ClientFeature content modification

By Wayne Brill

Issue

I created a ClientFeature which contains some objects. I would like to know:

How to empty the ClientFeature without deleting itself.
How to add objects to the ClientFeature again

Solution

You can use ClientFeatureElement.Delete to empty the elements in this ClientFeatureDefinition without deleting the ClientFeature. Then you can do other operations such as adding other features to the document. If you want to add or modify elements of the ClientFeature, use the ClientFeatureDefinition of the ClientFeature and add the new elements.

The following VB.NET example shows this approach. Suppose a ClientFeature has been created. Its definition contains the first extrude feature in the document. First this code removes the elements of the ClientFeature. Then adds the extrude feature again to the ClientFeature.

Note: After adding the objects, the BrowserNode position of the ClientFeature will change to that of its first element.

Sub EmptyElements(ByVal Index)             Dim doc As PartDocument        doc = _invApp.ActiveDocument             Dim feat As ClientFeature        feat = doc.ComponentDefinition _                .Features.ClientFeatures(Index)             Dim featDef As ClientFeatureDefinition        featDef = feat.Definition             Dim elem As ClientFeatureElement        For Each elem In featDef.ClientFeatureElements            elem.Delete()        Next         End Sub              Sub RedefineClientF(ByVal Index)             Dim doc As PartDocument        doc = _invApp.ActiveDocument             Dim feat As ClientFeature        feat = doc.ComponentDefinition _                  .Features.ClientFeatures(Index)             Dim featDef As ClientFeatureDefinition        featDef = feat.Definition             'add the first extrude feature        featDef.ClientFeatureElements.Add _        (doc.ComponentDefinition.Features _                            .ExtrudeFeatures(1))         End Sub         ' If you have not an ClientFeature    ' ready for test, please refer to below    ' code to create a ClientFeature:         Sub createClientFeature()        Dim oDoc As PartDocument = _                         _invApp.ActiveDocument        Dim oDef As PartComponentDefinition        oDef = oDoc.ComponentDefinition             Dim oClientDef As ClientFeatureDefinition        oClientDef = oDef.Features. _                ClientFeatures.CreateDefinition()             'add the first extrude feature        oClientDef.ClientFeatureElements.Add _              (oDef.Features.ExtrudeFeatures.Item(1))             Dim oClientFeature As ClientFeature        oClientFeature = oDef.Features.ClientFeatures _            .Add(oClientDef, "My node")        oClientFeature.Name = "Autodesk.com"    End Sub