how to call acad from std. exe?

Hi all,
I have a vba dvb I've been calling from acad with a lisp routine via
vla-runmacro or vl-vbarun
I want to change it to a stand alone .exe

in addition to changing all ThisDrawing references I need to somehow connect
to acad.
but since I'll be calling the exe from within acad (I presume by using
(Startapp) ???) I'm confused about how to connect to acad. I obviously
don't need the usual "on error resume next getobject if err then create
object" that I would use if I was starting the exe from outside of acad. so
what's the proper way to refer to the instance of acad that is calling the
app?
I know this is a stupid question but hey, that's my specialty!

Mark

 

You'll need to create an ActiveX executable with one publicly creatable
class. That class should have a property that will accept a reference to
an AcadApplication object.

Using VisualLISP, create an instance of the class and set its
application property passing the return value of (vlax-get-acad-object).

I know that sounds like a lot of effort but it's the only reliable way
to attach to the proper instance of AutoCAD. VB's GetObject is
insufficient for scenarios involving multiple running instances of
AutoCAD.

 

Hi Mark,
Perhaps it would be easier to answer your question if you stated what you
are trying to accomplish. But on the side, some things you stated are
inconsistent. You stated you wanted a stand alone program, but then you
sound as if you still want it to run in the same process as the current
session of acad. BTW, (startapp) is like using the Shell function, once you
start the app, acad has no control over it.

 

Thanks Frank,
I'll try that.
Mark

 

I just wanted the app to be an .exe so it was compiled so the code wasn't

You could also compile to dll. The main difference is that the exe will be
an out-of-process server and the dll will be running in acad's process which
is usually faster. You could use Frank's approach for both. As for calling
the dll, the lisp ng has had some discussions recently on how to do this.

 

Hi Ed,

I need a little clarification

is that *any* exe? ie both a standard Exe and an Activex exe would be out
of process?

that's what I would prefer

you mean I can create Either and activex.exe or an activex.dll and make the
classes etc that frank mentioned and it would work the same?
but the exe would be out of process where the dll would be in process???

yes, I was playing with that a bit last week with limited success. I'll
have to try again if I get this conversion working.

Thanks again for your info.
Mark

 

Any executable will be out-of-process. However, you can minimize the
performance hit by compiling all code that will be interacting with
AutoCAD into a DLL. Once you've conencted to AutoCAD, you can load the
DLL into AutoCAD's process space by using GetInterfaceObject. Then
manipulate the created object from within your executable.

That's correct.

 

Not at all... A client can be written in any language that supports
ActiveX, including VisualLISP.

But if you already know VB and are new to LISP, I'd suggest sticking to
what you know if you have any sort of deadline on this project.

 

so in this sentence:
"... you can't just code a DLL because you'll still need a client
application to make use of it."
the word "client" refers to something different than just calling a dll from
lisp?
as in this pseudocode idea of how to call a dll from lisp
(defun InvokeDll(dllName dllMethod / ac res res2)
(setq ac (vlax-get-acad-object))
(setq res(vla-GetInterfaceObject ac dllname))
(setq res2 (vlax-invoke-method res dllMethod))
(vlax-release-object res)
(vlax-release-object ac)
res2
)
that function (just pseudocode) probably wouldn't work, it's just my way of
trying to figure out how to call a dll from lisp pasted together from a few
recent posts. I haven't tried it yet.
like I say it's more like pseudocode...i'm not sure what I need to change
yet to make it work as a callable function.
but is that what you mean by "client" or is it something different?

 

i *do* realize that much, that's what I meant.

why would it be not desirable?

but I can't call the vba dvb without using a lisp function to call it,
that's what I meant in the sentence above.
is that not correct?
so ultimately the lisp is the calling client, is it not?
a lisp client calling a vba client, calling a dll server????
or just eliminate the middle man and have the lisp call the dll with invoke
method
or am i missing something yet again (yeah, I know, I'm missing a whole lot
of somethings)

hmm, I don't remember that!

Thanks again,
Mark

 

Hi Mark,
  
How did you get on with this? I was away last week and it's taken me until today (Thursday!!) to catch up on all my emails and the discussion group postings and still try and fit some real work in somewhere ;-) so I'm sorry I'm only getting to see your question now.
  
I can see Ed and Frank have provided you with a lot of info and maybe you've achieved what you were trying to accomplish by now. My interest is due to the fact that we were spurred by the same requirement, ie I wrote a dvb in VBA and then wanted to protect the source code. I dropped the code into a standalone VB exe but the performance was abysmal (as has been alluded) so instead we ported it to an ActiveX DLL. After some experimentation the result was fairly successful. It's initiated from a button in AutoCAD and doesn't require any lisp.
  
Let me know if you want more details posted.
  
Regards
  
Wayne Ivory
IT Analyst Programmer
Wespine Industries Pty Ltd