There Must Be An Easier Way

using Autodesk.AutoCAD.Runtime;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.ApplicationServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.DatabaseServices;
using Autodesk.AutoCAD.EditorInput;

[CommandMethod("FilterSelectionSet")]
public static void FilterSelectionSet()
{
  // Get the current document editor
  Editor acDocEd = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument.Editor;

  // Create a TypedValue array to define the filter criteria
  TypedValue[] acTypValAr = new TypedValue[1];
  acTypValAr.SetValue(new TypedValue((int)DxfCode.Start, "CIRCLE"), 0);

  // Assign the filter criteria to a SelectionFilter object
  SelectionFilter acSelFtr = new SelectionFilter(acTypValAr);

  // Request for objects to be selected in the drawing area
  PromptSelectionResult acSSPrompt;
  acSSPrompt = acDocEd.GetSelection(acSelFtr);

  // If the prompt status is OK, objects were selected
  if (acSSPrompt.Status == PromptStatus.OK)
  {
      SelectionSet acSSet = acSSPrompt.Value;
      Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects selected: " +
                                  acSSet.Count.ToString());
  }
  else
  {
      Application.ShowAlertDialog("Number of objects selected: 0");
  }
}

  TypedValue[] acTypValAr = new TypedValue[1];
  acTypValAr.SetValue(new TypedValue((int)DxfCode.Start, "CIRCLE"), 0);

filter = SsFilter.new
filter.Layer = "my_layer"
filter.Type = "Circle"

class SsFilter
        attr_accessor :data
        def initialize
                @data = {}
                @elements = {:Type => 0, :Text => 1, :BlockName => 2, :LineType => 6, :TextStyle => 7, :Layer => 8,
                     :StartPoint => 10, :CenterPoint => 10, :EndPoint => 11, :Elevation => 38, :Thickness => 39,
                     :TextHeight => 40, :TextWidth => 41, :Rotation => 50, :Oblique => 51, :Color => 62}
            @keys = @elements.keys     
        end
                
    def filter
       typed_value = Ads::TypedValue[]
       new_filter = System::Array.of( typed_value).new(@data.size)
        
       i = 0
       if @data.size > 0
          @data.each_pair do  |key,value| 
             new_filter.set_value(Ads::TypedValue.new( @elements[key], value), i)
             i+=1
          end        
       end
       Aei::SelectionFilter.new(new_filter)
   end
                
   def method_missing(method_name, *args)
      if method_name.to_s.match(/(\w+)=/) && @keys.include?($1.to_sym)
         @data[$1.to_sym] = args[0]
      elsif @keys.include?(method_name)
         return @data[method_name]
      else
         super(method_name, *args)
      end
   end
end

require 'rubygems'
require 'acadhelper'
include AcadHelper

def filter_selection_set
     filter = SsFilter.new
     filter.Type = "Circle"
     ss = select_on_screen filter
     result = "Number of objects selected: "
     result += ss ?  ss.count.to_s : "0"
     alert result
end

    def select_on_screen( filter_data=[])
        begin
            if filter_data.is_a?(SsFilter) #new test
                filter = filter_data.filter
            else                
                filter = build_selection_filter filter_data
            end        
            ssPrompt = ed.GetSelection( filter)
            if ssPrompt.Status == Aei::PromptStatus.OK
               return ssPrompt.Value 
            else   
                nil
            end         
        rescue Exception => e
          puts_ex e
        end
    end

require 'activeresource'

require 'iconv' 

require 'acad2009.rb'
require 'AcadHelper'
 
include AcadHelper

#add a Loading message because requiring activeresource can be slow
puts "\nLoading" 
require 'activeresource'

class Product < ActiveResource::Base
   #connect to my MacBook Pro which is running my rails app        
   self.site = "http://192.168.1.102:3000/"  
end

def save_to_remote_db
        begin
            puts "\nSelect Block References to add to remote database:"
                select_on_screen.each do |ss_ent|
                        get_block_ref(ss_ent.ObjectId, :Read) do |attribs|
                           #all the magic happens in one line of code
                            if Product.new(attribs.marshal_dump).save  
                                    puts "\nProduct saved"
                            else
                                    puts "\nProblem saving product"
                            end        
                        end
                end
        
        rescue  Exception => e
                puts_ex e
        end
end

prod = Product.new
prod.field1 = attrib.corresponding_field1
...
prod.fieldN = attrib.corresponding_fieldN
prod.save

attribs.age = 45
attribs.name = "David"

def get_block_ref(obj_id, mode=:Read)
    begin
        helper = TransHelper.new
        helper.trans([:Block])  do |tr, db, tables|
                ref = helper.get_obj obj_id, mode
                attrib_hash = {}
                ref.AttributeCollection.each do |id|
                        attrib = helper.get_obj id, :Read
                        attrib_hash[attrib.Tag.downcase] = attrib.TextString
                end
                @attribs = OpenStruct.new(attrib_hash)
                yield @attribs
                #update the attribs
                if mode == :Write
                        ref.AttributeCollection.each do |id|
                                attrib = helper.get_obj id, :Write
                                attrib.TextString = @attribs.send(attrib.Tag.downcase).to_s
                        end
                end        
            end    
        rescue Exception => e
                puts_ex e
        end
end

def edit_block_ref
        begin
          ref_id = get_entity_id #from AcadHelper to pick an entity on the screen
          get_block_ref(ref_id, :Write) do |attribs|
            attribs.age = 50  #numbers can be used - get_block_ref will convert to string.  YEA!
            attribs.name = "Chuck"
            attribs.height = "72 inches"
            attribs.sex = "Male"
           end
        rescue Exception => e
          puts_ex e
        end
end

[CommandMethod("AddLine")]
public static void AddLine()
{
// Get the current document and database

  Document acDoc = Application.DocumentManager.MdiActiveDocument;
  Database acCurDb = acDoc.Database;

  // Start a transaction
  using (Transaction acTrans = acCurDb.TransactionManager.StartTransaction())
  {
    // Open the Block table for read
    BlockTable acBlkTbl;
    acBlkTbl = acTrans.GetObject(acCurDb.BlockTableId, OpenMode.ForRead) as BlockTable;

      // Open the Block table record Model space for write
    BlockTableRecord acBlkTblRec;
    acBlkTblRec = acTrans.GetObject(acBlkTbl[BlockTableRecord.ModelSpace],
    OpenMode.ForWrite) as BlockTableRecord;

     // Create a line that starts at 5,5 and ends at 12,3
    Line acLine = new Line(new Point3d(5, 5, 0), new Point3d(12, 3, 0));
    acLine.SetDatabaseDefaults();

    // Add the new object to the block table record and the transaction
    acBlkTblRec.AppendEntity(acLine);
    acTrans.AddNewlyCreatedDBObject(acLine, true);
    // Save the new object to the database
    acTrans.Commit();
  }
}

def add_line
  line = create_line [1,1], [2,4,5]
  line.add_to_model_space
end

def add_line
  begin
    line = create_line [1,1], [2,4,5]
    line.add_to_model_space
  rescue Exception => e
    puts_ex e
  end
end