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Greetings!
Creating a Custom Tool for your AutoCAD 2004 Tool Palettes
Thanks to Chip Harper who helped me sort out how to
do this...could not have written this tutorial without his
guidance.
If you have ADT, you have a custom stock tool tool in
your Catalog you can use to create custom commands
and link to lisp routines, but for those users with Vanilla
AutoCAD, it is a little more complex.
Most lispers are comfortable with defining custom
buttons for their toolbars to activate their custom
commands, but for those users who want to create
custom tools for their palettes, it is a little more
complex.
In Volume 1, Issue 14, I provided a link to Chip Harper's
custom palettes to give you a taste of what is needed
to create a custom tool. But now I have written a step
by step tutorial to help you get over the rough spots.
Between this tutorial and Chip's sample content, you
should be able to "rock and roll" with no problems.
Have Fun!!!
Download the tutorial
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Inventor VB Code |
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The code shown below exports an Inventor idw file to a
dwg file. You can use this code in conjunction with a
batch processor to translate several idw files to dwg
file.
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' Function to Export Inventor Drawing File (*.IDW) to
AutoCAd Drawing File
(*.DWG)
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' Arguements:
' (string) / File Name - Name Only w/o Extension
' (string) / File Path - PAth Only w/o Name or Extension
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' Return:
' (boolean) / True=Success, False=Failure
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Public Function Export2DWG(ByVal strFN As String,
ByVal strFP As String)
'Dimension Variables
Dim blnSaveAsCopyOptions As Boolean
Dim objAppAddIns As ApplicationAddIns
Dim objDataMedium As DataMedium
Dim objDWGTransl As TranslatorAddIn
Dim objTransObjs As TransientObjects
Dim objTranslCntxt As TranslationContext
Dim objNameValMap As NameValueMap
Dim intIndex As Integer
'Set Error Handling
On Error GoTo Error_Export_DWG
'Get Application AddIns Collection
Set objAppAddIns = objINVApp.ApplicationAddIns
'Snag DWG Translator From AddIns Collection
For intIndex = 1 To objAppAddIns.Count
If objAppAddIns(intIndex).ShortDisplayName
= "Autodesk DWG
Translator" Then
Set objDWGTransl = objAppAddIns.Item
(intIndex)
Exit For
End If
Next intIndex
'Set Translation Objects
Set objTransObjs = objINVApp.TransientObjects
Set objNameValMap =
objTransObjs.CreateNameValueMap
Set objTranslCntxt =
objTransObjs.CreateTranslationContext
Set objDataMedium =
objTransObjs.CreateDataMedium
'Set Translation Settings
objTranslCntxt.Type = kFileBrowseIOMechanism
'Must Call, Not Sure Why
blnSaveAsCopyOptions =
objDWGTransl.HasSaveCopyAsOptions(objDataMedium,
objTranslCntxt, objNameValMap)
'Set More Translation Settings
objDataMedium.FileName = strFP & strFN & ".dwg"
'Perform Conversion
objNameValMap.Value("Export_Acad_IniFile") =
App.Path & "\convert.ini"
objDWGTransl.SaveCopyAs objINVDoc,
objTranslCntxt, objNameValMap,
objDataMedium
Set objAppAddIns = Nothing
Set objDataMedium = Nothing
Set objDWGTransl = Nothing
Set objTransObjs = Nothing
Set objTranslCntxt = Nothing
Set objNameValMap = Nothing
'Return & Exit w/Success
Export2DWG = True
Exit Function
Error_Export_DWG:
'Return & Exit w/Failure
Export2DWG = False
End Function
---snip---
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Free AutoSave Utility for Inventor |
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Vectrasys has some wonderful free tools for Inventor
on their website - including a FREE Autosave utility.
Unlike AutoCAD, etc., Inventor does not have an
autosave feature...something that is really crucial for
those of us who experience brown-outs, black-outs,
and crashes.
To download FREE Inventor Tools »
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Fix now available for Plotting Problems |
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Autodesk recalled the AutoCAD 2004 and AutoCAD LT
2004 Service Pack
1 because of problems with the HP DesignJet and
LaserJet printer
drivers. A service pack with updated drivers (Service
Pack 1a)
should be available soon. If you've installed the service
pack and
are now having printing problems, do one of the
following:
-If your printer is PostScript-enabled, use the
PostScript driver to plot.
-Uninstall AutoCAD 2004 or LT 2004 and reinstall.
Download the updated HP HDI driver »
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Microsoft posts fix for SP 4 |
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Microsoft Hotfix Q824136 Hotfix, which fixes DRF and
VIZ file corruption problems caused by Microsoft
Windows Service Pack 4, is now
available for download.
This is only a temporary fix and has not been fully
tested by Microsoft. You may want to wait until it is
fully tested before you download and install this fix.
Download now... »
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Autodesk releases Autodesk Vault |
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Autodesk Vault is now available to Autodesk Inventor
Series and
Autodesk Inventor Professional subscription customers.
This is an
add-on feature for users of the Autodesk Inventor
Series and
Autodesk Inventor Professional software that brings
workgroup
management capabilities to these applications. This
new vault
technology offers data management features that
remove the manual
task of managing engineering documents. Built for the
small design
team of two to ten users, this management tool lets
you immediately
and securely track documents and changes, locate
documents quickly,
manage libraries, and support concurrent engineering.
This feature is free for those lucky folks on
subscription. Others need to contact their local
resellers to see about buying it. If you don't want to
pony up the bucks, there is little doubt this will be
included as a new feature in Inventor R8.
I encourage anyone who can to get on subscription.
There is nothing more frustrating than knowing the
latest new toy, er, feature is available and having to
wait for the next release. Additionally, being on
subscription helps you budget your software costs as
subscription automatically entitles you to download the
latest release.
Find out more about Autodesk's subscription program »
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Track your work time |
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TaskCapture automatically meters software document
working and idle time for each and all simultaneously
open documents. When a user closes any given
document s/he worked on, a pop-up (or no pop-up at
all) appears with the precise working time and rounded-
up time. Press enter and the information is sent to the
JobManager database. TaskCapture utilizes technology
proprietary to CaptureWorks.
TaskCapture has been designed with the individual user
in mind whereas JobCapture is geared more toward a
workgroup. TaskCapture is simple Install-and-Go
software and JobCapture requires a thought-out set-up
and deployment because it has many more capabilities
and considerations. That said, many individuals love to
use JobCapture because it has more power to organize
work by client and job numbers as well as more
advanced billing methods.
TaskCapture sells for only $49.95. If you want to track
more than one user, you can purchase JobCapture for
$100.
You can download a free trial and check it out before
you buy.
To download a free trial of TaskCapture »
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To copy a weldment assembly in Inventor |
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How do you create a new weldment from an old
weldment assembly in Inventor?
Navigate to your weldment using windows explorer,
(Inventor should not be
running), right click the weldment file and
select "Design Assistant", right
click the weldment row under action and select copy,
then rename the
appropriate fields and paths to your liking. Almost
everything in "DA" is
right click. It will take a little learning because "DA" isn't
real
intuitive but this should do what your wanting to do. Be
very careful, but
also realize that until you hit the save button in "DA"
nothing is going to
happen, so make sure that all your pathing and naming
is correct before you
save.
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QNEW - NEW 2004 SYSTEM COMMAND |
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The new QNEW command allows you to bypass the
dialog which prompts for drawings settings, etc. and
simply opens a new drawing file.
You can set which template to use with the new QNEW
command under Options->File tab.
You can set the default drawing template file to any
drawing template file or to None. When a default
drawing template file is set to None or is not specified,
QNEW displays the Select Template File dialog box.
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