Application Developer Support

Programming Example How programming for Vdraft in Visual Basic and C++ compares to programming for AutoCAD. Vdraft API Quick Reference A listing of all the interfaces, methods, properties, and events for Vdraft programming. Polishing Add-ons Suggestions for adding polish to a Vdraft add-on. Custom Object Tips Adding customized tips to objects in your drawings that appear when the mouse is moved over them. Download V_API.CHM The latest help sytem for customization and programming Vdraft. Frequently Asked Questions Manual Corrections and Additions How to Become a Registered Developer

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Frequently Asked Questions

• I wrote a DLL but Vdraft isn't calling it.
  Check to make sure that the current version of the DLL has been put in the Vdraft\Programs directory. Make sure that it exports the vfLoad function. This can be done by placing it in your project's .def file.

• Vdraft doesn't completely shutdown when I try to quit.
  As long as an external application or plugin still has a conversation open with Vdraft, it won't fully quit, even if the Vdraft window goes away. This enables programs to continue using Vdraft as an engine even if the user has made Vdraft go away. Once your Visual Basic program is done, Visual Basic will clean up any Vdraft objects for you.

  However, in C++, you are responsible for discarding all Vdraft objects you have. Generally this is automatically done when a variable goes out of scope or is deleted. Note that when the return value of a function is a Vdraft object, that return value cannot be ignored. For example, calling IDocuments::Add returns an IDocument. Even if you don't need the return value, you should make sure the object is cleaned up. IDocument doc( documents.Add(file) ); would accomplish this.

• How do I bring up a dialog box from my plugin?
  If you are using MFC, you need to statically link the MFC library.

• Default methods are not working.
  At this time, Visual Basic is one of the few programming languages that supports default methods (i.e. not explicitly using the property or method). However, Visual Basic doesn't support default methods when you chain several methods or properties together. The solution is to explicitly name/reference the method rather than rely on the default method.

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Manual Corrections and Additions

• In the Vdraft API Quick Reference, items listed as --NEW FOR 1.5-- are not listed in the 1.0 version of the Vdraft Customization and Programmer's Guide.
• The parameters for the method IMatrix Item were improperly listed. It should read Item(short column, short row) where column and row can range from 1 to 4 (page 34 of the Vdraft Customization and Programmer's Guide).
• The method IEntitySet NewEntitySet() has been added to the IDocument interface (page 32 of the Vdraft Customization and Programmer's Guide).
• The properties int VersionMajor and int VersionMinor have been added to the IVdraft interface for beta2 of v1.5.

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Third party developers with registered applications can display the official logo. This will help Vdraft users find and choose applications that help to maximize the power of Vdraft.

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