LISP/VBA communication

Back in the day (R2002) I was working on a tool that would allow some LISP
in a menu macro to pass some data to a VBA app. Specifically, I was going to
have the LISP dump a value to the BlackBoard, then call the VBA routine. The
VBA would then look in the BlackBoard for the passed data.
So, with R2005 now out, I am looking to get back to that project, and I am
wondering if the BlackBoard is still the way to go, or is there now a better
way to pass a value from LISP to VBA?
What I DON'T want to do is the kludge I had before, of a bunch of different
VBA stubs for each possible 'passed' value, and menu macros that just
launched the VBA stubs. Seems rather inelegant, as well as a pain to
maintain and expand on.

Best,
Gordon

 

I tend to try to avoid an approach where some other customization can break
mine. With the blackboard I can name the 'variable' and not have to worry.
The other approach might be to use Xdata on layer 0 for the same reason. It
REALLY is a bummer that you can't call a VBA routine and pass an argument
from Lisp. Major wishlist item for me.

Best,
Gordon

 

Ed, thanks for the class module. I will definitely take a look. From the
grammer in your e:mail, it sounds like the module allows VBA to talk to
Lisp, rather than the other way around. Does it work both ways? The goal
here is to get the effect of calling a VBA routine from a manu macro with an
argument being passed to the VBA.

Best,
Gordon

 

No, vba has to be the controller. But you could set a var in lisp, call the
macro and have it check the var. Another method I use, is to create a
function that accepts an arg and create multiple wrappers for it. For
example, I have a macro that creates new dwgs from a template with the
template as an arg. Like: NewDwg(template As String). To create multiple
types of dwgs, I have a wrapper command for each type of template, i.e.
Sub CivilDwg ()
NewDwg "civil.dwt"
End Sub

 

That is the stub approach I have been using, but I am setting 'annotation
scale' so I have a bunch of stubs. Adding both a new stub and a new menu
line is a pain. If I could pass an argument to VBA, I just add the item to
the menu and I am done. As for the var you mention, I assume you mean USER1
or the like? I tend to avoid them as anyone can use them, and thus apps
break. If I could name an actual variable and set it in Lisp, then access
that in VBA I would love it, but my understanding is that Lisp variables and
VBA variables are seperate beasts, no way to go back and forth. I REALLY
wish you could pass an argument between the two. Gotta bug those wishlist
people about it

Best,
Gordon

 

No, I meant a global lisp var, i.e. (setq vbavar "string to get from vba").
Then run a public macro that doesn't have args, but it automatically checks
the lisp namespace for the symbol (vbavar) and acts on it. I havn't tried
it, but it should work just like having args. Come to think of it, you
should be able to the same thing all in vba using -VBARUN. Create a Public
var in your vba project and set it with -VBARUN. Here's what I've tested so
far.

With:
Sub lisptest()
'retrieve a value from a lisp quoted symbol
'intended as a workaround for macros with arguments.
Dim vl As New VLAX
Dim LispVar As Variant
LispVar = vl.EvalLispExpression("(setq LispVar LispVar)")
MsgBox LispVar
Set vl = Nothing
End Sub

Then:
(setq LispVar "MyTemplate.dwt")
(command "-vbarun" "lisptest")

 

I meant vbastmt not vbarun. I'm not sure exactly how you would do it at the
moment, since vbastmt runs in the context of ThisDrawing.

 

Just thought of one downside to running a macro with "arguments", you won't
be able to repeat it with ENTER. But if you write wrappers like I mentioned
before, you can.