Save extra data in Inventor file – 2

By Xiaodong Liang

The second mechanism is attributes. Attributes allow you to attach
information to a specific object. Attributes can be associated with the Document object so you can use this to store general information associated with the document.

Attributes has been widely introduced in various articles. I’d recommend:

• API help reference >> [Attributes]

• Introduction to Attributes on Brian’s blog

http://modthemachine.typepad.com/my_weblog/2009/07/introduction-to-attributes.html

In short:

Creating AttributeSet and Attributes

• From AttributeSets Collection add a new AttributeSet :

Public Function Add(
             ByVal AttributeSetName As String,    
             Optional ByVal CopyWithOwner As Boolean = False )
              As AttributeSet

• From AttributeSet Collection add a new Attribute:

Public Function Add(
              ByVal AttributeName As String,
              ByVal ValueType As ValueTypeEnum,
              ByVal Value As Variant ) As Attribute

ValueTypeEnum: 
    kIntegerType
    kDoubleType
    kStringType
    kByteArrayType
    kBooleanType

Querying Attributes
AttributeManager supports different methods to query for attributes.
Can query based on attribute set name, attribute name, and/or attribute value.

   FindAttributes
   FindAttributeSets
   FindObjects

e.g.
Public Function FindObjects(
    Optional ByVal AttributeSetName As String = "",    
    Optional ByVal AttributeName As String = "",    
     Optional ByVal AttributeValue As Variant ) As ObjectCollection

Similar to the first post, In this post, we write a small demo to add a custom attribute set with some attributes. It also shows how to read the information.

VBA

Sub AddCustomAttribute()

    ‘ open a document invisible
    Dim oDoc As Document
     Set oDoc = ThisApplication.Documents.Open("c:testpart.ipt", False)

    ‘ name of new attribute set
    Dim oNameOfNewPS As String
    oNameOfNewPS = "myNewSet"
    ‘ new attribute set
    Dim oNewPS As AttributeSet
    If oDoc.AttributeManager.FindAttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS).Count > 0 Then
       ‘ if the set exists aleady
       Set oNewPS = oDoc.AttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS)
       ‘ you can clean up the existing attributes
    Else
        ‘ add a new one
         Set oNewPS = oDoc.AttributeSets.Add(oNameOfNewPS)
     End If

    ‘the values of the attributes
    Dim oIntProV As Integer
    oIntProV = 100
    Dim oByteProV() As Byte
    oByteProV = StrConv("ABCDEFG", vbFromUnicode)
     Dim oDoubleProV As Double
    oDoubleProV = 3.1415926
    Dim oDateProV As String
    oDateProV = "2013-3-1 15:25"

    ‘ add these attributes with the meaningful name
    ‘ assume they do not exist in the attribute set
    Call oNewPS.Add("ModelCount", kIntegerType, oIntProV)
    Call oNewPS.Add("ModelByte", kByteArrayType, oByteProV)
    Call oNewPS.Add("ModelBasicLength", kDoubleType, oDoubleProV)
    Call oNewPS.Add("ModelUpdateDate", kStringType, oDateProV)
    oDoc.Save
    oDoc.Close
End Sub

Sub ReadCustomAttribute()

      ‘ open a document invisible
    Dim oDoc As Document
    Set oDoc = ThisApplication.Documents.Open("c:testpart.ipt", False)
    ‘ name of new attribute set
    Dim oNameOfNewPS As String
    oNameOfNewPS = "myNewSet"
    ‘ new attribute set
    Dim oNewPS As AttributeSet
    If oDoc.AttributeManager.FindAttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS).Count > 0 Then
       ‘ if the set exists aleady
       Set oNewPS = oDoc.AttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS)
      ‘ you can clean up the existing attributes
    Else
        MsgBox "no attribute set named myNewSet"
        Exit Sub
    End If
    Dim oShowStr As String
    oShowStr = ""

    ‘iterate the attributes
    Dim oEachAtt As Attribute
    For Each oEachAtt In oNewPS
       oShowStr = oShowStr & " [Attribute Name]  " & oEachAtt.Name
       If oEachAtt.Name = "ModelByte" Then
        oShowStr = oShowStr & " [Attribute Value]  " & StrConv(oEachAtt.Value, vbUnicode) & vb
Cr
       Else
        oShowStr = oShowStr & " [Attribute Value]  " & oEachAtt.Value & vbCr
       End If
    Next
    MsgBox oShowStr
    oDoc.Close
End Sub

<p><strong>VB.NET</strong></p>  <pre class="line-numbers"><code class="language-vbnet">Sub AddCustomAttribute()                 Dim m_inventorApp As Inventor.Application = Nothing            m_inventorApp = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.GetActiveObject(&quot;Inventor.Application&quot;)                      &apos; open a document invisible            Dim oDoc As Document            oDoc = m_inventorApp.Documents.Open(&quot;c:testpart.ipt&quot;, False)                      &apos; name of new attribute set            Dim oNameOfNewPS As String            oNameOfNewPS = &quot;myNewSet&quot;                 &apos; new attribute set            Dim oNewPS As AttributeSet            If oDoc.AttributeManager.FindAttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS).Count &gt; 0 Then                &apos; if the set exists aleady                oNewPS = oDoc.AttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS)                &apos; you can clean up the existing attributes            Else                &apos; add a new one                oNewPS = oDoc.AttributeSets.Add(oNameOfNewPS)            End If                      &apos;the values of the attributes            Dim oIntProV As Integer            oIntProV = 100            Dim oByteProV() As Byte            oByteProV = System.Text.Encoding.Default.GetBytes(&quot;ABCDEFG&quot;)            Dim oDoubleProV As Double            oDoubleProV = 3.1415926            Dim oDateProV A

s String oDateProV = "2013-3-1 15:25" ' add these attributes with the meaningful name ' assume they do not exist in the attribute set Call oNewPS.Add("ModelCount", ValueTypeEnum.kIntegerType, oIntProV) Call oNewPS.Add("ModelByte", ValueTypeEnum.kByteArrayType, oByteProV) Call oNewPS.Add("ModelBasicLength", ValueTypeEnum.kDoubleType, oDoubleProV) Call oNewPS.Add("ModelUpdateDate", ValueTypeEnum.kStringType, oDateProV) oDoc.Save() oDoc.Close() End Sub Sub ReadCustomAttribute() Dim m_inventorApp As Inventor.Application = Nothing m_inventorApp = System.Runtime.InteropServices.Marshal.GetActiveObject("Inventor.Application") ' open a document invisible Dim oDoc As Document oDoc = m_inventorApp.Documents.Open("c:testpart.ipt", False) ' name of new attribute set Dim oNameOfNewPS As String oNameOfNewPS = "myNewSet" ' new attribute set Dim oNewPS As AttributeSet If oDoc.AttributeManager.FindAttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS).Count > 0 Then ' if the set exists aleady oNewPS = oDoc.AttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS) ' you can clean up the existing attributes Else MsgBox("no attribute set named myNewSet") Exit Sub End If Dim oShowStr As String oShowStr = "" 'iterate the attributes Dim oEachAtt As Attribute For Each oEachAtt In oNewPS oShowStr = oShowStr & " [Attribute Name] " & oEachAtt.Name If oEachAtt.Name = "ModelByte" Then oShowStr = oShowStr & " [Attribute Value] " & System.Text.Encoding.Default.GetString(oEachAtt.Value) & vbCr Else oShowStr = oShowStr & " [Attribute Value] " & oEachAtt.Value & vbCr End If Next MessageBox.Show(oShowStr) oDoc.Close() End Sub Apprentice

Sub AddCustomAttribute_Apprentice()                 Dim m_ApprenticeApp As Inventor.ApprenticeServerComponent =                 New Inventor.ApprenticeServerComponent()                 ' open a document invisble            ' open a document            Dim oDoc As ApprenticeServerDocument            oDoc = m_ApprenticeApp.Open("c:testpart.ipt")                      ' name of new attribute set            Dim oNameOfNewPS As String            oNameOfNewPS = "myNewSet"                 ' new attribute set            Dim oNewPS As AttributeSet            If oDoc.AttributeManager.FindAttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS).Count > 0 Then                ' if the set exists aleady                oNewPS = oDoc.AttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS)                ' you can clean up the existing attributes            Else                ' add a new one                oNewPS = oDoc.AttributeSets.Add(oNameOfNewPS)            End If                      'the values of the attributes            Dim oIntProV As Integer            oIntProV = 100            Dim oByteProV() As Byte            oByteProV = System.Text.Encoding.Default.GetBytes("ABCDEFG")            Dim oDoubleProV As Double            oDoubleProV = 3.1415926            Dim oDateProV As String            oDateProV = "2013-3-1 15:25"                 ' add these attributes with the meaningful name            ' assume they do not exist in the attribute set            Call oNewPS.Add("ModelCount", ValueTypeEnum.kIntegerType, oIntProV)            Call oNewPS.Add("ModelByte", ValueTypeEnum.kByteArrayType, oByteProV)            Call oNewPS.Add("ModelBasicLength", ValueTypeEnum.kDoubleType, oDoubleProV)            Call oNewPS.Add("ModelUpdateDate", ValueTypeEnum.kStringType, oDateProV)                 m_ApprenticeApp.FileSaveAs.AddFileToSave(oDoc, oDoc.FullDocumentName)            m_ApprenticeApp.FileSaveAs.ExecuteSave()        End Sub             Sub ReadCustomAttribute_Apprentice()                 Dim m_ApprenticeApp As Inventor.ApprenticeServerComponent =                  New Inventor.ApprenticeServerComponent()                 ' open a document invisble            ' open a document            Dim oDoc As ApprenticeServerDocument            oDoc = m_ApprenticeApp.Open("c:testpart.ipt")                  ' name of new attribute set            Dim oNameOfNewPS As String            oNameOfNewPS = "myNewSet"                 ' new attribute set            Dim oNewPS As AttributeSet            If oDoc.AttributeManager.FindAttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS).Count > 0 Then                ' if the set exists aleady                oNewPS = oDoc.AttributeSets(oNameOfNewPS)                ' you can clean up the existing attributes            Else                MsgBox("no attribute set named myNewSet")                Exit Sub            End If                 Dim oShowStr As String            oShowStr = ""                 'iterate the attributes            Dim oEachAtt As Attribute            For Each oEachAtt In oNewPS                oShowStr = oShowStr & " [Attribute Name]  " & oEachAtt.Name                If oEachAtt.Name = "ModelByte" Then                    oShowStr = oShowStr & " [Attribute Value]  " & System.Text.Encoding.Default.GetString(oEachAtt.Value) & vbCr                Else                 &#16
0;  oShowStr = oShowStr & " [Attribute Value]  " & oEachAtt.Value & vbCr                End If                 Next            MessageBox.Show(oShowStr)            oDoc.Close()        End Sub