Cadalyst - October 2007 - (Page 38)

cadmanager Programming Resources for CAD Managers Learning to program can make you more independent and more valuable. By Robert Green A Glossary of Programming Terms T o program or not to program — that is the CAD management question. I’d like to give you some solid reasons as to why programming is a valuable skill for you, point you toward some resources, and give you a strategy for building your knowledge, whether you’re a beginner or seasoned veteran. I think everyone will be able to gain something from this discussion. API. Advanced programming interface; allows programmers to link custom programming to the CAD tool; some programs, such as AutoCAD, support multiple APIs — AutoLISP, VBA, and Visual Studio — but others support only one. AutoLISP. A programming language used by Autodesk’s AutoCAD product line for customization. .NET. Microsoft’s newer programming language environment, which is a direct descendant of Visual Basic; typically purchased in one of Microsoft’s Visual Studio packages, .NET is now the standard programming framework for most CAD packages. Properties. A list of parameters that can be accessed by a programming language; as an example, users can right-click on any file in Explorer and list the file’s properties; in CAD environments, individual objects have properties as well; for example, a line would have two endpoints as properties. VB. Visual Basic; Microsoft programming language that has been used extensively during the past seven years and not just for CAD customization; Visual Basic is being replaced by .NET. VBA. Visual Basic Automation; programming language based on Microsoft’s Visual Basic environment that runs only inside the CAD tool rather than in an external programming environment; the benefit of VBA is that any user can run VBA programs without purchasing expensive compilers. Visual LISP. An extension to AutoLISP introduced with AutoCAD 2000. Why Program At All? This question is reasonable, especially for CAD managers who face the project pressures of staying billable and managing CAD production tasks. The main reasons I see for CAD managers to become programmers are as follows: Making things easier for users. Programming allows you to collapse complex processes into automated processes that require little or no time on users’ parts. And when you make things easier for users, they get more work done with less chance of error, all of which is good for your company. Becoming more independent. If you can do your own programming, you won’t be dependent on somebody else. As you gain more comfort, you’ll jump at the chance to automate tasks or create custom interfaces for specific projects or tasks without having to worry about support resources. Becoming more marketable. During the past several years of my CAD manager’s survey, the importance of programming skills have become more pronounced. More companies want CAD managers with programming skills and, most importantly, are willing to pay more for CAD managers with those skills. Want to be more marketable and better compensated? Programming helps you achieve both goals. Getting Started Now that you’re pumped up about programming, you need to take concrete action to start or expand your learning curve in the right place. Part of this first task is assessing honestly what you know and don’t know, so you can begin educating yourself with the right sources. To help you assess your skill set, I’ll present a short list of programming technologies, their benefits, and some diag38 October 2007 | cadalyst | www.cadalyst.com nostics so you can figure out where you stack up. I’ll present my list starting from the most basic and get more advanced as I go. Along the way I may refer to some programming buzzwords, which I’ll define in the Glossary sidebar above. Menu and toolbar customization. Some people might not call this programming, but I like to include it because it’s a way that you can transform out-of-the-box CAD tools into a customized user interface (CUI). The level of customization varies for each CAD tool, with AutoCAD-based CAD tools being extremely customizable with the built-in CUI command. Almost all CAD tools allow you to control the toolbar interfaces by adding, subtracting, or combining various command tools onto custom toolbars. Some, including AutoCAD, even allow you to perform lightweight programming via script or macro language to accelerate repetitive tasks. Learning tip. If you’ve never performed these types of customizations, start here, because customizing the user interface is the basis for delivering more advanced program- http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - October 2007

Contents Editor's Window Cad Central Tech Trends: First-Hand Architecture in Second Life Rev It Up — Graphics Cards Pack Power for Today’s Hottest Designs TurboCAD Pro 14 — 3D Modeling Software SimEnterprise R2 — Design Simulation Software CADopia 6.2 SP3 Professional Edition — 2D and 3D Modeling Software Cad Manager: Programming Resources for CAD Managers MCAD Modeling: Customer Service Horror Stories PLM Strategies: Manufacturing Across Time Zones AEC in Focus: Digital-Asset Management in AEC/O Cad Cartoon Issue Indexes Cadfidential

Cadalyst - October 2007

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