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I'm planning to program an application (C#) which can draw some things on AutoCAD. After a lot of research I don't understand where i need to start. Can someone explain to me what ObjectARX is ? And if I need to use it ?

I want to create an application ! Not an AddOn (NETLOAD)

:)

Sry for my english I did my best.

CM.

Xariien
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Normally applications are independent processes. In some cases the processes may communicate with each other according to some standardized protocol to extend functionality.

Addons, or plugins typically refers to code that is run as part of another process. I.e. you write a library (i.e. a dll file) that is loaded by the host application. This usually requires that the plugin implements some set of standardized interface for it to work.

ObjectARX is according to wikipedia the standardized interface for autocad. It is however for C++ and not for .Net. There is facilities in .Net to use c++ code, and there is also some articles about hosting the .Net environment in a native c++ process.

If you want your "application" to run in a separate process you would need to write a plugin that communicates with your process via some form of Inter process communication method.

All the approach you suggest seem to be rather challenging since it involves several layers of communication that may cause problems. It would probably be significantly simpler to just write a c++ plugin since this is the intent behind the ObjectARX interface.

JonasH
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If you look in the folder where Autocad is installed you will see some managed DLL libraries.

You can create a C# .NET DLL application that references these libraries. Then, you will have access to the AutoCAD environment and can do what ever you want.

Research AutoCAD .NET to find tutorials and resources.

Andrew Truckle
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There is some info in the Tag Wiki but, in a nutshell, you cannot create a stand-alone application that directly references the SDK shipped with AutoCAD (or BricsCAD etc). You can automate AutoCAD via ActiveX or you need to buy an SDK from Autodesk (OEM) or the Open Design Alliance and build an app on top of that.

Anything that uses the SDKs shipped with the applications must be a plugin in the host CAD application.

CAD bloke
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