11 Creating a Custom Command

CREATING A CUSTOM GEOMEDIA GRID COMMAND:

A TUTORIAL

Version 14.00.00

October 2013

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About Us

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Contents About Us ....................................................................................................................................................... 3

Tutorial: Creating a Custom Grid Analysis Command ............................................................................ 7

Creating a Custom Grid Analysis Command .......................................................................................... 7 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 7 Tutorial Files and Data ..................................................................................................................... 7 Text Conventions .............................................................................................................................. 7 How This Tutorial Should Be Used .................................................................................................. 7

The GeoMedia Grid Sample Command Project ..................................................................................... 8 Sample C# Command ...................................................................................................................... 8 Rebranding the Command ............................................................................................................... 8 Installing the Custom Command .................................................................................................... 10

Using the Command in GeoMedia Desktop ......................................................................................... 11 Verifying the Command in GeoMedia Desktop .............................................................................. 11 Testing the Custom Command ....................................................................................................... 12

Contents

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Tutorial: Creating a Custom Grid Analysis Command

Creating a Custom Grid Analysis Command

Introduction

This tutorial provides an example of the steps involved in creating a custom Grid Analysis command. Using the Visual Studio 2010 IDE and the GeoMedia InstallAppCmd utility, a command can be created and added to GeoMedia Desktop. Topics covered in this tutorial include:

Rebranding the template C# command

Registering a C# command for use within GeoMedia Desktop

Adding a C# command to GeoMedia Desktop

Testing a C# command in the context of GeoMedia Desktop

Tutorial Files and Data

The tutorial includes a C# project that can be used as a template to create custom GeoMedia Grid commands.

Text Conventions

There are several conventions used throughout this tutorial:

Ribbon bar items are shown as: On the Aaa tab, in the Bbb panel, click Ccc > Ddd.

Dialog box names, field names, and button names are depicted using bolded text.

Information to be entered, either by selecting from a list or by typing, is depicted using italicized text.

How This Tutorial Should Be Used

This tutorial is intended for those who want to create custom Grid Analysis commands.

Users of this tutorial should have familiarity with C# .NET programming practices, should have a good working knowledge of GeoMedia Desktop, and should ideally have worked through the Learning Grid Analysis Tutorial.


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The GeoMedia Grid Sample Command Project

Sample C# Command

A sample C# project is delivered with Grid Analysis. This project is installed automatically and can be found in the \Grid Analysis Tutorials\Creating a Custom Command Tutorial\CSharpSample folder.

The name of the project file is SampleCommand.csproj. If you want to use this project as a template for other C# development, it is recommended that you make a copy of this command and use the copied project as the starting point for your new command. You will modify this generic code with code specific to your custom command.

It is highly recommended that users utilize a base class called GeoMediaCommand, which is also delivered with Grid Analysis, when writing their custom command. This base class, which is contained in the ApplicationCommandBase assembly, will define the necessary structure required for the command to operate properly with GeoMedia Desktop.

For further information related to the creation of your own GeoMedia Grid commands, also refer to the A Natural Heritage Study Tutorial. This tutorial contains two fully featured custom commands that provide practical examples for utilizing Grid Analysis functionality.

Rebranding the Command

Once the command is loaded inside the Visual Studio 2010 IDE, there are a few places that need to be updated to make the command unique to your project. These places include the GUID inside the assemblyinfo.cs file, the "ProgId" attribute inside the GridSample.cs file, and the GeoMedia command XML file.

1. Open the project file using Visual Studio 2010 IDE.

2. Inside the AssemblyInfo.cs file, you will notice a line:

[assembly: Guid("6d960207-868e-4aa3-b71f-9fd6c6bcc38f")].

Change the GUID in this line to a custom GUID for your command using Steps 3-6.

3. To create a custom GUID, on the Tools menu, select Create GUID. A screen will appear that will facilitate creating a unique GUID.


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4. Click the Registry Format radio button.

5. Click Copy to copy the new GUID into the clipboard.

6. Paste the contents of the clipboard into the line noted in Step 2 above, and format the resulting string to match the GUID already in the assembly info file.

7. Inside the GridSample.cs file, you will notice the following named attribute on the GridTest class definition: [System.Runtime.InteropServices.ProgId("TestCommand.GridTest")].

Modify the ProgId (that is, TestCommand.GridTest) and give it a unique name (for example, MyTestCommand.MyGridTest).

8. Inside the project folder there will be a BIN directory. Inside that directory will be a file called GridTest.xml. Open this file in a text-editing application.

9. Change the ProgId to match the ProgId used in the step above.


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10. If you want to rename the output DLL name, make that change in the project properties pane of Visual Studio as well as in the GridTest.xml file. The image below will be similar to what you will see after opening the XML file.

Installing the Custom Command

All commands must be installed before they can be used within GeoMedia Desktop. GeoMedia Desktop provides a command line utility, InstallAppCmd, for installing one or more application commands. For ease of use, simple batch scripts have been provided that run the InstallAppCmd utility for the sample command delivered with this tutorial. A full description of the syntax and use of the InstallAppCmd utility can be found in the Install Application Command Tool section of the GeoMedia Command Wizard Help document.

1. Exit GeoMedia Desktop.

2. Save any changes.

3. Browse to \Grid Analysis Tutorials\Creating a Custom Command Tutorial\ CSharpSample\bin.

Double click on the InstallCommand.bat file.

If the command installs correctly, you should see a message box letting you know that the command successfully loaded.

If you want to un-install this command, simply double click on the UninstallCommand.bat file.


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4. Once the custom command has been installed, it will be automatically added to the My Workflow tab on the GeoMedia Desktop ribbon bar.

5. You are now ready to start modifying the contents of the project. It is recommended that you compile the project and test it to ensure that it will run within the GeoMedia environment. The command should display a dialog box similar to the one shown below.

6. This command is a sample only. It illustrates how to select a Grid Analysis layer from a drop-down list, populate an Attribute drop-down list, populate a Grid Analysis map view control with a selected Grid Analysis layer, create a new Grid Analysis layer, add this new layer to the current Study Area, and place it into the GeoMedia Map active window.

7. For additional information on automating Grid Analysis, refer to the Grid Analysis Object Reference. This document can be found in the GeoMedia Object Reference by selecting Start > All Programs > Intergraph GeoMedia Desktop 2015 > Developer Documentation > GeoMedia.

Using the Command in GeoMedia Desktop

Verifying the Command in GeoMedia Desktop

To invoke and test your custom command, please use the following steps:

1. Start GeoMedia Desktop.

2. When prompted, choose Open an Existing GeoWorkspace.

3. Double click on the More Files option, navigate to \Grid Analysis Tutorials\Creating a Custom Command Tutorial and select Introduction.gws.

4. Click Open.


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5. Verify that exists in the My Workflow tab.

Testing the Custom Command

The custom command is now ready for testing within GeoMedia Desktop.

1. A Study Area must be created before the command can be used. On the Grid tab, in the Study Area panel, choose Define New.

2. Click and drag to define a rectangle in the Map window that encompasses most of the downtown street data.

3. Choose City of Huntsville as the connection in the Define New Study Area dialog box.

4. Accept the default Cell Resolution of 30.

5. Set the Cell Resolution units to Meters; then click OK.

6. The Streets feature class must be rasterized to produce a grid layer to use with the custom command.

7. In the GeoMedia Legend window, select the Streets feature class; then on the Grid tab, in the Layer panel, choose Rasterize Legend Entries.

The progress bar at the bottom of the window will indicate the progress of the rasterization operation. A new grid layer, with the name Streets, will be created.

The layer will not be displayed in the Map window. To view it in the Map window, on the Grid tab, in the Layer panel, choose Display.

8. To use the custom command, choose My Workflow > .

9. The layer name Streets should be entered in the Source Layer field.

10. Accept the default Result layer name, and leave the Place results in map window option selected.

11. Click OK to execute the command.

The result will simply be a copy of the source layer.

12. To exit the tutorial, exit GeoMedia Desktop without saving changes.

About UsTutorial: Creating a Custom Grid Analysis CommandCreating a Custom Grid Analysis CommandIntroductionTutorial Files and DataText ConventionsHow This Tutorial Should Be Used

The GeoMedia Grid Sample Command ProjectSample C# CommandRebranding the CommandInstalling the Custom Command

Using the Command in GeoMedia DesktopVerifying the Command in GeoMedia DesktopTesting the Custom Command

Documents

11 Creating a Custom Command