CS395 Internship

Company: Rohde & Associates

Intern: Chris Kulhanek

A Very Brief Background

• Rohde & Associates, Inc. Architects

• Commercial Grade Construction

• ASD, DOT, Private Contractors

• $1,000,000.00 A Year In Contracts

• Been In Business Since 1997

• I Am 1 of 5 Employees.

The Problem

• AutoCAD is primary tool for production• Always looking for ways to improve

production• Out of date scripts written with out of date

language.• Need to improve scripts and improve

scripting language• Most important, make finished product

easy to deliver and install.

Starting Point

• Existing scripts are written in AutoLISP, a dialect of the Lisp programming language.

• Existing scripts are manual install. Cumbersome for those not familiar with how to install them into AutoCAD.

• No user manual on scripts of things go wrong.

Goal

• Covert Scripts to modern HLL. VBA or if needed C++.

• Wrapper into an easy to distribute and use self install pack.

• No command entry, use toolbars and menus.

How was this accomplished?

• VBA was first chosen

• VBA has no easy way to wrapper and install

• Was decided to convert again to AutoCAD ObjectARX and C++ API

AutoCAD and ObjectARX

• You are basically creating a .dll

• Compile creates an AutoCAD .dll called .arx

• Every .arx is a specific new command for AutoCAD ie: stairs is stairs.arx

How do we package up?

• Could write our own package, but why?

• Installshield was used

• Easy to use once native scripting language was understood

Problems Encountered

• General hassle of C++

• Lack of knowledge on .dll operations

• Needed to learn the windows registry

• AutoCAD is not user friendly concerning beta testing

• The company upgraded to AutoCAD 2006 mid development

Concluding Outline

• Rank existing scripts by order of need

• Convert to VBA / C++ routines

• Include in shortcut menu and toolbar

• Package into .exe for distribution