ETO Apps Reference

For ETO apps, the ETO rules define the end-user interface in Configurator 360. Use the designs for UI Rules, such as UICategory, NumberProperty, and UIMessage.

Guidelines for ETO apps

• Like in all apps that use the UI Rules, include in the root design UiPartMixin, and use Property child rules to define the user-interface.
• If the parameters of your model are invalid, turn off the display of the model. To turn off the display, set the relevant parts to NullDesign, display some other part (like a 3D error symbol), or use another technique.
• If useful, use the following rules:

<%%Category("UI")> _
        Parameter Rule Actions As List = { "CreateDWF","CreateSTEP" } '"CreateAssemblyZip","CreateCATIA"
       ]
        Rule displayName As String = "Pile of Blocks"

Use standard Configurator 360 actions

Configurator360.autodesk.com provides several programmed actions on the Options tab Downloads sub tab. These actions are immediately available for the non-ETO types of designs. The following describes some techniques to reuse the actions from ETO applications.

For more information about Tools actions in Configurator 360, see UI Tools actions.

On the C360 side, the standard output children are defined on the same level as Root Part, so they are always available. Typical child for 3D DWF output looks similar to:

Child DWFOutputFile As :OutputDWF
		FileName = %%PRODUCT + ".dwf"
	End Child

Standard actions summary:

Action Name	ETO Design	Child Name	Purpose
3D Outputs
CreateAssemblyZip	Output IAM <OutputIAM>	AssemblyFilesOutputFile	Zip of IAM
CreateDWF	Output DWF <OutputDWF>	DWFOutputFile	DWF
CreateDWFx	Output DWFx <OutputDWFx>	DWFxOutputFile	DWFx
CreateSTEP	Output STEP <OutputSTEP>	STEPOutputFile	STEP
CreateCATIA	Output CATIA <OutputCATIA>	CATIAOutputFile	CATIA
CreateGranite	Output Granite <OutputGranite>	GraniteOutputFile	Granite
CreateIGES	Output IGES <OutputIGES>	IGESOutputFile	IGES
CreateJT	Output JT <OutputJT>	JTOutputFile	JT
CreateParasolidBinary	Output Parasolid Binary <OutputParasolidBinary>	ParasolidBinaryOutputFile
CreateParasolidText	Output Parasolid Text <OutputParasolidText>	ParasolidTextOutputFile
CreateNeutral	Output Neutral <OutputNeutral>	NeutralOutputFile
CreateRFA	Output RFA <OutputRFA>	RFAOutputFile	RFA
CreateSAT	Output SAT <OutputSAT>	SATOutputFile	SAT
CreateSTL	Output STL <OutputSTL>	STLOutputFile
Drawing outputs
CreateDrawingIDW	Output Drawings IDW <OutputDrawingsIDW>	IDWDrawingOutputFile	Inventor IDW
CreateDrawingAutoCADDWG	Output Drawings Acad DWG <OutputDrawingsAcadDWG>	AutoCADDWGDrawingOutputFile	AutoCAD DWG
CreateDrawingDWG	Output Drawings DWG <OutputDrawingsInventorDWG>	DWGDrawingOutputFile	Inventor DWG
CreateDrawingDWF	Output Drawings DWF <OutputDrawingsDWF>	DwfDrawingOutputFile	DWF
CreateDrawingDWFx	Output Drawings DWFx <OutputDrawingsDWFx>	DwfxDrawingOutputFile	DWFx
CreateDrawingPDF	Output Drawings PDF <OutputDrawingsPDF>	PDFDrawingOutputFile	PDF
CreateDXF	Output Drawings DXF <OutputDrawingsDXF>	DxfOutputFile	DXF
Graphics
CreateBMP	Output BMP <OutputBMP>	BMPOutputFile	BMP
CreateGIF	Output GIF <OutputGIF>	GIFOutputFile	GIF
CreateJPEG	Output JPEG <OutputJPEG>	JPEGOutputFile	JPG
CreatePNG	Output PNG <OutputPNG>	PNGOutputFile	PNG
CreateTIFF	Output TIFF <OutputTIFF>	TIFFOutputFile	TIF

Use scenarios

1. Use C360 as-is. Include the Action Name (column 1) into your Actions Rule:

   Rule Actions As List = { "CreateDWF","CreateSTEP" }

   This rule creates the Actions with the exact functionality as on C360.

2. When selecting to pass the nondefault set of Intent Parameters into action (besides inclusion of the Action Name (column 1) into Actions Rule), create a child with the name from column 3 of the Design from column 2.

   Child DWFOutputFile As :OutputDWF
   FileName = %%PRODUCT + ".dwf"
   EnablePrinting? = False
   End Child
   

   In Drawings, to use any drawing outputs, create a child. Pass the Lists of the ETO Drawings Parts necessary to output.

   Rule TheDrawings As List = { Root.Drawing1, Root.Drawing2}
   
   Child DxfOutputFile As :OutputDrawingsDxf
   	ExportDrawings = TheDrawings
   	FileNamePrefix = %%PRODUCT
   End Child
   

3. If more granularity is required for the Output action, create the custom action and use the appropriate ETO Export Design. For more information, see Export Mixin <IvExportMixin> .

Implementing custom output actions on C360 side

The core Intent Design that is a base for all C360 outputs is OutputMixin. For more information, see Configurator 360 Output <Configurator360Output> .

Any Design derived from OutputMixin should implement two Rules:

• Data As Any: Represents the byte array representing the specific file.
• OutputInfo As List: Represents the length-5 list implemented as { FilePath, FileType, Filename, FileExtension, Data}.

The workhorse Intent Rule is Data Rule. This rule is expected to be implemented in the derived Design. This Rule is intentionally Uncached. The purpose of the Rule is to return byte array (byte [ ] in C# notation) of the data that represents the file image of the specified output format.

The Data may return NoValue when the output is not available.

OutputInfo Rule combines the values of the supplied Parameters into Intent List.

Typical implementation of the OutputMixin extension is:

Design CustomOutput : OutputMixin

'# ------------------------------
'# PARAMETERS
'# ------------------------------

<Your parameters>

'# ------------------------------
'#  C360 PARAMETERS
'# ------------------------------
' C360 - Required parameters

<%%Category("Outputs")> _
Parameter Rule FileName As String = "CustomOutput.zip"

<%%Category("Outputs")> _
Parameter Rule FileExtension As String = ".zip"

<%%Category("Outputs")> _
Parameter Rule FileType As String = "My Custom Output"

' C360 - Outputs

<%%Category("Outputs")> _
Uncached Rule OutputInfo As List = { FilePath, FileType, Filename, FileExtension, Data}

<%%Category("Outputs")> _
Uncached Rule Data = MyBytesCreator() ' assumes zip array

End Design