The previous example created geometry on a temporary layer that exists only as long as the source xref is attached: detaching the xref generally caused dangling layer references. This post evolves the approach and provides a choice to the user (via the XOFFSETLAYER command): to either create the geometry on the current layer (the default behaviour) or to clone across the layers, plus their various linetypes etc., needed for the geometry to survive independently of their originating xref.
I decided to put the code to copy across the layers in a separate command called XOFFSETCPLAYS, which has the advantage of being callable separately from our OFFSET routine (and is generally a bit safer – performing significant operations on AutoCAD databases from event handlers can lead to problems, depending on what exactly you’re doing). The command gets called using SendStringToExecute() so that it gets executed up after control has returned to the AutoCAD application.
The copying of symbol table records from xrefs is a little involved, but I’ve don what I can to comment the approach below. Using Database.wblockCloneObjects() is the cleanest approach, but there is work involved to load the xrefed DWGs into their own Database objects before using this.
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.EditorInput;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;
using System.Collections.Generic;
namespace XrefOffset
{
public class XrefOffsetApplication : IExtensionApplication
{
// Maintain a list of temporary objects that require removal
ObjectIdCollection _ids;
static bool _placeOnCurrentLayer = true;
public XrefOffsetApplication()
{
_ids = new ObjectIdCollection();
}
[CommandMethod("XOFFSETLAYER")]
static public void XrefOffsetLayer()
{
Document doc =
Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
Database db = doc.Database;
Editor ed = doc.Editor;
PromptKeywordOptions pko =
new PromptKeywordOptions(
"\nEnter layer option for offset objects"
);
const string option1 = "Current";
const string option2 = "Source";
pko.AllowNone = true;
pko.Keywords.Add(option1);
pko.Keywords.Add(option2);
pko.Keywords.Default =
(_placeOnCurrentLayer ? option1 : option2);
PromptResult pkr =
ed.GetKeywords(pko);
if (pkr.Status == PromptStatus.OK)
_placeOnCurrentLayer =
(pkr.StringResult == option1);
}
[CommandMethod("XOFFSETCPLAYS")]
static public void XrefOffsetCopyLayers()
{
Document doc =
Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
Database db = doc.Database;
Editor ed = doc.Editor;
Transaction tr =
doc.TransactionManager.StartTransaction();
using (tr)
{
BlockTableRecord btr =
(BlockTableRecord)tr.GetObject(
db.CurrentSpaceId,
OpenMode.ForRead
);
// We will collect the layers used by the various entities
List<string> layerNames =
new List<string>();
// And store a list of the entities to come back and update
ObjectIdCollection entsToUpdate =
new ObjectIdCollection();
// Loop through the contents of the active space, and look
// for entities that are on dependent layers (i.e. ones
// that come from attached xrefs)
foreach (ObjectId entId in btr)
{
Entity ent =
(Entity)tr.GetObject(entId, OpenMode.ForRead);
// Check the dependent status of the entity's layer
LayerTableRecord ltr =
(LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(
ent.LayerId,
OpenMode.ForRead
);
if (ltr.IsDependent && !(ent is BlockReference))
{
// Add it to our list and flag the entity for updating
string layName = ltr.Name;
if (!layerNames.Contains(layName))
{
layerNames.Add(layName);
}
entsToUpdate.Add(ent.ObjectId);
}
}
// Sorting the list will allow us to minimise the number
// of external drawings we need to load (many layers
// will be from the same xref)
layerNames.Sort();
// Get the xref graph, which allows us to get at the
// names of the xrefed drawings more easily
XrefGraph xg = db.GetHostDwgXrefGraph(false);
// We're going to store a list of our xrefed databases
// for later disposal
List<Database> xrefs =
new List<Database>();
// Collect a list of the layers we want to clone across
ObjectIdCollection laysToClone =
new ObjectIdCollection();
// Loop through the list of layers, only loading xrefs
// in when they haven't been already
string currentXrefName = "";
foreach(string layName in layerNames)
{
Database xdb = null;
// Make sure we have our mangled layer name
if (layName.Contains("|"))
{
// Split it up, so we know the xref name
// and the root layer name
int sepIdx = layName.IndexOf("|");
string xrefName =
layName.Substring(0, sepIdx);
string rootName =
layName.Substring(sepIdx + 1);
// If the xref is the same as the last loaded,
// this saves us some effort
if (xrefName == currentXrefName)
{
xdb = xrefs[xrefs.Count-1];
}
else
{
// Otherwise we get the node for our xref,
// so we can get its filename
XrefGraphNode xgn =
xg.GetXrefNode(xrefName);
if (xgn != null)
{
// Create an xrefed database, loading our
// drawing into it
xdb = new Database(false, true);
xdb.ReadDwgFile(
xgn.Database.Filename,
System.IO.FileShare.Read,
true,
null
);
// Add it to the list for later disposal
// (we do this after the clone operation)
xrefs.Add(xdb);
}
xgn.Dispose();
}
if (xdb != null)
{
// Start a transaction in our loaded database
// to get at the layer name
Transaction tr2 =
xdb.TransactionManager.StartTransaction();
using (tr2)
{
// Open the layer table
LayerTable lt2 =
(LayerTable)tr2.GetObject(
xdb.LayerTableId,
OpenMode.ForRead
);
// Add our layer (which we get via its
// unmangled name) to the list to clone
if (lt2.Has(rootName))
{
laysToClone.Add(lt2[rootName]);
}
// Committing is cheaper
tr2.Commit();
}
}
}
}
// If we have layers to clone, do so
if (laysToClone.Count > 0)
{
// We use wblockCloneObjects to clone between DWGs
IdMapping idMap = new IdMapping();
db.WblockCloneObjects(
laysToClone,
db.LayerTableId,
idMap,
DuplicateRecordCloning.Ignore,
false
);
// Dispose each of our xrefed databases
foreach (Database xdb in xrefs)
{
xdb.Dispose();
}
// Open the resultant layer table, so we can check
// for the existance of our new layers
LayerTable lt =
(LayerTable)tr.GetObject(
db.LayerTableId,
OpenMode.ForRead
);
// Loop through the entities to update
foreach (ObjectId id in entsToUpdate)
{
// Open them each for write, and then check their
// current layer
Entity ent =
(Entity)tr.GetObject(id, OpenMode.ForWrite);
LayerTableRecord ltr =
(LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(
ent.LayerId,
OpenMode.ForRead
);
// We split the name once again (could use a function
// for this, but hey)
string layName = ltr.Name;
int sepIdx = layName.IndexOf("|");
string xrefName =
layName.Substring(0, sepIdx);
string rootName =
layName.Substring(sepIdx + 1);
// If we now have the layer in our database, use it
if (lt.Has(rootName))
ent.LayerId = lt[rootName];
}
}
tr.Commit();
}
}
public void Initialize()
{
DocumentCollection dm =
Application.DocumentManager;
// Remove any temporary objects at the end of the command
dm.DocumentLockModeWillChange +=
delegate(
object sender, DocumentLockModeWillChangeEventArgs e
)
{
if (_ids.Count > 0)
{
Transaction tr =
e.Document.TransactionManager.StartTransaction();
using (tr)
{
foreach (ObjectId id in _ids)
{
DBObject obj =
tr.GetObject(id, OpenMode.ForWrite, true);
obj.Erase();
}
tr.Commit();
}
_ids.Clear();
// Launch a command to bring across our layers
if (!_placeOnCurrentLayer)
{
e.Document.SendStringToExecute(
"_.XOFFSETCPLAYS ", false, false, false
);
}
}
};
// When a document is created, make sure we handle the
// important events it fires
dm.DocumentCreated +=
delegate(
object sender, DocumentCollectionEventArgs e
)
{
e.Document.CommandWillStart +=
new CommandEventHandler(OnCommandWillStart);
e.Document.CommandEnded +=
new CommandEventHandler(OnCommandFinished);
e.Document.CommandCancelled +=
new CommandEventHandler(OnCommandFinished);
e.Document.CommandFailed +=
new CommandEventHandler(OnCommandFinished);
};
// Do the same for any documents existing on application
// initialization
foreach (Document doc in dm)
{
doc.CommandWillStart +=
new CommandEventHandler(OnCommandWillStart);
doc.CommandEnded +=
new CommandEventHandler(OnCommandFinished);
doc.CommandCancelled +=
new CommandEventHandler(OnCommandFinished);
doc.CommandFailed +=
new CommandEventHandler(OnCommandFinished);
}
}
// When the OFFSET command starts, let's add our selection
// manipulating event-handler
void OnCommandWillStart(object sender, CommandEventArgs e)
{
if (e.GlobalCommandName == "OFFSET")
{
Document doc = (Document)sender;
doc.Editor.PromptForEntityEnding +=
new PromptForEntityEndingEventHandler(
OnPromptForEntityEnding
);
}
}
// And when the command ends, remove it
void OnCommandFinished(object sender, CommandEventArgs e)
{
if (e.GlobalCommandName == "OFFSET")
{
Document doc = (Document)sender;
doc.Editor.PromptForEntityEnding -=
new PromptForEntityEndingEventHandler(
OnPromptForEntityEnding
);
}
}
// Here's where the heavy lifting happens...
void OnPromptForEntityEnding(
object sender, PromptForEntityEndingEventArgs e
)
{
if (e.Result.Status == PromptStatus.OK)
{
Editor ed = sender as Editor;
ObjectId objId = e.Result.ObjectId;
Database db = objId.Database;
Transaction tr =
db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction();
using (tr)
{
// First get the currently selected object
// and check whether it's a block reference
BlockReference br =
tr.GetObject(objId, OpenMode.ForRead)
as BlockReference;
if (br != null)
{
// If so, we check whether the block table record
// to which it refers is actually from an XRef
ObjectId btrId = br.BlockTableRecord;
BlockTableRecord btr =
tr.GetObject(btrId, OpenMode.ForRead)
as BlockTableRecord;
if (btr != null)
{
if (btr.IsFromExternalReference)
{
// If so, then we programmatically select the object
// underneath the pick-point already used
PromptNestedEntityOptions pneo =
new PromptNestedEntityOptions("");
pneo.NonInteractivePickPoint =
e.Result.PickedPoint;
pneo.UseNonInteractivePickPoint = true;
PromptNestedEntityResult pner =
ed.GetNestedEntity(pneo);
if (pner.Status == PromptStatus.OK)
{
try
{
ObjectId selId = pner.ObjectId;
// Let's look at this programmatically-selected
// object, to see what it is
DBObject obj =
tr.GetObject(selId, OpenMode.ForRead);
// If it's a polyline vertex, we need to go one
// level up to the polyline itself
if (obj is PolylineVertex3d || obj is Vertex2d)
selId = obj.OwnerId;
// We don't want to do anything at all for
// textual stuff, let's also make sure we
// are dealing with an entity (should always
// be the case)
if (obj is MText || obj is DBText ||
!(obj is Entity))
return;
// Now let's get the name of the layer, to use
// later
Entity ent = (Entity)obj;
LayerTableRecord ltr =
(LayerTableRecord)tr.GetObject(
ent.LayerId,
OpenMode.ForRead
);
string layName = ltr.Name;
// Clone the selected object
object o = ent.Clone();
Entity clone = o as Entity;
// We need to manipulate the clone to make sure
// it works
if (clone != null)
{
// Setting the properties from the block
// reference helps certain entities get the
// right references (and allows them to be
// offset properly)
clone.SetPropertiesFrom(br);
// But we then need to get the layer
// information from the database to set the
// right layer (at least) on the new entity
if (_placeOnCurrentLayer)
{
clone.LayerId = db.Clayer;
}
else
{
LayerTable lt =
(LayerTable)tr.GetObject(
db.LayerTableId,
OpenMode.ForRead
);
if (lt.Has(layName))
clone.LayerId = lt[layName];
}
// Now we need to transform the entity for
// each of its Xref block reference containers
// If we don't do this then entities in nested
// Xrefs may end up in the wrong place
ObjectId[] conts =
pner.GetContainers();
foreach (ObjectId contId in conts)
{
BlockReference cont =
tr.GetObject(contId, OpenMode.ForRead)
as BlockReference;
if (cont != null)
clone.TransformBy(cont.BlockTransform);
}
// Let's add the cloned entity to the current
// space
BlockTableRecord space =
tr.GetObject(
db.CurrentSpaceId,
OpenMode.ForWrite
) as BlockTableRecord;
if (space == null)
{
clone.Dispose();
return;
}
ObjectId cloneId = space.AppendEntity(clone);
tr.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(clone, true);
// Now let's flush the graphics, to help our
// clone get displayed
tr.TransactionManager.QueueForGraphicsFlush();
// And we add our cloned entity to the list
// for deletion
_ids.Add(cloneId);
// Created a non-graphical selection of our
// newly created object and replace it with
// the selection of the container Xref
SelectedObject so =
new SelectedObject(
cloneId,
SelectionMethod.NonGraphical,
-1
);
e.ReplaceSelectedObject(so);
}
}
catch
{
// A number of innocuous things could go wrong
// so let's not worry about the details
// In the worst case we are simply not trying
// to replace the entity, so OFFSET will just
// reject the selected Xref
}
}
}
}
}
tr.Commit();
}
}
}
public void Terminate()
{
}
}
}
Depending on the mode selected, the results should be comparable with those from the code in the last post.
Here are the results of using OFFSET on some of the xref’s contents after loading our module (to get these results you would also need to use XOFFSETLAYER to make sure the original layers get copied across):
I’ve modified the implementation of the XOFFSETLAYER command to be consistent with the prompts in the OFFSET command (under the Layer option – not sure how I missed that one :-). The ideal would have been to access that setting directly, but that doesn’t seem to be possible, as far as I can tell.
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