Mod the Machine

My first attempt with Cloud and Mobile programming

The DevTech team here at Autodesk is working on becoming experts with cloud and mobile technologies. I am happy to say that recently I was able to spend some time working towards this goal. (For many years we have been mostly supporting desktop applications).  As a training exercise I got an account on Amazon  and set up a Windows 2008 server with IIS installed. (Other DevTech engineers have used Azure).

The idea was to get ETO Server running on this Amazon server and to access it using a WCF Service from a Windows phone application. Along the way I would publish the ETO Web Samples and make it a web site on my cloud server. (I also used the ETO Staircase application with the WCF service).

This screenshot shows the different parts of this experiment:

I am happy to say that it is all working now. Here are some of the training resources I used:

http://www.iis.net/learn

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms735119(v=vs.90).aspx

http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/Windows-Phone-7-Development-for-Absolute-Beginners

http://www.asp.net/mvc

I got the ETO Web sample source from Autodesk com, built and published it. To get the published files to the amazon server I used Dropbox. After I moved the folder to my Dropbox folder on my local machine it appeared on the server. (of course I needed to install Dropbox on the server).

A couple of other things I needed to do on the server was to use IIS to enable the Web site and the Web service. Accessing the server was easy using Remote Desktop. Using IIS was straight forward as well after I completed a tutorial on it. I also needed to use the Intent Services Configurator to make the ETO applications  on that cloud system available to ETO server.

I used the WCF Application wizard in Visual Studio to create my project that would be the Service that I could use from a Windows phone application. I spent some time learning the basics of WCF and then added a function that connects to the ETO server using the ETO Server API. Here is the code:

public string GetNumberOfSteps

    (double newFlToFlrHt, double newTreadRise)

{

    try

    {

      IntentServicesClient client = new

          IntentServicesClient(new  Uri

("net.pipe://localhost/Autodesk/Intent/Services"));

 

        client.SetApplication("stairCase");

 

        string prtRefChain = null;

 

        //Change the distance setting between

        //the floors

        client.SetValue(prtRefChain,

             "FloorToFloorHeight", newFlToFlrHt);

 

 

        // set the new value for new tread rise

        client.SetValue

       (prtRefChain, "TreadRise", newTreadRise);

 

        string sTreadCountReport =

            (string)client.GetValue

             (prtRefChain, "TreadCountReport");

        return sTreadCountReport;

    }

    catch (Exception ex)

    {

        Debug.Print(ex.ToString());

        return ex.ToString();

    }

}

After building and publishing the WCF Application I copied the published files to the Amazon server. I was able to add a reference to my service in a Windows phone application. When I tested it in the Win phone emulator I am able to get back the number of stairs that would be created for the new floor to floor height and the new tread rise. Here is a screen shot of Inventor and ETO to help explain what the code in the WCF service is doing:

Below you can see the rule that is used to get this string. This is in Inventor with ETO. The WCF service is accessing ETO server (does not have a UI) to get this string:

Here it is in the Windows Phone emulator:

-Wayne

C# Help Examples for Parts General

Here are the VBA examples in this section of samples for parts converted to C#. This group of examples includes an example for an event (TestSelection) that allows you to get an entity from the user using events. It also has some parameter and brep examples. The WorkPointAtMassCenter c# example was already in the help file. (Saved me some time converting it).

This project has the following functions.

 Download InventorHelpExamples_Part_General

CreateParametersAndGroup
MoldBaseSample
SelectivelyLinkParams
QueryAndShowFeatureDimensions
TestSelection
IsCylindricalFaceInterior
GetPartMassProps
GetPartMassPropsWithoutDirtying
WorkPointAtMassCenter
CreateMaterial
ShowMaterials
ModelParameters
TableParameters
CreateRectangleFace

 

Here is the CreateParametersAndGroup function:

// Creating a new parameter group API Sample

//Description

//This sample demonstrates the creation of model,

//reference and user parameters and

//copying these parameters to a newly created group.

public void CreateParametersAndGroup()

{

    // Create a new Part document.

    PartDocument oPartDoc = default(PartDocument);

    oPartDoc =

      (PartDocument)ThisApplication.Documents.Add

    (DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject,

    ThisApplication.FileManager.GetTemplateFile

    (DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject));

 

    // Set a reference to the compdef.

    PartComponentDefinition oCompDef =

        default(PartComponentDefinition);

    oCompDef = oPartDoc.ComponentDefinition;

 

    // Create a model parameter

    ModelParameter oModelParam =

                  default(ModelParameter);

    oModelParam = oCompDef.Parameters.

    ModelParameters.AddByValue

    (2, UnitsTypeEnum.kCentimeterLengthUnits);

 

    // Create a reference parameter

    ReferenceParameter oReferenceParam =

    default(ReferenceParameter);

    oReferenceParam = oCompDef.Parameters.

    ReferenceParameters.AddByValue

    (4, UnitsTypeEnum.kCentimeterLengthUnits);

 

    // Create a user parameter

    UserParameter oUserParam =

                       default(UserParameter);

    oUserParam = oCompDef.Parameters.UserParameters.

             AddByValue("length", 6,

              UnitsTypeEnum.kCentimeterLengthUnits);

 

    // Create a new custom parameter group

    CustomParameterGroup oCustomParamGroup =

    default(CustomParameterGroup);

    oCustomParamGroup = oCompDef.Parameters.

             CustomParameterGroups.Add

                ("Custom Group", "CustomGroup1");

 

    // Add the created parameters to this group

    // Note that adding the parameters to the

    //custom group does not remove it from the

    // original group.

    oCustomParamGroup.Add((Parameter)oModelParam);

    oCustomParamGroup.Add

                     ((Parameter)oReferenceParam);

    oCustomParamGroup.Add((Parameter)oUserParam);

}

iViews - Inventor Custom application of the month

One of the Inventor custom applications on the Autodesk Exchange store was featured as the product of the month for September on the Autodesk Inventor facebook page. The video demonstrating the application will quickly show you the enhancements the AddIn provides for drawing views.

This type of promotion is a great thing for custom application developer’s and the exchange store is one of the best ways to let potential customers know about your company and your applications. For more information on how to get your application on the exchange store see this post on the Manufacturing DevBlog.

I installed this application and found it very easy to use and I can see how this could save a lot of time by allow you to easily change the size and scale of drawing views.

-Wayne

ETO – Use Inventor API to create a rendered image from a design

Here is another suggestion for Inventor Engineer-To-Order. In some cases using Inventor Studio from Intent (IvStudioRenderedImage) to create an image is not working correctly. A solution is to use the Inventor API. Here is a method that shows how this can be done using SaveAsBitmap() of the active view.

Method createReportImage(outputFile As String) As String
  Dim view = %%inventorApplication.ActiveView
 
  Dim hasGnomon As Boolean = _
  %%inventorApplication.DisplayOptions.Show3DIndicator
  Dim displayMode = view.DisplayMode
  Dim hasGroundShadow As Boolean = _
                                view.ShowGroundShadows
  Dim hasAmbientShadow As Boolean = _
                               view.ShowAmbientShadows
  Dim hasObjectShadows As Boolean = _
                                view.ShowObjectShadows
  Dim hasShowGroundReflections As Boolean = _
                            view.ShowGroundReflections
' 
  %%inventorApplication.DisplayOptions. _
                                Show3DIndicator = False
  view.ShowGroundReflections = True
  view.ShowGroundShadows = True
  view.ShowAmbientShadows = True
  view.ShowObjectShadows = True
  view.DisplayMode = _
  Inventor.DisplayModeEnum.kRealisticRendering
  view.RayTracingQuality= _
   Inventor.RayTracingQualityEnum. _
                          kInteractiveRayTracingQuality 
 
  Try
   view.SaveAsBitmap(outputFile, 1200, 800)
  Finally
   %%inventorApplication.DisplayOptions. _
                           Show3DIndicator = hasGnomon
   view.DisplayMode = displayMode
   view.ShowGroundShadows = hasGroundShadow
   view.ShowAmbientShadows = hasAmbientShadow
   view.ShowObjectShadows = hasObjectShadows
   view.ShowGroundReflections = hasShowGroundReflections
  End Try
 
  Return outputFile
End Method

-Wayne

ETO - Override GetNewPartNumber() to update iProperties

One of the products I am supporting currently is “Engineer-To-Order” (ETO). When I see a good tip or solution that applies to ETO for Inventor I am going to post it here. Here is the first post for this product and it shows a way to create a custom iProperty when the member file is saved.

When a member document is about to be saved the GetNewPartNumber() method is called. You can override this method and get and set data. (This is exactly the right time to do this). Geometry-wise the document is in a good shape, because it contains the required values of Inventor Parameters, sheet metal defaults, etc.   
 
The example below was used for a sheet metal part. The highlighted lines do the following:

1.    Extract the “lengths” of the Flat Pattern as an Intent List
2.    Formats a string from the List
3.    Creates the custom iProperty FlatPatternSize in the member IPT document

 

< %%category("Inventor") > _
Method GetNewPartNumber( docHandle As String) As String
 
     Dim fpLengths As List =  _
      IvExtGetFlatPatternLenghts _
           ( Parent,False,"in", docHandle:=docHandle) 
     Dim strList As String = "FP Lengths: " _
              + StringValueEx( fpLengths, :AsFormula) 
     
      iv_documentPropertyPut _
     ( docHandle, "FlatPatternSize", _
                       strList, createNew?:=True) 
 
       '
       ' the rest is original implementation from
       ' %%IvAdoptedPart Design
       '
       Dim iPropertiesPN As String = _
                   iv_ExtractPartNumber( iProperties)
       If( length(iPropertiesPN) > 0) Then
              Return iPropertiesPN
       End If
    If UseFactoryPartNumber? Then
        Return ""
    End If
       Return iv_pathFileNameOnly( %%cacheFilePath)
End Method

- Wayne  

C# Help Examples for Features – Part 2

Here is the second group of VBA examples in this section of samples for features converted to C#. The project with the first set of converted samples for features is here.

This project has the following functions.

 Download InventorHelpExamples_Features_2

HoleFeatureLinearPlacement
StitchFeatureCreate
CreateNonPlanarSectionLoft
EditExtrudeFeature
SweepFeature
TrueSweepLength
ThreadSample
EditThread
test_threadinfo

Here is HoleFeatureLinearPlacement function:

//    Hole feature linear placement API Sample

//Description

//This sample demonstrates the creation of a

//hole feature using the linear placement type.

public void HoleFeatureLinearPlacement()

{

    // Create a new part document, using the

    //default part template.

    PartDocument oPartDoc = default(PartDocument);

    oPartDoc = (PartDocument)ThisApplication.

        Documents.Add

            (DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject,

      ThisApplication.FileManager.GetTemplateFile

        (DocumentTypeEnum.kPartDocumentObject));

 

    // Set a reference to the component definition.

    PartComponentDefinition oCompDef =

                  default(PartComponentDefinition);

    oCompDef = oPartDoc.ComponentDefinition;

 

    // Create a new sketch on the X-Y work plane.

    PlanarSketch oSketch = default(PlanarSketch);

    oSketch = oCompDef.Sketches.Add

                        (oCompDef.WorkPlanes[3]);

 

    // Set a reference to the

    //transient geometry object.

    TransientGeometry oTransGeom =

                        default(TransientGeometry);

    oTransGeom = ThisApplication.TransientGeometry;

 

    // Create a square on the sketch.

    oSketch.SketchLines.AddAsTwoPointRectangle

        (oTransGeom.CreatePoint2d(0, 0),

        oTransGeom.CreatePoint2d(6, 6));

 

    // Create the profile.

    Profile oProfile = default(Profile);

    oProfile = oSketch.Profiles.AddForSolid();

 

    // Create an extrusion.

    ExtrudeDefinition oExtrudeDef =

                    default(ExtrudeDefinition);

    oExtrudeDef = oCompDef.Features.

        ExtrudeFeatures.CreateExtrudeDefinition

                                     (oProfile,

       PartFeatureOperationEnum.kJoinOperation);

    oExtrudeDef.SetDistanceExtent("2 cm",

               PartFeatureExtentDirectionEnum.

                      kNegativeExtentDirection);

    ExtrudeFeature oExtrude =

                         default(ExtrudeFeature);

    oExtrude = oCompDef.Features.ExtrudeFeatures.

                                Add(oExtrudeDef);

 

    // Get the start face of the extrude.

    Face oFace = default(Face);

    oFace = oExtrude.StartFaces[1];

 

    // Get two adjacent edges on the start face.

    Edge oEdge1 = default(Edge);

    Edge oEdge2 = default(Edge);

    oEdge1 = oFace.Edges[1];

    oEdge2 = oFace.Edges[2];

 

    // Create a bias point for hole placement to

    //place it at the expected location. This is

    //the model point corresponding to the center

    //of the square in the sketch.

    Inventor.Point oBiasPoint =

                        default(Inventor.Point);

    oBiasPoint = oSketch.SketchToModelSpace

            (oTransGeom.CreatePoint2d(1.5, 1.5));

 

    // Create the hole feature placement definition.

    LinearHolePlacementDefinition oLinearPlacementDef

            = default(LinearHolePlacementDefinition);

    oLinearPlacementDef = oCompDef.Features.

    HoleFeatures.CreateLinearPlacementDefinition

        (oFace, oEdge1, "2 cm",

                         oEdge2, "2 cm", oBiasPoint);

 

    // Create the hole feature.

    oCompDef.Features.HoleFeatures.

        AddDrilledByThroughAllExtent

        (oLinearPlacementDef, "1 cm",

            PartFeatureExtentDirectionEnum.

                     kPositiveExtentDirection);

}