VBA and ObjectDbx - AutoCAD to Excel Attribute Extraction Tool

[cseay]

Wow... the only thing I get when I search this forum for acadblockref is this thread... lol... gues it's time to google it.

[Ed Jobe]

Try using "BlockRef"

[cseay]

Ok... I think I'm getting a little closer... I hope... but it's not returning anything. When I step through the code, it never goes inside the loop that says:

If TypeOf objEnt is AutoCAD.AcadBlockReference Then.....

I also tried:

If TypeName(objEnt) = "IAcadBlockReference" Then...

And:

If TypeName(objEnt) = "AcDbBlockReference" Then...

            Dim strBlkName As String
            Dim strAttTag As String
            Dim objEnt As AutoCAD.AcadEntity
            Dim objBlkRef As AutoCAD.AcadBlockReference
            Dim varAtts As Object
            Dim objAtt As AutoCAD.AcadAttributeReference
            Dim objLayout As AutoCAD.AcadLayout
            Dim objBlock As AutoCAD.AcadBlock
            Dim I As Long
 
            strBlkName = "START"
            strAttTag = "FILENAME"
            For Each objLayout In V_AutoCad.ActiveDocument.Layouts
                If UCase(objLayout.Name) <> "MODEL" Then
                    objBlock = objLayout.Block
                    For Each objEnt In objBlock
                        If TypeOf objEnt Is AutoCAD.AcadBlockReference Then
                           
                            objBlkRef = objEnt
                            If objBlkRef.Name = strBlkName Then
                                varAtts = objBlkRef.GetAttributes
                                For I = 0 To UBound(varAtts)
                                    objAtt = (varAtts(I))
                                    If objAtt.TagString = strAttTag Then
                                        MsgBox(objAtt.TextString)
                                    End If
                                Next I
                            End If
                        End If
                    Next
                End If
            Next

[Ed Jobe]

The Block property returns a BlockRef, which is not a collection, but a Block definition. It has an Item method you use to access ents. Try this, put your cursor on the Block method of the layout object and hit F1. Then find the item method, and look at its code example.

[cseay]

I'm not doing VBA... I'm in Visual Studio... so the F1 trick doesn't work. I searched the help file, and I found the item method.. I think.. It's making a collection of the objects, and then getting out layer "0"

I'm not sure how to apply this to reading out block attributes though... I know... I'm hopeless... I really am trying to understand it though.

Am I even heading down the right path for what I'm trying to do?? I need to look through the drawing, find several blocks by name... and in those blocks I need to read stardard information (x insertion point, x scale, etc...) as well as custom information (Sheet Number, Customer, etc..). Is what I'm trying to do even the way to do that??

[Ed Jobe]

Yes, you're on the right path, although you could use the .Net lib as well. Anyway, you can find the help on the ActiveX object model in acad_dev.chm in the acad Help folder or in 2008+ there's a link in Help>Additional Resources. Here's the code sample.

Sub Example_Item()
    ' This example shows two uses of the Item method.
    ' The first uses Item with an index counter to return an item in a collection.
    ' The second uses Item with a string to return an item in a collection.
    
    ' Iterate thru the model space collection,
    ' get all the items in the collection
    ' and store them in an array called newObjs
    Dim count As Integer
    count = ThisDrawing.ModelSpace.count
    
    ReDim newObjs(count) As AcadEntity
    Dim index As Integer
    For index = 0 To count - 1
        Set newObjs(index) = ThisDrawing.ModelSpace.Item(index)
    Next
    
    ' Get a particular item, in this case a layer, based on name "0"
    Dim layerObj As AcadLayer
    Set layerObj = ThisDrawing.Layers.Item("0")
    
End Sub

[cseay]

Ok... I've finally made some progress... to a point... When I use the code below... it works just like I want it to.. but only if I actually open the drawing in AutoCAD... so apparently something is wrong with how I'm connecting to the objectdbx... or this method just does not work with it or something... so here's my code for the objectdbx as well as my code for getting the blocks.

 V_AutoCad = StartAutoCAD() 'Use the function located in PublicFunctions.vb to initialize AutoCAD

        Dim V_AutoCadInterfaceObject As AxDbDocument
        V_AutoCadInterfaceObject = V_AutoCad.GetInterfaceObject("ObjectDBX.AxDbDocument")

V_AutoCadInterfaceObject.Open(V_FilePathAutoCad)

' ********************************************************************
    Public Function StartAutoCAD() As Object

        On Error Resume Next

        V_AutoCad = GetObject(, "AutoCad.Application.15")
        If Err.Number <> 0 Then 'If they don't have AutoCAD open.. then open it
            Err.Clear()
            Shell("C:\Program Files\Acad2002\acad.exe", AppWinStyle.NormalFocus)
            System.Threading.Thread.Sleep(3000)
            ' Create a new session of AutoCAD using late binding
            V_AutoCad = GetObject(, "AutoCad.Application.15")
        End If
        Return V_AutoCad

    End Function

' ********************************************************************
Code for getting the block info:

            Dim strBlkName As String
            Dim strAttTag As String
            Dim objEnt As AutoCAD.AcadEntity
            Dim objBlkRef As AutoCAD.AcadBlockReference
            Dim varAtts As Object
            Dim objAtt As AutoCAD.AcadAttributeReference
            Dim I As Long

            strBlkName = "START"
            strAttTag = "FILENAME"
            For Each objEnt In V_AutoCad.ActiveDocument.ModelSpace

                If objEnt.ObjectName.ToString = "AcDbBlockReference" Then

                    objBlkRef = objEnt

                    If objBlkRef.Name = strBlkName Then
                        varAtts = objBlkRef.GetAttributes
                        For I = 0 To UBound(varAtts)
                            objAtt = (varAtts(I))
                            If objAtt.TagString = strAttTag Then
                                MsgBox(objAtt.TextString)
                            End If
                        Next I
                    End If
                End If

            Next
        Next

[Ed Jobe]

I'm a little short on time today. Search this forum for "ObjectDbx" or "oDbx.cls". Also, your StartAutocad sub has an error. The err section should be a call to CreateObject, not GetObject.

[cseay]

Ok... I'll see what I can find searching for those.

I changed that to CreateObject, I don't think that's causing my problem since I've been running this with AutoCAD aready open, so it's not going into that section of code... or shouldn't be anyway.

Thank-you again for helping me figure this out.

[cftorres]

I have created a visual basic program in microsoft Excel using ObjectDbx that will currently do the following:
- Generate a list of AutoCAD dwgs in the current directory (where excel file is saved) and display the list in Excel
- Search the drawings in the list for a specified block and display the attributes of the block in Excel
- You can then change the attributes shown in Excel and send them back to the listed AutoCAD dwgs
- Search the drawings in the list and display all external references in Excel

This program works fine with the following exceptions:
Issue #1: When attributes are updated with this program, they will appear left justified until the block is refreshed (known issue)
Issue #2: The program will only find a single instance of the specified block in each drawing. This issue occurs if you have multiple Paperspace tabs with the specified block inserted in each tab.

QUESTIONS:
Has anyone out there been able to resolve Issue #2 using ObjectDbx?
or
Will I need to go through the AutoCAD interface and generate selection sets somehow?

ATTACHMENT:
I attached my Excel file to this posting for reference. It is a very useful tool given the above issues. I am sure that it could have been a little cleaner but at least I have some commenting. Feel free to post questions or comments regarding the program and I will do my best to answer them.

Notes:
- In Excel VBA, need to reference: Microsoft Scripting Runtime, AutoCAD 2008 type Library, AutoCAD/ObjectDbx Common 17.0 Type Library
- Compatibility: AutoCAD 2008, Excel 2003+

Hi, I use this tool a lot and it's very effecient but recently I upgraded to AutoCAD2010 and its now not working. Do you have a version of this tool to work on AutoCAD 2010 or any idea on how to tweak it to work on the 2010? much appreciated.