viziblr

In July 2007, I provided a very simple example showing how F# could be used to automate Visio. As my VisioAutoExt project on CodePlex slowly evolves, I learned enough about Visio that I wanted to revisit the F# interop scenario and do something more substantial.

Using the F# version F# 1.9.2.9 (available here). Underneath is the output of the sample code.

The source

The full source code is attached.

open visioautoext
let visapp = IVisio.ApplicationClass()
let doc = visapp.Documents.CreateNewDoc()
let page = doc.GetFirstPage()
let r1 = page.GetRect()
//do printf "%O" r1
let s1= page.DrawRectangle( r1 )
do s1.SetFillGradient( 36, System.Drawing.Color.Tomato , System.Drawing.Color.AliceBlue, 50, 20);;
do s1.SetLineRounding(0.0)
let s2= page.DrawRectangle( (0.0, 0.0) , (r1.Right , 1.0) )
do s2.SetLineWidth( 10.0 )
do s2.SetLinePattern( 3 )
do s2.SetLineColor( System.Drawing.Color.Tomato )
do s2.SetFillGradient( 36, System.Drawing.Color.Tomato , System.Drawing.Color.BurlyWood )
//do s1.SetFillForegroundColor( System.Drawing.Color.AntiqueWhite )
//do s1.SetFillBackgroundColor( System.Drawing.Color.AliceBlue )
//do s1.SetFillGradient(36)
//do s1.SetFillGradient( 36, System.Drawing.Color.Tomato , System.Drawing.Color.BurlyWood )
let s3 = page.DrawLine( r1.LowerLeft , r1.CenterPoint)
let s4 = page.DrawLine( r1.CenterPoint, r1.LowerRight )
do s4.SetLineColor( System.Drawing.Color.Azure )
do s3.SetLineWidth( 30.0 )
do s4.SetLineWidth( 20.0 )
let s5 =page.DrawPolyline( drawing.create_random_points_in_rect( 10 , r1 ) )

The sample doesn't reuse VisioAutoExt

The F# code does NOT re-use the VisioAutoExt .NET Library. Instead, it re-implements  key pieces from VisioAutoExt and my Isotope.Drawing library.

Why re-implement?

1 - I didn't want to mask any interop difficulties by re-using my a library. Instead, the point was to expose and solve them directly in the F# code.

2 - Where possible I wanted to take advantage of features found in F#.

With regard to #2, I'm not fully exploiting what F# offers. As my knowledge and comfort with F# grow, this sample may look very different.