To copy an object, use the Clone function provided for that object. This method creates a new object that is a duplicate of the original object. Once the duplicate object is created, you can then modify it prior to adding or appending it to the database. If you do not transform the object or change its position, the new object will be located in the same position as the original.
If you have a large number of objects you might want to copy, you can add each of the object ids to an ObjectIdCollection object and then iterate each of the objects. As you iterate each object, you can then use the Clone function for each object and then add or append the new object to the database.
The following example creates a new circle and then creates a direct copy of the circle to create a second circle.
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.Geometry
<CommandMethod("SingleCopy")> _
Public Sub SingleCopy()
'' Get the current document and database
Dim acDoc As Document = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument
Dim acCurDb As Database = acDoc.Database
'' Start a transaction
Using acTrans As Transaction = acCurDb.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()
'' Open the Block table for read
Dim acBlkTbl As BlockTable
acBlkTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.BlockTableId, OpenMode.ForRead)
'' Open the Block table record Model space for write
Dim acBlkTblRec As BlockTableRecord
acBlkTblRec = acTrans.GetObject(acBlkTbl(BlockTableRecord.ModelSpace), _
OpenMode.ForWrite)
'' Create a circle that is at 2,3 with a radius of 4.25
Using acCirc As Circle = New Circle()
acCirc.Center = New Point3d(2, 3, 0)
acCirc.Radius = 4.25
'' Add the new object to the block table record and the transaction
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acCirc)
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acCirc, True)
'' Create a copy of the circle and change its radius
Dim acCircClone As Circle = acCirc.Clone()
acCircClone.Radius = 1
'' Add the cloned circle
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acCircClone)
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acCircClone, True)
End Using
'' Save the new object to the database
acTrans.Commit()
End Using
End Sub
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Geometry;
[CommandMethod("SingleCopy")]
public static void SingleCopy()
{
// Get the current document and database
Document acDoc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
Database acCurDb = acDoc.Database;
// Start a transaction
using (Transaction acTrans = acCurDb.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
{
// Open the Block table for read
BlockTable acBlkTbl;
acBlkTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.BlockTableId,
OpenMode.ForRead) as BlockTable;
// Open the Block table record Model space for write
BlockTableRecord acBlkTblRec;
acBlkTblRec = acTrans.GetObject(acBlkTbl[BlockTableRecord.ModelSpace],
OpenMode.ForWrite) as BlockTableRecord;
// Create a circle that is at 2,3 with a radius of 4.25
using (Circle acCirc = new Circle())
{
acCirc.Center = new Point3d(2, 3, 0);
acCirc.Radius = 4.25;
// Add the new object to the block table record and the transaction
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acCirc);
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acCirc, true);
// Create a copy of the circle and change its radius
Circle acCircClone = acCirc.Clone() as Circle;
acCircClone.Radius = 1;
// Add the cloned circle
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acCircClone);
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acCircClone, true);
}
// Save the new object to the database
acTrans.Commit();
}
}
Sub SingleCopy()
' Define the Circle object
Dim centerPoint(0 To 2) As Double
centerPoint(0) = 2: centerPoint(1) = 3: centerPoint(2) = 0
' Define the radius for the initial circle
Dim radius As Double
radius = 4.25
' Define the radius for the copied circle
Dim radiusCopy As Double
radiusCopy = 1#
' Add the new circle to model space
Dim circleObj As AcadCircle
Set circleObj = ThisDrawing.ModelSpace.AddCircle(centerPoint, radius)
' Create a copy of the circle
Dim circleObjCopy As AcadCircle
Set circleObjCopy = circleObj.Copy()
circleObjCopy.radius = radiusCopy
End Sub
The following example uses an ObjectIdCollection object to track the objects that should be copied. Once the object ids are added to the collection, the collection is iterated and new objects are created by using the Clone method and then are added to Model space.
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices
Imports Autodesk.AutoCAD.Geometry
<CommandMethod("MultipleCopy")> _
Public Sub MultipleCopy()
'' Get the current document and database
Dim acDoc As Document = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument
Dim acCurDb As Database = acDoc.Database
'' Start a transaction
Using acTrans As Transaction = acCurDb.TransactionManager.StartTransaction()
'' Open the Block table for read
Dim acBlkTbl As BlockTable
acBlkTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.BlockTableId, OpenMode.ForRead)
'' Open the Block table record Model space for write
Dim acBlkTblRec As BlockTableRecord
acBlkTblRec = acTrans.GetObject(acBlkTbl(BlockTableRecord.ModelSpace), _
OpenMode.ForWrite)
'' Create a circle that is at (0,0,0) with a radius of 5
Using acCirc1 As Circle = New Circle()
acCirc1.Center = New Point3d(0, 0, 0)
acCirc1.Radius = 5
'' Add the new object to the block table record and the transaction
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acCirc1)
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acCirc1, True)
'' Create a circle that is at (0,0,0) with a radius of 7
Using acCirc2 As Circle = New Circle()
acCirc2.Center = New Point3d(0, 0, 0)
acCirc2.Radius = 7
'' Add the new object to the block table record and the transaction
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acCirc2)
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acCirc2, True)
'' Add all the objects to clone
Dim acDBObjColl As DBObjectCollection = New DBObjectCollection()
acDBObjColl.Add(acCirc1)
acDBObjColl.Add(acCirc2)
For Each acEnt As Entity In acDBObjColl
Dim acEntClone As Entity
acEntClone = acEnt.Clone()
acEntClone.ColorIndex = 1
'' Create a matrix and move each copied entity 15 units
acEntClone.TransformBy(Matrix3d.Displacement(New Vector3d(15, 0, 0)))
'' Add the cloned object
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acEntClone)
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acEntClone, True)
Next
End Using
End Using
'' Save the new object to the database
acTrans.Commit()
End Using
End Sub
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Geometry;
[CommandMethod("MultipleCopy")]
public static void MultipleCopy()
{
// Get the current document and database
Document acDoc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
Database acCurDb = acDoc.Database;
// Start a transaction
using (Transaction acTrans = acCurDb.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
{
// Open the Block table for read
BlockTable acBlkTbl;
acBlkTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.BlockTableId,
OpenMode.ForRead) as BlockTable;
// Open the Block table record Model space for write
BlockTableRecord acBlkTblRec;
acBlkTblRec = acTrans.GetObject(acBlkTbl[BlockTableRecord.ModelSpace],
OpenMode.ForWrite) as BlockTableRecord;
// Create a circle that is at (0,0,0) with a radius of 5
using (Circle acCirc1 = new Circle())
{
acCirc1.Center = new Point3d(0, 0, 0);
acCirc1.Radius = 5;
// Add the new object to the block table record and the transaction
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acCirc1);
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acCirc1, true);
// Create a circle that is at (0,0,0) with a radius of 7
using (Circle acCirc2 = new Circle())
{
acCirc2.Center = new Point3d(0, 0, 0);
acCirc2.Radius = 7;
// Add the new object to the block table record and the transaction
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acCirc2);
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acCirc2, true);
// Add all the objects to clone
DBObjectCollection acDBObjColl = new DBObjectCollection();
acDBObjColl.Add(acCirc1);
acDBObjColl.Add(acCirc2);
foreach (Entity acEnt in acDBObjColl)
{
Entity acEntClone;
acEntClone = acEnt.Clone() as Entity;
acEntClone.ColorIndex = 1;
// Create a matrix and move each copied entity 15 units
acEntClone.TransformBy(Matrix3d.Displacement(new Vector3d(15, 0, 0)));
// Add the cloned object
acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acEntClone);
acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acEntClone, true);
}
}
}
// Save the new object to the database
acTrans.Commit();
}
}
Sub MultipleCopy()
' Define the Circle object
Dim centerPoint(0 To 2) As Double
centerPoint(0) = 0: centerPoint(1) = 0: centerPoint(2) = 0
Dim radius1 As Double, radius2 As Double
radius1 = 5#: radius2 = 7#
' Add two circles to the current drawing
Dim circleObj1 As AcadCircle, circleObj2 As AcadCircle
Set circleObj1 = ThisDrawing.ModelSpace.AddCircle _
(centerPoint, radius1)
Set circleObj2 = ThisDrawing.ModelSpace.AddCircle _
(centerPoint, radius2)
' First put the objects to be copied into a form compatible
' with CopyObjects
Dim objCollection(0 To 1) As Object
Set objCollection(0) = circleObj1
Set objCollection(1) = circleObj2
' Copy the objects into the model space. A
' collection of the new (copied) objects is returned.
Dim retObjects As Variant
retObjects = ThisDrawing.CopyObjects(objCollection)
Dim ptFrom(0 To 2) As Double
ptFrom(0) = 0: ptFrom(1) = 0: ptFrom(2) = 0
Dim ptTo(0 To 2) As Double
ptTo(0) = 15: ptTo(1) = 0: ptTo(2) = 0
Dim nCount As Integer
For nCount = 0 To UBound(retObjects)
Dim entObj As AcadEntity
Set entObj = retObjects(nCount)
entObj.color = acRed
entObj.Move ptFrom, ptTo
Next
End Sub