How to use iLogic in AddIn
Hi guys. I am admittedly not experienced in add-in creation/development, but I may still be able to help here. The iLogic 'Rule Object' named "SharedVariable" is one of those thing that is automatically created for us in the background, within the other half of the 'Public Partial Class ThisRule' that we generally never see. And it uses a method for setting its value that does not seem to be available to us on 'our side' of that Class (in our regular iLogic rules). The only way I know how to set the value of a variable of that ISharedVariable type is by using one of the two following uniquely iLogic paths to get an IStandardObjectProvider:
- StandardObjectFactory.Create Method [aka: StandardObjectFactory.Create(document As Document)]
- ILowLevelSupport.CreateObjectProvider Method [aka: iLogicVb.CreateObjectProvider(document As Document)]
Oddly enough the 'StandardObjectFactory' seems to already exist, and is ready for us to use in our iLogic rules, and in external rules marked as Straight VB Code'.
However, standard practice is to 'pass' the 'iLogicVb or InventorVb' (ILowLevelSupport Interface) object to our external resource, one way or another, then use that to set the value of a local variable, then go from there. But I'm not sure how that would work in an add-in.
Once you have that IStandardObjectProvider, you can create most of those other 'rule objects', and they will be 'scoped or focused on' to that Document you specified.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
Actually, the question about how SharedVariables came up in a pretty recent forum discussion, and Mike Deck (Autodesk developer & Inventor API expert) mentioned that they are essentially backed by a Dictionary(Of String, Object). The question at that moment was..."Where can I find a list of all currently existing SharedVariables?" He said that is not available at the moment, but that it could fairly easily be implemented. He also suggested that we create our own new SharedVariable with a 'New Document(Of String, Object)' as its value. Then any time during that session, store everything in that existing shared dictionary. That way we have a good way to find what exists. Not perfectly fool proof, but a great idea.
Also, even though that method mentioned above takes a Document as input, I can not be sure that if you create a SharedVariable using that resulting IStandardObjectProvider (IStandardObjectProvider.SharedVariable Property) that it will somehow be linked to that Document. Some of those things may simply not be able to have an association that way, not sure. I didn't design all that iLogic stuff, just a regular 'user' who's been 'snooping' quite a bit for quite a while.
Edit: Found that discussion thread...link below:
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
Maybe you can take another route and create your own class with your variable. And then get the object containing your variable in the ilogic rule from your addin. It works something like this. Your StandardAddInServer would look something like this:
<GuidAttribute("[YOUR GUID]"), ComVisible(True)>
Public Class StandardAddInServer
Implements Inventor.ApplicationAddInServer
Private _myVariableObject As MyVariableObject
Public Sub Activate(AddInSiteObject As ApplicationAddInSite, FirstTime As Boolean) Implements ApplicationAddInServer.Activate
_myVariableObject = New MyVariableObject()
_myVariableObject.MyVariable = "TEST"
End Sub
Public ReadOnly Property Automation As Object Implements ApplicationAddInServer.Automation
Get
Return _myVariableObject
End Get
End Property
End Class
Public Class MyVariableObject
Public Property MyVariable As String
End ClassNotice:
- Notice the GUID on line 1. You need it in the iLogic rule.
- on line 19, 20 en 21: we have a class that we can use in the ilogic rule
- on line 5, 8 en 9: we initialize the variable and set some value
- on line 12 to 16: You find something that is not in the tutorial. but here the magic happens. This function can be called from within the iLogic rule. And it returns our object.
Now in your iLogic rule you can do this:
Dim addIn As ApplicationAddIn = ThisApplication.ApplicationAddIns.ItemById("{[YOUR GUID]}")
Dim myVariableObject = addIn.Automation
msgbox(myVariableObject.MyVariable)On line 1 and 2 you get the object from your addin.
Then you can use it. For example in a MsgBox like on line 4 😁. It this case that would look like this:
Jelte de Jong
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Just as a test you could change the function StandardAddInServer.Automation(...) in your addin to something like this:
Public ReadOnly Property Automation As Object Implements ApplicationAddInServer.Automation
Get
If Not (_myVariableObjectIs Nothing) Then
MsgBox(_myVariableObject.MyVariable)
Else
MsgBox("Apparently the object remains Nothing")
End If
Return _myVariableObject
End Get
End PropertyNow run your iLogic code. You should get a messagebox from your addin.
If your variable _myVariableObject is here also nothing then I expect that there is something wrong in the function StandardAddInServer.Activate(...) In my previous example I set the values on lines 8 and 9
Jelte de Jong
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Blog: hjalte.nl - github.com
Maybe you could:
- create an external rule that sets the variables
- and then create a module in Visual Studio to call the rule
- and then add a line in the StandardAddinServer to call the module in Visual Studio that runs the rule
This line is in your StandardAddInServer:
Run_External_iLogic_Rule.RunExternalRule("My External Rule To Set Shared Variables")
This would be the module in Visual Studio that calls external rules by name:
Imports Inventor
Module Run_External_iLogic_Rule
Public Sub RunExternalRule(ByVal ExternalRuleName As String)
Try
' The application object.
Dim addIns As ApplicationAddIns = g_inventorApplication.ApplicationAddIns()
' Unique ID code for iLogic Addin
Dim iLogicAddIn As ApplicationAddIn = addIns.ItemById("{3BDD8D79-2179-4B11-8A5A-257B1C0263AC}")
' Starts the process
iLogicAddIn.Activate()
' Executes the rule
iLogicAddIn.Automation.RunExternalRule(g_inventorApplication.ActiveDocument, ExternalRuleName)
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox("Error launching external rule: " & vbLf & " " & ExternalRuleName _
& vbLf & vbLf & "Ensure the iLogic rule exists, and that the" _
& vbLf & "configuration includes the path to the rules." _
& vbLf & vbLf & "see Tools tab > Options flyout button > iLogic Configuration button" _
& vbLf & " If needed, add an external rules folder path," _
& vbLf & " and ensure that the rule is found in this folder.")
Return
End Try
End Sub
End Module
Something like this would be the external rule:
SharedVariable("Test Variable 01") = "hello" SharedVariable("Test Variable 02") = "world"
