Author Topic: Lets write a complete real world add-in  (Read 16494 times)

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Jeff H

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Lets write a complete real world add-in
« on: July 09, 2012, 01:09:22 PM »
I think it would be a great learning experience to create a small useable add-in or little tool as if it were going to the app store.
From beginning to deployment.
 
To make sure it is done for learning experience and not me just trying to get others to create a tool, maybe people could post some suggestions or a vote, but I would stay out of the decision process.
 
 
I know people are busy and have obligations but hopefully we could some people to participate.
 
Hopefully some of you knowledgeable and experienced guys would be willing to throw in suggestions and tips and comments to help keep it steered in a decent direction and keep it from gettin to un-maintable.
 
We could break it up it smaller parts and assign certain parts to people willing to participate.
 
Hopefully some good learning experiences could come from it and show insight on looking at the project at different levels from the big picture down to a expression.
 
Possibly some other useful things could come from it as creating some functions that will test the code on a library of drawings that have many different scenarios locked layer, xrefs attached, different UCS's, different versions, etc...
Using the functionality from commandline vs form or ribbon.
Used in different flavours MEP, Civil, etc......
 
Anyone intrested?
 
 

dgorsman

  • Water Moccasin
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Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #1 on: July 09, 2012, 01:53:56 PM »
As always, I could use the experience in project management.
If you are going to fly by the seat of your pants, expect friction burns.

try {GreatPower;}
   catch (notResponsible)
      {NextTime(PlanAhead);}
   finally
      {MasterBasics;}

Dommy2Hotty

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Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #2 on: July 09, 2012, 03:40:49 PM »
What type are you thinking of?  A mobile version of The Swamp, perhaps?

mohnston

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Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #3 on: July 09, 2012, 05:42:17 PM »
How about an easy to use tool to save and/or close drawings.
I work with many drawings open at the same time. I use the tab add-in.
I know it has a save-all  close-all menu option but that isn't flexible enough.
I was thinking of a palette since this would be an application level (vs document level) program.
It's amazing what you can do when you don't know what you can't do.
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bargool

  • Guest
Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #4 on: July 10, 2012, 03:16:36 AM »
I'm not very experienced, but I'm with you! Maybe we can use github or other vcs-hoster to collaborate.

vegbruiser

  • Guest
Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #5 on: July 10, 2012, 06:31:00 AM »
I'm more than happy to help. (Even if it's just for testing/debugging) - I have recently figured out how the autoload system works as far as addins are concerned..

waterharbin

  • Guest
Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #6 on: July 10, 2012, 09:15:45 AM »
Hi,Jeff.
I am not as good as you people. But since you want to write something, I wonder why you just end up in an "Add-In", why can't you go much farther! You can write a free open-source CAD instead. AutoCAD are everywhere,just like Microsoft. We are sick that there are just too many AutoCADs. We need some open-source CAD, just like Linux. Maybe you can be the next Linus Torvalds,because CAD is widely used all over the world.
I always want a basic CAD frame available. Anyone can change it to fit his own demand. I'm not good enough to do this, but maybe you can!

Dommy2Hotty

  • Swamp Rat
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Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #7 on: July 10, 2012, 11:25:00 AM »
What type are you thinking of?  A mobile version of The Swamp, perhaps?
Are we talking APPS here (as suggested by "app store" in the first post) or something for CAD?

Jeff H

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Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #8 on: July 10, 2012, 12:26:37 PM »
What type are you thinking of?  A mobile version of The Swamp, perhaps?
Are we talking APPS here (as suggested by "app store" in the first post) or something for CAD?
Yes something that is general enough for a number of people to use, and nothing too big that would tough to handle, but thought it would be good for going through the whole process.

BlackBox

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Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #9 on: July 10, 2012, 12:27:01 PM »
Jeff,

It is very kind of you to volunteer to assist in developing an application, or plug-in by public suggestions. So, thanks for your generosity!

Perhaps it would be prudent to first identify a general direction for the scale, and scope, before we get lost in the weeds trying to be overly specific... To build a stand-alone application to function outside of AutoCAD, or to build a plug-in to function within AutoCAD?

IMO, there's more to be gained, and more users that will participate in the debugging, etc. if we go with the latter. A plug-in also allows for generalization in that we can develop a plug-in that is supported across multiple platforms (i.e., Vanilla AutoCAD, and verticals alike)... hopefully.

Generally speaking, there's a ton of things that can be done, or at least refined.
"How we think determines what we do, and what we do determines what we get."

Jeff H

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Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #10 on: July 10, 2012, 12:33:42 PM »
Jeff,

It is very kind of you to volunteer to assist in developing an application, or plug-in by public suggestions. So, thanks for your generosity!

Perhaps it would be prudent to first identify a general direction for the scale, and scope, before we get lost in the weeds trying to be overly specific... To build a stand-alone application to function outside of AutoCAD, or to build a plug-in to function within AutoCAD?

IMO, there's more to be gained, and more users that will participate in the debugging, etc. if we go with the latter. A plug-in also allows for generalization in that we can develop a plug-in that is supported across multiple platforms (i.e., Vanilla AutoCAD, and verticals alike)... hopefully.

Generally speaking, there's a ton of things that can be done, or at least refined.
Good point as I do not know the difference between a add-in or plug-in.
It is very important to establish up front what we can.
Will think of some guidelines but was trying to stay out of it because I did not want people think I was trying to use their time for my personal gain.
Thanks for everyone's input.
 

BlackBox

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Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #11 on: July 10, 2012, 12:47:10 PM »
Good point as I do not know the difference between a add-in or plug-in.
It is very important to establish up front what we can.
Will think of some guidelines....

AFAIK,  (add-in == plug-in) , no?

In any event... equally important IMO, is to identify the development language in which this initiative will be coded, and which versions of AutoCAD will be supported (i.e., .NET Framework presuming this will include/consist of .NET?).

** Edit - I'd suggest selecting a database format, such as 2010 and newer, so .NET 3.5?

These two items alone will have a defining role as to which API Features have been exposed, and what limitations may, or may not exist for our collective efforts. Just a thought.

... was trying to stay out of it because I did not want people think I was trying to use their time for my personal gain.

Yes, of course. I'll try to address the thread rather than you specifically moving forward.
"How we think determines what we do, and what we do determines what we get."

flowerrobot

  • Guest
Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #12 on: July 11, 2012, 12:55:19 AM »
I like the idea of a more diverse Tab Add-on.

Although I do VB not C# I would like to help.



vegbruiser

  • Guest
Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #13 on: July 11, 2012, 03:51:56 AM »
I like the idea of a more diverse Tab Add-on.

Although I do VB not C# I would like to help.
As long as the code works correctly, it shouldn't really matter which language we choose - it could be any of the .NET languages..

vegbruiser

  • Guest
Re: Lets write a complete real world add-in
« Reply #14 on: July 11, 2012, 04:10:46 AM »
As luck would have it, on Monday I completed a "Successful Technical Authoring" Course and one of the topics they covered was the use of Mindmapping as a tool for capturing project ideas as well as for the production of documentation.

I'll reply again once I've found a suitable web-based solution that allows collaboration.

What does everyone else think?