How to get dictionary data from an inactive dwg?

I am trying to retrieve data from a custom dictionary that was stored using
(vlax-ldata-put "FRCHDICTIONARY" "SQFT-col4" ((list1) (list2) (list...))).
The drawing is open, although if I can get this information without having to open the drawing in AutoCAD that would be better, but it is not active. I would prefer to keep it in the background.

Start with dwg1 being the document object for an open drawing not active.
(setq dictionaries (vla-get-dictionaries dwg1))
This yields the dictionaries object.
(vlax-for obj dictionaries
(if (vlax-property-available-p obj 'Name)
(if (= (vla-get-name obj) "FRCHDICTIONARY")
(setq frchdict obj))))
This gives me the dictionary I am interested in.
If I do a (vlax-dump-object frchdict) I get:

; IAcadDictionary: A container object for storing and retrieving objects
; Property values:
; Application (RO) = #<VLA-OBJECT IAcadApplication 00a88728>
; Count (RO) = 12
; Document (RO) = #<VLA-OBJECT IAcadDocument 09a58f8c>
; Handle (RO) = "17D4C61"
; HasExtensionDictionary (RO) = 0
; Name = "FRCHDICTIONARY"
; ObjectID (RO) = 1074387400
; ObjectName (RO) = "AcDbDictionary"
; OwnerID (RO) = 1076488288
T

If I do a (vlax-dump-object (vla-item frchdict 0)) I get:

; IAcadObject: The standard interface for a basic AutoCAD object
; Property values:
; Application (RO) = #<VLA-OBJECT IAcadApplication 00a88728>
; Document (RO) = #<VLA-OBJECT IAcadDocument 09a58f8c>
; Handle (RO) = "17DBC63"
; HasExtensionDictionary (RO) = 0
; ObjectID (RO) = 1074256792
; ObjectName (RO) = "vlo_VL"
; OwnerID (RO) = 1074387400
T

I can't get the data from the dictionary. Can I retrieve data from a custom dictionary without the drawing being active? Any help would be appreciated.

 

Ldata does not show in the Dump list since ldata is NOT accessible via
ActiveX. In a dummy drawing I created a "FRENCH" directory, added ldata to
it, started a new drawing, retrieved the dict reference from the first
drawing and used ldata-list and it worked just fine. Note that I have *acad*
and *doc* predefined as the acad-object and current drawing, respectively.

(setq dicts (vla-get-dictionaries *doc*))
(setq dict (vla-add dicts "FRENCH"))
(vlax-ldata-put dict "test" "it worked")
(vlax-ldata-list dict)
;open new drawing
(setq doc1 (vla-item (vla-get-documents *acad*) 0))
(setq dict1 (vla-item (vla-get-dictionaries doc1) "FRENCH"))
(vlax-ldata-list dict1)

HTH,
--
Jeff
check out www.cadvault.com

to open the drawing in AutoCAD that would be better, but it is not active.
I would prefer to keep it in the background.

custom dictionary without the drawing being active? Any help would be
appreciated.

 

You can use DBX to get the ldata from a drawig that is not open. Also, as
shown by Jeff, if the drawing is open you can get the ldata from another
open drawing file using the vla-item method (however I would specify the
name of the drawing unless you know the exact sequence you added the
drawings)

 

Thanks for the help. It turns out that (vla-ldata-list dict1) was not working for me because I did not use (vla-add) to create the dictionary. I just stored the data with (vla-ldata-put "DICTIONARY" key data) and let AutoCAD create the dictionary for me. From now on I will create the dictionary with vla-add. It doesn't seem like it should matter how the dictionary was created but apparently it does. I don't think I would have figured it out without your code listing.