Apr 20, 2021
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Service categories
Service Lines
Cloud Consulting
Software Development
Domain focus
Consumer Products & Services
Other
Programming language
C#
Frameworks
.NET
Challenge
Our client is the US-based world’s leading manufacturer in their area. We started our partnership in 2019 when they used tools written in different languages around 20 years ago. It has become increasingly hard to support such a diverse set of applications.
Long-term goal:
- A single state-of-the-art tool that would be able to design all types of products.
Challenges:
- AutoCAD plugin was written in VBA and LISP with problems during installation;
- Each new version of AutoCAD brought new issues for the plugin;
- Some parts of the functionality stopped working completely;
- AutoCAD was still supporting VBA. But it wasn’t available by default and requires a separate download and installation.
Our client is the US-based world’s leading manufacturer in their area. We started our partnership in 2019 when they used tools written in different languages around 20 years ago. It has become increasingly hard to support such a diverse set of applications.
Long-term goal:
- A single state-of-the-art tool that would be able to design all types of products.
Challenges:
- AutoCAD plugin was written in VBA and LISP with problems during installation;
- Each new version of AutoCAD brought new issues for the plugin;
- Some parts of the functionality stopped working completely;
- AutoCAD was still supporting VBA. But it wasn’t available by default and requires a separate download and installation.
Solution
We created a detailed roadmap for the conversion process. We decided:
1. Convert plugin to .NET C#, remove dependencies on AutoCAD. Implement WPF UI using MVVM Light Toolkit.
2. Add more functionality in the AutoCAD plugin written in .NET C#. These functions should cover the needs of experienced engineers in the most complex tasks.
3. Build different modes for regular and advanced users. Create simple wizards covering common workflows for regular users and special mode for advanced users.
4. Separate common code for the plugin and standalone application module into a shared library to ensure the same correct behaviour.
5. Allow reading and saving *.dwg and *.dxf formats, exporting to PDF. The cost-effective solution was to integrate a third-party library WoutWare CadLib.
We created a detailed roadmap for the conversion process. We decided:
1. Convert plugin to .NET C#, remove dependencies on AutoCAD. Implement WPF UI using MVVM Light Toolkit.
2. Add more functionality in the AutoCAD plugin written in .NET C#. These functions should cover the needs of experienced engineers in the most complex tasks.
3. Build different modes for regular and advanced users. Create simple wizards covering common workflows for regular users and special mode for advanced users.
4. Separate common code for the plugin and standalone application module into a shared library to ensure the same correct behaviour.
5. Allow reading and saving *.dwg and *.dxf formats, exporting to PDF. The cost-effective solution was to integrate a third-party library WoutWare CadLib.
Results
Business results of VB to C# migration and functions improvement
The Abto Software team finished the project on time and within our client’s budget. Our cooperation resulted in:
- Savings on license costs for 75% of users
- Fixed issues that were in the old plugin
- New program automated common routines
- Significantly speed up the designing of new profiles
- UI convenient even for less experienced users
- Preparing report files with a single button click
Business results of VB to C# migration and functions improvement
The Abto Software team finished the project on time and within our client’s budget. Our cooperation resulted in:
- Savings on license costs for 75% of users
- Fixed issues that were in the old plugin
- New program automated common routines
- Significantly speed up the designing of new profiles
- UI convenient even for less experienced users
- Preparing report files with a single button click
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