MeasureLengths

Alibre Design add-on for measuring the lengths of sketch entities and edges.

Implementations

This repository ships two independent implementations of the same add-on. Both register a Measure Lengths menu in Alibre Design and provide the same core workflow. Install only one.

Language	Project	Output DLL	Stack
C#	source/MeasureLengths-CSharp/	MeasureLengths-CSharp.dll	.NET Framework 4.8.1, WinForms
C++	source/MeasureLengths-Cpp/	MeasureLengths.dll	Native MFC / Win32

The C# version is a port of the original C++ command. The two builds differ in workspace availability: the C++ add-on registers for Part workspaces only, while the C# add-on is available in all workspaces.

Features

• Measure lengths of 2D and 3D sketch entities, and of solid/surface edges selected in the viewport
• Supports lines, circular arcs, circles, ellipses, elliptic arcs, B-splines, and points
• Unit selection via dropdown: Centimeters (cm), Millimeters (mm), Inches (in)
• Auto-Measure mode (on by default) re-measures automatically as the Alibre selection changes; turn it off to measure on demand with a Measure button
• Displays total length plus an entity-count summary, broken down by type (lines, arcs, circles, points, other)
• On-screen results table with type, length, start/end coordinates, and geometric details (radius, included angle, ellipse axes, spline order/control points)
• Approximate lengths (B-splines, elliptic arcs, and some edge curves) are marked with a leading ~
• Copy Results button exports the table to the clipboard as tab-separated text
• A Diagnostics tab reports environment info (OS, display/DPI, detected Alibre version) with its own copy button

Installation

Build the implementation you want (see Implementations), then register its DLL with Alibre Design:

1. Close Alibre Design if it is running.
2. Build the chosen project in Visual Studio:
   • C#: source/MeasureLengths-CSharp/MeasureLengths-CSharp.sln → MeasureLengths-CSharp.dll
   • C++: source/MeasureLengths-Cpp/MeasureLengths.sln → MeasureLengths.dll
3. Copy the built DLL together with its .adc descriptor and .ico into your Alibre Design add-ons folder. The .adc file is what registers the add-on with Alibre. The exact add-ons directory is specific to your installed Alibre Design version — consult the Alibre Design add-on documentation for the correct location.
4. Restart Alibre Design. Measure Lengths will appear on the add-ons menu.

Install only one of the two builds — both register the same Measure Lengths menu.

Usage

1. Open a part in Alibre Design (the C++ build is Part-only; the C# build also works in other workspaces).
2. Launch Measure Lengths from the add-ons menu.
3. Select sketches or individual sketch entities, or edges in the viewport. Use Alibre's standard shift- or ctrl-click to add multiple items to the selection.
4. With Auto-Measure on (default), the results table updates automatically as you select or deselect entities. With it off, click Measure to measure the current selection.
5. Click Copy Results to copy the table to your clipboard as tab-separated text.

Sample Output

Copy Results produces tab-separated text like the following:

Measure Lengths Results
=========================

Total Length: 433.760100 cm
Entity Count: 7

#	Type	Length	Start	End	Details
1	Line (Edge)	0.7620 cm	(-3.497,4.801,0.000)	(-3.497,4.801,0.762)
2	Line (2D)	41.9340 cm	(-19.383,20.967,0.000)	(-19.383,-20.967,0.000)
3	Point (2D)	--	(0.000,0.000,0.000)
4	Circular Arc (2D)	56.6314 cm	(20.757,-30.054,0.000)	(30.830,3.948,0.000)
5	Circle (2D)	38.9425 cm
6	Ellipse (2D)	151.6658 cm
7	B-Spline (2D)	143.8244 cm	(6.600,12.448,0.000)	(13.706,17.818,0.000)

The on-screen results table additionally populates the Details column (e.g. R=6.1979 cm, Angle=182.94 deg, a=33.5475 b=12.2042 cm, Order=4 Pts=17) and marks approximate lengths with a leading ~. The clipboard export does not include the Details column or the ~ markers.

Known Issues

• Reference/construction geometry is not filtered out. The add-on measures every entity Alibre includes in the current selection (and every figure in a selected sketch), with no option to exclude reference geometry. A future update may add this option.
• The Copy Results clipboard export omits the Details column and the ~ approximate-length markers that the on-screen table shows.

Contribution

Contributions to the codebase are not currently accepted, but questions and comments are welcome.

Additional Resources

NA

Acknowledgment and License

MIT — see LICENSE.

Credit & Citation

Alibre Forum - Inspiration