Linq2Acad

A library that aims to simplify AutoCAD .NET plugin code. Available for AutoCAD 2015 and later.

Overview

• Getting started
• NuGet package
• API documentation
• How it works
• Contributing
• License

Getting started

Linq2Acad is a library that aims to simplify AutoCAD .NET plugin code. It should be a more intuitive API for working with the drawing database, making the learning curve for beginners less steep.

As a simple example, let's print all layer names using Linq2Acad:

using (var db = AcadDatabase.Active())
{
  var layerNames = db.Layers.Select(l => l.Name);
  MessageBox.Show(string.Join(", ", layerNames));
}

Linq2Acad makes it easy to delete all BlockReferences from the model space:

using (var db = AcadDatabase.Active())
{
  foreach (var br in db.ModelSpace
                       .OfType<BlockReference>()
                       .UpgradeOpen())
  {
    br.Erase();
  }
}

This code shows how to import a block from a DWG file into the active document:

using (var sourceDb = AcadDatabase.OpenReadOnly(@"C:\Blocks\Shapes.dwg"))
using (var targetDb = AcadDatabase.Active())
{
  var block = sourceDb.Blocks.Element("TRIANGLE");
  targetDb.Blocks.Import(block);
}

You can easily store data on entities:

var entityId = GetEntity("Pick an Entity");
var key = GetString("Enter key");
var str = GetString("Enter string to save");

// We first write the data (it is stored in the Entity's extension data)
using (var db = AcadDatabase.Active())
{
  db.CurrentSpace
    .Element(entityId)
    .SaveData(key, str);

  WriteMessage($"Key-value-pair {key}:{str} saved on Entity");
}

// Then we read it back
using (var db = AcadDatabase.Active())
{
  var str = db.CurrentSpace
              .Element(entityId)
              .GetData<string>(key);

  WriteMessage($"String {str} read from Entity");
}

You can use Linq2Acad to changes the summary info of the active document:

using (var db = AcadDatabase.Active())
{
  db.SummaryInfo.Author = "John Doe";
  db.SummaryInfo.CustomProperties["CustomData1"] = "42";
}

There's also a simple way to, for example, reload all loaded XRefs:

using (var db = AcadDatabase.Active())
{
  foreach (var xRef in db.XRefs
                         .Where(xr => xr.IsLoaded))
  {
    xRef.Reload();
  }
}

More code samples (in C# and VB.NET) can be found here.

Installation

How to upgrade from source code to Nuget

1. Remove your existing Linq2Acad PROJECT completely from your existing Visual Studio solution. (You should see a lot of red squiggly lines.)
2. Install the Nuget Packages.

(If you add Nuget while already having a Linq2Acad project there, and THEN you subsequently remove the latter project - you might have a lot of problems.)

Breaking changes not reflected in version updates

Beginning with the Nuget release of version 1.0.0, Linq2Acad is released in accordance with the rules of semantic versioning. Previous to that, there have been breaking changes to the API that were not reflected in the API's version number. The changes in question can be found here.

API documentation

The best entry point into the API documentation is the class AcadDatabase. An overview of all classes can be found here.

How it works?

This blog series discusses:

• the original problem this library seeks to solve,
• the design / implementation decisions involved in deriving the API.

Contributing

See contributing documentation.

License

Linq2Acad is licended unter the MIT License (MIT).