Accessing .NET Objects

 

Maptitude can access .NET objects in several ways:

• Act as a .NET client
• Create a window containing a .NET control (i.e. a .NET class which inherits System.Windows.Forms.Control)
• Create .NET controls in dialog boxes

When Maptitude acts as a .NET client, the DotNetObject variable type provides access to .NET objects.

 

GISDK Function	Summary
CreateManagedObject()	Creates a new instance of a .NET Object

 

For example, you can read an Xml Document as follows:

 

document = CreateManagedObject("System.Xml", "System.Xml.XmlDocument",)

 

To get and set properties of the .NET Object, use dot notation:

 

Obj.Property

 

For example:

 

rootNode = document.DocumentElement

node.InnerText = "Some text"

 

You can also use this form:

 

rootName = document.DocumentElement.Name

 

For indexed properties or collections, use this form:

 

Obj.Property[idx]

 

For example:

 

for i = 1 to rootNode.ChildNodes.Count do

   child = rootNode.ChildNodes[i-1]

   end

 

You can use string indices inside square brackets on .NET collections:

 

item = rootNode.Item["book"]

 

Use dot notation to call methods on the COMObject:

 

Obj.Method(args)

 

For example:

 

newNode = document.CreateNode("element", "item", null)

rootNode.AppendChild(newNode)

 

To access static properties or call a static method on a .NET class you need to first use an object which represents the .NET class:

 

dateTimeClass = GetManagedClass(null, "System.DateTime")

currentTime = dateTimeClass.Now

 

There are two ways to set properties based on enumerated types. One is to use an object which represents the .NET class and access the enumerated type as a property. The other is to set a property directly with a string of the given name. For example, to set the Priority property of the System.Web.Mail.MailMessage class, you can either do:

  

mail = CreateManagedObject("System.Web", "System.Web.Mail.MailMessage",)

mail_priority = GetManagedClass("System.Web", " System.Web.Mail.MailPriority")

mail.Priority = mail_priority.High

 

or you can simply do:

 

mail = CreateManagedObject("System.Web", "System.Web.Mail.MailMessage",)

mail.Priority = "High"

 

You can use these other .NET-related GISDK functions:

 

GISDK Function	Summary
CloseDotNetControl()	Closes the window containing the .NET control
ConvertManagedObjectType()	Access a .NET object using a different interface type
CreateDotNetControl()	Creates a new .NET control window
GetDotNetControlObject()	Gets the .NET object in a .NET control window
GetManagedClass()	Gets an object representing the .NET class for calling static methods
SetDotNetControlTitle()	Sets the title of a .NET control window

 

For more information on .NET control windows, see Windows.

 

You can also create .NET controls in dialog boxes; for more information, see .NET Control Items.