Topic: Will I regret it?

[mr_nick]

I was once an avid user of ODCL (when Chad was still working on it) but then when it came off the rails I ported all my stuff over to VBA and haven't really looked back. Until today that is. As you may be aware, VBA and 64bit AutoCAD really don't play well together and this has put me in a bit of a tricky situation as we are starting a gradual migration away from our 32bit systems. This put me in a bit of a dilemma as it would mean me having to port all my code into dotnet - a language I've never used before and on first glimpse it won't be an overnight transition. In a bid to carry out a bit of a 'quick-fix' I have renewed my interest in ODCL having seen that it is now 64bit compatible and seemingly gathering momentum now it's gone open-source.

My only concern with going back to ODCL is the old 'once bitten' worry - I reckon I'll still get myself up to speed with dotnet as a safety net but do current users think that there is enough security in the development of ODCL (especially considering the iminent release of 2010 and the new drawing format - the change which originally brought ODCL to a halt) to buy me enough time so that I don't need to panic?

[Crank]

ODCL will be supported for Acad2010. Because every 3 releases of Autocad they change the .arx format, you can expect that this will also be working for Acad2011 and Acad2012.

[mr_nick]

I know that if ODCL works on 2010 it will theoretically continue to work for the next couple of releases but it's a question of 'when will it work on 2010'? To quote from the ODCL website:

'As you know OpenDCL is free open source software, so we have no funding to join ADN.  Therefore we wont be able to compile OpenDCL for Acad2010 until the SDK is made public.'

So how long would it be anticipated that we'd have to wait until a tried, tested and stable release was available for 2010?

[Spike Wilbury]

No idea of the amount of code you are talking for the porting... But if you know and have all of your code in VBA, won't be much easier to port/translate/jump/? into C# or VB.NET ?

My 2 pesos...

[mr_nick]

That was what I originally thought but as I said earlier, on first glimpse at VB.net, there is quite a large gap between the two systems and I'm not sure how long it will take me to get up to speed with the new language. At least with ODCL I have the benefit of past experience and some old dialogs and routines from which to redevelop things. As I say, I currently view ODCL as being a bit of a band-aid to hold things together while I brush up on my knowledge but I wonder if it will be worth it if there is no arx available to coincide with the release of 2010 (or very soon after).

[Tuoni]

I realise this is quite an old thread now, but there is not that huge a leap between VB(A) and .NET.  In fact, SharpDevelop translates VB6 into .NET IIRC.  I was also daunted at first, but if there's anywhere you can learn .NET and ask questions, this is the place to do it.

My two penneth is .NET is the way to go.  But feel free to ignore me   Most do.

[Kerry]

I< .. > but do current users think that there is enough security in the development of ODCL

Yes.


Your proposed option of using .NET will take a LOT longer than you will need to wait for the OpenDCL 2010 .ARX build

added:
' Nick
As you know I am a long term user of (Chad's) odcl and the subsequent release of OPENDcl.
I also play with C# for net development.
There is a productive place for BOTH technologies in the toolbox of all customisers and (in most cases) developers.

[BazzaCAD]

I think you'll be pleasantly surprised on March 24th.
http://www.opendcl.com/forum/index.php?topic=613.0