Using the eDrawings ActiveX control

The eDrawings API is implemented as a Microsoft ActiveX control. This topic shows how to create Microsoft Visual Basic and C# Windows Forms applications that use this control to load eDrawings drawings.

Prerequisites

• Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 or later is installed. (The instructions in the following procedures are specific to Microsoft Visual Studio 2015.)
• eDrawings 20nn is installed.

eDrawings x64

• Modify SOLIDWORKS Forum eDrawings x64 Host Control C# example
• Create C# eDrawings x64 project

Modify SOLIDWORKS Forum eDrawings x64 Host Control C# example

You must manually generate the 64-bit primary interop assembly DLL needed by your Microsoft Visual Studio C# Windows Forms Application, because Microsoft Visual Studio is a 32-bit application. 

To generate the 64-bit primary assembly DLL:

1. Install eDrawings 20nn x64 Edition, if it is not already installed on your computer.
2. Locate tlbimp.exe on your computer For: 
   • .NET Framework 4 and later, which use CLR 4.0, the path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SDKs\Windows\v7.0A\Bin\NETFX 4.0 Tools.
   • .NET Framework 3.5 and earlier, which use CLR 2.0, the path is C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SDK\v2.0\Bin.
3. Open a command prompt window in the folder where tlbimp.exe resides and type: 
   
   tlbimp.exe "C:\Program Files\SOLIDWORKS Corp\eDrawings\EModelView.dll"
   
   NOTE: If eDrawings 20nn x64 Edition is installed elsewhere on your computer, then specify your path to EModelView.dll.
4. Examine the command window to verify that Type library imported to EModelView.dll is returned.
5. Type exit. 

To modify the SOLIDWORKS Forum eDrawings x64 Host Control C# example:

1. Open and extract the eDrawings Host Control example, eDrawings Example.zip, which includes two Microsoft Visual Studio projects written in C#.
   
   NOTE: You must be a SOLIDWORKS Subscription Service customer to access the example.
   
2. Unzip and extract eDrawingHostControl source project.zip, located in the HostControl folder.
3. Open eDrawingHostControl.csproj in Microsoft Visual Studio and convert the project.
4. Click the Show All Files button in the Solution Explorer and expand References.
5. Remove the existing reference to EModelView and add a reference to EModelView.dll, which you created in the previous procedure and which resides in the same folder as tlbimp.exe.
6. Click Project > eDrawingHostControl Properties.
   1. Click Build and change Platform target to x64.
   2. If you created EModelView.dll using .NET Framework 4 or later, click Application, change Target framework to .NET Framework 4.n, and click Yes.
7. Start debugging.
8. Click Yes when informed of different versions.
9. Click Close on the form.
10. Save and exit the project. 

To modify the SOLIDWORKS Forum eDrawings example:

1. Open eDrawingsExample.csproj in Microsoft Visual Studio and convert the project.
   
   NOTE: This project is located in the eDrawingsExample folder.
   
2. Click Project > eDrawingsExample Properties > Build  and change Platform target to x64.
3. Click the Show All Files button in the Solution Explorer and expand References.
4. Remove the existing eDrawingHostControl reference and add a reference to \bin\Debug\eDrawingHostControl.dll, which you created in the previous procedure. Check the date on the file to ensure that you are adding the DLL that you created.
5. Remove the reference to Interop.EModelView and add a reference to EModelView.dll, which you created in the first procedure.
6. Change the name of the SOLIDWORKS or eDrawings file to open in Form1.cs to a file that exists on your computer.
7. Start debugging.
8. Click Yes when informed of different versions.
9. Click Open to open the file.
10. Click OK to close the message box.
11. Close the form, save, and exit the project.

Create C# eDrawings x64 project

To create a C# eDrawings x64 project:

1. Create an eDrawings x64 EModelView.dll. See the first procedure in Modify SOLIDWORKS Forum eDrawings x64 Host Control C# example.
2. Download and modify the SOLIDWORKS Forum eDrawings x64 Host Control example's Host Control project. See the second procedure in  Modify SOLIDWORKS Forum eDrawings x64 Host Control C# example.
3. Open Microsoft Visual Studio.
4. Create a C# Windows Forms Application project and name it WindowsFormsApplication1.
5. Click Project > WindowsFormsApplication1 Properties.
   1. Click Build and change Platform target to x64.
   2. If you created EModelView.dll using .NET Framework 4 or later, click Application, change Target framework to .NET Framework 4.n, and click Yes.
6. Click the Show All Files button in the Solution Explorer and expand References.
7. Add a reference to EModelView.dll, which you created in step 1.
8. Add a reference to \bin\Debug\eDrawingHostControl.dll, which you created in step 2. Check the date on the file to ensure that you are adding the DLL that you created.
9. Double-click Form1.cs in the Solution Explorer to show the form.
10. Click View > Toolbox, expand All Windows Forms, and drag a button onto the form.
11. Double-click the button.
12. Replace the code in Form1.cs with this code:
    
    

    using System.Data;
    using System.Drawing;
    using System.Linq;
    using System.Text;
    using System.Threading.Tasks;
    using System.Windows.Forms;
    using eDrawingHostControl;
    

    namespace WindowsFormsApplication1
    {
        public partial class Form1 : Form
        {
            eDrawingHostControl.eDrawingControl ctrl = null;
    

            public Form1()
    

            {
                InitializeComponent();
                if (null == ctrl)
                {
                    ctrl = new eDrawingControl();
                }
    

                this.Controls.Add(ctrl);            
    

            }
    

            private void Form1_Load(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
            {
            }
    

            private void button1_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
            {
                if(ctrl != null)
                {
                ctrl.Location = new Point(0,0);
                ctrl.Size = new System.Drawing.Size(this.Size.Width,this.Size.Height);
                ctrl.eDrawingControlWrapper.OpenDoc("C:\\Users\\Public\\Documents\\SOLIDWORKS\\SOLIDWORKS 2020\\samples\\tutorial\\EDraw\\claw\\claw.sldprt", false, false, false, "");
                }
            }
        }
    }
    

13. Start debugging to display the form.
14. Click button1.
    If the file specified in button1_Click exists on your computer, it is displayed. If that file does not exist on your computer, then close the form, edit the file's path and file name in Form1.cs to specify a SOLIDWORKS or eDrawings file on your computer, and repeat steps 13 and 14.
15. Close the form and save the project.

You can also download Add eModelViewControl to a Windows.Forms Application at runtime (eDrawings ActiveX Control), which shows how to add instances of the eDrawings ActiveX control IEModelViewControl to a Window.Forms application at runtime. This technique allows Microsoft Visual Studio users to overcome the architecture mismatch that prevents the 32-bit Visual Studio Forms Editor from loading the 64-bit eDrawings library eModelView.dll.

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Instantiating the eDrawings Control

You can instantiate the eDrawings control using version-specific or version-independent class IDs (CLSIDs).

To get your version-specific eDrawings control's CLSIDs:

1. Run the Windows Registry editor, regedit.
2. Expand HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT.
3. Locate and double-click EModelView.EModelViewControl.nn, where nn is the 2-digit release year of the version of eDrawings installed on your computer. For example, if eDrawings 2017 is installed on your computer, then nn is 17.
4. Click CLSID. Make note of the CLSID.
5. Locate and double-click EModelViewMarkup.EModelMarkupControl.nn.
6. Click CLSID. Make note of the CLSID.
7. Exit regedit.

The version-independent eDrawings CLSIDs are:

• EModelNonVersionSpecificViewControl = 22945A69-1191-4DCF-9E6F-409BDE94D101
• EModelNonVersionSpecificMarkupControl = 5BBBC05A-BD4D-4e3b-AD5B-51A79DFC522F

SOLIDWORKS recommends that you use version-specific CLSIDs, because Microsoft Visual Studio selects them by default. However, because CLSIDs are version specific, with each new release of eDrawings you must edit:

• your application.  

• any HTML pages that reference version-specific CLSIDs.

Although you do not need to edit your application when working with multiple versions of eDrawings when using the version-independent CLSID, if your application uses a newer API than present in an older version of eDrawings installed by your user, your application will not work properly. This scenario can be difficult to debug remotely, especially with HTML applications.

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