API Selections

Hi all,

This is a message to the API guru's out there. I'm working on the
next version of XMLPropWorks as discussed at http://www.dubea.org/xmlpropworks

Anyway, the feature I'm currently working on is the ability to assign
custom properties to a part within an assembly. What I'm looking for
help with is identifying the part that the user has selected. I've
gone through the documentation and there are plenty of functions to
select a part by knowing it's name.

What I want to know is how do I determine the name of the component
that has had a feature selected by the user?

Another option would be to force the user to edit the part within the
confines of the assembly to be able to set the custom properties. In
this case, how do I identify the edited part?

Thanks

chris

NOTE: Please accept my apologies if you see multiple copies of this.
I'm behind a firewall at work and am not certain that Agent is posting
messages so I've posted this one from Google Groups.

 

Never mind.

This is what I'm looking for (from the API help)


'Get Selected Objects and Types Example (VB)
'This example shows how to determine what is currently selected.

'-----------------------------------------------
' Problem:
' There are many features and selectable
' entities within the SolidWorks software. In most cases,
' it is obvious as to what is selected but
' sometimes it is not clear or it is ambiguous.
'
' This code sample is a diagnostic tool
' to determine what is currently selected. It shows
' several techniques and methods to get a reference
' to what is selected.
'
' Preconditions:
' (1) Document is open.
' (2) Something is selected.
'
' Postconditions:
' None
'
' NOTE: Not all features have an associated *FeatureData object.
'
'-----------------------------------------------

Option Explicit

Public Enum swSelectType_e
swSelNOTHING = 0
swSelEDGES = 1 ' "EDGE"
swSelFACES = 2 ' "FACE"
swSelVERTICES = 3 ' "VERTEX"
swSelDATUMPLANES = 4 ' "PLANE"
swSelDATUMAXES = 5 ' "AXIS"
swSelDATUMPOINTS = 6 ' "DATUMPOINT"
swSelOLEITEMS = 7 ' "OLEITEM"
swSelATTRIBUTES = 8 ' "ATTRIBUTE"
swSelSKETCHES = 9 ' "SKETCH"
swSelSKETCHSEGS = 10 ' "SKETCHSEGMENT"
swSelSKETCHPOINTS = 11 ' "SKETCHPOINT"
swSelDRAWINGVIEWS = 12 ' "DRAWINGVIEW"
swSelGTOLS = 13 ' "GTOL"
swSelDIMENSIONS = 14 ' "DIMENSION"
swSelNOTES = 15 ' "NOTE"
swSelSECTIONLINES = 16 ' "SECTIONLINE"
swSelDETAILCIRCLES = 17 ' "DETAILCIRCLE"
swSelSECTIONTEXT = 18 ' "SECTIONTEXT"
swSelSHEETS = 19 ' "SHEET"
swSelCOMPONENTS = 20 ' "COMPONENT"
swSelMATES = 21 ' "MATE"
swSelBODYFEATURES = 22 ' "BODYFEATURE"
swSelREFCURVES = 23 ' "REFCURVE"
swSelEXTSKETCHSEGS = 24 ' "EXTSKETCHSEGMENT"
swSelEXTSKETCHPOINTS = 25 ' "EXTSKETCHPOINT"
swSelHELIX = 26 ' "HELIX" (is this wrong?)
swSelREFERENCECURVES = 26 ' "REFERENCECURVES"
swSelREFSURFACES = 27 ' "REFSURFACE"
swSelCENTERMARKS = 28 ' "CENTERMARKS"
swSelINCONTEXTFEAT = 29 ' "INCONTEXTFEAT"
swSelMATEGROUP = 30 ' "MATEGROUP"
swSelBREAKLINES = 31 ' "BREAKLINE"
swSelINCONTEXTFEATS = 32 ' "INCONTEXTFEATS"
swSelMATEGROUPS = 33 ' "MATEGROUPS"
swSelSKETCHTEXT = 34 ' "SKETCHTEXT"
swSelSFSYMBOLS = 35 ' "SFSYMBOL"
swSelDATUMTAGS = 36 ' "DATUMTAG"
swSelCOMPPATTERN = 37 ' "COMPPATTERN"
swSelWELDS = 38 ' "WELD"
swSelCTHREADS = 39 ' "CTHREAD"
swSelDTMTARGS = 40 ' "DTMTARG"
swSelPOINTREFS = 41 ' "POINTREF"
swSelDCABINETS = 42 ' "DCABINET"
swSelEXPLVIEWS = 43 ' "EXPLODEDVIEWS"
swSelEXPLSTEPS = 44 ' "EXPLODESTEPS"
swSelEXPLLINES = 45 ' "EXPLODELINES"
swSelSILHOUETTES = 46 ' "SILHOUETTE"
swSelCONFIGURATIONS = 47 ' "CONFIGURATIONS"
swSelOBJHANDLES = 48
swSelARROWS = 49 ' "VIEWARROW"
swSelZONES = 50 ' "ZONES"
swSelREFEDGES = 51 ' "REFERENCE-EDGE"
swSelREFFACES = 52
swSelREFSILHOUETTE = 53
swSelBOMS = 54 ' "BOM"
swSelEQNFOLDER = 55 ' "EQNFOLDER"
swSelSKETCHHATCH = 56 ' "SKETCHHATCH"
swSelIMPORTFOLDER = 57 ' "IMPORTFOLDER"
swSelVIEWERHYPERLINK = 58 ' "HYPERLINK"
swSelMIDPOINTS = 59
swSelCUSTOMSYMBOLS = 60 ' "CUSTOMSYMBOL"
swSelCOORDSYS = 61 ' "COORDSYS"
swSelDATUMLINES = 62 ' "REFLINE"
swSelROUTECURVES = 63
swSelBOMTEMPS = 64 ' "BOMTEMP"
swSelROUTEPOINTS = 65 ' "ROUTEPOINT"
swSelCONNECTIONPOINTS = 66 ' "CONNECTIONPOINT"
swSelROUTESWEEPS = 67
swSelPOSGROUP = 68 ' "POSGROUP"
swSelBROWSERITEM = 69 ' "BROWSERITEM"
swSelFABRICATEDROUTE = 70 ' "ROUTEFABRICATED"
swSelSKETCHPOINTFEAT = 71 ' "SKETCHPOINTFEAT"
swSelEMPTYSPACE = 72 ' (is this wrong?)
swSelCOMPSDONTOVERRIDE = 72
swSelLIGHTS = 73 ' "LIGHTS"
swSelWIREBODIES = 74
swSelSURFACEBODIES = 75 ' "SURFACEBODY"
swSelSOLIDBODIES = 76 ' "SOLIDBODY"
swSelFRAMEPOINT = 77 ' "FRAMEPOINT"
swSelSURFBODIESFIRST = 78
swSelMANIPULATORS = 79 ' "MANIPULATOR"
swSelPICTUREBODIES = 80 ' "PICTURE BODY"
swSelSOLIDBODIESFIRST = 81
swSelDOWELSYMS = 86 ' "DOWELSYM"
swSelEXTSKETCHTEXT = 88 ' "EXTSKETCHTEXT"
swSelBLOCKINST = 93 ' "BLOCKINST"
swSelCENTERMARKSYMS = 100 ' "CENTERMARKSYMS"
swSelCENTERLINES = 103 ' "CENTERLINE"
' swSelEVERYTHING = 4294967293
' swSelLOCATIONS = 4294967294
' swSelUNSUPPORTED = 4294967295
End Enum

Sub main()
Dim swApp As SldWorks.SldWorks
Dim swModel As SldWorks.ModelDoc2
Dim swSelMgr As SldWorks.SelectionMgr
Dim swSelObj As Object
Dim swFeat As SldWorks.Feature
Dim swEnt As SldWorks.Entity
Dim swBody As SldWorks.Body2
Dim swSelComp As SldWorks.Component2
Dim swSelModel As SldWorks.ModelDoc2
Dim nSelType As Long
Dim sFeatName As String
Dim bRet As Boolean

' Disables VB's implicit error on QI
On Error Resume Next

Set swApp = CreateObject("SldWorks.Application")
Set swModel = swApp.ActiveDoc
Set swSelMgr = swModel.SelectionManager

' Could either have a feature or entity selected
'
' Do not try to get entity directly
' from feature because feature may be NULL. Instead,
' use SelectionMgr.
Set swFeat = swSelMgr.GetSelectedObject5(1)
Set swEnt = swSelMgr.GetSelectedObject5(1)
Set swBody = swSelMgr.GetSelectedObject5(1)
Set swSelObj = swSelMgr.GetSelectedObject5(1)

Set swSelComp = swSelMgr.GetSelectedObjectsComponent2(1)

Debug.Print "SelType = " & swSelMgr.GetSelectedObjectType2(1)

If Not swFeat Is Nothing Then
Debug.Print "Feature = " + swFeat.Name + " [" +
swFeat.GetTypeName + "]"
End If

If Not swBody Is Nothing Then
Debug.Print " Body selected"
End If

If swFeat Is Nothing And _
swEnt Is Nothing And _
swBody Is Nothing And _
Not swSelObj Is Nothing Then
Debug.Print " Unknown object"
End If

' Could not get component from SelectionMgr
' so try and get component through Entity
If swSelComp Is Nothing Then
Set swSelComp = swEnt.GetComponent
End If

If Not swSelComp Is Nothing Then
Set swSelModel = swSelComp.GetModelDoc

Debug.Print "CompName = " + swSelComp.Name2
Debug.Print "ModelPath = " + swSelModel.GetPathName
End If
End Sub
'------------------------------------------

Thanks

Chris

 

Selection sorting can be quite tedious, especially in assemblies.
Often, a programmer wants to allow multiple ways of selection (by
tree, entity, component). One ends up using a lot of calls to "get
body from face", or "get sketch from selected line" or "get part from
component ...from feature or face!".

<http://www.esoxrepublic.com/freeware/index.html>
Look at the "Density Manager" macro. It's getting a bit long in
tooth, but I recall doing a lot of selection sorting in the program.

 

Why is the
ON ERROR RESUME NEXT in there?

TOP

 

So that errors don't stop the program.

Look up error handling on the web somewhere (or maybe even in VB
help). You can write code that tells VB how to handle errors (i.e.
"On Error Goto MyErrorHandler")

 

I know what it does and have used it in various forms. I was wondering
why it was in this code? What errors are expected to crop up.

TOP

 

this line is likely to throw an error if a document isn't opened

Set swSelMgr = swModel.SelectionManager

and if that fails you will have many following errors.