topic Re: SelectFileCallback for multiple files at once? in ObjectARX Forum

SelectFileCallback for multiple files at once?

cdnbake — Wed, 28 Sep 2016 12:57:25 GMT

Hello Community,

I am wondering if I can select more than one file at once using a custom SelectFileCallback.
In our AutoCAD add-in (2014-2017), we register the callback through

acdbHostApplicationServices()->registerSelectFileCallback().

This procedure must set the parameter chosenPath to the path of the desired file, see following example:

Acad::ErrorStatus SelectFileCallback(short * userCancel, TCHAR *& chosenPath, void * h, const int nFlags, const TCHAR * prompt, const TCHAR * dir, const TCHAR * name, const TCHAR * type, int * pnChoice, bool * pbReadOnly, const TCHAR * pszWSTags, void * pReserved)
{
    _bstr_t bstrMyDesiredFile = L"Path\\To\\File.dwg";
    chosenPath = new TCHAR[_tcslen(bstrMyDesiredFile) + 1];
    _tcscpy(chosenPath, bstrMyDesiredFile);

    *userCancel = 0;
        
    return Acad::eOk;
}

Can I use some special string concatenation as chosenPath so that AutoCAD detects automatically, that I want to select more than one file?

Is this even possible at all or does this callback not support multiple files?

Kind regards,
Bettina

Re: SelectFileCallback for multiple files at once?

Alexander.Rivilis — Wed, 05 Oct 2016 21:29:35 GMT

@cdnbake wrote:

Hello Community,

I am wondering if I can select more than one file at once using a custom SelectFileCallback.

I think this is impossible as far as docs say:

When you use registerSelectFileCallback() to register a selectFile() function for file input, you must verify in your function that the string passed back to AutoCAD with the chosenPath pointer is a valid filename of the correct type. Failure to do so will cause an infinite loop between AutoCAD and your application.

So you have to return correct filename (not multiple but one).

Can you explain why you have to use this callback instead of using acedGetFileNavDialog function?

Re: SelectFileCallback for multiple files at once?

cdnbake — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 06:44:58 GMT

Hi Alexander,

thank you for your explanation, I guess I accidentally skipped that passage in the documentation, my bad. 🙂

Unfortunately, I cannot use the AutoCAD file navigaton dialog of acedGetFileNavDialog, because the user does not choose the file(s) from his local hard drive but from a files list on a remote server which is provided by a third party application.

Those files are then downloaded and automatically loaded into the AutoCAD editor, or so they should, because at the moment, I can only handle one file at once.

The user neither knows the exact location nor the filenames, which are actually quite cryptical and may differ from the representation in the remote list.

In short, the workflow is something like this:

1) User hits Open/ Ctrl+O

2) Our custom SelectFileCallback activates

3) Calls to server

4) Server app (third party) displays files list

3) User chooses one or more files

4) Files are downloaded somewhere to local hard drive

5) Server app tells me the absolute file paths

6) I take the first one and return it as chosenPath in the callback

It would be great, if I could handle all downloaded files at once in the callback.

Kind regards,

Bettina

Re: SelectFileCallback for multiple files at once?

Alexander.Rivilis — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 07:55:43 GMT

@cdnbake wrote:

...It would be great, if I could handle all downloaded files at once in the callback...

Sorry but it look like impossible.

Re: SelectFileCallback for multiple files at once?

cdnbake — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 05:53:38 GMT

Hi @Alexander.Rivilis,

Thank you for your help!

I marked this thread as solved, so others with the same problem will know that it is not possible.

That is too bad, but we will find another way for our use case.

Kind regards,

Bettina