Creating Add-in Hooks (VB.NET)

This topic shows how to implement IEdmAddIn5::GetAddInInfo and IEdmAddIn5::OnCmd in your add-in to have SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional notify your add-in whenever a file is added, checked out, or checked in.

NOTE: Because SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional cannot force a reload of add-ins if they are written in .NET, all client machines must be restarted to ensure that the latest version of the add-in is used.  

1. Call IEdmCmdMgr5::AddHook from your add-in's GetAddInInfo method for each activity you want your add-in to know about. Implement IEdmAddIn5::GetAddInInfo in your add-in as follows:

Public Sub GetAddInInfo(ByRef poInfo As EdmLib.EdmAddInInfo, ByVal poVault As EdmLib.IEdmVault5, ByVal poCmdMgr As EdmLib.IEdmCmdMgr5) Implements EdmLib.IEdmAddIn5.GetAddInInfo

  'Specify add-in information
  poInfo.mbsAddInName = "My first add-in"
  poInfo.mbsCompany = "The name of my company"

  poInfo.mbsDescription = "This is a very nice add-in."
  poInfo.mlAddInVersion = 1

  'Specify minimum version of SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional
  poInfo.mlRequiredVersionMajor = 5
  poInfo.mlRequiredVersionMinor = 2


  'Notify when a file has been added
  poCmdMgr.AddHook(EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PostAdd)

  'Notify when a file has been checked out
  poCmdMgr.AddHook(EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PostLock)

  'Notify when a file is about to be checked in
  poCmdMgr.AddHook(EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PreUnlock)

  'Notify when a file has been checked in
  poCmdMgr.AddHook(EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PostUnlock)

End Sub

2. Implement IEdmAddIn5::OnCmd in your add-in as follows:

Public Sub OnCmd(ByRef poCmd As EdmLib.EdmCmd, ByRef ppoData As System.Array) Implements EdmLib.IEdmAddIn5.OnCmd

  'Check the type of hook that triggered this call
  Dim name As String
  Select Case poCmd.meCmdType
    Case EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PostAdd 
      name = "PostAdd"
    Case EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PostLock 
      name = "PostLock"
    Case EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PreUnlock 
      name = "PreUnlock"
    Case EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PostUnlock 
      name = "PostUnlock"
    Case Else 
      name = "?"
  End Select

  'Check the upper and lower bounds of the array
  Dim message As String
  message = ""
  Dim index As Long
  index = LBound(ppoData)
  Dim last As Long
  last = UBound(ppoData)

  'Append the paths of all files to a string
  While index <= last
    message = message + ppoData(index).mbsStrData1 + vbLf
    index = index + 1
  End While

  'Display a message to the user
  message = "The following files were affected by a " + name + " hook:" + vbLf + message

  Dim vault As EdmVault5
  vault = poCmd.mpoVault
  vault.MsgBox(poCmd.mlParentWnd, message)

End Sub

OnCmd is called for each of the hooks registered in GetAddInInfo. You can tell which hook triggered the call to OnCmd by inspecting the meCmdType member of the EdmCmd structure that is passed as poCmd in OnCmd. meCmdType contains an EdmCmdType constant that indicates the triggering hook.

The second argument to OnCmd is an array of EdmCmdData structures. There is one element in the array for each file that is affected by the call. The contents of the structure members vary depending on the type of hook that is executed. See EdmCmdData for a complete list of members and their descriptions.

3. Click Build > Build Solution to build the add-in.

4. Install the add-in through the SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional Administration tool:
    
   1. Open the SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional Administration tool.
       
   2. Expand the vault where you want to install this add-in and log in as Admin.
       
   3. Right-click Add-ins and click New Add-in.
       
   4. Browse to project_path\project_name\project_name\bin\Debug, click project_name.dll and Interop.EdmLib.dll.
       
   5. Click Open.
       
   6. Click OK.
       
   7. Click OK.

5. Try adding, checking out, and checking in vault files.

NOTE: OnCmd is not called during check-in if the file is not modified before it is checked in. During check-in of unmodified files, SOLIDWORKS PDM Professional triggers an "undo check-out" event. To handle this "undo check-out" event, add hooks for EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PreUndoLock and EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_PostUndoLock to your add-in's GetAddInInfo.