Opening AutoCAD drawing inside a Windows Form in C#

Question

I have the following function which opens a dxf file in an Autocad Exe, by zooming a specific coordinate via my C# desktop application.

public static void zoomDrwaing(String drawingFile, String lotId)
{
AcadApplication acadApp = null;
AcadDocument doc = null;
double[] coordinates = new double[3];
String errorMessage = "";
try
{
coordinates = ReadCoordinates(drawingFile, lotId); // done via netDxf api
acadApp = new Autodesk.AutoCAD.Interop.AcadApplication();
acadApp.Visible = true; 
doc = acadApp.Documents.Open(drawingFile, true);
double[] points = new double[3] { coordinates[0], coordinates[1], coordinates[2] };
acadApp.ZoomCenter(points, 30);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
errorMessage = ex.ToString();
}
finally
{
if (acadApp != null) Marshal.FinalReleaseComObject(acadApp);
}
}

I would like to know whether there is any possibility of loading the Autocad Exe (with the zoomed dxf file) inside one of the Windows forms in my desktop application it-self rather than opening the exe separately.

Answer 1

I haven't tried it but apparently you can use the ActiveX control from DWG Trueview Here is a forum post on the Autodesk forum with some sample code . Googling DWG Trueview Activex should generate some reading material. Or you may just read this and abandon all hope. The $$ alternative is RealDwg or Open Design. Read the AutoCAD Tag wiki for more resources and info on that.

Because Autodesk love to destroy their inbound links from time to time, you should be able to land on the first topic I mentioned using Google if they kill it again. Don't get me started on that.