OCR2Geometry for AutoCAD

OCR2Geometry for AutoCAD is a lightweight AutoCAD plugin that converts coordinate tables from images into drawing geometry.

The first target is AutoCAD 2020, using C# / .NET Framework / WPF.

MVP scope

• Recognize planar coordinate tables from images
• Work with X/Y coordinates only
• Swap X and Y columns
• Review and edit recognized values before import
• Create AutoCAD DBPoint objects
• Add point-number DBText labels next to points
• Export recognized coordinates to CSV

No latitude/longitude or coordinate-system transformation is planned for the first MVP.

Current development build

The bootstrap build already contains:

• AutoCAD plugin entry point
• OCR2GEOMETRY command
• WPF plugin window
• test coordinate model
• creation of DBPoint objects in Model Space
• creation of point-number DBText labels

Test coordinates currently used by the bootstrap build:

1    512345.23    6876543.11
2    512351.86    6876551.42
3    512360.14    6876567.30

Build requirements

• Windows
• AutoCAD 2020 installed
• Visual Studio 2022 with .NET desktop development tools
• .NET Framework 4.7.2 targeting pack

The project expects the AutoCAD managed API assemblies in the default installation directory:

C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2020\acdbmgd.dll
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2020\acmgd.dll
C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2020\accoremgd.dll

If AutoCAD is installed elsewhere, set the MSBuild property Acad2020Dir to the correct folder.

AutoCAD references use Copy Local = False so Autodesk DLLs are not copied into the plugin output or repository.

Build and test

1. Open OCR2Geometry.sln in Visual Studio.
2. Build the solution in Debug or Release mode.
3. Start AutoCAD 2020.
4. Run:

NETLOAD

5. Select the built OCR2Geometry.dll, normally from:

src\OCR2Geometry\bin\Debug\OCR2Geometry.dll

6. Run:

OCR2GEOMETRY

7. Click Create test points.

The bootstrap build should create three points and their point numbers in Model Space.

Planned development stages

v0.1 — AutoCAD bootstrap

• Plugin project
• OCR2GEOMETRY command
• WPF window
• Test point creation
• Point numbering labels

v0.2 — Coordinate table

• Editable coordinate grid
• Add/delete rows
• Start-number setting
• Text height and text offset settings
• X/Y swap

v0.3 — CSV

• Export recognized/edited table to CSV

v0.4 — OCR

• Image selection
• OCR engine integration
• Coordinate table parser
• Recognition confidence / validation workflow

Project structure

OCR2Geometry-for-AutoCAD/
├── OCR2Geometry.sln
├── src/
│   └── OCR2Geometry/
│       ├── AutoCAD/
│       ├── Commands/
│       ├── Models/
│       ├── Properties/
│       ├── UI/
│       └── OCR2Geometry.csproj
└── README.md

Status

Early development. The current branch is intended to prove the AutoCAD 2020 plugin loading and geometry-writing workflow before OCR is added.