AutoCAD and Civil 3D Development Resources

stevenh0616

Over the years I've been asked many times, what training did you take or books you read to learn how to develop add-ons. For me there was no real formal training other than Autodesk University. I have learned to develop add-ons through reading various blogs and online resources.

Below is a list of those resources I have used over the years so that others may be able to find help as well.

Visual Studio

Information on how to get started, first exercises, etc all on the left side.
https://help.autodesk.com/view/OARX/2022/ENU/?guid=GUID-71683E52-850F-434E-AD8C-3DB20BCBAD14

User Interfaces

WinForms

https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/article/tutorial-working-with-windows-forms-part-i/

https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/windows-forms-introduction-with-visual-basic

WPF

Several links I've used over the years to help learn WPF

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/desktop/wpf/get-started/create-app-visual-studio?view=netde...

https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/technologies/wpf

https://www.tutorialspoint.com/wpf/index.htm

https://wpf-tutorial.com/

Localization

https://www.autodesk.com/autodesk-university/class/Localizing-NET-Applications-AutoCAD-2019

Troubleshooting

I usually start with Google and type in what I'm attempting to do or the issue I'm having and search that way. When searching, I've found it most helpful to search by your product or UI depending on the issue (AutoCad, Civil 3D, WPF, WinForms), then I almost always use ".NET" in the search or will sometimes add VB.NET or C#.NET to clarify the language, and finally a string of what I'm attempting to do or issue.

Examples of troubleshooting searches:

ACAD .NET Create a line

ACAD VB.NET Get Text Styles

ACAD C#.NET Get Dimension Styles

C3D .NET Get Surface Elevation

WPF .NET Bind to a DataGrid

WinForms .NET Format DataGrid

Troubleshooting Helpful Sites

https://stackoverflow.com/

https://www.c-sharpcorner.com/

https://wpf-tutorial.com/

https://www.codeproject.com/