5/17/2017 Usingcustomclassesinscripts|CATIAV5Automation

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Home>TheVisualBasicLanguage>Usingcustomclassesinscripts

Usingcustomclassesinscripts
April13,2010LeaveacommentGotocomments
22Votes

InthisarticleIwillshowhowtocreateanduseacustomclasswithinascript.Ifyou
programinVBA,VB6or.NETyoumightbefamiliarwithbuildingyourownclassesbut
youmaynotknowthatyoucanalsousetheminascript.Incaseyouarewonderingwhat
aclassis,Iwillstartbybrieflydiscussingthataswell.IhavetoadmitthatIhaveonly
usedclassesinsidescriptsahandfuloftimes,butinthosesituationsitprovedtobevery
useful.

Whatisaclass?

WhenyouwriteprogramsusingtheCATIAautomationAPI,youareworkingwithobjects
thatrepresentvariousthingsinthesoftware.Forexample,eachdocumentthatisopenis
representedbyaseparateDocumentobject.Thatobjecthasvariouspropertiesthathold
somedataorattributesassociatedwithit.Forexample,theDocumentobjectprovidesa
Pathpropertytoretrievethefilepathwhereitiscurrentlysaved.Objectsalsomayprovide
methodswhichcanbethoughtofasservicesoractionsthatcanbeperformed.Asan
example,thedocumentobjectprovidesaSavemethodtosaveanychangesthatwere
made.

Alloftheseobjectsareactuallyinstancesthatgeteachtheirdefinitionfromamaster
template.Thattemplateiscalledaclassandithasthreebasicpurposes:

Itdefineswhatpropertiesandmethodswillbeprovided(calledmembers)
Itdefineshowitsdatawillbestored
Itprovidesalloftheunderlyingcodethatgetsexecutedwhencallsaremadetoits
instances

Whycreateaclassinsideofascript?

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Addingaclasstoyourscriptallowsyoutodefineanewobjecttypethatcanbeveryeasily
used(instantiated)againandagaininthescript.Generally,aclasswillrepresentsome
typeofrealthingsoitmightmakesensetogroupallattributesandservicesthatthing
willprovideintoaneasytouseobject.WhenIhaveusedthem,mostoftentheyare
relativelysimpleandwillduplicatesomefunctionalitythatisnotavailableinascript
language.

Declaringtheclass

Theclassdefinitionneedstobeseparatedfromtheotherprocedures(subroutinesand
functions)inthescript.ThisisdonebyenclosingalloftheclasscodeinsidetheClassand
EndClassstatements.Soyoumighthavesomethinglikethistostart:

SubCATMain()
'Thisisthemainsubforyourprogram

EndSub

Class
'Allofthecodeforyourclassgoeshere

EndClass

DefiningProperties

Thefirststephereistodecidewhatpropertiesyourclassshouldprovideandtheirdata
types.AgoodwaytothinkaboutthisistomimicthewayCATIAclassesorotherobjects
youmayhaveusedinthepastaredefined.Mostcommercialapplicationshaveverywell
thoughtoutobjectmodels,sotrytofollowthesamesortsofconventionstheydo.Once
youhavedonethat,youshoulddeclareaprivatevariableinsidetheclasstoholdeach
pieceofdata.Thisstepiscalledencapsulationbecauseitprotectsthatdatafrombeing
accessedintheprogramunlessitisaccessedthroughtheclassproperties.Next,you
shouldcreateaseparateproceduretoretrieveandseteachpropertyvalue.Thisisshown
below.

'Declareaprivatevariabletoholdthepropertyvalue
Privatep_strNameAsString

'Thisprocedureisexecutedwhenthispropertyisread
PropertyGetName()AsString
'Likeafunction,returnthevaluebyassigningittothepropertyname
Name=p_strName
EndProperty

'Thisprocedureisexecutedwhenavalueisassignedtotheproperty
PropertyLetName(iNameAsString)
'Simplyassignthepassedinvaluetotheprivatevariable
p_strName=iName
EndProperty

Importantnotes

Propertiescanbevalues(number,string,boolean,etc.)orotherobjects.Toretrieve
aproperty,youwillalwaysdefineaPropertyGetprocedure.However,toassigna
propertytherearetwodifferentwaysdependingonwhetherthedatatypeisavalue
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oranobject.Toassignavalue,youwilldefineaPropertyLetprocedure(asshown
above)andtoassignanobjectyouwilldefineaPropertySetstatementasshown
below.

Privatep_objPartAsPart

'Thisprocedureisexecutedwhenanobjectisassignedtotheproperty
PropertySetPart(iPartAsPart)
'Simplyassignthepassedinobjecttotheprivatevariable
Setp_objPart=iPart
EndProperty

Ifyouwantapropertytobereadonlyorwriteonly,simplydefineonlyone(not
both)oftheGetProperty/LetProperty/SetPropertyprocedures.Forexample,if
thereisnotaPropertyGetprocedure,thatpropertycanbeassignedbutnotread.

DefiningMethods

Addingmethodstoaclassisverysimple.Allyouhavetodoisincludeasubroutineor
functionforeach.

AnExample

AgreatexamplethatIhaveusedinsomeofmyscriptsisacollectionclass.Ifyouhave
writtencodeinVBA,VB6,.NET,etc.youareprobablyfamiliarwithcollections.They
simplyholdabunchofvaluesorobjects.Theygenerallyprovidethefollowingbasic
capabilities:

Querythesizeofthecollection(Count)
Additemstothecollection
Removeitemsfromthecollection
Retrieveanitemfromthecollection

TheVBscriptlanguagedoesnotprovideitsowncollectionclass.So,acommon
alternativeistouseanarraytostorevalues.Whileanarraydoeswork,itcanrequirealot
ofcodethroughoutyourprogram.Acollectionclassmaycontainafairamountofcode,
butitcanbereusedinotherscriptseasilyanditgreatlysimplifiestherestofthecodein
thescript.AnotheroptionistouseadictionaryobjectintheWindowsScriptingRuntime
Library.ThisisagoodoptionandIhaveuseditmanytimesaswell.

Anexamplecollectionclassisprovidedbelow.Ionlyincludedthemostbasiccapabilities
anditissetuptostoreandretrieveobjects(notvalues).Ifyouwanttomanagevalues,you
willneedtoreplacethePropertySetprocedureswithPropertyLetProcedures.

'Starttheclassdefinition
ClassCustCollection

'Declareprivatevariables.Thesecannotbeaccesseddirectly.
'Insteadtheycanonlybeaccessedthroughapropertyormethod
Privatep_varItemArray()AsVariant
Privatep_intCountAsInteger

PrivateSubClass_Initialize()
'Theinitializeprocedurewillexecutewheneveranewobjectinstanceiscreated
'Hereyoushouldinitializeanydefaultvalues
p_intCount=0
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p_intCount=0
EndSub

PropertyGetCount()AsInteger
'Usedtoretrievehowmanyitemsareinthecollection
'Simplyreturnthevaluestoredintheprivatevariable
Count=p_intCount
EndProperty

SubAdd(iObject)
'Usedtoaddanitemtothecollection
'Incrementthesizeofthecollection
p_intCount=p_intCount+1

'Resizethearraypreservingalloftheexistingitems
ReDimPreservep_varItemArray(p_intCount)

'Addthenewitemtothearray
Setp_varItemArray(p_intCount)=iObject
EndSub

FunctionItem(ByValiIndexAsInteger)AsObject
'Usedtoretrieveanitemfromthecollection
'Iftherequestedindexexists,returnit
'Otherwiseraiseanerror
IfiIndex<>0AndiIndex<=p_intCountThen
SetItem=p_varItemArray(iIndex)
Else
Err.RaisevbObjectError+1,"Collection.Item()","Indexoutofrange"
EndIf
EndFunction

SubRemove(ByValiIndexAsInteger)
'Usedtoremoveanitemfromthecollection
DimintIndexAsInteger

'Fromtherequestedindextotheupperboundof
'thearraymoveallexistingitemsdownoneindex
ForintIndex=iIndexTop_intCount1
Setp_varItemArray(iIndex)=p_varItemArray(iIndex+1)
Next

'Resizethearraydestroyingthelastelement
p_intCount=p_intCount1
ReDimPreservep_varItemArray(p_intCount)
EndSub

EndClass

Thefollowingexampleshowshowtousetheclassinyourscript.Eachoftheproperties
andmethodsprovidedbythenewCustCollectionclassaredemonstrated.

SubCATMain()

DimobjColAsCustCollection'Declareanewvariable
DimobjItemAsObject

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'Instantiateanewcollectionobject
SetobjCol=NewCustCollection

'Displaythecurrentcollectioncount
MsgBoxobjCol.Count,0,"Count(Initial)"

'Addthe3stdplanesfromtheactiveparttothecollection
objCol.AddCATIA.ActiveDocument.Part.OriginElements.PlaneXY
objCol.AddCATIA.ActiveDocument.Part.OriginElements.PlaneYZ
objCol.AddCATIA.ActiveDocument.Part.OriginElements.PlaneZX

'Displaythecurrentcollectioncount
MsgBoxobjCol.Count,0,"Count(Afteraddingstdplanes)"

'Getthe2nditeminthecollectionanddisplayitsname
SetobjItem=objCol.Item(2)
MsgBoxobjItem.Name,0,"Nameof2ndItem"

'Removethe2ndItem
objCol.Remove2

'Displaythecurrentcollectioncount
MsgBoxobjCol.Count,0,"Count(Afterremoving2nditem)"

'Getthe2nditeminthecollectionanddisplayitsname
'Whentheoriginal2nditemwasremovedthe3rditemmovedtothe2ndindex
SetobjItem=objCol.Item(2)
MsgBoxobjItem.Name,0,"Nameof2ndItem"
EndSub

Wrapup

Onceyoucreateaclasssuchasthecollectionexampleshownabove,youcanreuseitin
futurescriptprojectsbyjustpastingintheclassdefinition.Creatingeasytousecustom
classestakessomepractice.Asyoucreatemoreofthem,youwillbegintolearngoodand
badpracticesbutingeneral,trytomimicthewayotherobjectsworkinotherapplications.
Forexample,Imadethecollectionclassaboveprovidethepropertiesandmethodsyou
wouldexpecttoseeandthewaytheyareusedisfamiliar.

PleasetakeamomenttoratethisarticleJustclickthestarsupnearthetitle.

Addto: del.icio.us, StumbleUpon, Digg, Google

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Comments(7)Trackbacks(0)LeaveacommentTrackback

1.
Julian50
April14,2010at1:44pm
Reply

nothingtosay,justperfect,pleasedontstopandkeepgoing!

2.
Karteek
April16,2010at12:30am
Reply

Mike,

YouareintroducingustothemanypossibilitiesofMacros.Agreateasyto
understandexplanation.
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5/17/2017 Usingcustomclassesinscripts|CATIAV5Automation

Onusisonustolearnanduseit.

Thanks,
Karteek

3.
Vishal
April27,2010at12:11am
Reply

Pleaseprovideanotherexamplewhichworksinvba.
Icopy/pastedthecodeinvbabutitdidnotwork.
Ademonstration/examplewillbemoreuseful.

Thanks

v5vb
April27,2010at5:23am
Reply

ThisdoesntworkinVBA,itisonlysupportedinVBScript(soitshouldwork
withCATScriptandcatvbs).TomakeyourowncustomclassesinVBA,just
rightclickontheprojectandselectinsertclassmodule.Fromthere,theideais
basicallythesameexceptyouwillnotusetheClassandEndClassstatements.
Thosestatementsareusedonlyinscripttoseparatetheclasscodefromthe
restofthecodesinceitisalllistedtogether,butinVBAeachclassisdefined
inaseparatemodulesotheyarentneeded.

4.
Calin
May14,2010at1:11pm
Reply

CongratulationsMikeforyourtremendouseffortandforthecompetentexplanations
youprovide!

Welldonejob!

OneremarkIwouldliketoputup.Whenyoudescribehowtodefinetheproperties
yousayThisstepiscalledencapsulationbecauseitprotectsthatdatafrombeing
accessedintheprogramunlessitisaccessedthroughtheclassproperties.Wouldnt
becorrecttosaythatthedataisbeingaccessedbytheclassmethods(not
properties)?

Thankyou.

v5vb
May14,2010at3:57pm
Reply
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5/17/2017 Usingcustomclassesinscripts|CATIAV5Automation

Thanks!Gladyoulikethesite.Asforyourquestion,eitheristechnically
correct.Imentionedpropertiesbecauseprivatevariablevaluesaremostoften
retrievedorsetthroughapropertyprocedure,notamethod.Withthatsaid,
propertiesandmethodsbothhaveaccesstotheprivatevariablesinsidethe
classsoitispossibleeitherway.Thebasicideaofencapsulationisjustthat
youcannotdirectlygetthevalueorchangethevalueofthoseprivatevariables
directlyyouonlyhaveaccessviaapropertyprocedureoramethod.

5.
Vinod
April18,2012at9:57am
Reply

Wowawsmedudekeepgoing

1.Notrackbacksyet.

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