Draw Order Extended

In my last post, I mentioned that I have been working on modifying the Draw Order By Layer command found on the Autodesk Labs Plugin of the month page here. I think I have pretty much perfected it to the best of by ability and for what I wanted it to do.

First, I added additional tabs for other items needed to adjust draw order. The tabs added were XREFs, Blocks, Civil3D Surfaces, and a Checked Items Tab. Now, many of these items could have been moved to a separate layer and then adjusted via the basic Draw Order By Layer tab, but for many of these items, that goes against company standards. We typically put all of our XREFs on one XREF layer and Civil3D surfaces automatically go on one surface layer, so why not just allow for adjustment of these items? The blocks tab was added for me personally as many times I might have the same block on multiple layers and need to adjust accordingly for all instances, thus selecting the block name made sense. The checked items tab I think is the coolest, as it allows for you to work with all object on a selected layer (or multiple layers), XREF objects selected, and blocks selected - and if you think outside the box it will handle all Civil3D surfaces via the layer the surfaces go on. Trust me, I tried to incorporate Civil3D surfaces to this list as well, but Civil3D would crash hard when adjusting - and I'm not sure why.

Here is what the command looks like:

LAYERS TAB

XREFS TAB

BLOCKS TAB

ACAD CHECKED ITEMS TAB
Note the two left buttons. The left one populates a list from the layers, XREFs,
and blocks tab, and the right allows you to remove the items and start over.

C3D SURFACES TAB

HELP MENU

The best workflow I have found with the command is to begin by adjusting your surfaces in the order they should display. You'll see from the image examples below the existing surface was brought over the analysis surface. Once completed rerun the command and select the necessary layers (include the default surface layer), and/or XREFs, and/or Blocks, then go to the Selected Items tab and use the update button on the far left to generate the list of checked items. Re-order everything in the desired order from top to bottom (surfaces most likely at bottom) and you'll see in the last image everything has been updated.

DRAW ORDER BEFORE RUNNING COMMAND

DRAW ORDER AFTER RUNNING SURFACES

DRAW ORDER AFTER RUNNING ALL SELECTED ITEMS

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AutoCAD Civil3D 2011 Version - as shown above
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Zip File
If you are interested in the Zip file for the actual code, you can download from here.

DLL File
If you are interested in the dll file for the plugin command, you can download from here. Then run the NETLOAD command in Civil3D and select the file. The command will runs with the command DOEXT.
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AutoCAD 2011 Version - minus the Surfaces tab shown above
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Zip File
If you are interested in the Zip file for the actual code, you can download from here.

DLL File
If you are interested in the dll file for the plugin command, you can download from here. Then run the NETLOAD command in Civil3D and select the file. The command will runs with the command DOEXT.
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AutoCAD VB.net Programming with DXFCODEs

Over the last couple of weeks I've been working with the code for the January 2011 release of DrawOrder by Layer for AutoCAD on the Autodesk Labs Plugin of the month page which can be found here. The code uses a selection filter via the DXFCODE protocol to find the layer names matching the strings in the list generated from the block table record. I am currently revising this command to add some additional items and will post it once it is complete. Here is what the code looks like to select objects on the selected layer:

For Each lay As String In revLst
Dim psr As PromptSelectionResult
Dim tvs(0) As TypedValue
tvs(0) = New TypedValue(DxfCode.LayerName, lay)
Dim sf As New SelectionFilter(tvs)
psr = ed.SelectAll(sf)
If psr.Value IsNot Nothing Then
dot.MoveToTop(New ObjectIdCollection(psr.Value.GetObjectIds))
End If
pm.MeterProgress()
System.Windows.Forms.Application.DoEvents()
Next

While doing this I have been looking through the DXFCODE format codes in VB.net and have been trying to find a list of what these all do and what they are for. I found a pretty good list here, also displayed below in relation to the {}Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices namespace. Note that these are in order by the group code and not alphabetical.

DXFCODE Group Names, Codes, and Descriptions

Group Name	Group Code	Description
Invalid	-9999
XDictionary	-6
PReactors	-5	APP: persistent reactor chain
Operator	-4	APP: conditional operator (used only with ssget)
FirstEntityId, XDataStart	-3	APP: extended data (XDATA) sentinel (fixed)
Header	-2	APP: entity name reference (fixed)
End	-1	APP: entity name. The name changes each time a drawing is opened. It is never saved (fixed)
Start	0	Text string indicating the entity type (fixed)
Text, XRefPath	1	Primary text value for an entity
AttributeTag, BlockName, MlineStyleName, ShapeName, SymbolTableName, SymbolTableRecordName	2	Name (attribute tag, block name, and so on)
AttributePrompt, CLShapeName, Description, DimensionAlternativePrefixSuffix, DimPostString, DimStyleName, LinetypeProse, SymbolTableRecordComments, TextBigFontFile, TextFontFile	3-4	Other text or name values
DimensionBlock, Handle	5	Entity handle; text string of up to 16 hexadecimal digits (fixed)
DimBlk1, LinetypeName	6	Linetype name (fixed)
DimBlk2, TextStyleName	7	Text style name (fixed)
LayerName	8	Layer name (fixed)
CLShapeText	9	DXF: variable name identifier (used only in HEADER section of the DXF file)
XCoordinate	10	Primary point; this is the start point of a line or text entity, center of a circle, and so on DXF: X value of the primary point (followed by Y and Z value codes 20 and 30 APP: 3D point (list of three reals)
YCoordinate	20	DXF: Y values of the primary point
ZCoordinate	30	DXF: Z values of the primary point
Elevation	38	DXF: entity's elevation if nonzero
Thickness	39	Entity's thickness if nonzero (fixed)
PixelScale, Real, ShapeScale, ShapeXOffset, ShapeYOffset, TxtSize, TxtStylePSize, TxtStyleXScale, ViewBackClip, ViewFrontClip, ViewHeight, ViewLensLength, ViewportAspect, ViewportHeight,ViewWidth,	40-48	Floating-point values (text height, scale factors, and so on)
LinetypeScale	48	Linetype scale; floating-point scalar value; default value is defined for all entity types
DashLength, LinetypeElement, MlineOffset	49	Repeated floating-point value. Multiple 49 groups may appear in one entity for variable-length tables (such as the dash lengths in the LTYPE table). A 7x group always appears before the first 49 group to specify the table length
Angle, ViewportSnapAngle, ViewportTwist	50-58	Angles (output in degrees to DXF files and radians through AutoLISP and ObjectARX applications)
Visibility	60	Entity visibility; integer value; absence or 0 indicates visibility; 1 indicates invisibility
LayerLinetype	61	Layer Linetype
Color	62	Color number (fixed)
HasSubentities	66	"Entities follow" flag (fixed)
ViewportVisibility	67	Space-that is, model or paper space (fixed)
ViewportActive	68	APP: identifies whether viewport is on but fully off screen; is not active or is off
ViewportNumber	69	APP: viewport identification number
CircleSides, Int16, LinetypeAlign, LinetypePdc, RegAppFlags, TxtStyleFlags, ViewMode, ViewportGrid, ViewportIcon, ViewportSnap, ViewportSnapPair, ViewportSnapStyle, ViewportZoom	70-78	Integer values, such as repeat counts, flag bits, or modes
Int32	90-99	32-bit integer values
Subclass	100	Subclass data marker (with derived class name as a string). Required for all objects and entity classes that are derived from another concrete class. The subclass data marker segregates data defined by different classes in the inheritance chain for the same object. This is in addition to the requirement for DXF names for each distinct concrete class derived from ObjectARX (see "Subclass Markers")
EmbeddedObjectStart	101
ControlString	102	Control string, followed by "{" or "}". Similar to the xdata 1002 group code, except that when the string begins with "{", it can be followed by an arbitrary string whose interpretation is up to the application. The only other control string allowed is "}" as a group terminator. AutoCAD does not interpret these strings except during drawing audit operations. They are for application use
DimVarHandle	105	Object handle for DIMVAR symbol table entry
UcsOrg	110
UcsOrientationX	111
UcsOrientationY	112
XReal	140
ViewBrightness	141
ViewContrast	142
Int64	160	64-bit integer values
XInt16	170	16-bit integer values
NormalX	210	Extrusion direction (fixed)DXF: X value of extrusion direction APP: 3D extrusion direction vector
NormalY	220	DXF: Y values of the extrusion direction
NormalY	230	DXF: Z values of the extrusion direction
XXInt16	270
Int8	280	8-bit integer values
RenderMode	281
Bool	290-299	Boolean flag value
XTextString	300-309	Arbitrary text strings
BinaryChunk	310-319	Arbitrary binary chunks with same representation and limits as 1004 group codes: hexadecimal strings of up to 254 characters represent data chunks of up to 127 bytes
ArbitraryHandle	320-329	Arbitrary object handles; handle values that are taken "as is." They are not translated during INSERT and XREF operations
SoftPointerId	330-339	Soft-pointer handle; arbitrary soft pointers to other objects within same DXF file or drawing. Translated during INSERT and XREF operations
HardPointerId	340-349	Hard-pointer handle; arbitrary hard pointers to other objects within same DXF file or drawing. Translated during INSERT and XREF operations
SoftOwnershipId	350-359	Soft-owner handle; arbitrary soft ownership links to other objects within same DXF file or drawing. Translated during INSERT and XREF operations
HardOwnershipId	360-369	Hard-owner handle; arbitrary hard ownership links to other objects within same DXF file or drawing. Translated during INSERT and XREF operations
LineWeight	370-379	Lineweight enum value (AcDb::LineWeight). Stored and moved around as a short. Custom non-entity objects may use the full range, but entity classes only use 371-379 DXF group codes in their representation, because AutoCAD and AutoLISP both always assume a 370 group code is the entity's lineweight. This allows 370 to behave like other "common" entity fields.
PlotStyleNameType	380-389	PlotStyleName type enum (AcDb::PlotStyleNameType). Stored and moved around as a short. Custom non-entity objects may use the full range, but entity classes only use 381-389 DXF group codes in their representation, for the same reason as the Lineweight range above.
PlotStyleNameId	390-399	String representing handle value of the PlotStyleName object, basically a hard pointer, but has a different range to make backward compatibility easier to deal with. Stored and moved around as an Object ID (a handle in DXF files) and a special type in AutoLISP. Custom non-entity objects may use the full range, but entity classes only use 391-399 DXF group codes in their representation, for the same reason as the Lineweight range above.
ExtendedInt16	400-409	16-bit Integers
LayoutName	410-419	String
ColorRGB	420
ColorName	430
Alpha	440
GradientObjectType	450
GradientPatType	451
GradientTintType	452
GradientColCount	453
GradientAngle	460
GradientShift	461
GradientTintVal	462
GradientColVal	463
GradientName	470
Comment	999	DXF: The 999 group code indicates that the line following it is a comment string. SAVEAS does not include such groups in a DXF output file, but OPEN honors them and ignores the comments. You can use the 999 group to include comments in a DXF file that you've edited
ExtendedDataAsciiString	1000	ASCII string (up to 255 bytes long) in extended data
ExtendedDataRegAppName	1001	Registered application name (ASCII string up to 31 bytes long) for extended data
ExtendedDataControlString	1002	Extended data control string ("{"or "}")
ExtendedDataLayerName	1003	Extended data layer name
ExtendedDataBinaryChunk	1004	Chunk of bytes (up to 127 bytes long) in extended data
ExtendedDataHandle	1005	Entity handle in extended data; text string of up to 16 hexadecimal digits
ExtendedDataXCoordinate	1010	A point in extended data DXF: X value (followed by 1020 and 1030 groups) APP: 3D point
ExtendedDataWorldXCoordinate	1011	A 3D world space position in extended data DXF: X value (followed by 1021 and 1031 groups) APP: 3D point
ExtendedDataWorldXDisp	1012	A 3D world space displacement in extended data DXF: X value (followed by 1022 and 1032 groups) APP: 3D vector
ExtendedDataWorldXDir	1013	A 3D world space direction in extended data. DXF: X value (followed by 1022 and 1032 groups) APP: 3D vector
ExtendedDataYCoordinate	1020	DXF: Y and Z values of a point
ExtendedDataWorldYCoordinate	1021	DXF: Y and Z values of a world space position
ExtendedDataWorldYDisp	1022	DXF: Y and Z values of a world space displacement
ExtendedDataWorldYDir	1023	DXF: Y and Z values of a world space direction
ExtendedDataZCoordinate	1030	DXF: Y and Z values of a point
ExtendedDataWorldZCoordinate	1031	DXF: Y and Z values of a world space position
ExtendedDataWorldZDisp	1032	DXF: Y and Z values of a world space displacement
ExtendedDataWorldZDir	1033	DXF: Y and Z values of a world space direction
ExtendedDataReal	1040	Extended data floating-point value
ExtendedDataDist	1041	Extended data distance value
ExtendedDataScale	1042	Extended data scale factor
ExtendedDataInteger16	1070	Extended data 16-bit signed integer
ExtendedDataInteger32	1071	Extended data 32-bit signed long

VB.net Programming for AutoCAD, Civil 3D, and Map 3D

Over my 15 years of using AutoCAD and other Autodesk software, I've fooled around with writing LISP routines to a very beginner type extent. I've taken classes at Autodesk University on LISP and some of the APIs of the various softwares, but it's been over my head for a lot of it. Within the last month or so, I finally decided to start learning VB.net programming. After a few weeks into it and some coaching help from a friend, I finally wrote my first command - needless to say I am hooked.

The command I wrote automates a process in Map 3D that I despised doing. The process involves labeling GIS data of soil boundaries. I typically bring these in from a SHP file, Create Object Data, and import as polylines. From here the labeling process begins with the Map Annotation commands. To initiate the annotation, the user must first define a template for the annotation, in this case a Soils Label. Within the template, Edit Annotation Text msut be inserted (typically with the "MAPANNTEXT" command). This text is a special kind of attibute text that allows for accessing the Object Data Tables and Fields. Thus the user would browse to the correct table and field to generate labels based on the selected boundary's Object Data. From here the template would be saved.

Upon completion of the template, the user would then use the Map Annotation Insert template command, call up the created template and could insert once at a picked point, or insert for entire drawing at the centroid of the object. Typically the fastest way to do this is via the centroid of the object, however, the centroid does not always occur within the soil boundary - thus you would then have to move the labels around and check properties of each boundary to ensure the label is inside the correct boundary.

My VB.net command automates this entire process, which in turn saves a lot of trivial time of moving labels around. Basically to explain the command in english, it first calls up the dialog shown below and provides some instruction. It then auto populates the Table Name based on the Object Data in the drawing, then allows for the user to type in the corresponding Field Name for the soil name. From here the user can click "Label Boundaries" in which the program checks to see if an annotation template with the name of SoilLbl has been created. If not it creates the template based on the given prompts on the dialog.

Next it prompts the user to select a boundary to label, then prompts for label insertion point and repeats the label insertion point prompt until the user hits escape. Essentially this allows the user to lable one boundary at a time, ensuring for more accurate labeling of soil boundaries, and less time involved of going through the above process. 

I would like to encourage everyone to jump into the coding!! It opens a whole new realm of AutoCAD, Civil 3D, and Map 3D.

Civil 3D Labels Showing "XREF Moved"

Last week I ran into an issue where a drawing's Civil 3D labels were displaying XREF Moved as shown in the image below:

I did some research and found a blog regarding this issue (a link to the blog can be found at the bottom of this page). Though the blog's reasoning for this error may be correct, I found that it was not the solution to the issue I was having. After further research in the drawing, I found that indeed, the XREF had actually been moved. The labels were creating by lableing contours through the XREF, thus when the XREF was moved the labels reflected the error - kudos to Autodesk for thinking of this. Had the labels not stated the XREF was moved, it may not have been noticed by anyone reviewing plans as it was moved a very minor amount.

Track back to original blog solution that was not the solution of my problem.
http://beingcivil.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/04/xref-moved.html

Chicago Civil 3D User Group

Last we Tuesday we held the first group meeting for the Chicago Civil 3D User Group. It was a success thanks to everyone who came out with interest and support. We had 12 attendees. The next group meeting will be on Tuesday, April 17th from 7:00pm-8:30pm. Definitely looking forward to that meeting as we will be covering the new features of AutoCAD Civil 3D 2013.

Should you or anyone you know be interested in the group, you can view the group page on LinkedIn here: Chicago Civil 3D User Group Page.