About the Process of Using ActiveX Functions (AutoLISP/ActiveX)

In this section, you saw code examples that led to the drawing of a circle object in an AutoCAD drawing using ActiveX Automation. The following sequence of function calls was used:

(vl-load-com)
(setq acadObject   (vlax-get-acad-object))
(setq acadDocument (vla-get-ActiveDocument acadObject))
(setq mSpace       (vla-get-ModelSpace acadDocument))
(setq mycircle     (vla-addCircle mSpace 
     (vlax-3d-point '(3.0 3.0 0.0)) 2.0))

The statements in this example accomplished the following:

• Loaded AutoLISP ActiveX support functions.
• Returned a pointer to the Application object.
• Obtained a pointer to the current active Document object, using the ActiveDocument property of the Application object. This provided access to the current AutoCAD drawing.
• Obtained a pointer to the ModelSpace object, using the ModelSpace property of the Document object.
• Drew a circle in the ModelSpace.

The hierarchical path traversed in the AutoCAD object model is pictured below: