Topic: Better database viewer?

[zoltan]

dbview.arx is, in my opinion, the best tool that has ever been witten for a Lisp programmer. Well maybe the second best, if you count the Visual Lisp IDE (remember writting lisp in notepad?). I love the bdview.  Not a Lisp coding day goes by that I don't go digging into dbview to see that my xdata is there or the structure of my dictionaries is correct.  I would not be able to live with out it.

DBView used to come with express tools a while ago and the it dissapeared beacuse autodesk claimed that it was a "potentialy dangorous" command.  It's still around; you can find it on the web. And it still works for 2006. But sometimes I wish it did more, or that somebody would make a better one.  I would love a BDView like application that could also create and delete entries in the database, run modeless, allowed you to see the contents of reactors, double click on a ename or handle to jump to that entry, and so on.

Is there out there a better AutoCAD database viewer/explorer/hacker?  maybe a commercial one? I'de pay good money for a seriously robust tool.

[LE]

I never used that.... do you have an image showing what exactly, that APP used to do?

[MP]

You mean like this?



Sorry to be a tease, it's no where near distribution ready even tho I've toyed with it for awhile. It's written in VB6 Pro and based on a dcl variant that does many of the things you want -- double click an ename, jump to the entity's definition, see reactor data, xdata, dictionaries, scroll thru various collections, home, forward, back step like internet explorerbehavior yada, but it 's strictly read-only.

A significant problem with these utilities is custom objects. While earlier versions I wrote (I've written about a dozen variants over the years) relied on a hard coded list of properties and methods, latter variants employ more of a discovery method that works great for vanilla AutoCAD, but for verticals and third party add ons it has proven to be less successful, something that would have to be solved and coded in c++/arx -- not an arena I claim to have any expertise in.

Maybe Luis or Mick or ... will have a look at the screen grab(s) and go heh, I could do that ...

For those that want dbview.arx here it is and here's a screen grab:

[LE]

As always.... very professional [look] and must be an excellent application Michael.... nice!!!!

[btw, I never going to copy/based or trying to do a reverse-engineering of one of your applications my friend, even if I can...]

[MP]

As always.... very professional [look] and must be an excellent application Michael.... nice!!!!

[btw, I never going to copy/based or trying to do a reverse-engineering of one of your applications my friend, even if I can...]

Very nice of you to say Luis, esp. considering your legacy of mighty fine professionally written applications. If you want to tackle such an application you've my full blessing (but I'm not pressuring you either).

- Michael.

[zoltan]

Wow, that is a really sweet app, Michael.  I'll beta test it for you if you'd like 

It loolks like it lists all of the properties of the objects that ActiveX exposes.  The bdview llist the dxf data for the objects, which will sometimes tell you a lot more.  Does you app let you see the "raw" data for everything in the database?  Other things I would like dbview to do is be able to select a graphical object and zoom to it, even if you have to change space, jump layouts or turn on layers.  Also, if you could select some data and bind it to a Lisp symbol.  This would be particularly nice for things you can't type, like enames. I also would like to be able to select an object and hyperlink to its definition in the DXF reference and the ActiveX reference.

Keep up the good work, make it awesome and let me know when it is done.

[LE]

Very nice of you to say Luis, esp. considering your legacy of mighty fine professionally written applications. If you want to tackle such an application you've my full blessing (but I'm not pressuring you either).

- Michael.

He he.... well my job title right now as per my signature... won't allow me to play with something like this for now, until I found a better position if I may.... I have other things to do on the mean time.... a lot of cleaning if you ask me.... 

[MP]

Wow, that is a really sweet app, Michael.  I'll beta test it for you if you'd like 

It loolks like it lists all of the properties of the objects that ActiveX exposes.  The bdview llist the dxf data for the objects, which will sometimes tell you a lot more.  Does you app let you see the "raw" data for everything in the database?  Other things I would like dbview to do is be able to select a graphical object and zoom to it, even if you have to change space, jump layouts or turn on layers.  Also, if you could select some data and bind it to a Lisp symbol.  This would be particularly nice for things you can't type, like enames. I also would like to be able to select an object and hyperlink to its definition in the DXF reference and the ActiveX reference.

Keep up the good work, make it awesome and let me know when it is done.

Thanks Zoltan. And I'll keep the offer for beta testing in mind (it's on hold right now, I've two contracts that are keeping me dancing) and I've given up the midnight oil programming.

The VB app shown in the previous screen capture (actually an activex dll invoked from lisp) will have the ability to show all the data, that is activex and dxf. Currently the dll variant only does activex properties. And yes, you can peruse anything in the database.

Here's a real lousy capture of the dcl variant. Sorry for the quality and annoying red highlights, but I don't have the time to create a proper screen capture right now. Anyway, I tried to scroll vertically so you could see the activex as well as dxf properties, scroll forward walking the dictionary collection incrementally, and then double click an entity name so you could see it allows stepping thru using arbitray links, finally pushing the data to notepad for hard copy.



I would encourage you (and everyone else) to write your own. I initially wrote my first version way back, I dunno, maybe 5 or 6 years ago so I could better understand the AutoCAD object model (AOB) from the Visual LISP perspective. Designing and writing that first utility really helped me understand the AOM and as a result, writing Visual LISP / BASIC AutoCAD apps, if I may say, became a relative cake walk.

Cheers.

[MP]

He he.... well my job title right now as per my signature... won't allow me to play with something like this for now, until I found a better position if I may.... I have other things to do on the mean time.... a lot of cleaning if you ask me.... 

Your sig? That's for real? What a waste of your many talents, not just the programming. I hope it just becomes a short break (not entirely a bad thing) and you secure a job / contracts that will let you use and exploit your talents in a way you enjoy, for people that appreciate and demonstratively value your skill and expertise.

 :kewl:

[LE]

Your sig? That's for real? What a waste of your many talents, not just the programming. I hope it just becomes a short break (not entirely a bad thing) and you secure a job / contracts that will let you use and exploit your talents in a way you enjoy, for people that appreciate and demonstratively value your skill and expertise.

  Thanks and no problem at all.... not a big deal.... I am just need to get use to..... 

About the write our own dbase viewer.... once I get more into custom object, I will see if I can come up with one using ObjectARX... it won't be soon, since I just started on learning Custom Objects and Classes in more depth or as much as I can.... [at least to keep my mind busy]

[Glenn R]

ArxDbg (in samples/database I think) is an example that ships with the ObjectARX SDK. Build it and run it. Similar to Dbview (which I also think is excellent), but different.

[LE]

ArxDbg

Sounds.... easy then.... thanks

[Kerry]

ArxDbg (in samples/database I think) is an example that ships with the ObjectARX SDK. ....................

... and the MgdDbg C# version by Jim Awe is worth a look too. The zipped source can be found on the AutoDesk discussion groups.

[GDF]

Michael

Wow, is all I can say. That looks much better than AutoCAD's version.

Gary

[LE]

Your sig? That's for real?

MP;

I was making fun of my self.... 

[LE]

For all the ones interested.... here is ARXDBG.arx it is part of a sample project solution that comes with the ARX SDK... it will run on AutoCAD 2004-2006 and vertical products.

It does not have any notice of not distribution, so hope it is OK....

Read the .DOC file

[MickD]

That does look excellent Michael, nice job!
The database structure is the area struggle most with although I'm getting there. I started with vba and only hacked some code to make my work easier with what little I knew about the db.
This is an area where coming from lisp would be a huge advantage but I have enough on my plate without going there . I'll have to have a closer look at these app's in future!

[zoltan]

Thanks Luis, I will look into this one.

[Joe Burke]

For all the ones interested.... here is ARXDBG.arx it is part of a sample project solution that comes with the ARX SDK... it will run on AutoCAD 2004-2006 and vertical products.

Thanks, Luis. Looks interesting.

[Daniel Eiszele]

Can anyone recommend an database explorer like those in this thread that would work with Bricscad? I was sure I'd seen something before but all the googling I've done returns zilch.