How to search for text entities?

There are two classes of text entities: CADMText and CADText. The instance of the CADMText class represents a multiline text in a CAD file. While the instance of the CADText class represents a single-line text in a CAD file.

In this example we will use the "Text.dxf" file. The following picture illustrates this file.

Text.dxf

Let's create a function to search for text entities on the current layout.

1. Add the using directive with the CADImport and CADImport.FaceModule namespaces.

using CADImport;
using CADImport.FaceModule;

More information about CADPictureBox

The CADPictureBox class is the basic implementation of the control element for displaying vector drawings. Visually CADPictureBox includes only area for drawing visualization and can be extended by the required control elements in the project under development.
To get more information about the CAD .NET controls, see What controls does CAD .NET have?

2. Use the control element of the CADPictureBox class:
   • Set the Location property as new Point(10, 30).
   • Set the BackColor property as Color.Black.
   • Set the Size property as new Size(995, 500).
   • Finally, add it to the form.

...

CADPictureBox pictureBox1 = new CADPictureBox(){
  Location = new Point(10, 30),
  BackColor = Color.Black,
  Size = new Size(995, 500),
}

public Form1()
  {
    Controls.Add(pictureBox1);
    InitializeComponent();
  }   

3. Add a new button. Name it SearchForTextEnt. Then create the SearchForTextEnt_Click function to search for text entities by click.

private void CreateCADDrawing(object sender, EventArgs e){

4. Create a new instance of the CADImage class.

  CADImage vDrawing = CADImage.CreateImageByExtension(@"ForText.dxf");
  vDrawing.LoadFromFile(@"ForText.dxf");

Tip

We recommend creating a new drawing object using CreateImageByExtension in case of importing from an existing file or stream.

5. Declare the local variable vRect and specify RectangleF as its type. This variable stores four floating values that represent the location and size of a CAD file. Use the following code to fit the CAD file to pictureBox1. Finally, render the result with the Draw method.

RectangleF vRect;
double vRatio = (double)(vDrawing.AbsHeight * pictureBox1.ClientSize.Width)/ (vDrawing.AbsWidth * pictureBox1.ClientSize.Height);
if (vRatio > 1)
  vRect = new RectangleF(0, 0, (float)(pictureBox1.ClientSize.Width / vRatio), (float)pictureBox1.ClientSize.Height);
else
  vRect = new RectangleF(0, 0, (float)pictureBox1.ClientSize.Width, (float)(pictureBox1.ClientSize.Height * vRatio));
vDrawing.Draw(pictureBox1.CreateGraphics(), vRect);

6. Create a cycle to search for the CADText and CADMText entities on the current layout of vDrawing:
   • Declare the string variable S to store the text data in it.
   • Create a cycle to search for entities on the current layout of vDrawing.
   • Find the CADText entities with the if/else statement.
   • Print the Text, Height, FontName, and Style.Name properties of each CADText instance to MessageBox.
   • Find the CADMText entities with the if/else statement. In case of CADMText, you should create one another cycle to search for all text lines.
   • Store the data in the S variable. Finally, print the S variable to MessageBox.

  for (int i = 0; i < vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Count; i++)
  {
    if (vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Entities[i].EntType == EntityType.Text)
    {
      CADText vText = (CADText)vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Entities[i];
      MessageBox.Show(" CADText: " + vText.Text + " Letters' height: " + vText.Height + " Font name: " + vText.FontName + "\n" + vText.Style.Name);
    }
    if (vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Entities[i].EntType == EntityType.MText)
    {
      CADMText vMText = (CADMText)vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Entities[i];
      for (int j = 0; j < vMText.Block.Count; j++)
        S = S + ((CADText)vMText.Block.Entities[j]).Text + "\n";
      MessageBox.Show("CADMText: \n" + S);
      S = "";
     }

You have created the function to search for text entities on the current layout.

The full code listing.

...
using CADImport;
using CADImport.FaceModule;

namespace WindowsFormsApp1
{
    public partial class Form1 : Form

    {
        CADPictureBox pictureBox1 = new CADPictureBox()
        {
            Location = new Point(10, 30),
            TabIndex = 10,
            BackColor = Color.Black,
            Size = new Size(995, 500)
        };
        public Form1()
        {
            Controls.Add(pictureBox1);
            InitializeComponent();
        } 
        private void SearchForTextEnt_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
          CADImage vDrawing = CADImage.CreateImageByExtension(@"ForText.dxf");
          vDrawing.LoadFromFile(@"ForText.dxf");
          RectangleF vRect;
          double vRatio = (double)(vDrawing.AbsHeight * pictureBox1.ClientSize.Width) / (vDrawing.AbsWidth * pictureBox1.ClientSize.Height);
          if (vRatio > 1)
            vRect = new RectangleF(0, 0, (float)(pictureBox1.ClientSize.Width / vRatio), (float)pictureBox1.ClientSize.Height);
          else
            vRect = new RectangleF(0, 0, (float)pictureBox1.ClientSize.Width, (float)(pictureBox1.ClientSize.Height * vRatio));
          vDrawing.Draw(pictureBox1.CreateGraphics(), vRect);
          string S = "";
          for (int i = 0; i < vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Count; i++)
          {
            if (vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Entities[i].EntType == EntityType.Text)
            {
              CADText vText = (CADText)vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Entities[i];
              MessageBox.Show(" CADText: " + vText.Text + " Letters' height: " + vText.Height + " Font name: " + vText.FontName + "\n" + vText.Style.Name);
            }
            if (vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Entities[i].EntType == EntityType.MText)
            {
              CADMText vMText = (CADMText)vDrawing.CurrentLayout.Entities[i];
              for (int j = 0; j < vMText.Block.Count; j++)
                S = S + ((CADText)vMText.Block.Entities[j]).Text + "\n";
              MessageBox.Show("CADMText: \n" + S);
              S = "";
            }
        }
    }
}