1. Autodesk Dev Days 2015 The road ahead DevDays 2015
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2. AutoCAD® I/O - Overview
AutoCAD I/O web service, hosted by Autodesk, allows developers to run AutoCAD scripts remotely and enable them to process DWG files at cloud scale. You can create an AutoCAD script or use one of our sample scripts, then point the AutoCAD I/O web service to the DWG files and finally run your script on the DWG files. AutoCAD I/O loads the DWG files, then run the script on each file. Upon completion, AutoCAD I/O saves the output to your specified location. AutoCAD I/O, as represented in the graphic, is storage agnostic—input and output files are not stored in AutoCAD I/O. Based on your choice of web storage; AutoCAD I/O is able to connect to it over HTTP.
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3. AutoCAD® I/O - Features
Perform variety of operations on DWG
Create new DWG
Query any information from existing DWG
Purge drawings, save to other formats
Plot to DWF and PDF
Features
Perform a variety of operations on DWG content.
Create a new DWG file.
Query any information from an existing DWG file.
Purge drawings, save them to other formats.
Plot drawings to DWF and PDF.
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4. AutoCAD® I/O – Key Concepts
AutoCAD I/O uses OData conventions for URL & payloads
3 Key abstractions:
WorkItem
Activity
AppPackage
Client side code can be written in any language that can make HTTP requests
.NET & Java samples available
Intro rappel
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5. AutoCAD® I/O - Performances
Number of transactions/day up by 10x
~5K/day -> 50K/day
Uptime over the past year: 99.99%
Transaction queue time reduced by 50%
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6. AutoCAD® I/O - OData AutoCAD I/O has migrated to OData 4.0
OData V4.0 introduces many important features and makes calling the server easier
The OData protocol is evolving. The latest OData V4.0 introduces many important features and importantly makes calling the server easier. AutoCAD I/O has migrated to OData 4.0 format because OData 4.0 is not compatible with older version. You will notice a few changes. To get a better understanding about OData 4.0, please go to AutoCAD I/O version 2 (V2) also introduces several new changes. 
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7. API Keys
No need to regenerate API keys for V2, if you were using V1 keys they still work
Only update REST API url:
V1 will stay online until 1/31/2016. After that calls to V1 will fail
If your existing application is using a Consumer Key created with the AutoCAD I/O bundle, it will also work with the latest version of AutoCAD I/O API. Change the API calls in your application to use the newer and better version.
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8. Removed EntityId In V1: EntityId {UserId, Id}
exposed for AppPackage/Activity/WorkItem
Introduced more work &exposed user information
In V2: replaced by a single Id
Id needs to be unique (service informs you if exists)
We recommend to append prefix to Id: Adsk-PlotToPDF
Removed EntityId
This class was exposed as an Id for an AppPackage/Activity/WorkItem. It consisted of two properties: UserId and Id. The UserId is a GUID identifying the owner. To reference to an Activity, you need to specify both UserId and Id. This introduces more work and also exposes user information. In V2, UserId parameter is removed. So now you can reference an Activity with a single value -- Id. You won't see EntityId in V2 API anymore. It is replaced by Id. The Id needs to be unique. It is possible for different users to create an Activity/AppPackge with same name. We will remind you if the Id has existed. We recommend that you append some prefix/suffix to the name, for example your developer symbol (see In this case, the "PlotToPDF" activity will become "Adsk.PlotToPDF" if we use our company symbol as prefix.
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9. New Engines EntitySet Engines EntitySet
Expose supported ACAD Core Engines
Read-only
Added Engines EntitySet
Beside Activity/WorkItem/AppPackage, AutoCAD I/O V2 introduces a new entity called Engine. It exposes the ACAD Core Engines we support from our service. Currently this is read only -- we do not allow creating/modifying/deleting any entries.
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10. Versioning Support
AutoCAD I/O V2 supports versioning for Activity/AppPackage/Engine
Version is preserved after each update
Query for all older versions
Set one of them as current
Versioning Support
AutoCAD I/O V2 supports versioning for Activity/AppPackage/Engine. Now each time you update them, the older version is preserved. You can query for all older versions and set one of them as your current version -- this allows you to roll back bad updates.
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11. New Description Property
Description property on Activity/AppPackage/Engine
Provides more details about the entity
Attach additional info for your own usage
Can put contact info if entity is public
Optional
New Description property on Activity/AppPackage/Engine
This property is expected to provide more details about the Entity. You can attach additional information in this property for your own usage. Also, if you make your entity public, you may want to put your contact information in this property so that others can contact you for questions. This is an optional property.
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12. New Headers Property Headers property on Argument
Argument is a required property for WorkItem
Tells where to get input files & where to output result
Some cloud storages require additional Headers info
Ex: Azure storage blob requires header named
"x-ms-blob-type"
New Headers property on Argument
Argument is a property of WorkItem that user needs to provide during WorkItem creation. It usually tells where to get input files (drawings) and where to output the result. Headers property is used for some cloud storage that requires some additional header information in order to upload/download file. For example, to upload result to Azure storage blob, you need to provide a header named "x-ms-blob-type" with property value. Otherwise your upload will be rejected. The Headers property is used for this purpose.
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13. Get for AppPackage's Upload URL
OData < 4.0:
Http POST request to get a upload URL for AppPackage
OData 4.0:
GET autocad.io/v2/AppPackages/Operations.GetUploadUrl
Use Http Get for AppPackage's Upload URL
In OData versions before 4.0, to get a upload URL for AppPackage, you need to compose a Http POST request. With OData version 4.0, you can use Http GET verb. So the API to get a upload url is now: GET autocad.io/v2/AppPackages/Operations.GetUploadUrl
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14. Removed AddLink /DeleteLink
AddLink/DeleteLink removed on Activity & AppPackage
Replaced by collection property of AppPackage Ids
Activity.AppPackages
AppPackage.References
No AddLink/DeleteLink Call Anymore
Activity and AppPackage could have references to other AppPackages. To add/remove references, we used to make a separate call. In this V2 API, you can specify them when creating/updating Activity/AppPackage entity. Activity has a property called AppPackages which is a collection of referenced AppPackage's Ids. And AppPackage has a property called References which is also a collection of referenced AppPackage's Ids.
For your information, you can find the definition for all functions from the metadata (autocad.io/v2/$metadata).
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15. New IsPublic Property IsPublic property on Activity/AppPackage/Engine
Allows you to make your own entities usable by others
When IsPublic = true other users will be able to see/reference it
At the moment only public Activity is PlotToPDF
New "IsPublic" property on Activity/AppPackage/Engine
This allows you to make your own entities to be used by others. When you set this property to true, others will be able to see/reference it.
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16. New HostApplication Property
By default AutoCAD.IO runs all WorkItems within AcCoreConsole
You can run your own RealDWG executable instead, provided in an AppPackage
Provide its path using Activity.HostApplication property
Use the form: <AppPackageId>/<host.exe>
Your host.exe is running inside a sandbox
New “HostApplication” property on Activity
By default, AutoCAD.IO runs all the WorkItems within core AutoCAD process, which is the AcCoreConsole.exe. If you want to run your RealDWG instead, you can provide its path at “HostApplication” property. It needs to be of the form <AppPackageId>/<host.exe>. Your host.exe needs to be included in your AppPackage and AutoCAD I/O finds the executable at the base folder of AppPackage. Your host.exe is run inside a sandbox.
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17. New IsObjectEnabler property
IsObjectEnabler property on AppPackage
Defines if AppPackage is an AutoCAD object enabler
AutoCAD I/O loads OE before running your script
Default is False
New “IsObjectEnabler” property on AppPackage
If you set to true, this property defines whether the object is an AutoCAD object enabler or not. The property type is Boolean. AutoCAD I/O loads it before running your script. By default, it is false.
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18. New Optional property Optional property on Activity.Parameter
Declare a parameter as optional when creating WorkItems
Added Optional property on Parameter in Activity
This property allows you to set Parameters in Activity as “Optional” so that you do not have to provide corresponding argument in some of your WorkItems.
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19. AutoCAD®I/O - Code Samples
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20. Call To Action Request your API keys: https://developer.autodesk.com
Documentation:
Let us know your needs!
Product Manager Krithika Prabhu:
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