Given a Tekla Part (regardless of how it was obtained, we want to obtain the bolt information. We can do so as follows (see the hello world example):
Tag: c#
-
How to programmatically create bolt list reports from selected model objects (Tekla Open API)
You want to programmatically create reports. Here’s how Reports can be generated fairly easily, manually. But how do you do it programmatically using the Tekla Open API?
Please see below for a code sample:
Programmatically Extracting Report Values
- Now, if you want to generate the values programmatically, in memory, and then process them somehow into an excel output, consider the following code sample here.
- If you want to programmatically select model objects, refer to the code pasted above.
- The question: how to generate generate excel files given a particular hash table – this is not an issue pertaining to the Tekla Open API specifically though. I would use a library like CSV Helper to create a series of rows from the hash table.
-
On Line Equality (AutoCAD .net API)
Some lines may be more equal than other lines? The AutoCAD .net API’s EqualTo method may disagree with your interpretation of equality. Here are the results; -
Extracting Bolt Distances of Single Part Drawings (Beams) With an Output In Excel – Part 3 (Tekla Open API)
Some holes in a person-hole lid. In the last part we left off having obtained all the bolt distance and placing them in a domain object. In this instalment we will try to export all that data into an Excel Spreadsheet. Please note that the following code is untested – unfortunately there was a lightening storm in Melbourne which short circuited my flux capacitor which means I cannot connect to the TeklaServer – so rather than wait, I thought to get this code out to you.
Which library to write to Excel?
There are many libraries out there: XLS compatible and not:
- OpenXML libraries
- ClosedXML libraries
- NPOI
- EPPlus
The consensus is that the worst of the above is still better than using Microsoft’s office interop dll. If you use that approach, you will need to ensure that MS Office is installed in your deployment machine, and secondly, be sure to dispose of all relevant objects. If you forget, then you’ll be leaking memory. This is a very important point.
How to use ClosedXML in your code:
- Firstly download closedXML using NuGet Package Manager. That should add the relevant references.
- Secondly add the `using ClosedXML.Excel` directives.
- Then add the code snippets I’ve provided for you below:
Notes on the code:
* A significant change has been made – we are now filtering the SinglePartDrawings based on: (i) whether they are beams or not and (ii) whether they have the relevant profile – a reader wrote an email asking for this version of the code. I have left the previous version out there as well.
* I’m not an expert with ClosedXML – I just wanted to get the code out there. So it’s a very hackish and non-elegant solution, but I hope it serves to illustrate the point.
-
A Poor Man’s Line Jig (well, there’s actually no jigging here) – (AutoCAD .net API)
What are these guys doing, you ask? I suspect that they are jigging a line. They are probably doing it this way because they didn’t read the ObjectARX documentation. Well actually, you don’t need to. Just use the poor man’s jig. I wanted to implement a jig for drawing a Line – but strictly speaking I didn’t want the line itself – I wanted its two points, yet I wanted all the features that come with jigging: snaps, polar tracking, and a nice line leading from the base point to the cursor, which shows you where you were, and where you are going. I was originally going to jig it all myself – and all of this to obtain two coordinates in a manner that would allow the user to see what was actually going on. Jiggig takes a lot of effort. It was only then that I realised I could get the same result, but with a massive short cut:
Here is a poor man’s Line Jig – at the end of it, you’ll have the two points you are after, but without the effort. If required, you can encapsulate all the logic in it’s own class, so that the client doesn’t have to bother too much with the implementation details.
[CommandMethod(“GetPoints”)]
public static void GetPoints()
{
Document doc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
Database db = doc.Database;
Editor ed = doc.Editor;
PromptPointResult pprOrigin = ed.GetPoint(“Click for point.”);
if (pprOrigin.Status == PromptStatus.OK)
{
PromptPointOptions promptPointOptions = new PromptPointOptions(“Please get secondPoint”);
promptPointOptions.UseBasePoint = true;
promptPointOptions.BasePoint = pprOrigin.Value; ;
PromptPointResult ppr = ed.GetPoint(promptPointOptions);
if (ppr.Status == PromptStatus.OK)
{
ed.WriteMessage(“Congrats!”);
}
}
}
-
Finding the Point on a Curve Which is the Closest Point to Another Curve? (AutoCAD .net API)
Documentation of the GetClosestPointTo method of the curve object – the overloads are extremely limited. So we have to be somewhat creative in obtaining a solution. The Genesis of this problem
This is a tricky little problem and I could not find a solution on the forums. So I resolved, upon discovering the solution, to oblige posterity and the public, to publish my findings.
Specific Notes about this problem
Now the following code has been generalised to the specific case of Lines and a non-descript curve (which of course is an abstract base class), but the general principles can be applied to any type of curve.
Notes on implementation
Unfortunately, the curve object exposes a method: GetClosestPointTo, which is only overloaded to accept points and not other curves. In order to deal with this rigmarole we’ll have to first, convert the curve to a `Curve3d` object which is a member of the Autodesk.AutoCAD.Geometry namespace as distinct from the Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices namespace.
-
Extracting Bolt Distances of Single Part Drawings (Beams) With an Output In Excel – Part 2 (Tekla Open API)
This is a picture of a rusty beam. I added the picture here because it looks cool and for no other reason. In the last part, we left off having collected the relevant Single Part Drawings that we were after. Hopefully we have applied the correct property to filter out the ‘HEA’, ‘IPE’ and ‘CC’ drawings. We will now focus on part II – extracting the distance of the bolts from the beam’s start position.
- Get every SinglePartDrawing which name starts with “HEA/IPE/CC”
- Calculate the distance of every bolt distance from the start of the corresponding Single Part. ** This blog post will address Part II.
- Write the name of the Single Part and every bolt distance to Excel.
- Refactor the code.
I did refactor the code a little bit, so it might not look exactly the same as the last version. The code is pretty self explanatory. But you will note that:
- I am projecting the bolt positions along the beam’s vector (defined from the start to end point of the beam).
- Therefore we do not need to save and set the transformation plane.
- A corollary (and potentially unintended consequence) is that this will capture the bolt positions of all bolts, no matter if they are on the flange of the beam, or on the web etc. This may have some unintended consequences. Again, caveat emptor – programmer beware!
Here is the code in all it’s glory – simply follow the well detailed comments and it should be fairly straightforward. As always, any questions, feel free to ask.
We now have extracted the relevant information. Part III will delve into extracting this data in an Excel format. We will most likely use an OpenXML on other such library for that purpose. That post will come shortly, when I get a spare moment. Till that time, enjoy the following – or perhaps it can be left as an exercise for the user?!
-
Comparing Panels Demo – This Time from the Shop Drawing to the Elevation!
Showing a sample elevation panel with deliberately misplaced panel elements. This is big. Huuuuge! I’ve talked before about our ability to easily cross check between the Layout and Shop drawings. Now you can cross check from the other direction – when you are in the shop drawing, you can now check the corresponding panel which exists in the layout.
You can clearly see any differences.
So now if someone moves a ferrule or a cast in plate etc. you will be able to easily see those changes.
It could save you from some expensive errors.
Here is the demo. I hope you enjoy it!Compare and Import Difference From the Layout Into Shop Drawings from Tek1 on Vimeo.
Features:
- It can work for all clients with only very minor modifications. Very well abstracted out in the code.
- It is super fast. Comparing the thousands of elements in each drawing takes a bit of computing power – but with smart algorithms, you can cut down the time.
- It works for all sorts of edge cases – what if the panel was made up of arcs, polylines and straight lines – this plugin can handle all sorts of things. It can also handle voids.