Mod the Machine

Getting data from Content Center

You can use GetContentObject() of ContentCenter to get data about an occurrence that was placed from content center. There are two samples that use the ContentCenter object in the API help file, however there is not an example of using GetContentObject(). If you are trying to use this method it will help to know how to create the string so it will return what you need.   

In a recent case my colleague Xiaodong Liang explained that if the MemberId is included in the string parameter, GetContentObject() returns the ContentTableRow and if the MemberId is not provided, the method returns the ContentFamily. To get the MemberId you access a PropertySet of the PartDocument. (Use the Definition of the occurrence).

PartDocument->PropertySets->Content Library Component Properties>item[MemberId].Value.

VBA Example. (Please keep in mind that we only recommend using VBA for prototyping and learning the API but do not recommend using VBA in production).

Sub GetContentObject_Test()
    Dim oOcc As ComponentOccurrence
    Set oOcc = ThisApplication.CommandManager.Pick _
    (kAssemblyOccurrenceFilter, "Pick occurrence")
   
    If oOcc.DefinitionDocumentType <> _
                   kPartDocumentObject Then
        MsgBox _
        "The occurrence is not a CC part."
        Exit Sub
    End If
   
    Dim oOccDef As PartComponentDefinition
    Set oOccDef = oOcc.Definition
   
    If Not oOccDef.IsContentMember Then
        MsgBox _
        "The occurrence is not a CC part."
        Exit Sub
    End If
   
    ' Set a reference to the ContentCenter object.
    Dim oContentCenter As ContentCenter
    Set oContentCenter = _
            ThisApplication.ContentCenter
 
    ' Reference "CC Library Component
    ' Properties' propertyset
    Dim propSet As PropertySet
    Set propSet = _
        oOccDef.Document.PropertySets.Item _
        ("{B9600981-DEE8-4547-8D7C-E525B3A1727A}")
   
    ' Get FamilyId property
    Dim familyId As Property
    Set familyId = propSet.Item("FamilyId")
  
   ' Get MemberId property
    Dim strMemberId As String
    strMemberId = propSet("MemberId").Value
   
    Dim msgBoxResult As VbMsgBoxResult
    msgBoxResult = MsgBox _
   ("Get Family ?", vbYesNo, "Yes=Family No=Row")
   
    If msgBoxResult = vbYes Then
      ' Get family, (Not including memberId)
       Dim oContentFamily As ContentFamily
       Set oContentFamily = _
            oContentCenter.GetContentObject _
                 ("v3#" & familyId.Value & "#")
 
       MsgBox "family display name: " _
        & oContentFamily.DisplayName & vbCr & _
         "family LibraryName name: " & _
                  oContentFamily.LibraryName
      Else
        ' Get Table Row, (Including memberId)
         Dim oContentTableRow As ContentTableRow
         Set oContentTableRow = _
              oContentCenter.GetContentObject _
     ("v3#" & familyId.Value & "#" & strMemberId)
       
         Dim str As String
         str = "Data from cells in Table Row" & vbCr
        ' Debug.Print oContentTableRow.count
         For i = 1 To oContentTableRow.count
          ' Debug.Print i 
      ' Debug.Print oContentTableRow.GetCellValue(i) 
      str = str & oContentTableRow.GetCellValue(i)
         Next
         MsgBox str
    End If
End Sub

Wayne Brill

Inventor API Labs step by step

If you are just learning the Inventor API, these webcasts delivered in the spring of 2010 are a great resource. There are labs for each section. (A slide in the presentation). The finished labs that are downloaded with the webcast recordings are very useful however the lab instructions do not have much detail.

When I do labs I usually want to have step by step instructions. If you are like me then the steps in these VB.NET projects will be better. There are four VB .NET projects in the zip file.

• Labs
• Labs_Compete
• Lab_10_AddIn_Add_To_Ribbon
• Lab_10_Complete_AddIn_Add_To_Ribbon

The Labs project creates a standalone executable that connects to Inventor from out of process. Lab_10_AddIn_Add_To_Ribbon project is an Add-In created by the SDK Add-In wizard.

Here is an example of the Instructions in the Labs project:

    ' ***** Start of LAB 2 ***********************

    ' 2.1 Add a procedure called iProps.

    ' Note: put the End Sub below step 2.19

 

    ' 2.2 Declare a variable as a PartDocument

    ' Name it m_PartDoc

 

    ' 2.3. Make a new PartDocument by using the Add

    ' method of the documents collection of the

    ' Application(variable created in step 3 of LAB1)

    ' (Instantiate the variable created in 2.2)

 

    ' 2.4. Use a For Each loop and iterate through

    ' all the PropertySets in the PartDocument

    ' created in step 2.3.

    ' Note: put the Next statement below Step 2.10

 

    ' 2.5. Use Debug.print and print the DisplayName

    ' of the PropertySet

 

    ' 2.6. Use Debug.print and print the InternalName

    ' of the PropertySet

 

    ' 2.7. Use a For Each loop and iterate through

    ' all the Property in the PropertySet created in

    ' step 2.4.(in the For Each statement)

    ' Note: put the Next statement below Step 2.10

You can use Labs_Complete if you have trouble getting the lab to work right. 

Here is a synopsis of the labs.

Lab1: Access the Application Object – Connect to an Inventor session change the ActiveView and the caption of the Inventor Window.

Lab2: iProperties - In this lab you create a procedure that creates a new part document and sets a few iProperties for the part.

Lab3: UnitsOfMeasure and parameters - Use UnitsOfMeasure to test to see if a string you get from the user is valid. If the value is valid you convert it to a different unit and use the value to update a parameter.

Lab4: WorkFeatures Sketch & Fetures - Access workaxes and workplanes. You create a new workaxis and workplane. You also create a new part, add a sketch and then extrude it. You also create a SweepFeature. (It needs a SketchLine3d)

Lab5: B-Rep: In this lab you get information about a selected edge using the curveEvaluator of the edge. You also use the B-Rep API to traverse the solid. You also use LocateUsingPoint and FindUsingRay to get geometry of the model.

Lab6: – (not finished) It would have done more with the B-Rep API

Lab7: Sheet Metal – Demonstrates the creation of sheet metal face and cut features. It creates a new sheet metal document, creates a face feature, a cut feature and another face feature. You also create a R12 DXF file.

Lab8: Assembly Occurrences - Create an assembly and place components. You will also see how to move occurrences by transforming them. This lab also has instructions for exploring proxies and how to add constraints.

Lab9: Drawings - Create an idw file and see how to add a dimension

Lab10: Add-In – Create an AddIn that adds buttons to the part and assembly ribbon. The project you complete was created by the Add-In wizard. To get your Add-In to load make sure to edit the .addin file and put the file in a location where Inventor will find it.

The instructions in these labs require some experience with VB.NET programming. If you are just getting started with programming then be sure to go through the “My First Plug-In” training first.

Wayne Brill

Migrate .Net Add-Ins to registry free

Inventor 2012 allows your Add-Ins to be loaded without them being registered as a COM component in the Windows registry. These Add-Ins are called “registry free Add-Ins”. I was sure happy when I could have my Add-In load without having to use the Windows registry. It really makes installing custom applications much  easier.  The Inventor 2012 Add-In wizard provided with the SDK uses a new template that generates a Registry Free Add-In. If you want to migrate your existing Add-Ins without re-creating them from scratch (using the new template) you can follow these five steps. Happy migration! 1. Remove COM Registration  Uncheck the Register for COM interop check box on the “Compile” tab of the Application Properties dialog, as shown below:

Note: In Visual Studio Express Edition this setting does not exist.

Remove any code associated with registering the add-in in the registry. This typically just means removing the Register and Unregister methods from your add-in class. The AddInGuid property is in the same region as the registration functions, so if you intend on using this property in other areas of your add-in you’ll want to be careful not to delete it.

2. Create the manifest file

Create a new file in the same directory as your project file and name it “YourAddin.X.manifest”, where YourAddin will be replaced with the name of your add-in. Add the following to the manifest file. The portions highlighted in yellow need to be edited to match your add-in properties:

<?xml version="1.0"

      encoding="UTF-8"

      standalone="yes"?>

 

<assembly xmlns=

      "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:asm.v1"

          manifestVersion="1.0">

  <assemblyIdentity name="RegFreeVbAddin"

        version="1.0.0.0">

  </assemblyIdentity>

  <clrClass clsid=

      "{6e41e3fb-439a-4cbe-b648-ed6a47eeac8d}"

    progid="RegFreeVbAddin.StandardAddInServer"

    threadingModel="Both"

    name=

"RegFreeVbAddin.RegFreeVbAddin.StandardAddInServer"

    runtimeVersion="1.0">

  </clrClass>

  <file name="RegFreeVbAddin.dll"

               hashalg="SHA1">

  </file>

</assembly>

The “name” attribute of the clrClass element consists of three parts, separated by dots: Assembly.Namespace.ClassName   To make sure, you can retrieve the assembly name and root namespace from your project properties:

 

Note: The manifest file is not Unicode!

3. Embed the manifest during post-build

The next step is to add a post-build process to incorporate this manifest into your dll. The post-build process calls mt.exe which is a Microsoft utility that will embed the manifest into your AddIn’s dll. You define a post-build step through the Compile tab of the Application Properties dialog. On the Compile tab, click the “Build Events…” button and then on the “Build Events” dialog click the “Edit Post-build…” button. Finally enter the following string by replacing the correct Add-In name into the “Post-build Event Command Line” dialog, as shown below: call "%VS90COMNTOOLS%vsvars32" mt.exe -manifest "$(ProjectDir)RegFreeVbAddin.X.manifest" -outputresource:"$(TargetPath)";#2

Compile your project. This will cause the manifest to be embedded within your dll. If you get any errors when compiling, verify that the command line that you entered matches the one above. You can verify that the manifest has been correctly embedded by dragging the Add-In dll into Visual Studio. You should see the “RT_MANIFEST” folder, as shown below. Double clicking on the “2” icon will open a window to show you actual manifest data.

It appears that the “build events” functionality is not provided for Visual Basic Express. It is there for C# Express and of course regular versions of Visual Studio. If you use VB Express you can manually invoke the mt utility from the command line or create a batch file.

4. Create the .addin file

A requirement for all registry-free Add-Ins is to have an .addin file. With a registry based Add-In, Inventor relied completely on the registry to get information about the Add-In. The .addin file takes the place of the registry for this same information. The addin filename is in the form of Company.AddInName.Inventor.addin Below is the .addin file for my example Add-In with the portions to change highlighted:

<Addin Type="Standard">     <!--Created for Autodesk Inventor Version 16.0-->   <!--Override settings for ApplicationAddIn: RegFreeVbAddin-->     <ClassId>     {6e41e3fb-439a-4cbe-b648-ed6a47eeac8d}   </ClassId>     <ClientId>     {6e41e3fb-439a-4cbe-b648-ed6a47eeac8d}   </ClientId>     <DisplayName>     RegFreeVbAddin   </DisplayName>     <Description>     A Registry-free Inventor Addin   </Description>     <Assembly>     C:\Autodesk\Inventor\MyAddins\RegFreeVbAddin.dll   </Assembly>     <LoadOnStartUp>1</LoadOnStartUp>   <UserUnloadable>1</UserUnloadable>   <Hidden>0</Hidden>   <SupportedSoftwareVersionGreaterThan>     15..   </SupportedSoftwareVersionGreaterThan>   <DataVersion>1</DataVersion>   <UserInterfaceVersion>1</UserInterfaceVersion>   <LoadBehavior>0</LoadBehavior> </Addin>

For most AddIns, the ClassId (required) and ClientId (required) elements will be the same value, which is the GUID at the top of the StandardAddInServer class. The value of the DisplayName (required) element can be anything and is the name of the add-ins as shown in the AddIn Manager. The Description (required) element can also be anything and is the description of the add-in as shown in the AddIn Manager. The Assembly (required) element defines the name of the AddIn dll. It also defines the path to the dll. There are 3 ways to specify the location of the binaries: A full path including the dll name. Only the dll name. Inventor will look for this dll in the <InstallPath>\bin\ folder followed by the folder in which the .addin manifest was found (i.e. same folder as the .addin file). A relative path including the dll name. Inventor will search for the dll in the specified relative path starting at the <InstallPath>\bin\ folder followed by a search in the specified relative path starting at the folder in which the .addin manifest was found. The LoadOnStartUp (optional - obsolete) element specifies whether the add-in should load on start up. Assumed to be true if this value is not specified. Value can be 0 or 1. The UserUnloadable (optional) element specifies whether the user can unload the add-in. Assumed to be true if this value is not specified (i.e. user can unload the add-in). Value can be 0 or 1. The Hidden (optional) element defines whether the add-in is visible in the Add-In Manager or not. A value of 1 indicates that it is hidden, although the end-user can still right-click within the Add-In Manager and choose “Show hidden members” to display all add-ins. The SupportedSoftwareVersionXXX (optional) element specifies the version(s) of Inventor that the add-in should be available in. Combinations of these can be used. These values are ignored if the .addin file is located in a version-specific folder (i.e. the add-in is always available for that Inventor version). The DataVersion (optional) element specifies the version of add-in data contained within Inventor documents. To be used by add-ins that store migrating data in Inventor documents, indicated by “DocumentInterests”. The UserInterfaceVersion (optional) element specifies the version of the user interface of the add-in. Incrementing this version results in all of the addin’s UI getting cleaned up during Inventor start-up. The LoadBehavior (optional) element allows you to control a brand new feature of Inventor 2012: this will determine for which document type the addin will be loaded. Basically this feature will improve the start-up time of Inventor by delaying the loading of the addin the first time a specific document type is created or open, for example if your addin is only providing part-specific functionalities, you can choose to let Inventor load it only when the user will open his first part in the session. Here is a table that recaps the various values this flag can take and its effect:

LoadBehavior	Effect
0	Load on Start-up (not recommended)
1	Load when any document is open/created
2	Load when first Assembly is open/created
3	Load when first Presentation is open/created
4	Load when first Drawing is open/created
10	Load OnDemand

Assumed to be 0 if this value is not specified. Installer considerations: In the case you are building an installer to deploy your Add-In, you may wonder how you would handle the situation where you let the user select the location where they will install the Add-In dll itself, as the .addin file needs to reflect this path, and the answer is that you have 2 choices here: Do not let the user select a custom location for the install and provide a relative path or no path at all: Inventor will try to load the addin from the locations described above in the “Assembly” element section. Let the user select a custom location, in which case you will have to create a custom dll called from a custom action inside your installer that will dynamically perform the editing of the .addin file based on the selected path.

5. Choose a location for .addin file

Copy the .addin file to one of the following directories, depending on the scope of your add-in and the operating system.   Version Independent:    The presence of a .addin file in the following locations indicates that the AddIn should be loaded in multiple versions of Inventor based on the values of the “SupportedSoftwareVersionXXX” settings in the manifest file.   Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\Inventor Addins\   Windows7/Vista: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Inventor Addins\     Version Dependent:    The presence of a manifest file in the following locations indicates that the AddIn should be loaded in a specific version of Inventor. The values of the “SupportedSoftwareVersionXXX” settings in the manifest file are ignored, if present. Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Autodesk\Inventor 2012\Addins\   Windows7/Vista: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Inventor 2012\Addins\     Per User Override:   The manifest file in the following locations can be created when per user overrides need to be saved. The settings in these manifest files override the setting values in the manifest files found in the ‘all users’ folder. The names of these override manifest files match the names of the “master” files. Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\Application Data\Autodesk\Inventor 2012\Addins\ Windows7/Vista: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\Inventor 2012\Addins\ After following these steps your Add-In should be found and loaded by Inventor without any entries in the registry. Wayne Brill

XML Ribbon Builder Design Pattern

We all want to be efficient in our code writing and using design patterns can help with this. A design pattern is utility code that will solve a commonly recurring task. For Inventor AddIns creating the ribbon elements is a common task that can be expedited by using a design pattern. My colleagues Jan Liska and Philippe Leefsma created this example design pattern named AdnRibbonBuilder. This is XML based and provides these advantages:

• Define Ribbon elements much faster and more easily
• Generate the Ribbon items dynamically at loading
• Use external XML that can be replaced or modified by user

To use this design pattern you add the AdnRibbonBuilder class to your project. This class has functions that will create the Ribbon elements by parsing an xml file. Once you have added the class to your project there are two things you need to do.

1. Create the xml file with the settings that will be parsed. There are tags in the xml file that will allow you control where the ribbon element is created and what the ribbon element is.
2. Call the CreateRibbon or CreateRibbonFromFile methods of the AdnRibbonBuilder class from the Activate method of the AddIn. One of the CreateRibbon parameters is a string that is the name of a resource. (This resource is an embedded xml file). CreateRibbonFromFile takes a string that is a name of an xml file on disk.

Here is the xml code from the project in this zip file that creates a button when it is parsed by AdnRibbonBuilder. Notice that it is going to add the button to the Modify panel on the Part ribbon. The Button will use the ButtonDefintion named Autodesk:RibbonVBTest:Button4. (This ButtonDefinition needs to be already created in the project before the xml file is parsed).

  <RibbonTab ribbons="Part"

           internalName="id_TabModel"

           displayName=""

           targetTab=""

           insertBefore="false">

 

    <RibbonPanel internalName="id_PanelP_ModelModify"

                 displayName=""

                 targetPanel=""

                 insertBefore="false">

 

      <Button internalName="Autodesk:RibbonVBTest:Button4"

                useLargeIcon="false"

                isInSlideout="false"

                targetControl=""

                insertBefore="false"/>

     </RibbonPanel>

  </RibbonTab>

Below is the code from the attached project that calls CreateRibbonFromFile or CreateRibbon. Having the ability to use an xml file on disk makes it easy to create a different layout of the ribbon elements. If you want to try using the file, rename this file so the extension is only “xml”. (Ribbon_By_Xml_Example.ribbons.override.rename_to_just_xml)

The tags in the xml file cause the buttons to be created as a slide out instead of on the main ribbon. 

(isInSlideout="true")

If this xml file is found (this example is looking for it at the same location of the AddIn dll) it will be used instead of the xml resource.

Here is the code:

Dim asmName As String = _

      Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().GetName().Name

 

If (System.IO.File.Exists _

           (asmName + ".ribbons.override.xml")) Then

 

   AdnRibbonBuilder.CreateRibbonFromFile(

           m_inventorApplication,

           Me.GetType,

           asmName + ".ribbons.override.xml")

Else

   AdnRibbonBuilder.CreateRibbon(

            m_inventorApplication,

            Me.GetType,

            "Ribbon_By_Xml_Example.Ribbons.xml")

End If

You can explore the AdnRibbonBuilder class to see how it creates the ribbon elements based on the tags in the xml file. The zip file with the project also has an xml file named ribbons_template.xml. This file has examples of xml tags that will create a few other ribbon elements. Here is the complete list of ribbon elements that AdnRibbonBuilder can create. (From the ProcessPanelNode Sub Procedure).

 Case "Button"

     processMethod = _

     New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

           (AddressOf ProcessButtonNode)

     Exit Select

 

Case "Separator"

    processMethod = _

    New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

       (AddressOf ProcessSeparatorNode)

    Exit Select

 

Case "ButtonPopup"

    processMethod = _

    New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

     (AddressOf ProcessButtonPopupNode)

    Exit Select

 

Case "Popup"

    processMethod = _

    New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

           (AddressOf ProcessPopupNode)

    Exit Select

 

Case "ComboBox"

    processMethod = _

    New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

       (AddressOf ProcessComboBoxNode)

    Exit Select

 

Case "Gallery"

     processMethod = _

     New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

         (AddressOf ProcessGalleryNode)

     Exit Select

 

Case "Macro"

     processMethod = _

     New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

            (AddressOf ProcessMacroNode)

     Exit Select

Case "SplitButton"

     processMethod = _

     New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

      (AddressOf ProcessSplitButtonNode)

     Exit Select

 

Case "SplitButtonMRU"

     processMethod = _

     New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

     AddressOf ProcessSplitButtonMRUNode)

     Exit Select

 

Case "TogglePopup"

     processMethod = _

     New Action(Of RibbonPanel, XmlNode) _

      (AddressOf ProcessTogglePopupNode)

     Exit Select

Case Else

     Continue For

Wayne Brill

Manufacturing DevCamp 2012 and DevLab

Are you interested in customizing, extending or integrating with Autodesk^® Inventor^®, AutoCAD^® Mechanical, Autodesk^® Vault, Autodesk 360 Nexus, new Autodesk web services and mobile technologies, and more?

If yes then the Autodesk Manufacturing DevCamp is for you!

When: June 13-14, with a DevLab on June 15

Where: Portland, Oregon -- near Autodesk’s Manufacturing Division headquarters

Cost: early bird discount fee of US $500 valid to April 30, 2012, thereafter US $600

The 2 day DevCamp offers training for beginners and experts on the APIs of each of the products listed above. You get to talk to Autodesk product management and engineering staff, and to meet fellow developers like you. There is also a Business Development track for those steering their company’s strategic direction and investments as well as Autodesk specific sales and marketing topics.  Just one of several featured Autodesk management speakers includes Executive Vice President of Autodesk Manufacturing, Robert “Buzz” Kross.

Following on from the DevCamp we are holding a day long DevLab. The DevLab has no agenda as it’s all about spending quality time working with you on your specific needs and challenges. ADN DevTech engineers covering Autodesk technologies – Inventor, AutoCAD Mechanical, Vault and more - are available to help you – 1 to 1. Bring your laptop and work on your code as you’d normally do in your own office. With DevLab you have a team of experts available to review your code, answer your questions, and make suggestions.

CALL TO ACTION – let us know you’re interested!

To receive more information on the DevCamp and DevLab, including the detailed agenda and registration instructions, please send an email to Melrose Ross on email address [email protected] giving your full name and company name.

Wayne Brill

Bitmaps without VB6 IconToIPicture

I’m very excited to be joining Brian as a co-author on this blog. It’s my first blogging experience and I’m eager to start writing about the many and varied things we’re doing with Inventor’s API!. To start out I thought it would be interesting to discuss a different way to create IPictureDisp needed for button images.

Having to reference Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility and use Microsoft.VisualBasic.Compatibility.VB6.Support.IconToIPicture() to create an IPictureDisp works, but I always thought there should be a better way to create the image for the user interface. Also in a future release of Inventor there is a good chance that it will support .NET framework 4 and warning messages occur using IconToPicture(). (Inventor 2012 uses .NET 3.5).

I was happy to find a utility class that my colleague Philippe Leefsma recently created that uses stdole.IPictureDisp instead of IconToPicture().

This zip file has a project that creates an AddIn that adds a panel to the assemble tab on the assembly ribbon and a panel to the model tab on the part ribbon. This project is a completed lab used in one of the Inventor API trainings. (Originally using IconToIPicture).

Here is the class from the project that creates the IPicutreDisp. (See below for some instructions on how to use this class).

Imports System.Runtime.InteropServices

 

 Public NotInheritable Class PictureDispConverter

    <DllImport("OleAut32.dll", EntryPoint:= _

    "OleCreatePictureIndirect", ExactSpelling:=True, _

      PreserveSig:=False)> _

    Private Shared Function OleCreatePictureIndirect( _

      <MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.AsAny)> _

      ByVal picdesc As Object, _

      ByRef iid As Guid, _

      <MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.Bool)> _

      ByVal fOwn As Boolean) _

                         As stdole.IPictureDisp

    End Function

 

    Shared iPictureDispGuid As Guid = _

        GetType(stdole.IPictureDisp).GUID

 

    Private NotInheritable Class PICTDESC

        Private Sub New()

        End Sub

 

        'Picture Types

        Public Const PICTYPE_UNINITIALIZED As Short = -1

        Public Const PICTYPE_NONE As Short = 0

        Public Const PICTYPE_BITMAP As Short = 1

        Public Const PICTYPE_METAFILE As Short = 2

        Public Const PICTYPE_ICON As Short = 3

        Public Const PICTYPE_ENHMETAFILE As Short = 4

 

        <StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _

        Public Class Icon

            Friend cbSizeOfStruct As Integer = _

              Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(PICTDESC.Icon))

            Friend picType As Integer = _

                PICTDESC.PICTYPE_ICON

            Friend hicon As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero

            Friend unused1 As Integer

            Friend unused2 As Integer

 

            Friend Sub New(ByVal icon As  _

                           System.Drawing.Icon)

                Me.hicon = icon.ToBitmap().GetHicon()

            End Sub

        End Class

 

        <StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)> _

        Public Class Bitmap

            Friend cbSizeOfStruct As Integer = _

              Marshal.SizeOf(GetType(PICTDESC.Bitmap))

            Friend picType As Integer = _

              PICTDESC.PICTYPE_BITMAP

            Friend hbitmap As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero

            Friend hpal As IntPtr = IntPtr.Zero

            Friend unused As Integer

 

            Friend Sub New(ByVal bitmap As  _

                           System.Drawing.Bitmap)

                Me.hbitmap = bitmap.GetHbitmap()

            End Sub

        End Class

    End Class

 

    Public Shared Function ToIPictureDisp(ByVal icon As  _

       System.Drawing.Icon) As stdole.IPictureDisp

        Dim pictIcon As New PICTDESC.Icon(icon)

        Return OleCreatePictureIndirect(pictIcon, _

                             iPictureDispGuid, True)

    End Function

 

    Public Shared Function ToIPictureDisp(ByVal bmp _

        As System.Drawing.Bitmap) As stdole.IPictureDisp

        Dim pictBmp As New PICTDESC.Bitmap(bmp)

        Return OleCreatePictureIndirect(pictBmp, _

                              iPictureDispGuid, True)

    End Function

End Class

How to use the PictureDispConverter class.

1. Add a reference to stdole (On the .NET tab of the Add Reference dialog)

2. In your project add a new class and copy the code above into the class.

3. Create a resource in the project.

4. Call  PictureDispConverter.ToIPictureDisp() and pass in the resource. Here is the code from the attached project that does this.

   Dim mIPictureDisp1 As IPictureDisp = _

         PictureDispConverter.ToIPictureDisp _

                                      (My.Resources.Tools)

 

   Dim mIPictureDisp2 As IPictureDisp = _

         PictureDispConverter.ToIPictureDisp _

                                      (My.Resources.wbTest)

 

Wayne Brill

Welcome a New Blog Co-Author

As much as I would like to spend time writing posts for this blog, my other day-to-day work has gotten to be too much for me to be able to regularly write posts.  I hope things slow down in the future and I’ll be able to get back to contributing more.

In order to keep this blog alive a new author has been recruited.  I’d like you to meet Wayne Brill.  Wayne is a member of the Developer Technical Services (DevTech) team which is a part of Autodesk Developer Network (ADN).  This is the group that supports external developers that are writing applications for Autodesk products.  Wayne has worked for Autodesk in a technical role for many years. (Last year he celebrated his 20th year at Autodesk). The API's he supports are Inventor, including iLogic and Engineering to Order (previously known as Intent). Wayne also supports the API's for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Mechanical and Vault.

Wayne will be posting regularly and will be getting help from some of his colleagues in DevTech.  I’m sure you’ll appreciate a different perspective on programming Inventor and I’m sure we’ll see some helpful and interesting posts from Wayne.