Revolutionizing Project Integration with ObjectDBX™

2. Thinking outside the Boxwith ObjectDBX™ Speaker: Richard Binning • Introduction • Thinking About Interfaces • Tools to be Used for interconnection • VBA/ActiveX • ObjectDBX • XML • Code Explorations • Wrap-up and Questions CP13-3

3. I am: • The CAD Coordinator for The Haskell Company • Responsible for: • Best Practices • Training • Customization • Integration • Implementation • Liaison to: • Senior Management • Information Systems Department • AutoCAD Users

4. Thinking Outside the Box? • What is the Box? • A Boundary? • A Limitation? • Interface: A boundary across which two systems communicate. An interface might be a hardware connector used to link to other devices, or it might be a convention used to allow communication between two software systems. Often there is some intermediate component between the two systems which connects their interfaces together. http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/interface

5. Who Cares about the Box? • Design Professionals • Project Team Leaders • Extended Project Team Members • Real Estate Professionals • Fabrication Shops • Detailers • Estimators • Sub Contractors • Installers • ???

6. Why do they Care? • 16% Loss in Pure Profit due to: • Incomplete Data Exchange • Delays in Data Exchange • Data Duplication Efforts • 40% of Total Project Costs Attributed to: • Repair • Maintenance • Warranty Costs

7. This leads us to the following questions: • What Benefits can we achieve through better integration? • What problems and hurdles will we encounter? • Why should we choose to tackle this problem now? • How Can We Integrate our Project through Improved Data Sharing and Communication?

8. Benefits to be achieved? • Retain a Greater Percent of Profits • Eliminate/Reduce Redundancy and Duplication • Shorten Life Cycles

9. Problems to be Over-Come? • Greater Number of Software Applications • Coordination of Symbology and Abstraction • Data Re-purposed to friendly format

10. When Can we Accomplish this? • Now • Mature Software • Improved APIs • Standardized Methods • Standardized Access Environments

11. Project Integration Tools? • Visual Basic for Applications • ActiveX or COM • ObjectDBX Type Libraries • XML

12. Project Integration Tools-VBA • VBA has some obvious advantages: • Run time Speed • Ease of Use • Built-In to favored products • Rapid Prototyping

13. Project Integration Tools-ActiveX/COM • The Enabling Technology: • “Object” based interface • Both a Client and Controller Think of ActiveX as our invisible translator allowing all the other programming tools we will use to communicate with each other.

14. Project Integration Tools-ObjectDBX • The Pipeline: • Direct Access to AutoCAD Database • Speed • Familiarity Stay Tuned for more…

15. Project Integration Tools-XML • The Liberator: • Text Based • Human Readable • Structured • Two Flavors of Access • DOM – Powerful • SAX – Speedy & Safe Stay Tuned for more…

16. ObjectDBX –What's New with 2004? • New Properties and Constants to Support: • Digital Signatures • True Colors • New Gradient Patterns • Hatch Object Types S • Shaded Plotting. • One New Viewport Scale (1-1/2" = 1'-0")

17. ObjectDBX –What's New with 2004? • New Classes Provide Support for: • Changes to the Color System • File Dependencies and a built in Dependency Collection • Security Parameters • Summary Info (Formerly an extended drawing Properties dictionary)

18. ObjectDBX - 2004 • Where Can I Use ObjectDBX? • Any PC that has an AutoCAD Application Installed • Must AutoCAD be Running? • Yes, but it can run in the background or invisibly • Do I have to Register it? • Not Anymore…still required for R15 • How Can I Use ObjectDBX? • Remember the Rules • Use what you already know

19. ObjectDBX 2004 – The Rules • Think Objects • Declare them explicitly • Release them when you are done with them • Use Targeted Declarations • Always declare and bind them to the AXDBLib class • AXDBLib.(whatever you are accessing) • Good Habit for other Interfaces Too! • Forget About: • "ThisDrawing“ • Selection Sets • Utility Functions • The CommandLine/SendCommand

20. ObjectDBX 2004 – What Can be Accessed? • All Database Resident Objects contained in the Drawing File • All AutoCAD Entities – Anything derived from AcadObject • Dictionaries • Built in Collections – Blocks and Attributes • AEC Objects, Styles, Schedule Data, etc. • ??? – Lets Find Out

21. Working with DWG files ObjectDBX style • Launch AutoCAD • Command Line Approach • “VBANEW” • “VBAIDE” • Not “Alt-F11” • Menu Driven Approach • Load CAD Manager • Select Commands

22. ObjectDBX style - cont. • Add Necessary Reference • New Class Module: “ObjectDBXDocument.cls” • Ensure Explicit Declarations • Select “Class” from Objects Selector • Create Skeleton – Initialize and Terminate • Create Binding Private Variable • Cleanup Function • A Method to pass Document Out • Various Collections

23. ObjectDBX styleCls Code - 1. Demos…

24. Thinking Outside the Box with XML • What is XML? • Text Based, Human Readable, Easy to Use • Where is XML being used? • Project Related Files with ADT & ABS • LandXML with LDDT • Palettes and Catalogs • ???

25. Thinking Outside the Box with XML • XML Concepts and Rules: • Elements, Attributes • Elements Are: • Containers • Organized by Boundaries • Must Have an Opening or Start Tag • Must Have a Closing Tag delimited by slash • There can be only ONE ROOT

26. Thinking Outside the Box with XML • Elements Are: • Case Sensitive • Cannot contain spaces • Cannot start with the letters "xml" or "XML" or any combination of the two • Must begin with an underbar "_" or a letter - no numbers! • Numbers are okay in any position except the first character... Periods and hyphens are okay too! • See Example

27. Thinking Outside the Box with XML • Elements Example:

28. Thinking Outside the Box with XML • Elements Relate to Each Other: • Siblings • Children • Parents

29. Thinking Outside the Box with XML • XML Concepts and Rules: • Elements, Attributes • Attributes Are: • Name-Value Pairs contained within Element Start Tags

30. Thinking Outside the Box with XML • Attribute Names Are: • Case Sensitive • Cannot start with the letters "xml" or "XML" or any combination of the two • Must begin with an underbar "_" or a letter - no numbers! • Numbers are okay in any position except the first character... Periods and hyphens are okay too! • Attribute Values Are: • Surrounded by Single or double quotes

31. Thinking Outside the Box with XML • XML Summary:

32. XML Access Tools • DOM – Document Object Model • Read/Write • Tree Look at XML • SAX – Simple Api for XML • Fairly Safe – Read Only • Event Driven

33. XML Access Tools • Which one to use??? • Use the SAX Parser to: • Open Very Large Documents. • Quickly Access Elements contained in your file • If you only want to read the data. • Use the DOM Parser to: • Open Normal Sized Documents. • Modify Data Contained in Your File. • If you need to create new XML files. • When you need random access to the data.

34. Working with XML files DOM style • Install MSMXL Parser • Launch AutoCAD • Command Line Approach • “VBANEW” • “VBAIDE” • Not “Alt-F11” • Menu Driven Approach • Load CAD Manager • Select Commands

35. XML files DOM style - cont. • Add Necessary Reference • New Class Module: “XMLDomDocument.cls” • Ensure Explicit Declarations • Select “Class” from Objects Selector • Create Skeleton – Initialize and Terminate • Create Binding Private Variable • Cleanup Function • A Method to pass Document Out • Various Collections

36. DOM style –Cont. • Class Code:

37. DOM style –Cont. • Module Code:

38. DOM style –Cont. • Module Code: • Run Code…

39. Working with XML files SAX style • Install MSMXL Parser • Launch Microsoft Excel • Launch the VBA Editor • Add the Reference to MSXML4.0 • New Class Module: “XML_SaxDocument.cls” • Ensure Explicit Declarations • Add the code shown on the following slides to implement the interface described by SAX

40. SAX style –Cont. • Class Code:

41. SAX style –Cont. • Class Code:

42. SAX style –Cont. • Class Code:

43. SAX style –Demo. • Run Code:

44. IN Summary • Talked about Project Members • Thinking About Interfaces not Boundaries • Tools to be Used for interconnection • VBA/ActiveX • ObjectDBX • XML • Code Explorations • Inside and Outside AutoCAD’s Box

45. Updates Will be Posted to AU Website

46. MicroWeb For CP13-3 • Questions??? • http://www.integr-8.com/AU2003