Read the node properties#

See also

VBA - Examples

Problem Description#

In this example we will read the nodes data from the database.

Following values are extracted:

  • NR (node number)

  • INR (internal node number)

  • KFIX (degree of freedoms, bitwise encoded)

  • NCOD (additional bit code)

  • X (global X coordinate)

  • Y (global Y coordinate)

  • Z (global Z coordinate)

The nodes description can be found in CDBASE.CHM as shown in figure below:

../../_images/vba_read_nodes_1.png

The [INT] means that the data-type is integer. The data-type can easily be checked in the data-type list given in the example.

Probem Solution#

Lets read the nodes from the CDB. Create a new module and name it for example nodes and copy the code:

Example: VBA - read nodes#
'Read the nodes from CDB
Public Sub readNodes()
Dim Filename As String
Dim Index, datalen As Long
Dim row, pos As Long
Dim arr_20_0() As Variant
ReDim arr_20_0(6, 0)
Dim Destination1 As Range

   'Lets clear the sheet first
   tab1.Cells.Clear

   'The path of the file
   Filename = tab1.TextBox1.Text

   'To connect to the CDB we will use
   Index = sof_cdb_init(Filename, 99)

   'Get the data from CDB
   Dim data As CNODE
   datalen = Len(data)

   Do While sof_cdb_get(Index, 20, 0, data, datalen, pos) = 0
      row = row + 1
      pos = pos + 1

      'Redim the array for the output
      ReDim Preserve arr_20_0(6, row)

      'Copy the values to array
      arr_20_0(0, row) = data.m_NR
      arr_20_0(1, row) = data.m_INR
      arr_20_0(2, row) = data.m_KFIX
      arr_20_0(3, row) = data.m_NCOD
      arr_20_0(4, row) = data.m_XYZ(1)
      arr_20_0(5, row) = data.m_XYZ(2)
      arr_20_0(6, row) = data.m_XYZ(3)

      'Get the length of the data. This is very important!!!
      datalen = Len(data)
   Loop

   'Set the names of header row and columns
   arr_20_0(0, 0) = "NR"
   arr_20_0(1, 0) = "INR"
   arr_20_0(2, 0) = "KFIX"
   arr_20_0(3, 0) = "NCOD"
   arr_20_0(4, 0) = "X"
   arr_20_0(5, 0) = "Y"
   arr_20_0(6, 0) = "Z"

   'Output the values to range
   Set Destination1 = tab1.Range("A4")
   Destination1.Resize(UBound(arr_20_0, 2) + 1, UBound(arr_20_0, 1) + 1).Value = Application.Transpose(arr_20_0)

   'Center the output -> this is just for better looking
   tab1.Cells.HorizontalAlignment = xlCenter

   'Close the CDB
   Call sof_cdb_close(0)
End Sub

Just run the Excel Workbook and the readNodes() Sub.

Tip

To avoid a performance issue in Excel, do NOT write every value to every cell ( connect, write, connect, write… ). In our example we are storing all data into an dynamic array. At end, the data is written in one step to a range. This approach is much faster.

CNODE is the data-type for the nodes in the CDB.
All data-types can be found in the CDB description (CDBASE.CHM) or check the sof_data module.

The example can be found by following:

C:\<sofistik_installation>\2024\SOFiSTiK 2024\interfaces\examples\vba\read_nodes