AutoCAD .NET: Jig MultiLeader (MLeader) Using EntityJig and C#

We provided various jig implementations before, either using EntityJig or DrawJig, either from scratch or with the assistance of the Entity Jigger or Draw Jigger of AcadNetAddinWizard(Pro).
Recently, Damyan requested a jig for MultiLeader. Since the MultiLeader is becoming more and more popular, we think it’s worth of another post to demonstrate how to jig a MultiLeader programmatically using AutoCAD .NET and C#.

Here we go.

#region Namespaces

using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Linq;
using System.Xml;
using System.Reflection;
using System.ComponentModel;
using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using System.Windows;
using System.Windows.Media.Imaging;
using System.Windows.Forms;
using System.Drawing;
using System.IO;

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.EditorInput;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Geometry;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Windows;

using MgdAcApplication = Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.Application;
using MgdAcDocument = Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices.Document;
using AcWindowsNS = Autodesk.AutoCAD.Windows;

#endregion

namespace AcadNetCSharp
{
    public class MLeaderJigger : EntityJig
    {
        #region Fields

        public int mCurJigFactorIndex = 1; // Jig Factor Index

        public Autodesk.AutoCAD.Geometry.Point3d mArrowLocation; // Jig Factor #1
        public Autodesk.AutoCAD.Geometry.Point3d mTextLocation; // Jig Factor #2
        public string mMText; // Jig Factor #3

        #endregion

        #region Constructors

        public MLeaderJigger(MLeader ent)
            : base(ent)
        {
            Entity.SetDatabaseDefaults();

            Entity.ContentType = ContentType.MTextContent;
            Entity.MText = new MText();
            Entity.MText.SetDatabaseDefaults();

            Entity.EnableDogleg = true;
            Entity.EnableLanding = true;
            Entity.EnableFrameText = false;

            Entity.AddLeaderLine(mTextLocation);
            Entity.SetFirstVertex(0, mArrowLocation);

            Entity.TransformBy(UCS);
        }

        #endregion

        #region Properties

        private Editor Editor
        {
            get
            {
                return MgdAcApplication.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;
            }
        }

        private Matrix3d UCS
        {
            get
            {
                return MgdAcApplication.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor.CurrentUserCoordinateSystem;
            }
        }

        #endregion

        #region Overrides

        public new MLeader Entity // Overload the Entity property for convenience.
        {
            get
            {
                return base.Entity as MLeader;
            }
        }

        protected override bool Update()
        {

            switch (mCurJigFactorIndex)
            {
                case 1:
                    Entity.SetFirstVertex(0, mArrowLocation);
                    Entity.SetLastVertex(0, mArrowLocation);

                    break;
                case 2:
                    Entity.SetLastVertex(0, mTextLocation);

                    break;
                case 3:
                    Entity.MText.Contents = mMText;

                    break;

                default:
                    return false;
            }

            return true;
        }

        protected override SamplerStatus Sampler(JigPrompts prompts)
        {
            switch (mCurJigFactorIndex)
            {
                case 1:
                    JigPromptPointOptions prOptions1 = new JigPromptPointOptions("\nArrow Location:");
                    // Set properties such as UseBasePoint and BasePoint of the prompt options object if necessary here.
                    prOptions1.UserInputControls = UserInputControls.Accept3dCoordinates | UserInputControls.GovernedByOrthoMode | UserInputControls.GovernedByUCSDetect | UserInputControls.UseBasePointElevation;
                    PromptPointResult prResult1 = prompts.AcquirePoint(prOptions1);
                    if (prResult1.Status == PromptStatus.Cancel && prResult1.Status == PromptStatus.Error)
                        return SamplerStatus.Cancel;

                    if (prResult1.Value.Equals(mArrowLocation)) //Use better comparison method if necessary.
                    {
                        return SamplerStatus.NoChange;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        mArrowLocation = prResult1.Value;
                        return SamplerStatus.OK;
                    }
                case 2:
                    JigPromptPointOptions prOptions2 = new JigPromptPointOptions("\nLanding Location:");
                    // Set properties such as UseBasePoint and BasePoint of the prompt options object if necessary here.
                    prOptions2.UseBasePoint = true;
                    prOptions2.BasePoint = mArrowLocation;
                    prOptions2.UserInputControls = UserInputControls.Accept3dCoordinates | UserInputControls.GovernedByOrthoMode | UserInputControls.GovernedByUCSDetect | UserInputControls.UseBasePointElevation;
                    PromptPointResult prResult2 = prompts.AcquirePoint(prOptions2);
                    if (prResult2.Status == PromptStatus.Cancel && prResult2.Status == PromptStatus.Error)
                        return SamplerStatus.Cancel;

                    if (prResult2.Value.Equals(mTextLocation)) //Use better comparison method if necessary.
                    {
                        return SamplerStatus.NoChange;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        mTextLocation = prResult2.Value;
                        return SamplerStatus.OK;
                    }
                case 3:
                    JigPromptStringOptions prOptions3 = new JigPromptStringOptions("\nText Content:");
                    // Set properties such as UseBasePoint and BasePoint of the prompt options object if necessary here.
                    prOptions3.UserInputControls = UserInputControls.AcceptOtherInputString;
                    PromptResult prResult3 = prompts.AcquireString(prOptions3);
                    if (prResult3.Status == PromptStatus.Cancel && prResult3.Status == PromptStatus.Error)
                        return SamplerStatus.Cancel;

                    if (prResult3.StringResult.Equals(mMText)) //Use better comparison method if necessary.
                    {
                        return SamplerStatus.NoChange;
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        mMText = prResult3.StringResult;
                        return SamplerStatus.OK;
                    }

                default:
                    break;
            }

            return SamplerStatus.OK;
        }

        #endregion

        #region Methods to Call

        public static MLeader Jig()
        {
            MLeaderJigger jigger = null;
            try
            {
                jigger = new MLeaderJigger(new MLeader());
                PromptResult pr;
                do
                {
                    pr = MgdAcApplication.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor.Drag(jigger);
                    if (pr.Status == PromptStatus.Keyword)
                    {
                        // Keyword handling code

                    }
                    else
                    {
                        jigger.mCurJigFactorIndex++;
                    }
                } while (pr.Status != PromptStatus.Cancel && pr.Status != PromptStatus.Error && jigger.mCurJigFactorIndex <= 3);

                if (pr.Status == PromptStatus.Cancel || pr.Status == PromptStatus.Error)
                {
                    if (jigger != null && jigger.Entity != null)
                        jigger.Entity.Dispose();

                    return null;
                }
                else
                {
                    MText text = new MText();
                    text.Contents = jigger.mMText;
                    text.TransformBy(jigger.UCS);
                    jigger.Entity.MText = text;
                    return jigger.Entity;
                }
            }
            catch
            {
                if (jigger != null && jigger.Entity != null)
                    jigger.Entity.Dispose();

                return null;
            }
        }

        #endregion

        #region Test Commands

        [CommandMethod("TestMLeaderJigger")]
        public static void TestMLeaderJigger_Method()
        {
            try
            {
                Entity jigEnt = MLeaderJigger.Jig();
                if (jigEnt != null)
                {
                    Database db = HostApplicationServices.WorkingDatabase;
                    using (Transaction tr = db.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
                    {
                        BlockTableRecord btr = (BlockTableRecord)tr.GetObject(db.CurrentSpaceId, OpenMode.ForWrite);
                        btr.AppendEntity(jigEnt);
                        tr.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(jigEnt, true);
                        tr.Commit();
                    }
                }
            }
            catch (System.Exception ex)
            {
                MgdAcApplication.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor.WriteMessage(ex.ToString());
            }
        }

        #endregion
    }
}

The workflow and output may look like the following:

As can be seen, it follows almost exactly the same default jigging steps that the AutoCAD native MLeader command does. In addition, UCS is honored perfectly. From coding perspective, the Entity Jigger of AcadNetAddinWizardPro was used to set up the jigging framework to save time and effort.

By the way, the leading edge AutoCAD .NET Addin Wizard Professional (AcadNetAddinWizardPro) helped create the project, the jig class, and the test command automatically in a moment. If you find the article, code, or any wizards/coders/widgets or AcadNetAddinWizardPro, please kindly make a donation.