Category: Tekla API

A series of blog posts exploring the Tekla API.  Code examples, explanations and (where relevant) videos will be provided.

  • Pick First Selection in the Model (Tekla Open API)

    The AutoCAD .net/ObjectARX APIs have a handy feature all the pick first selection. This means that prior to running a command, the user is able to select some objects in the model. The command is then able to use these objects. The question is, how to obtain a selection of objects using the Tekla API – prior to running your plug-in?

    It’s really simple (if you already know how):

    And that’s all it is! Hope this helps.

  • How to Set Up a Tekla API Project (Tekla API Application)

    Work faster with the Tekla API

    The object of a Tekla Application is to ensure that things go smoothly on the construction site. You can see the organised chaos that is here. Avoid the real chaos. Plan ahead. 

    For the newbie this post shows how to set up a Tekla Project.

    Let us assume that you are creating a WPF desktop Application. You could also just as easily create a console application – I often do this if I simply want a quick and dirty way to test code.

    1. Go to Visual Studio.
    2. Create a new WPF project.

    Follow this gif:

    Setting up a Tekla Project
    How to Set up a Tekla WPF Application
    1. Next you need to add references to Tekla DLLs. They are contained at this location on my PC. C:\Program Files\Tekla Structures\19.1\nt\bin\plugins\ .They may be in a different version on yours. You can also download these dlls using Nuget in your Visual Studio.
    2. If you are using 19.1i version – then you can download Trimble’s nuget package named thus: 2019.1.50434

    Follow this Gif:

    Adding Tekla References

    Shows how to add references to a Tekla API WPF Project.

    1. The fourth and final step is to add directives and to then get coding.

    Some common directives and aliases that I use:

    I hope this post helps you!

  • Showing an Assembly in the Model via a Tekla Drawing (Part II) Tekla Open API + Code snippets

    We are revisiting a post I made earlier.

    Here’s the problem. You are viewing a Tekla drawing. But you have no idea what you are looking at, or where it is. This macro will take you to that very assembly in the model. It’s actually quite handy. And here is the previous post where I made allusion to the facility (you’ll find a video demonstrating its use):

    http://www.tek1.com.au/tekla-plug-in-2-viewing-an-assembly-in-the-model-from-an-assembly-drawing/

    This post marks the release of the code which does the job! Enjoy!

  • AutoCAD-Tekla Interoperability (AutoCAD .net)

    Tekla – AutoCAD Interoperability Tool

    Tekla licenses are pricey. About $30k + maintenance per license. What if I told you that you needed 30-50% less licenses than you currently hold. That’s a huge cost saving, isn’t it?

    If you only need 5 licenses (as opposed to 10), then you’ve saved $150k instantly, plus maintenance.

    AutoCAD licenses are significantly cheaper.

    But if only the work you did in AutoCAD could be transferred into Tekla? That would save you some licenses. That’s just what I’ve done here in my latest project. Now a significant portion of any modelling job can be done in AutoCAD and simply imported into Tekla.

    You can check it out here:

    Tekla – Autocad Interop. from Tek1 on Vimeo.

    Human Resources Problem

    Interoperability will also help improve the quality of your work: it’s tough finding people who are highly skilled in Tekla. What if I told you that you could use an AutoCAD draftsperson instead of someone well versed in Tekla, to do the same job? Now you have a potentially infinite pool of candidates to draw from.

    Tools

    Click here to download

    Interested In more?

    I’d love to be able to help. Just call or email us.

    How to Download Tekla Catalogues (or Catalogs):

    You need to download the catalogue because the interop DLL connects to the catalog. Without it, we cannot verify that your profiles actually exist in Tekla.

    Here is the cataloge download link: 

    https://github.com/benkoshy/Acad-Tekla-Interop

    Trouble Shooting

    • Ensure you are using the “Steel Detailing” license.
    • Ensure you have AutoCAD 2023, or 2024. Do not use 2025 because this tends not to connect with Tekla.

  • How to insert Reference Models into Tekla

    Wouldn’t it be handy if we could pro grammatically insert reference models into Tekla? Well you can now do so quite easily. And if you want to see a video demonstration, here it is:

    Here is the code which does the hard work. (You will of course add the appropriate references and directives):

  • Adding a Dimension to a Beam – Drawing – (Tekla Open API Tutorial)

    This is an example of a hello world program which dimensions a beam. I found this code in the Tekla Drawing Samples folder.

    You can see it in action here:

    How to dimension a beam using the Tekla Open API (c#)
    How to dimension a beam using the Tekla Open API (c#)

     

    Let’s walk through it:

    1. We have to get the relevant drawing.
    2. Then we have to get the relevant part we want to dimension.
    3. Then we get the view associated with the part.
    4. We save our current transformation plane, and we set a new transformation plane to the particular view’s display coordinate system.
    5. From here, get the part’s identifier and we select the ModelObject in the model itself – to get the relevant coordinates of the Beam we want to dimension.
    6. Once we’ve used the identifier to get the Beam we are after, and to get it’s relevant parts then we create the dimension.
    7. Remember to save back the original transformation plane.
    8. Note: if you insert the dimension then I obtained an exception. I don’t think you need to insert dimensions when working on drawings.
    9. Note 2: if you forget to save the transformation plane back to the original, then you will find that you dimensions will go wacky, next time you run the command. Always remember to leave things as you found them!
    10. Note 3: You have to have the beam in the same plane as your view otherwise it won’t draw the dimension.

     

    Here is the code for your benefit:

     

     

  • Converting Engineering Components to Detailing Components

    What do we want to do?

    1. We have received a Tekla model from someone.
    2. The model we have received was built using an Engineering Modelling license.
    3. We have a full detailing license.
    4. There are components in this model, but we can’t number them because they were produced using an engineering license. If you want to number them, well they ought to have been created with a detailing license. So what do we do now?
    5. The only way to number these components is to first convert these components to a “detailing component”. The detailing component is a “type” of component.
    6. The problem is that there is no method exposed by the Tekla “Open” API which allows us to programmatically call this functionality. Also to make things more confusing: the nomenclature used in the user interface is different to the nomenclature used by the creators of the Open API.
    7. So what then is the solution?

    The Solution

    Here is a video explaining both the problem and demonstrating a solution:

     

    And here is the code which actually does the work:

     

    I hope you learned something!

  • Tekla–AutoCAD: Interoperability Tool

    Tekla – AutoCAD Interoperability Tool

    Tekla licenses are pricey. About $30k + maintenance per license. That’s expensive. And if you had 10 licenses, or perhaps even 50 licenses, what if I told you that you needed: 30-50% less licenses than you currently hold? That’s a huge cost saving. If you only need 5 licenses, then you’ve saved $150k instantly, plus maintenance. You can now do that.

    AutoCAD licenses are significantly cheaper than Tekla.

    But if only the work you did in AutoCAD could be transferred into Tekla? That would save you some licenses.

    That’s just what I’ve done here in my latest project. You can check it out here:

    Tekla – Autocad Interop. from Tek1 on Vimeo.

    Thanks for visiting this page.

  • Converting Engineering Components to Detailing Components (Tekla API)

    Has anyone every given you a  model created form an engineering license and asked you to produce shop drawings from it? Well that’s incredibly difficult to make possibly. Because you can’t easily number parts.

    So I created a macro which makes life much easier (and faster) too.

    Here is a demo of how it works:

    Tekla Macro – How to Convert Engineering Components To Detailing Components from Tek1 on Vimeo.

    I will post the code in another post.