Requesting Example: TransientBRep.CreateSilhouetteCurve Method
Try below，But it sometimes crashes and doesn't output. I don't know why this is so, it needs to be solved by a master.
If something goes wrong, Change view to another perspective.
The error is mainly that all sketch profile outlines cannot be selected when extrude at certain angles in the function of 'oSketchEnt', and the reason maybe some sketch lines intersect but do not have a clear intersection point; As a result, an effective closed profilepath cannot be formed.It is hoped that a master will solve it.
2025.5.26 edit
Examples of errors：
Option Explicit on
Public Sub Main()
oInvApp = ThisApplication
Dim oDoc As PartDocument = oInvApp.ActiveDocument
Dim oDef As PartComponentDefinition = oDoc.ComponentDefinition
Dim oName As String = "Silhouette"
oCreateSilhouetteSketch(oDef, oName, oInvApp.ActiveView.Camera)
End Sub
Function oSketchEnt(oDef As PartComponentDefinition, oProfile As Profile, oName As String)
Dim oExtrudeDef As ExtrudeDefinition
oExtrudeDef = oDef.Features.ExtrudeFeatures.CreateExtrudeDefinition(oProfile, kNewBodyOperation)
oExtrudeDef.SetDistanceExtent(1, PartFeatureExtentDirectionEnum.kSymmetricExtentDirection)
Dim oExtrude As ExtrudeFeature = oDef.Features.ExtrudeFeatures.Add(oExtrudeDef)
oExtrude.Name = "Extrude_" & oName
Dim obody As SurfaceBody = oExtrude.SurfaceBodies.Item(1)
oCreateClientFeature(oDef, oName, oProfile.Parent.PlanarEntity, obody)
oExtrude.Delete(False, False, False)
oDef.Document.selectset.select(oDef.Features.ClientFeatures.Item(1))
End Function
Function oCreateSilhouetteSketch(oCompDef As PartComponentDefinition, oInName As String, viewCam As Camera)
Dim oViewDir As UnitVector = viewCam.Eye.VectorTo(viewCam.Target).AsUnitVector
Dim xAxis As UnitVector = viewCam.UpVector.Copy
Dim UpPoint As Point = viewCam.Eye.Copy
UpPoint.TranslateBy(xAxis.AsVector)
Dim EyeTargetUpPlane As Plane = oInvApp.TransientGeometry.CreatePlaneByThreePoints(viewCam.Eye, viewCam.Target, UpPoint)
Dim yAxis As UnitVector = EyeTargetUpPlane.Normal
Dim oWap As WorkPlane = oCompDef.WorkPlanes.AddFixed(oCompDef.MassProperties.CenterOfMass, xAxis, yAxis, True)
Dim oWax As WorkAxis = oCompDef.WorkAxes.AddFixed(oCompDef.MassProperties.CenterOfMass, oViewDir, True)
Dim oSk As PlanarSketch = oCompDef.Sketches.Add(oWap)
oCreateTmpView(oCompDef, viewCam, oSk, oInName)
End Function
Function oCreateTmpView(oCompDef As PartComponentDefinition, oViewCamera As Camera, oSk As PlanarSketch, oName As String)
Dim oDoc As DrawingDocument = oInvApp.Documents.Add(DocumentTypeEnum.kDrawingDocumentObject, , False)
Dim oViewOrientation As ViewOrientationTypeEnum = ViewOrientationTypeEnum.kArbitraryViewOrientation
Dim oSht As Sheet = oDoc.ActiveSheet
Dim oPntView As Point2d = oInvApp.TransientGeometry.CreatePoint2d(0, 0)
Dim oScale As Double = 1
Dim oViewStyle As DrawingViewStyleEnum = DrawingViewStyleEnum.kHiddenLineDrawingViewStyle
Dim oVBase As DrawingView = oSht.DrawingViews.AddBaseView(oCompDef.Document, oPntView,
oScale, oViewOrientation, oViewStyle, , oViewCamera, )
Dim oDrawSketch As DrawingSketch = oVBase.Sketches.Add
For Each oDrawingCurve As DrawingCurve In oVBase.DrawingCurves
oDrawSketch.AddByProjectingEntity(oDrawingCurve)
Next
oDrawSketch.CopyContentsTo(oSk)
Dim oSkCol As ObjectCollection = oInvApp.TransientObjects.CreateObjectCollection
For Each oSkent As SketchEntity In oSk.SketchEntities
oSkCol.Add(oSkent)
Next
Dim oPmt As Point2d = oVBase.ModelToDrawingViewSpace(oCompDef.MassProperties.CenterOfMass)
oSk.MoveSketchObjects(oSkCol, oPmt.VectorTo(oPntView))
oSk.RotateSketchObjects(oSkCol, oPntView, 3 * PI / 2, False, True)
Dim oProfile As Profile
oProfile = oSk.Profiles.AddForSolid(False, oSkCol, False)
oDoc.Close(True)
oSketchEnt(oCompDef, oProfile, oName)
End Function
Function oCreateClientFeature(oCompDef As PartComponentDefinition, oInName As String, oWp As WorkPlane, oBody As SurfaceBody)
Dim oName As String = "BRep-" & oInName
Dim oCf As ClientFeature
Try
oCf = oCompDef.Features.ClientFeatures.Item("[" & oName & "]")
oCf.Delete
Catch : End Try
Dim oCfDef As ClientFeatureDefinition = oCompDef.Features.ClientFeatures.CreateDefinition()
oCf = oCompDef.Features.ClientFeatures.Add(oCfDef, "[" & oName & "]")
oCf.Name = "[" & oName & "]"
oCfDef = oCf.Definition
Dim oClientGraphics As ClientGraphics = oCfDef.ClientGraphicsCollection.Add(oName)
Dim oSurfacesNode As GraphicsNode = oClientGraphics.AddNode(1)
Dim oUnionBody As SurfaceBody
Dim oColors As Color = oInvApp.TransientObjects.CreateColor(0, 255, 255)
Dim oSk3d As Sketch3D = oCompDef.Sketches3D.Add
Dim oIntersectionCurve As IntersectionCurve = oSk3d.IntersectionCurves.Add(oWp, oBody)
oSk3d.Profiles3D.AddClosed
Dim oEdges As List(Of Object) = oSk3d.Profiles3D.Cast(Of Profile3D).
SelectMany(Function(x As Profile3D) x.cast(Of ProfilePath3D).ToList).
SelectMany(Function(x As ProfilePath3D) x.Cast(Of ProfileEntity3D).Tolist).
Select(Function(x As ProfileEntity3D) x.Curve).ToList
For Each oedge As Object In oEdges
Dim oCourve As CurveGraphics= oSurfacesNode.AddCurveGraphics(oedge)
oCourve.Color = oColors
oCourve.BurnThrough=True
oCourve.LineWeight = 15
Next
oSk3d.Delete
End Function
Public Shared oInvApp As Inventor.Application
Unfortunately, I am still using Inventor Pro 2024.3.5 at work, so when I attempt to open either part, it acts like I am trying to 'derive' foreign geometry, with no modeling history, and no rules.
I have never used this specific method before, which is one of the reasons I have not responded to this forum request yet. Another reason is due to time constraints, because I had an idea that tackling this challenge might take a lot of time, a lot of trial & error testing, and might require dabbling into some areas that I don't frequently get into. I have a lot less time for taking on large/complex Inventor automation tasks for others in the Autodesk Community this year than I did in previous years, due to some changes where I work, so I have been a bit more selective lately. I did read through most of the code you posted above, but that is a lot to follow entirely in my head, so difficult to debug by proofreading alone. There are things which could have been done differently, but nothing specific seemed like it would obviously cause errors. I do a lot of copying sketch geometry between sketches in different documents, but it is usually between 'model' documents, not from a drawing sketch to a model sketch, so that part seemed a little suspicious to me, but just speculation. I pretty much never create work features that are 'construction', unless I have code after that point which gets rid of them. If you need to get the 'axis' that is perpendicular to the 'line of sight' and the 'up vector', then you could use the UnitVector.CrossProduct method. The resulting UnitVector will be perpendicular to the one you called the method from, and the one you specified as input into the method. That is commonly used for finding the third axis in a UCS scenario, when you only have two of the axes (line of sight & up vector in this case). Plus, I have not really used 'ClientFeatures' or 'ClientGraphics' that that many times before...just some dabbling around in/with them out of curiosity on a handful of occasions, and not too recently. The overall process being used there seems like overkill to me, but maybe that's just because I have no use for the 'results'.
P.S. Maybe Mike Deck (MJDeck) would have some more useful insight into this method. He has been a programmer/developer with Autodesk for a very long time, and has been helping us out on this forum occasionally since its inception, usually when requested specifically, or when the subject matter has to do with how the Inventor API stuff works, or if specific abilities are possible through the API. He may have even been involved in creating the method. He is probably pretty busy, so I try not to bug him all the time with questions or requests. 😄
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
I tried the Drawingview method myself, but had to add some extra prep steps in my full processor since you need a part file to be saved in order to create a drawing view of it. I did make my part sketch directly instead of copying, I'm not sure if that would be enough to stabilize your rule. It was only marginally faster than my current implementation, projecting all edges to a 2d Planar sketch.
...
Dim bView As DrawingView = TempDrawing.ActiveSheet.DrawingViews.AddBaseView(ThisClass.tempPart, Position, 1, ViewOrientationTypeEnum.kArbitraryViewOrientation, DrawingViewStyleEnum.kHiddenLineRemovedDrawingViewStyle, , oCam, )
Dim skPlane As WorkPlane = oCompDef.WorkPlanes.AddFixed(TransientStartPlane.RootPoint, xAxis.AsUnitVector, yAxis.AsUnitVector)
Dim endPlane As WorkPlane = oCompDef.WorkPlanes.AddFixed(TransientEndPlane.RootPoint, xAxis.AsUnitVector, yAxis.AsUnitVector)
Dim sk As PlanarSketch = oCompDef.Sketches.Add(skPlane)
For Each dc As DrawingCurve In bView.DrawingCurves
sk.AddByProjectingEntity(dc.ModelGeometry).Construction = False
Next
...
What both my current process and the drawing view process are missing is accounting for thru holes that can be seen through from a particular view direction. Ideally that part of the sketch would not be included in the extrusion, but i don't know how to write logic for it when we are just projecting everything indiscriminately.
I'm basically looking for what the pre-select highlight shows when there is something obscuring the object you are pre-selecting:
That does not seem to provide the same outline graphics as native user selected outline:
I only want lines that represent boundaries of the actual solid, nothing extra. This image is the intended output, crudely mouse drawn:
With that being said, I am changing gears from this approach for my current project. I would still like to figure out how to capture something like this, but I'm not including this workflow in the project I'm currently working on anymore.
