Solidworks EPDM API IEdmEnumeratorVariable5::SetVar not working as expected

Question

I'm trying to use IEdmEnumeratorVariable5::SetVar to update some file card variables based on user input into a windows form. My code executes, there are no error messages, the file is checked out and checked back in and the appropriate comment is added to the history; however the variables on the card are not updated.

I have verified by stepping through code at runtime that all variables are populated with the correct (as expected) data. The SetVar procedures all go off without a hitch, but the variables on the data card do not change value - even manually refreshing the folder view has no effect.

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Below is my code.

This is an add-in application, written as a class-library project in VB using VS Community 2015, with target framework .NET 4.0.

In efforts to make this question more concise; immediately below I've included just the snippet of code doing the set variables work, then I've also included more code so you can get the whole picture if needed.

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JUST THE TIP :

This is the code doing the set variables work:

Dim UserManager As IEdmUserMgr5 = .SourceVault
Dim User As IEdmUser5 = UserManager.GetLoggedInUser

CardComment = UserComment & CardComment
CardDate = Today().ToString("yyMMdd", Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
CardBy = User.Name
CardDisposition = UserDisposition

CardVariables.SetVar(DispositionVariable, "@", CardDisposition)
CardVariables.SetVar(CommentVariable, "@", CardComment)
CardVariables.SetVar(ByVariable, "@", CardBy)
CardVariables.SetVar(DateVariable, "@", CardDate)
CardVariables.Flush()

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THE BROADER STROKES :

Class module level variables:

Private Structure CommandInfo
    Dim SourceVault As IEdmVault11
    Dim SourceCommand As EdmCmd
    Dim SourceSelection As System.Array
    Dim TargetTemplate As System.String
    Dim VerifiedPaths As List(Of String)
End Structure

Private ReceivedCommand As CommandInfo

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OnCmd procedure (caller):

Public Sub OnCmd(ByRef poCmd As EdmCmd,
                 ByRef ppoData As System.Array) Implements IEdmAddIn5.OnCmd

    Dim CommandToRun As MenuCommand

    Try

        With ReceivedCommand
            .SourceVault = poCmd.mpoVault
            .SourceCommand = poCmd
            .SourceSelection = ppoData

            'Get the command structure for the command ID
            Select Case poCmd.meCmdType

                Case EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_Menu
                    CommandToRun = AvailableCommands(.SourceCommand.mlCmdID)

                Case EdmCmdType.EdmCmd_CardButton
                    Select Case True
                        Case poCmd.mbsComment.ToString.ToUpper.Contains("DISPOSITION")
                            DispositionRequest()
                        Case Else : Exit Sub
                    End Select

                Case Else : Exit Sub
            End Select
    '...... (End Try, End Sub, Etc.)

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DispositionRequest procedure (callee):

Private Sub DispositionRequest()

    Dim UserDisposition As String

    Using Disposition As New DispositionForm
        With Disposition
            If Not .ShowDialog() = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then Exit Sub
            Select Case True

                Case .Approve.Checked
                    UserDisposition = "Approved"

                Case .Reject.Checked
                    UserDisposition = "Rejected"

                Case Else : Exit Sub

            End Select
        End With
    End Using



    Dim UserComment As String

    Using Explanation As New DispositionExplanation
        With Explanation

            If Not .ShowDialog() = System.Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then Exit Sub

            If .ListView1.Items.Count > 0 Then
                 'do some stuff not relevant to this question...
            End If

            UserComment = .Comments.Text

        End With
    End Using

    'This next procedure just gets a list of paths from ReceivedCommand.SourceSelection  - which is just the ppoData argument from the OnCmd procedure - see code block above!
    Dim RequestPaths As List(Of String) = GetSelectedFilePaths()

    For Each Path As String In RequestPaths
        With ReceivedCommand
            Dim RequestFile As IEdmFile5 = .SourceVault.GetFileFromPath(Path)
            Dim ParentFolder As IEdmFolder6 = .SourceVault.GetFolderFromPath(System.IO.Path.GetDirectoryName(Path))
            Dim UnlockLater As Boolean = False

            If Not RequestFile.IsLocked Then
                UnlockLater = True
                RequestFile.LockFile(ParentFolder.ID, .SourceCommand.mlParentWnd, CInt(EdmLockFlag.EdmLock_Simple))
            End If

            Dim CardVariables As IEdmEnumeratorVariable5 = RequestFile.GetEnumeratorVariable

            'We allow users to re-disposition a request so we want to keep any previous disposition information so it is not lost
            Dim CardComment As String = String.Empty
            Dim CardBy As String = String.Empty
            Dim CardDate As String = String.Empty
            Dim CardDisposition As String = String.Empty
            Dim Success As Boolean

            Const CommentVariable As String = "DispComm"
            Const ByVariable As String = "DisposedBy"
            Const DateVariable As String = "DisposedDate"
            Const DispositionVariable As String = "Disposition"

            Success = CardVariables.GetVar(DispositionVariable, "@", CardDisposition)

            If Success Then
                Success = CardVariables.GetVar(CommentVariable, "@", CardComment)
                If Success Then Success = CardVariables.GetVar(ByVariable, "@", CardBy)
                If Success Then Success = CardVariables.GetVar(DateVariable, "@", CardDate)
                If Success Then CardComment = "Previously dispositioned as: """ & CardDisposition & """ by: " & CardBy & " on: " & CardDate & vbNewLine &
                                                 "---------Previous disposition explanation---------" & vbNewLine & CardComment
            End If

            Dim UserManager As IEdmUserMgr5 = .SourceVault
            Dim User As IEdmUser5 = UserManager.GetLoggedInUser

            CardComment = UserComment & CardComment
            CardDate = Today().ToString("yyMMdd", Globalization.CultureInfo.InvariantCulture)
            CardBy = User.Name
            CardDisposition = UserDisposition

            CardVariables.SetVar(DispositionVariable, "@", CardDisposition)
            CardVariables.SetVar(CommentVariable, "@", CardComment)
            CardVariables.SetVar(ByVariable, "@", CardBy)
            CardVariables.SetVar(DateVariable, "@", CardDate)
            CardVariables.Flush()

            If UnlockLater Then RequestFile.UnlockFile(lParentWnd:= .SourceCommand.mlParentWnd,
                                                        bsComment:="Dispositioned as " & CardDisposition,
                                                        lEdmUnlockFlags:=0)
            .SourceVault.RefreshFolder(ParentFolder.LocalPath)
        End With
    Next


End Sub

Answer 1

From the documentation:

bsCfgName : Name of configuration or layout to which to store the variable value; empty string for folders and file types that do not support configurations

I was working with a virtual file, which did not support configurations. I saw a C example working with a virtual file and they were passing null references, so I reread the documentation and saw that excerpt above, so I changed my code from "@" to String.Empty for the mboconfiguration argument and now it is working!

CardVariables.SetVar(DispositionVariable, String.Empty, CardDisposition)
CardVariables.SetVar(CommentVariable, String.Empty, CardComment)
CardVariables.SetVar(ByVariable, String.Empty, CardBy)
CardVariables.SetVar(DateVariable, String.Empty, CardDate)
CardVariables.Flush()