Spotlight on .Net instead of ActiveX ?

Historically, AutoCAD has been using .NET for a couple releases now but Autodesk Design Review was never allowed to use .NET until today.

In terms of education, any ActiveX control can be used in .NET.

To do this with our control, apply the following steps:

1. Open up a .NET Form application.
2. Make sure the Toolbox is visible. If not, use the “View” menu and select “Toolbox”.
3. Right click in the “Components” bar in the Toolbox and select “Choose Items…”.
4. Select the “COM Components” tab.
5. Check the “Autodesk DWF Viewer Control” item.
6. Push the “Ok” button.

Once completed, our framework ADV (Autodesk DWF Viewer) control will show up as a new tool (.NET Form control) in the Components section of the Toolbox and as such, you can drop one right into your application just as you can with any other item in the Toolbox.

Also note that this .NET Form control will expose .NET versions of all the same properties, methods and events as its ActiveX counterpart.

Note:  This *trick* works for any ActiveX control … we’re not special. When doing this, .NET automatically creates what is called an “interop” module (also called a managed wrapper) that does the translation between the COM world and .Net world. However this interop is another module that must be included with any application built using this technique (it will show up in your solutions binary directory and will be prefixed by “AxInterop.”).

-Volker

Comments

[Jimmy Bergmark - JTB World]

"never allowed to use .NET until today" should have been "never allowed to use .NET until today unless you already knew about this trick"?

[Volker Joseph]

Thank you for the feedback.

Not quite sure whether to place this in the good or not so good feedback file. Elaborate on your comments, if you could. Thank you.

[Jimmy Bergmark - JTB World]

I was more wondering if it was something I have missed or what was new "today" in this quote "Autodesk Design Review was never allowed to use .NET until today".
Take it as good feedback as I think it's good that this is pointed out how to do it.

[Alejandro]

I’m just starting to explore the possibilities of implement the Design Review in an applications that we are developing, but although all of this looks great, what happens with the developers who only wants zoom, pan and rotate control?. A 150 Mb installation is excessive for a secondary part of an application, also developing a viewer with the DWF toolkit. I think it’s a modularity problem of the Design Review. Or maybe I’m wrong and it exist another solution. Please, excuse my English.

[Volker Joseph]

Try www.autodesk.com/freewheel instead.

[Alejandro]

Thanks for the suggestion, we also think that Freewheel is the solution, but our client is not comfortable with having his files in the web even though the security of autodesk. Anyway thank you.