Launching an iLogic Rule from a VB Form
Hi @D.Wheeler3GADA. This definitely sounds doable. To be able to run a 'local' iLogic rule that is saved within a component in the active assembly from a vb.net Windows Form button click event, you will need 3 things. The code that specifies the physical button within the form, the Sub routine to act as the event handler for the button click event, and another custom Sub routine for running the rule. Within the event handler Sub routine, you can close the form, then run the other custom Sub routine that runs the rule. Within the Sub routine to run the rule, you will need to get the Inventor Application object, then step down into its ApplicationAddIns, to get the one for the iLogic add-in. Once you have that specific add-in object to a variable, get its 'Automation' object to a variable. From that automation object you can use the methods that are available under it, which are roughly equivalent to the ones you see within an iLogic rule when you type in "iLogicVb.Automation" (Link). There are 4 possible methods that you could use there for running a 'local' rule (not an external rule)(Link1, Link2, Link3, Link4), depending on your needs/plans. This is very similar to the route you have to take when running an iLogic rule from a VBA macro. There are several examples of that process on this forum too.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
OK. I'm not 100% sure where you may be having the syntax issue, so I will attempt to show several example pieces of code in an attempt to help.
Within the 'main' part of your form class area, where all the visible stuff is described, there should be something similar looking to this: (my example is using the AddHandler system, rather than the WithEvents system) (Link1)
Dim oCancelButton As New Button
With oCancelButton
.Text = "CANCEL"
.Top = oStartButton.Top
.Left = oStartButton.Right + 10
.Height = 25
.Width = 75
.Enabled = True
.Name = "CancelButton"
End With
oForm.CancelButton = oCancelButton
oForm.Controls.Add(oCancelButton)
AddHandler oCancelButton.Click, AddressOf oCancelButton_ClickBut, of course you said your button is going to be labeled as an 'exit' button, and may be a different size & location.
Then outside of that 'main' area of your form class, but still within that class, you should have a Sub routine to handle the button click event. That might look something like this:
Private Sub oCancelButton_Click(ByVal oSender As System.Object, ByVal oEventArgs As System.EventArgs)
Me.Close
Dim oDoc As Inventor.Document = oInvApp.ActiveDocument
RuniLogicExternalRule("ExternalRuleName", oDoc)
End SubThat method name would need to match your other custom Sub routine for running the rule...I just made that one up and reversed the order of the input variables from the documented one.
Then the custom Sub for running the external rule might look something like this:
Private Sub RuniLogicExternalRule(oRuleName As String, oDocForRuleToTarget As Inventor.Document)
Dim iLogicClassIDString As String = "{3BDD8D79-2179-4B11-8A5A-257B1C0263AC}"
Dim iLogicAddIn As Inventor.ApplicationAddIn = Nothing
Try
iLogicAddIn = oInvApp.ApplicationAddIns.ItemById(iLogicClassIDString)
Catch
Exit Sub
End Try
If Not iLogicAddIn.Activated Then iLogicAddIn.Activate
Dim oAuto As Object = iLogicAddIn.Automation
Try
i = oAuto.RunExternalRule(oDocForRuleToTarget, oRuleName)
Catch
End Try
End SubSince you are going to be running an external rule from the button, then there are only two methods available for that. The RunExternalRule method, and the RunExternalRuleWithArguments method. Within your code for the sub to run the rule, you will most likely not have any 'Intellisense' type help after the iLogic AddIn's Automation object, because it will just be recognized as a generic Object. But you should be able to just put one of those method codes after the 'dot', (right after that automation object variable) to be able to use them, as seen in the above example.
Again, these are just quickie rough example bits.
Wesley Crihfield
(Not an Autodesk Employee)
