xCAD.NET: SOLIDWORKS API development made easy

xCAD.NET is a framework for building CAD agnostic applications. It allows developers to implement complex functionality with a very simple innovative approach. This brings the best user experience to the consumers of the software.

Templates

Visual Studio and Visual Studio Code templates can be installed from NuGet

> dotnet new install Xarial.XCad.Templates

SOLIDWORKS Add-in Applications

It has never been easier to create SOLIDWORKS add-ins with toolbar and menu commands.

[ComVisible(true)]
public class XCadAddIn : SwAddInEx
{
    public enum Commands_e
    {
        Command1,
        Command2
    }

    public override void OnConnect()
    {
        this.CommandManager.AddCommandGroup<Commands_e>().CommandClick += OnCommandsButtonClick;
    }

    private void OnCommandsButtonClick(Commands_e cmd)
    {
        //TODO: handle the button click
    }
}

Property Manager Pages

Framework reinvents the way you work with Property Manager Pages. No need to code a complex code behind for adding the controls and handling the values. Simply define your data model and the framework will build the suitable Property Manager Page automatically and two-way bind controls to the data model.

[ComVisible(true)]
public class IntroPmpPageAddIn : SwAddInEx
{
    [ComVisible(true)]
    public class MyPMPageData : SwPropertyManagerPageHandler
    {
        public string Text { get; set; }
        public int Number { get; set; }
        public IXComponent Component { get; set; }
    }

    private enum Commands_e
    {
        ShowPmpPage
    }

    private IXPropertyPage<MyPMPageData> m_Page;
    private MyPMPageData m_Data = new MyPMPageData();

    public override void OnConnect()
    {
        m_Page = this.CreatePage<MyPMPageData>();
        m_Page.Closed += OnPageClosed;
        this.CommandManager.AddCommandGroup<Commands_e>().CommandClick += ShowPmpPage;
    }

    private void ShowPmpPage(Commands_e cmd)
    {
        m_Page.Show(m_Data);
    }

    private void OnPageClosed(PageCloseReasons_e reason)
    {
        Debug.Print($"Text: {m_Data.Text}");
        Debug.Print($"Number: {m_Data.Number}");
        Debug.Print($"Selection component name: {m_Data.Component.Name}");
    }
}

Macro Features

Complex macro features became an ease with xCAD.NET

[ComVisible(true)]
public class IntroMacroFeatureAddIn : SwAddInEx 
{
    [ComVisible(true)]
    public class BoxData : SwPropertyManagerPageHandler
    {
        public double Width { get; set; }
        public double Length { get; set; }
        public double Height { get; set; }
    }

    [ComVisible(true)]
    public class BoxMacroFeature : SwMacroFeatureDefinition<BoxData, BoxData>
    {
        public override ISwBody[] CreateGeometry(ISwApplication app, ISwDocument model, ISwMacroFeature<BoxData> feat)
        {
            var data = feat.Parameters;

            var body = (ISwBody)app.MemoryGeometryBuilder.CreateSolidBox(new Point(0, 0, 0),
                new Vector(1, 0, 0), new Vector(0, 1, 0),
                data.Width, data.Length, data.Height).Bodies.First();

            return new ISwBody[] { body };
        }

    }

    public enum Commands_e
    {
        InsertMacroFeature,
    }

    public override void OnConnect()
    {
        this.CommandManager.AddCommandGroup<Commands_e>().CommandClick += OnCommandsButtonClick;
    }

    private void OnCommandsButtonClick(Commands_e cmd)
    {
        switch (cmd) 
        {
            case Commands_e.InsertMacroFeature:
                Application.Documents.Active.Features.CreateCustomFeature<BoxMacroFeature, BoxData, BoxData>();
                break;
        }
    }
}

SOLIDWORKS And Document Manager API

xCAD.NET allows to write the same code targeting different CAD implementation in a completely agnostic way. Example below demonstrates how to perform opening of assembly, traversing components recursively and closing the assembly via SOLIDWORKS API and SOLIDWORKS Document Manager API using the same code base.

static void Main(string[] args)
{
    var assmFilePath = @"C:\sample-assembly.sldasm";

    //print assembly components using SOLIDWORKS API
    var swApp = SwApplicationFactory.Create(SwVersion_e.Sw2022, ApplicationState_e.Silent);
    PrintAssemblyComponents(swApp, assmFilePath);

    //print assembly components using SOLIDWORKS Document Manager API
    var swDmApp = SwDmApplicationFactory.Create("[Document Manager Lincese Key]");
    PrintAssemblyComponents(swDmApp, assmFilePath);
}

//CAD-agnostic function to open assembly, print all components and close assembly
private static void PrintAssemblyComponents(IXApplication app, string filePath) 
{
    using (var assm = app.Documents.Open(filePath, DocumentState_e.ReadOnly))
    {
        IterateComponentsRecursively(((IXAssembly)assm).Configurations.Active.Components, 0);
    }
}

private static void IterateComponentsRecursively(IXComponentRepository compsRepo, int level) 
{
    foreach (var comp in compsRepo)
    {
        Console.WriteLine(Enumerable.Repeat("  ", level) + comp.Name);

        IterateComponentsRecursively(comp.Children, level + 1);
    }
}

Target Frameworks

xCAD.NET is compatible with multiple target frameworks: .NET Framework 4.6.1, .NET Core 3.1, .NET 6.0, .NET 7.0 and number of additional computed target frameworks (e.g. .NET Framework 4.8)

When building the SOLIDWORKS add-ins see the information below

.NET Framework

• Run Visual Studio as an Administrator
• Install Xarial.XCad.SolidWorks package from the nuget and create add-in class as shown above
• Build the solution. Add-in will be automatically registered. Clean the solution to unregister the add-in.
• Set the Embed Interop option to True for all SOLIDWORKS type libraries (e.g. SolidWorks.Interop.SldWorks.tlb, SolidWorks.Interop.SwConst.tlb, SolidWorks.Interop.SwPublished.tlb). Note this might not be required as nuget will set this flag automatically.

.NET Core/.NET 6/.NET 7

• Run Visual Studio as an Administrator
• Install Xarial.XCad.SolidWorks package from the nuget and create add-in class as shown above
• Add the following property into the project file (*.csproj or *.vbproj)

<PropertyGroup>
    <EnableComHosting>true</EnableComHosting>
</PropertyGroup>

• Build the solution. Add-in will be automatically registered. Clean the solution to unregister the add-in.

.NET Core Only

Automatic registration does not work in .NET Core and it needs to be called manually by adding the following code into the add-in (this is not required for .NET6)

[ComRegisterFunction]
public static void RegisterFunction(Type t)
{
    SwAddInEx.RegisterFunction(t);
}

[ComUnregisterFunction]
public static void UnregisterFunction(Type t)
{
    SwAddInEx.UnregisterFunction(t);
}

Watch the video demonstrations YouTube playlist of xCAD in action.

Visit User Guide page and start exploring the framework.

Unit Tests

Solution contains unit and integration tests

To execute integration tests

• Download the Test Data
• Unzip into the folder
• Create an environment variable XCAD_TEST_DATA and set its value to the path of the folder above
• To test SOLIDWORKS Document Manager, add an environment variable SW_DM_KEY and set its value to your Document Manager Key
• Run tests