VBA for AutoCAD 2002:

Transcription

1 VBA for AutoCAD 2002: Writing AutoCAD Macros JEFFREY E. CLARK Prentice Hall PTR Upper Saddle River, NJ com

2 '^J-? CONTENTS PREFACE xxi ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xxix Part One: The AutoCAD VBA Environment 1 CHAPTER 1 Taking Control of AutoCAD 3 Components and Automation 4 The Foundation 4 A High-Level View 8 Details 9 Creating a Drawing with Visual Basic 12 Setting Available References 14 Writing the Procedure 14 vii

3 viii Contents More About Components 16 AutoCAD Inheritance 16 Method, Property, and Event Matrices 17 SummingUp CHAPTER 2 The VBA Environment 21 Creating and Editing Your Macros 22 Design Windows 23 Debugging Windows 25 Managing and Running Your Macros 31 VBA Manager 31 Open VBA Project 33 Macros Dialog 33 AutoCAD Command Line 36 SummingUp CHAPTER 3 DXF: Key to the Drawing Structure 39 DXF Format 40 Objects and Classes 41 Fixed Group Codes 41 Variable Group Codes 43 Subclass Markers 45 Looking at Your Drawing with VBA 45 GetSubclass Reads a DWG File 47 DXFsearch Reads a DXF File 50 AutoLISP and VBA 54 Advantages of VBA 56 VBA Utility 57 SummingUp... 57

4 CHAPTER 4 Elements of the Object Model 59 Automation Interfaces 59 Application Object 61 Documents Collection 61 ModelSpace and PaperSpace 62 Table Collections 64 Object Collections 65 Document Object and Entities 66 Preferences Object 69 Custom Menüs and Toolbars 71 MenuBar Collection 72 MenuGroups Collection 72 SummingUp Part Two: Using the AutoCAD Object Model 75 CHAPTER 5 Documents and the User Interface 77 Methods and Properties 79 File Management 80 Creating a Drawing File 81 Opening, Saving, and Closing a Drawing 82 WBlock 87 Exporting and Importing Files 87 Otlier File Management Tools 88 ix

5 x Contents User Interface 90 Windows 90 Zooming 94 Named Views 96 Viewports 97 Hyperlinks 106 AutoCAD Enums 108 Method, Property, and Event Matrices 109 Summing Up CHAPTER 6 Collections and Objects 119 Application Object 119 Methods 120 Properties 120 Document Object 122 Methods 122 Properties 125 Collections 130 Managing Collections 132 Methods 132 Properties 135 Table Collections 138 Layers 138 LayerStateManager 140 Linetypes 143 Registered Applications 144 TextStyles 144 User Coordinate Systems 146 Method, Property, and Event Matrices 148 Summing Up

6 CHAPTER 7 Utility Objects 157 SelectionSets, Filters, and Groups 158 SelectionSets 158 Filters 165 Groups 166 Utility Object 167 Data Acquisition 168 Data Conversion 177 Internet Access 183 Dictionaries and the XRecord 187 Method, Property, and Event Matrices 188 Summing Up CHAPTER 8 Blocks and External References 193 Blocks 194 Accessing Block Objects 194 Accessing Block References 200 Attributes and Attribute References 201 Properties 202 Block with Data 203 MInsertBlock 208 Properties 209 Database 210 CopyObjects Method 211 Database Properties 213 External References 214 Methods 214 Redefining XRefs 217 Layouts 220 Method, Property, and Event Matrices 220 Summing Up xi

7 xii Contents CHAPTER 9 Entities 229 Common Methods and Properties 229 Definitions 230 3DFace 231 Methods 231 Property 231 3DPoly 234 Method 234 Properties 234 Are 236 Properties 236 Circle 238 Properties 239 Ellipse 241 Properties 241 Hatch 243 Methods 243 Properties 244 LightWeightPolyline 247 Methods 247 Properties 247 Line 250 Properties 250 MLine 252 Properties 252 MText 256 Properties 256 Point 258 PolyfaceMesh 260 Properties 261

8 PolygonMesh (3DMesh) 265 Method 265 Properties 265 Polyline 271 Methods 271 Properties 271 Raster 274 Method 274 Properties 274 Ray 277 Properties 277 Region 279 Method 280 Properties 280 Shape 282 Method 283 Properties 283 Solid 285 Spline 287 Methods 287 Properties 288 Text 291 Properties 291 Trace 294 XLine 296 Properties 297 Entity Methods, Properties, and Events 298 Summing Up xiii

9 xiv Contents CHAPTER 10 Solids 305 Box 306 Cone 308 Cylinder 310 EllipticalCone 311 EllipticalCylinder 312 ExtrudedSolid 314 ExtrudedSolidAlongPath 316 RevolvedSolid 318 Sphere 320 Torus 321 Wedge 322 Solid Editing Methods 323 Mass Properties 329 Summing Up CHAPTER 11 Dimensions 335 Concepts 336 Dimension Style Manager 336 Dimension Variables, Styles, and Overrides 339 Associativity 340 Dimension Types 340 Dim3PointAngular 341 DimAligned 343 DimAngular 345 DimDiametric 346 DimOrdinate 348 DimRadial 350 DimRotated 351 Leader 353 Tolerance 356

10 Dimensioning Properties 359 Lines and Arrows 361 Text 363 Fit 364 Primary Units 365 Alternate Units 366 Tolerances 367 Other Dimensioning Properties 368 Orphan DimVars 370 Dimension Methods, Properties, and Events 371 Summing Up CHAPTER 12 Editing 377 Editing Methods 378 Array 378 Copy 381 Explode 382 GetBoundingBox 383 IntersectWith 384 Mirror 386 Move 387 Offset 388 Rotate 389 ScaleEntity 390 TransformBy 392 Undo 395 Information Properties 396 Accessing the Command Line 402 Related Methods, Properties, and Procedures 403 Summing Up xv

11 CHAPTER 13 AutoCAD Events 407 Application Events 408 Application-Level Events 410 Document Events 411 AcadDocument Event Handlers 412 Document-Level Events 412 Object Events 414 Event Handler Caveats 417 Summing Up CHAPTER 14 Forms and Controls 421 Command Events 424 Form Events 427 Tab Order 428 The Relative Utility 429 Relative Module 430 frmrelative Form 436 Control Methods and Properties 443 Summing Up CHAPTER 15 PaperSpace and Plotting 449 Plotting Interface 449 Plot Style Tables 449 Plotter Configurations 450 PaperSpace Layouts 450 System Settings 451 PlotConfiguration and Layout Objects 452 PlotConfigurations 452 Layouts 454 Common Methods and Properties 456 xvi

12 PaperSpace Viewports 468 Methods 469 Properties 469 Plot Object 470 Methods 470 Properties 471 BatchPlot 472 FrmPlotFiles 472 BatchPlot 483 Plotting Methods and Properties 489 Summing Up CHAPTER 16 Preferences 497 Programming Style 498 Files 499 Methods 499 Properties 499 Display 501 Display Performance 501 Display Resolution 503 Layout Elements 503 Window Elements 503 Open and Save 505 External References 505 File Safety Precautions 506 File Open and Save 507 ObjectARX Applications 507 Plotting (Output) 508 Default Plot Settings for New Drawings 509 Default Style Behavior for New Drawings 509 General Plot Options 509 xvii

13 CHAPTER 17 Menüs 529 System 510 Database Connect Options 511 General Options 511 User Preferences 512 AutoCAD DesignCenter 512 Hyperlink 513 Lineweight Settings 514 Object Sorting Properties 515 Priority for Coordinate Data Entry 515 Windows Standard Behavior 515 Drafting 517 AutoSnap 517 AutoTrack 518 Selection 518 Grips 518 Selection Modes and Pickbox 520 Profiles 520 Methods 520 Preferences Methods, Properties, and Events 522 Summing Up Custom Menüs and Toolbars 530 Looking at the Menü Structure 532 Methods 534 Properties 537 Popup Menüs 539 Toolbars 542 Saving Your Customizations 545 Method and Property Matrices 547 Summing Up xviii

14 Part Three: Gommunicating with Other Applications and the Internet 551 CHAPTER 18 Extensibility 553 Extended Entity Data 553 Methods 554 Working with Polylines and XData 557 VBA Interface 574 Methods 574 Properties 576 Running VBA Remotely 576 Zero Document State 578 ARX Applications 578 Methods 578 Summing Up CHAPTER 19 The Facility Project 581 Microsoft Access Database 581 Tables, Keys, and Integrity Constraints 582 Designing the User Dialog 585 Developing the Queries behind the Dialog 586 AutoCAD/Access Interface 593 cbogroup_change 596 lstdepartment_afterupdate 598 lstprogdetail_click 599 Space Allocation 601 Summing Up xix

15 CHAPTER 20 The DWF Object Model 607 Drawing Web Format 608 File Structure 608 Opcodes 610 Logical Coordinates 611 Excel Reader Application 611 XLocate 611 XLdwf 614 Whip! Object Reference 623 General Methods and Properties 623 Other Collections and Objects 632 Intrinsic Whip! Events 633 Whip! Methods and Properties 634 Summing Up Appendices 639 APPENDIX A System Variables 639 APPENDIX B Enums 665 APPENDIX C Object Inheritance 675 APPENDIX D DXF Formatting Utility 681 INDEX 707 XX