Acad Sheet Sets

AutoCAD Sheet Set Manager (.NET)

Sheet Set Manager has no managed .NET API — it is COM-only.

Access it via dynamic COM using CLSIDs. Do NOT reference AcSmComponents.Interop.dll in .NET 8 plugins — it causes ReflectionTypeLoadException during NETLOAD. Use the dynamic pattern shown below.

Key CLSIDs

internal static class AcSmGuids
{
    // IAcSmSheetSetMgr — the root manager object
    public const string SheetSetMgr = "bcfa0ab8-cefc-43e9-841b-8141f44fe240";

    // IAcSmCustomPropertyValue — create new custom property values
    public const string CustomPropertyValue = "909a5a17-c368-40cb-8b92-d174395128df";
}

Opening a Sheet Set Database

using System;
using System.Runtime.InteropServices;

// Create the manager
var mgrType = Type.GetTypeFromCLSID(new Guid(AcSmGuids.SheetSetMgr), true);
dynamic mgr = Activator.CreateInstance(mgrType);

object db = null;
bool weOpened = false;
try
{
    // Reuse already-open database if available
    try { db = mgr.FindOpenDatabase(dstPath); } catch { }
    if (db == null)
    {
        db = mgr.OpenDatabase(dstPath, false); // false = read/write
        weOpened = true;
    }

    // ... use db ...
}
finally
{
    if (weOpened && db != null)
        mgr.Close(db);              // close only if we opened it

    if (db != null) Marshal.ReleaseComObject(db);
    Marshal.ReleaseComObject(mgr);
}

CRITICAL: Always call Marshal.ReleaseComObject() on every COM object when done. Failure to release causes the .dst file to stay locked after Civil 3D exits.

Lock Management

The database must be locked before writing. Lock status codes:

internal static class AcSmLockStatus
{
    public const int UnLocked        = 0;
    public const int Locked_Local    = 1;  // locked by current process
    public const int Locked_Remote   = 2;  // locked by another user
    public const int Locked_ReadOnly = 4;
    public const int Locked_AccessDenied = 8;
    public const int Locked_NotConnected = 16;
}

dynamic db = database;

int status = (int)db.GetLockStatus();
if (status == AcSmLockStatus.UnLocked)
    db.LockDb(db);  // pass the db object as argument

// Unlock with commit=true to save, commit=false to discard
db.UnlockDb(db, commit: true);

// Query lock owner (returns empty strings if not locked)
string userName = "", machineName = "";
db.GetLockOwnerInfo(out userName, out machineName);

Stale lock recovery — if the same user/machine holds the lock (e.g., after a crash), force-release then re-acquire:

if (userName.Equals(Environment.UserName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase)
    && machineName.Equals(Environment.MachineName, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase))
{
    db.UnlockDb(db, false);
    db.LockDb(db);
}

Reading Sheets and Subsets

The sheet set contains a tree of components — each is either a sheet or a subset (folder). Distinguish them by whether GetSheetEnumerator() succeeds.

dynamic sheetSet = db.GetSheetSet();
try
{
    string name = (string)sheetSet.GetName();

    dynamic rootEnum = sheetSet.GetSheetEnumerator();
    try
    {
        rootEnum.Reset();
        dynamic comp;
        while ((comp = rootEnum.Next()) != null)
        {
            try
            {
                // Try as subset (has GetSheetEnumerator)
                try
                {
                    dynamic subsetEnum = comp.GetSheetEnumerator();
                    string subsetName = (string)comp.GetName();
                    // recurse into subsetEnum...
                    Marshal.ReleaseComObject(subsetEnum);
                    continue;
                }
                catch { /* not a subset */ }

                // It's a sheet
                string number = (string)(comp.GetNumber() ?? "");
                string title  = (string)(comp.GetTitle()  ?? "");
            }
            finally { Marshal.ReleaseComObject(comp); }
        }
    }
    finally { Marshal.ReleaseComObject(rootEnum); }
}
finally { Marshal.ReleaseComObject(sheetSet); }

Reading Custom Properties

// From a sheet component (already have dynamic comp)
dynamic bag = comp.GetCustomPropertyBag();  // may return null
if (bag == null) return;

try
{
    dynamic enumerator = bag.GetPropertyEnumerator();
    try
    {
        enumerator.Reset();
        while (true)
        {
            string propName = null;
            dynamic propValue = null;
            try { enumerator.Next(out propName, out propValue); }
            catch { break; }
            if (propName == null) break;

            try
            {
                int flags = (int)propValue.GetFlags();
                // Filter to custom sheet properties
                if ((flags & AcSmPropertyFlags.CUSTOM_SHEET_PROP) != 0 ||
                    (flags & AcSmPropertyFlags.IS_CHILD) != 0)
                {
                    string value = propValue.GetValue()?.ToString() ?? "";
                }
            }
            finally { if (propValue != null) Marshal.ReleaseComObject(propValue); }
        }
    }
    finally { Marshal.ReleaseComObject(enumerator); }
}
finally { Marshal.ReleaseComObject(bag); }

Property Flags

internal static class AcSmPropertyFlags
{
    public const int CUSTOM_SHEET_PROP = 1;  // user-defined per-sheet property
    public const int IS_CHILD          = 2;  // inherited from sheet set level
}

Writing Custom Properties

Requires an active lock on the database.

dynamic bag = sheet.GetCustomPropertyBag();
try
{
    dynamic propValue = null;
    try
    {
        // Try to get existing property
        try { propValue = bag.GetProperty(propertyName); }
        catch { /* doesn't exist yet */ }

        if (propValue == null)
        {
            // Create new property value object
            var pvType = Type.GetTypeFromCLSID(new Guid(AcSmGuids.CustomPropertyValue), true);
            propValue = Activator.CreateInstance(pvType);
            propValue.InitNew(bag);
            propValue.SetFlags(AcSmPropertyFlags.CUSTOM_SHEET_PROP);
        }

        propValue.SetValue(newValue);
        bag.SetProperty(propertyName, propValue);
    }
    finally { if (propValue != null) Marshal.ReleaseComObject(propValue); }
}
finally { Marshal.ReleaseComObject(bag); }

Writing Sheet Number and Title

// Requires lock on db
sheet.SetNumber("C1.01");
sheet.SetTitle("Site Plan");

Commit or Discard Changes

// Commit (save to .dst file)
db.UnlockDb(db, true);

// Discard (no changes written)
db.UnlockDb(db, false);

Always call UnlockDb in a finally block to avoid leaving the file locked.

Project Setup

No extra DLL references needed beyond the standard three:

<Reference Include="acdbmgd">
  <HintPath>$(ArxMgdPath)\acdbmgd.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>False</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="acmgd">
  <HintPath>$(ArxMgdPath)\acmgd.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>False</Private>
</Reference>
<Reference Include="accoremgd">
  <HintPath>$(ArxMgdPath)\accoremgd.dll</HintPath>
  <Private>False</Private>
</Reference>

Do not add AcSmComponents.dll or AcSmComponents.Interop.dll as references — they cause ReflectionTypeLoadException at NETLOAD time in .NET 8 plugins.

Gotchas

• Every COM object must be released. Use try/finally with Marshal.ReleaseComObject(). Missing a release keeps the .dst locked until AutoCAD exits.
• Enumerator.Next() signals end by throwing, not by returning null — catch the exception to exit the loop (or check if the returned name is null).
• Components have no type discriminator — tell sheets from subsets by calling GetSheetEnumerator() and catching the exception if it fails.
• GetCustomPropertyBag() can return null — check before using. Sheets with no custom properties may return null.
• Lock before write, unlock with commit. If you open the database without acquiring a lock first, writes will silently fail.
• FindOpenDatabase throws if the database is not open — always wrap in try/catch and fall back to OpenDatabase.
• Only close databases you opened. If FindOpenDatabase returned an existing handle, do not call mgr.Close(db) — that would close a database another part of the application is using.
• AcSmComponents.Interop.dll is .NET Framework only. Do not reference it in .NET 8 plugins. Use dynamic COM via CLSID instead (the pattern shown above).

Related Skills

• /c3d-api:c3d-project-setup - DLL references, acad_path.props, plugin setup
• /c3d-api:autocad-class-reference - AutoCAD .NET class overview