Mechanical Modeler

What You Will Learn With This Use Case

This use case creates a new toolbar in the Shape Design workbench to present a Combined Curve creation icon.

Thanks to this Use Case, the newborn Combined Curve Mechanical Feature is now fully integrated with other Shape Design Features.

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The CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddIn Use Case

CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddIn is a use case of the CAAMechanicalModeler.edu framework that illustrates MechanicalModeler framework capabilities.

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What Does the CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddIn Use Case Do

This use case creates an add-in implementing the CATIShapeDesignWorkshopAddin interface. This interface is precisely defined to add toolbars or commands to the Shape Design workbench.

Another use case describes in detail how to create an add-in [1].

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How to Launch CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddIn

See the section entitled "How to Launch the Combined Curve Use Case" in the "Creating a New Geometrical Feature: The Combined Curve" use case for a detailed description of how this use case should be launched.

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Where to Find the CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddIn Code

The CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddIn use case is made of a several classes located in the CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddIn.m module of the CAAMechanicalModeler.edu framework:

where InstallRootDirectory is the directory where the CAA CD-ROM is installed.

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Step-by-Step

To create the add-in, you should first create a separate module directory to store the add-in code. This is CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddIn.m for this use case.

In this module, you have to:

• Creating the Add-in Description Class
• Creating the Command Headers
• Creating the Toolbar and Arranging the Command
• Providing the Resources

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Creating the Add-in Description Class

The add-in extends the CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddin late type to implement the interface CATIShapeDesignWorkshopAddin.

CATImplementClass(CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdn,
                  DataExtension,
                  CATBaseUnknown,
                  CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddin);

#include <TIE_CATIShapeDesignWorkshopAddin.h> // needed to tie the implementation to its interface
TIE_CATIShapeDesignWorkshopAddin(CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdn);

Do not forget to update your dictionary. CAAMmrCombinedCurveAddin is extended to implement CATIShapeDesignWorkshopAddin.

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Creating the Command Header

The MacDeclareHeader macro creates the header file and the source file for the CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader class, and associates with this class the resource files CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CATNls and CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CATRsc.

// Creates the CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader command header class
MacDeclareHeader(CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader);

To create the Command Header, use the CreateCommands method:

void CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdn::CreateCommands()
{
  new CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader("CAAMmrCombinedCurveHdr",
                                    "CAAMmrCombinedCurveUI",
                                    "CAAMmrCombCrvPanelStCmd",
                                    (void *)NULL );
}

• "CAAMmrCombinedCurveHdr" is the identifier you assign to the Command Header.
• "CAAMmrCombinedCurveUI" is the shared library or DLL containing the Combined Curve Command's code.
• "CAAMmrCombCrvPanelStCmd" is the name of the Combine Curve Edition Command.
• The last argument is the possible pointer to the object to pass to the command when executing it.

The CAAMmrCombCrvPanelStCmd class enables to create or edit an Combined Curve feature. You can refer to the "Editing Combined Curves" use case [2] for details about this command class.

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Creating the Toolbar and Arranging the Command

Finally, we'll create the toolbar and arrange the command. This is the job of the CreateToolbars method.

CATCmdContainer* CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdn::CreateToolbars()
{
    NewAccess        ( CATCmdContainer  , pCombinedCurveWkb , CAAMmrCombinedCurveTlb );
    
    NewAccess        ( CATCmdStarter    , pCombinedCurve    , CAAMmrCombinedCurveStr );
    SetAccessCommand ( pCombinedCurve    , "CAAMmrCombinedCurveHdr" );
    SetAccessChild   ( pCombinedCurveWkb , pCombinedCurve  );
    
    AddToolbarView   ( pCombinedCurveWkb , -1 , Right ); 
    
    return pCombinedCurveWkb;
}

• The Combined Curve toolbar is created as an instance of the CATCmdContainer class using the NewAccess macro. pCombinedCurveWkb is the variable used to handle the CombinedCurve toolbar command container instance pointer, and CombinedCurve is the identifier used to refer to it in the add-in resource files.
  The Combined Curve toolbar default location is defined using the AddToolbarView macro, where -1 means that the toolbar is invisible by default (1 means visible), and Right means that the toolbar is docked at the right side of the application window.
• Three macros are required for each command. 
  1. First, the command starter is created as a CATCmdStarter instance using the NewAccess macro. pCombinedCurve is the variable used to handle a pointer to that instance, and CAAMmrCombinedCurveStr is its identifier.
  2. Then the Combined Curve command header is associated with this command starter using the SetAccessCommand macro.
  3. Finally the Combined Curve command starter is set as the child of the Combined Curve toolbar.

Once again, refer to the use case describing how to create an add-in [1] to get more details: for example about these macros and how insert the command in the menu bar.

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Providing the Resources

You should provide the resources for the toolbar and for all its commands.

• CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CATRsc contains information about the icon to display.

  CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CombinedCurve.Icon.Normal = "CAAMmr_I_CombinedCurve";

  You provide the "normal" icon. It must be located in the resources/graphic directory. The pressed and focused are automatically generated.

• CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CATNls contains text message in English if located in the CNext\Resources\msgcatalog directory.

  CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CombinedCurve.Title = "CombinedCurve"; CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CombinedCurve.ShortHelp = "CAAMmrCombinedCurve"; CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CombinedCurve.Help = "Creates a Combined Curve"; CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CombinedCurve.LongHelp = "Combined Curve using two curves and two directions"; CAAEMmrCombinedCurveAdnHeader.CombinedCurve.Category = "Insert";

  If you want to provide help for this new command in several languages, just copy (and translate!) this file in CNext\Resources\msgcatalog\German for German, CNext\Resources\msgcatalog\Japanese for Japanese, CNext\Resources\msgcatalog\French for French, etc.

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In Short

Thanks to the Add-in technology, this last use case of the Combined Curve Use Case makes it possible to create a Combined Curve by Clicking on an icon of the Shape Design Workbench. Combined Curve are now perfectly integrated among V5 Mechanical Design Applications.

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References

History

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