[CONNECT Update 15 C++] Display Rule API

Does "element.ItemTypeLibraryName::ItemTypeName::PropertyName=Value" work?

Yongan.Fu said:

Does "element.ItemTypeLibraryName::ItemTypeName::PropertyName=Value" work?

Thanks for the suggestion.  Unfortunately not...

I've tried just about every combination of library/item type/property and name/internal name with no success. 

If I write a similar expression involving an Item Type property, manually, it works.  It's attempting the same through the API that fails.  You can use the SDK example ..\SDK\examples\View\DisplayRule to test this problem.

We need to know the recipe for the secret sauce!

Hi Jon,

is it possible to share test case (DGN with Item Type Lib, even limited to queried property, and one element)?

Regards,

  Jan

Jan Šlegr said:

is it possible to share test case (DGN with Item Type Lib, even limited to queried property, and one element)?

Here's a DGN file with AreaAnnotator and DoorKeeper Item Type defintions, and several DGN elements tagged with those Item Types.

AreaAnnotator8.dgn

Wrote a listRuleCondition function to check your DGN file and got the below results:

But when I checked your DisplayRule definition, its definition seems incorrect. Shown as below:

[What we see the rule condition in the Display Rules dialog is just rule description not its definition. We can see its definition in Condition Editor dialog].

Then I correct it as below:

and re-get its content as below:

So the format "element.ItemTypeLibraryName::ItemTypeName::PropertyName=Value" is almost right except:

1. Prefix DgnCustomItemTypes_  at the actual ItemTypeLibraryName;
2. Use __x0020__ to replace a blank character.

Yongan.Fu said:

the format "element.ItemTypeLibraryName::ItemTypeName::PropertyName=Value" is almost right

Thanks!  How do you show the complete expression in the Message Center?

Almost Right

When I set the rule programmatically, it remains incorrect whether I use the display name or the internal name of the schema...

Internal Names

1. Prefix DgnCustomItemTypes_  at the actual ItemTypeLibraryName
2. Use __x0020__ to replace a blank character

We can get those by calling GetInternalName()...

Bentley::WString  ItemTypes::GetInternalName (WStringCR	name)
{
  WString  internalName;
  ECNameValidation::EncodeToValidName (internalName, name);
  return   internalName;
}

Some EC classes have a similar method already available.

Jon Summers said:

How do you show the complete expression in the Message Center?

This isn't MessageCenter, just a temporary message dialog. I use below function listDisplayRules to do this.

void listDisplayRules(WCharCP ruleSetName)
{
	DgnFileP pDgnFile = ISessionMgr::GetActiveDgnFile();
	DisplayRuleSetCP ruleSetCP = DisplayRulesManager::GetDisplayRuleSetByName(ruleSetName, *pDgnFile);
	if (nullptr == ruleSetCP)
	{
		mdlDialog_dmsgsPrint(L"nullptr == ruleSetCP");
		return;
	}
	DisplayRuleSetPtr ruleSet = ruleSetCP->Clone(*pDgnFile);
	for (DisplayRulePtr rule : ruleSet->GetDisplayRules())
	{
		WStringCR  ruleCond = rule->GetCondition();
		mdlDialog_dmsgsPrint(ruleCond.GetWCharCP());
	}
}

Jon Summers said:

When I set the rule programmatically, it remains incorrect whether I use the display name or the internal name of the schema...

I firstly create a test rule set named FooRuleSet. Then I type below keyins which works fine.

MDL LOAD DisplayRule
displayrule create rule FooRuleSet element.DgnCustomItemTypes_AreaAnnotator_1_0::Area__x0020__Feature::occupied=True ElementDisplay

Jon Summers said:

We can get those by calling GetInternalName()...

Yes. You are right. But without correcting DisplayRule example, we have to keyin raw rule condition.

Yongan.Fu said:

without correcting DisplayRule example,

Here's a modified DisplayRule example.

DisplayRule.zip

I've added a new command:

displayrule create ruleItemType rule-set-name schema-name item-name property-name condition ElementDisplay 

Example:

displayrule create ruleItemType FooRuleSet AreaAnnotator_1_0 "Area Feature" Occupied =True ElementDisplay 

That rule does nothing very exciting!  It assembles those arguments into a string and then creates the rule.  However, it doesn't work.  The best I can do is to create a schema name that looks correct to the human eye, but results in an invalid rule definition.

I conclude that the DisplayRule class is looking for a schema name in a very particular format, but which is undocumented.

I continue to search for a solution to this problem: unable to set a Display Rule for an Item Type programmatically.  The modified DisplayRule example includes a new command to help analyze the problem.

DisplayRule.zip

Have you followed my test steps strictly? It really can create our own rule.

Maybe need us close and reopen the Display Rule dialog to check the result.