Capture Macro in Catia 5

Question

I need to write a macro in Catia 5. My aim is to convert cgm files to png at the desired background color and at desired resolution. Manually I am doing it by Capture->image->options(setting resolution and background color)-> save as .

I need to do it by macro.

I can open the Capture window with CATIA.StartCommand "Capture" but can not proceed furthermore. How can I proceed?

Thanks in advance.

HOW WE CAN USE COMMANDS WHICH ARE GIVEN IN OBJECT BROWSER IN MACRO? I AM DIRECTLY WRITING IT BUT DOES NOT WORK.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, the Capture command does not seem to be available through the macro API. I've successfully used this workaround, however:

Sub CaptureViewport(strFileName As String, Optional intWidth As Integer = 1024, Optional intHeight As Integer = 1024)
    Dim objWindow As SpecsAndGeomWindow
    Dim objViewer As Variant ' Viewer3D
    Dim objCamera As Camera3D
    Dim objViewpoint As Variant ' Viewpoint3D
    Dim arrOldBackgroundColor(2) As Variant
    Dim intOldRenderingMode As CatRenderingMode
    Dim intOldLayout As CatSpecsAndGeomWindowLayout

    Set objWindow = CATIA.ActiveWindow
    Set objCamera = CATIA.ActiveDocument.Cameras.Item(1)
    Set objViewer = objWindow.ActiveViewer
    Set objViewpoint = objViewer.Viewpoint3D

    objViewer.GetBackgroundColor arrOldBackgroundColor
    intOldRenderingMode = objViewer.RenderingMode
    intOldLayout = objWindow.Layout
    ' This might be extended to record the old window dimensions as well

    objViewer.FullScreen = False
    objViewer.PutBackgroundColor Array(1, 1, 1) ' White
    objViewer.RenderingMode = catRenderShadingWithEdges
    objWindow.Layout = catWindowGeomOnly
    objWindow.Width = intWidth
    objWindow.Height = intHeight

    objViewpoint.PutSightDirection Array(-1, -1, -1) ' Isometric
    objViewpoint.PutUpDirection Array(0, 0, 1)
    objViewpoint.ProjectionMode = catProjectionCylindric ' Parallel projection
    objViewer.Reframe

    ' Without this, the picture is not always sized correctly
    CATIA.RefreshDisplay = True
    objViewer.Update
    objViewer.CaptureToFile catCaptureFormatBMP, strFileName
    CATIA.RefreshDisplay = False

    objViewer.PutBackgroundColor arrOldBackgroundColor
    objViewer.RenderingMode = intOldRenderingMode
    objWindow.Layout = intOldLayout
    ' This might be extended to restore the old window dimensions as well
End Sub

It works by temporarily changing the background color (among other things, such as spec. tree visibility, rendering mode and camera settings) and by using the CaptureToFile method. By changing the window size, you also change the dimensions of the captured image. Unfortunately, it cannot capture to PNG format (even though the interactive Capture tool can). This version instead captures to BMP. The JPEG mode compresses the picture beyond reason and is unusable. The compass will be visible in the pictures captured with this macro, if it is enabled in the interactive session.