AutoCAD and Civil 3D APIs

APIs for Autodesk Autocad and Autodesk Autocad Civil 3d

The AutoCAD API, or Application Programming Interface, is a powerful framework that allows developers to extend and customize AutoCAD software to meet specific needs and workflows. It provides a set of functions, classes, and libraries that enable the creation of custom applications and tools that seamlessly integrate with AutoCAD's core functionality. With the AutoCAD API, developers can automate repetitive tasks, create custom drawing commands, manipulate drawing elements, and interact with various design data, making it an invaluable resource for industries like architecture, engineering, and construction. Whether it's automating complex design processes or enhancing user productivity, the AutoCAD API empowers developers to unlock the full potential of AutoCAD and tailor it to their unique requirements.

 

Choice of Language:

AutoCAD provides APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) for several programming languages to facilitate custom development and automation. Some of the programming languages for which AutoCAD APIs are available include:

AutoLISP: AutoLISP is a dialect of the Lisp programming language that is specifically designed for AutoCAD. It is one of the most widely used languages for customizing AutoCAD.

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA): VBA is an integrated development environment provided by AutoCAD for creating macros and automating tasks. However, note that VBA support has been phased out in recent versions of AutoCAD.

Visual Basic .NET (VB.NET): VB.NET is a modern version of the Visual Basic language that can be used with AutoCAD through its .NET API.

C# (C Sharp): C# is a popular .NET language and is well-supported for creating AutoCAD add-ins and applications.

C++: AutoCAD provides a comprehensive C++ API for creating high-performance custom applications and plugins.

ObjectARX: ObjectARX is a set of C++ libraries provided by Autodesk for building custom AutoCAD applications. It is particularly useful for complex and high-performance applications.

JavaScript: AutoCAD has a JavaScript API that allows you to create web-based applications and interfaces that interact with AutoCAD.

Python: While not officially supported by Autodesk, there are third-party libraries and wrappers, such as pyautocad and PythonNET, that enable Python developers to interact with AutoCAD.

AutoCAD .NET API: This API allows developers to work with AutoCAD using .NET languages like C# and VB.NET, making it easier to integrate AutoCAD functionality into .NET applications.

It's important to note that the availability and features of these APIs may vary depending on the version of AutoCAD you are using. Autodesk continually updates and enhances these APIs with each new release of AutoCAD, so it's essential to refer to the official Autodesk documentation for the specific version you are working with to get the most accurate and up-to-date information on API capabilities and usage.

Here is link to procedure to setup to create your first program in VB.net program for AutoCAD using AutoCAD and Civil 3D api.

Send an email to a list of email addresses using python and Gmail

Before sending emails using Gmail and python, you will need to enable the 2-step Verification.

Enable 2-step Verification:

1. To Enable 2-step Verification in your google account, go to Gmail.

2. Click on the "profile picture" > "Manage your Google Account"  in top right corner.

3. Now you will be taken to the Settings Screen. On left hand of this screen, there are various options. Click on Security from Left side Tab and scroll down to "How you sign in to Google". 

4. Click on the Arrow to right side of 2-step Then click and Enable the "2-step Verification". It may ask you for your Google account's password for confirmation.

5. Once you have enabled 2-step Verification, scroll down to "App passwords" and under the "App password", click on the arrow to right.

6. Now you will able to create passwords for your Apps. After clicking on the arrow, you will taken to following screen.

7. Here, you will select "Mail" from drop down menu in "Select App" box.

8.  Select "Other" from drop down menu of "Select device".

9. Now enter a custom name for your app in the window shown below and click on "Generate" button to create a password for your custom app.

 
10. Copy and save the password shown in the next window in a text file or where-ever you like. This password will be used in our python code as password to login into your Gmail account.

Code to send Emails:

The following code will send emails to the group separated by a time of 40+ seconds.

Note:

The program contains a list named "mail_list" to send emails to each of these. You can replace them with your own list of emails. A file named "file.txt" is also attached to the email. This 'file.txt' can be changed to any file with allowable size.

You will replace the "from@sender.com" with your own Gmail address and 'password' with password obtained in step 10.

Replace 'Email Subject' with your own email subject and 'email body text' with your email body text. For 'email body text', \n may be inserted to write to a new line.

Since all of the above mentioned changes are in string format, so they should be enclosed in ' ' to keep them in string format.

import smtplib

from email import encoders

from email.mime.base import MIMEBase

from email.mime.multipart import MIMEMultipart

from email.mime.text import MIMEText

import time

mail_list = ['example1@domain1.com',

             'example2@domain1.com',

             'example3@domain1.com']

for rec_email in mail_list:

    sender_email = "from@sender.com"

    sender_password = 'password'

    recipient_email = rec_email

   

    subject = 'Email Subject'

    body = 'email body text'

   

    attachmentFile = 'file.txt'

    with open(attachmentFile, "rb") as attachment:

       

        # Adding the attachment

        part = MIMEBase("application", "octet-stream")

        part.set_payload(attachment.read())

    encoders.encode_base64(part)

    part.add_header(

        "Content-Disposition",

        f"attachment; filename = {attachmentFile}",

    )

    message = MIMEMultipart()

    message['Subject'] = subject

    message['From'] = sender_email

    message['To'] = recipient_email

    html_part = MIMEText(body)

    message.attach(html_part)

    message.attach(part)

    with smtplib.SMTP_SSL('smtp.gmail.com', 465) as server:

            try:

                server.login(sender_email, sender_password)

                server.sendmail(sender_email,

                                recipient_email, message.as_string())

            except Exception as e:

                print(getattr(e, 'message', repr(e)))

    print(f'sent to {recipient_email}')

    #wait for 40+ seconds before sending second email

    time.sleep(40 + (random.randint(0,9)))