CAD Software Forum

I have been reading that Autodesk has taken VBA out of Acad 2010 and 2011, although you can still download it and install it. If I understand correctly, this is in response to Microsoft's decision to push everyone to .NET, and quit supporting VBA.

I was thinking about doing some additional work on the rather huge modeling add-in that I generated a while back. Before I invest too much more time, I was curious if there is a plan for future releases of Intellicad with regards to add-ins like this. Will VBA remain viable? Should I be thinking about making a change to .NET (VB.NET or C#)? Other things I should be thinking about?

Thanks,
Erik

Hi Erik,

Will VBA remain viable?

Yes. IntelliCAD 7 will still come with VBA.

Should I be thinking about making a change to .NET (VB.NET or C#)?

IntelliCAD 7 will come also with VSTA. I suppose that it's up to you to decide which technology that will better fits your needs.

Regards,
JCAMPOS

Thanks! That gives me some options. For the short term, I'll probably stick with VBA, and start dealing migration sometime later.

-Erik

Hi Erik,

Just to update this conversation, I know that it has been said that IntelliCAD will mantain VBA and, in fact, that was the initial intention of CMS . However, considering that this technology (VBA) is completely outdated, I can say that, due to the company policy, CMS IntelliCAD 7 will not include VBA. CMS IntelliCAD 7 will be released only with VSTA.

Regards,
JCAMPOS

Interesting. It sounds like I'm going to have to do some work if I want to continue with the tool I have developed.

Given the decision to drop VBA, any new thoughts on VSTA versus other options?

Thanks,
Erik

Hi,

VSTA is a bit different from VBA since it does not work with macros. However, it is based on .NET and can be a nice solution to develop applications. Other options can also be nice solutions. I guess it all depends on the needs of the work to do.

Regards,
JCAMPOS

I updated to ver 7.1, and noticed that VBA is back in, and VSTA is out of the install.

Has the plan changed with regards to VBA versus VSTA for future versions?

Thanks,
Erik

Hi,

Yes, due to the fact that many people already have entire applications coded in VBA. VSTA will be available separately.

Regards,
JCAMPOS

Hi all,

Just to clarify, CMS IntelliCAD comes with VBA only. VBA will be uptdated to v7 in the near future and VSTA will not be available.

Regards,
JCAMPOS

That is good news indeed!

Thanks,
Erik