     'Set the PDF target file name
    oDataMedium.FileName = oFolder & "\" & oFileName & "pdf"
    'Write out the PDF
    Call PDFAddIn.SaveCopyAs(oDrawDoc, oContext, oOptions, oDataMedium)
    'close the file
    oDrawDoc.Close
Else
'If the model has no drawing of the same path and name - do nothing
End If
Next
'- - - - - - - - - - - - -

'- - - - - - - - - - - - -Top Level Drawing - - - - - - - - - - - -
oAsmDrawing = ThisDoc.ChangeExtension(".idw")
oAsmDrawingDoc = ThisApplication.Documents.Open(oAsmDrawing, True)
oAsmDrawingName = Left(oAsmDrawingDoc.DisplayName, Len(oAsmDrawingDoc.DisplayName) -3)
'write out the PDF for the Top Level Assembly Drawing file
On Error Resume Next ' if PDF exists and is open or read only, resume next
 'Set the PDF target file name
oDataMedium.FileName = oFolder & "\" & oAsmDrawingName & "pdf"
'Write out the PDF
Call PDFAddIn.SaveCopyAs(oAsmDrawingDoc, oContext, oOptions, oDataMedium)
'Close the top level drawing
oAsmDrawingDoc.Close
'- - - - - - - - - - - - -

MessageBox.Show("New Files Created in: " & vbLf & oFolder, "iLogic")
'open the folder where the new ffiles are saved
Shell("explorer.exe " & oFolder,vbNormalFocus)

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 16:44:52 GMT

Okay I have Updated the code for the Print Pdf. I am still getting the same error.

Why is "Change Title Block" trying to run only in the assembly and not the print that is pulled up?

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 18:26:19 GMT

okay the following code will open every drawing,

how do i apply a rule after its open?

SyntaxEditor Code Snippet

'define the active document as an assembly file
Dim oAsmDoc As AssemblyDocument
oAsmDoc = ThisApplication.ActiveDocument
oAsmName = Left(oAsmDoc.DisplayName, Len(oAsmDoc.DisplayName) -4)


'check that the active document is an assembly file
If ThisApplication.ActiveDocument.DocumentType <> kAssemblyDocumentObject Then
MessageBox.Show("Please run this rule from the assembly file.", "iLogic")
Exit Sub
End If
'- - - - - - - - - - - - -Component Drawings - - - - - - - - - - - -'look at the files referenced by the assembly
Dim oRefDocs As DocumentsEnumerator
oRefDocs = oAsmDoc.AllReferencedDocuments
Dim oRefDoc As Document


'work the the drawing files for the referenced models'this expects that the model has a drawing of the same path and name 
For Each oRefDoc In oRefDocs
idwPathName = Left(oRefDoc.FullDocumentName, Len(oRefDoc.FullDocumentName) - 3) & "idw"
'check to see that the model has a drawing of the same path and name 
If(System.IO.File.Exists(idwPathName)) Then
                        Dim oDrawDoc As DrawingDocument
                oDrawDoc = ThisApplication.Documents.Open(idwPathName, True)
            oFileName = Left(oRefDoc.DisplayName, Len(oRefDoc.DisplayName) -3)


                
Else
'If the model has no drawing of the same path and name - do nothing
End If
Next
'- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

MechMachineMan — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 18:48:49 GMT

M:Autodesk.iLogic.Interfaces.IiLogicAutomation.RunExternalRule(Inventor.Document,System.String)

Resources:

-https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/inventor-products/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/2018/ENU/Inventor-Help/files/GUID-28897F28-3C66-4360-85CF-36501D3E7EF2-htm.html

- iLogic API Documentation link in my signature

Sub Main()
On Error Resume Next
    Dim oAsmDoc As AssemblyDocument = ThisDoc.Document
    If Err.Number <> 0 Then
        MsgBox("This rules is only valid for assembly documents!",,"MacroMagic")
        Exit Sub
    End if 
ON Error GoTo 0

oAsmName = Left(oAsmDoc.DisplayName, Len(oAsmDoc.DisplayName) -4)

Dim oRefDocs As DocumentsEnumerator
oRefDocs = oAsmDoc.AllReferencedDocuments
Dim oRefDoc As Document

For Each oRefDoc In oRefDocs
    idwPathName = Left(oRefDoc.FullDocumentName, Len(oRefDoc.FullDocumentName) - 3) & "idw"

    If(System.IO.File.Exists(idwPathName)) Then
        Dim oDrawDoc As DrawingDocument
        oDrawDoc = ThisApplication.Documents.Open(idwPathName, True)

        iLogicVb.RunExternalRule(oDrawDoc, "RuleNameHere")

        oFileName = Left(oRefDoc.DisplayName, Len(oRefDoc.DisplayName) -3)
    End if
Next
End Sub

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

Anonymous — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 19:46:16 GMT

Error in rule: OPEN ALL DRAWINGS, in document: 24138-003-0005.iam

Unable to cast COM object of type 'Inventor._DocumentClass' to class type 'System.String'. Instances of types that represent COM components cannot be cast to types that do not represent COM components; however they can be cast to interfaces as long as the underlying COM component supports QueryInterface calls for the IID of the interface.

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

MechMachineMan — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 20:09:11 GMT

The iLogic function call isn't working.

It has in the past, and I even tried getting the applicationaddin, but it still wasn't working.

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

Anonymous — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 10:59:16 GMT

Thanks for the help.

Will try some different routes.

I might have to do some things with Code injector and drawing transfer wizard.

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 12:17:37 GMT

@Curtis_Waguespack could you take a moment and look this over for me?

Thanks,

Josh

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

MechMachineMan — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 16:25:10 GMT

@MjDeck might be a better one to see if there is a bug or another issue, if he has time.

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 17:47:46 GMT

I would appreciate any help.

Basically I am trying to do the same thing as the Drawing Transfer Wizard, but keep the prompted entry's.

Thanks,

Josh

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

MechMachineMan — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 18:44:46 GMT

You could also just rewrite to rule to be everything within one rule, just utilizing various sub-routines... that way, you don't have to use the iLogic functionality.

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

Anonymous — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 19:06:38 GMT

I would like to but I am not that good at writing and debugging code.

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

MechMachineMan — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 19:19:24 GMT

Well then I guess that leaves you with a couple options.

1. Revise your needs

2. Find a solution online

3. Pay somebody to make you a solution

4. Learn how to make your own solution

5. Hope somebody passes you a solution for free out of the goodness in their heart.

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

MjDeck — Mon, 30 Oct 2017 23:02:08 GMT

Instead of this line:

iLogicVb.RunExternalRule(oDrawDoc, "RuleNameHere")

use this:

iLogicVb.Automation.RunExternalRule(oDrawDoc, "RuleNameHere")

Re: Title block Update and Print PDF

Anonymous — Tue, 31 Oct 2017 11:15:46 GMT

Thank you both for all your help!