Export Page Layout to PDF using ESRI add-in with vb.net

Question

Note: This message is cross-posted on geonet (https://geonet.esri.com/thread/127249)

I have been trying to convert a vba script to vb.net but I have hit a roadblock and I'm hoping someone can help me figure out the problem. I want to export the Page Layout of my map to a PDF using an add-in button. The roadblock occurs where I define my PDFCreate class. I keep receiving the error message:

"Unable to cast object of type 'CreatePDF_2.PDFCreate' to type ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.IExport".

I suspect the error is in my definition and relationship of the document, active view and page layout. I have looked at examples and tried different definitions and procedures but I have been unable to figure out how to fix the problem.

I am using Visual Studio 2010 Professional and ArcMap 10.2.2

---

The code now works!

Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.esriSystem
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.Output
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.ArcMapUI
Public Class PDFCreation
 Inherits ESRI.ArcGIS.Desktop.AddIns.Button
 Protected Overrides Sub OnClick()
 PDFModule()
 End Sub
 Protected Overrides Sub OnUpdate()
 Enabled = My.ArcMap.Application IsNot Nothing
 End Sub
 Public Sub PDFModule()
 Dim pMxDoc As IMxDocument
 Dim pActiveView As IActiveView
 Dim pPageLayout As IPageLayout
 Dim pExport As IExport
 Dim pPixelEnv As IEnvelope
 Dim lDPI As Long
 Dim tExpRect As tagRECT
 Dim hDC As Long
 Dim res = 96
 pMxDoc = My.ArcMap.Application.Document
 pPageLayout = pMxDoc.PageLayout
 pActiveView = pPageLayout
 pExport = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.ExportPDF
 pPixelEnv = New Envelope
 lDPI = 300
 pExport.Resolution = lDPI
 tExpRect.left = 0
 tExpRect.top = 0
 tExpRect.bottom = My.ArcMap.Document.ActiveView.ExportFrame.bottom * (lDPI / res)
 tExpRect.right = My.ArcMap.Document.ActiveView.ExportFrame.right * (lDPI / res)
 pPixelEnv.PutCoords(tExpRect.left, tExpRect.top, tExpRect.right, tExpRect.bottom)
 pExport.PixelBounds = pPixelEnv
 Dim pdfName As String = ""
 Dim saveFileDialog1 As New SaveFileDialog
 saveFileDialog1.Filter = "PDF File|*.pdf"
 saveFileDialog1.Title = "Save A PDF File"
 saveFileDialog1.FileName = pdfName
 saveFileDialog1.ShowDialog()
 pExport.ExportFileName = saveFileDialog1.FileName
 hDC = pExport.StartExporting
 pActiveView.Output(hDC, lDPI, tExpRect, Nothing, Nothing)
 pExport.FinishExporting()
 MessageBox.Show("Finished Exporting Map")
 pExport.Cleanup()
 End Sub
End Class

Here is my code incorporating the coding used in the ESRI active page layout pdf export code snippet. I comment out pExportpdf and instead use ExportPDF in Select Case and change pExportpdf.EmbedFonts to pExport.EmbedFonts. I include Dim ExportPDF as String.

When I use this method, I receive the error message:

Implementing class ‘ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.ExportPDFClass’ for interface 'ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.ExportPDF’ cannot be found.

Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.esriSystem
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.Output
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.ArcMapUI
Public Class PDFCreate
 Inherits ESRI.ArcGIS.Desktop.AddIns.Button
 Public Sub New()
 End Sub
 Protected Overrides Sub OnClick()
 PDFCreatemodule()
 End Sub
 Protected Overrides Sub OnUpdate()
 Enabled = My.ArcMap.Application IsNot Nothing
 End Sub
 Public Sub PDFCreatemodule()
 '
 ' TODO: Sample code showing how to access button host
 '
 Dim pMxDoc As IMxDocument
 Dim pActiveView As IActiveView
 Dim pPageLayout As IPageLayout
 Dim pExport As ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.IExport
 'Dim pExportpdf As ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.IExportPDF
 Dim pPixelEnv As IEnvelope
 Dim lDPI As Long
 Dim tExpRect As tagRECT
 Dim hDC As Long
 Dim ExportFormat As String
 'pMxApp = Application
 pMxDoc = My.ArcMap.Application.Document
 pActiveView = pMxDoc.PageLayout
 pPageLayout = pMxDoc.PageLayout
 pActiveView = pPageLayout
 pExport = New PDFCreate
 'pExportpdf = pExport
 Select Case ExportFormat
 Case "PDF"
 pExport = New ExportPDF
 End Select
 pPixelEnv = New Envelope
 pExport.ExportFileName = " " & ".pdf"
 pExport.Resolution = lDPI
 pExport.EmbedFonts = True
 pPixelEnv.PutCoords(0, 0, lDPI * PageExtent(pPageLayout).UpperRight.X, _
 lDPI * PageExtent(pPageLayout).UpperRight.Y)
 pExport.PixelBounds = pPixelEnv
 ' (device coordinates origin is upper left, ypositive is down)
 tExpRect.left = pExport.PixelBounds.LowerLeft.X
 tExpRect.bottom = pExport.PixelBounds.UpperRight.Y
 tExpRect.right = pExport.PixelBounds.UpperRight.X
 tExpRect.top = pExport.PixelBounds.LowerLeft.Y
 hDC = pExport.StartExporting
 pActiveView.Output(hDC, lDPI, tExpRect, Nothing, Nothing)
 System.Windows.Forms.Application.DoEvents()
 pExport.FinishExporting()
 End Sub
 Public Function PageExtent(pPageLayout) As IEnvelope
 Dim dWidth As Double, dHeight As Double
 pPageLayout.Page.QuerySize(dWidth, dHeight)
 Dim pEnv As IEnvelope
 pEnv = New Envelope
 pEnv.PutCoords(0.0#, 0.0#, dWidth, dHeight)
 PageExtent = pEnv
 End Function
End Class

This is an error message I am receiving...

enter image description here

• artwork21: Have you seen this code snippet, Export active view, help.arcgis.com/en/sdk/10.0/arcobjects_net/conceptualhelp/…
• MapinTX: I have seen that code snippet. I tried to incorporate it into my code but I could not get it to work. I ran into a problem using: . Select Case ExportFormat Case "PDF" docExport = New ExportPDF . My project did not accept "ExportPDF" as an Interface like it was doing for the ESRI snippet. My project was treating it as a class that did not have an appropriate definition. Once again I received an error related to unable to cast object to type.
• artwork21: ExportFormat is a string parameter of the function, you need to provide this.
• MapinTX: When I use 'Dim Export Format As String' or 'ByVal ExportFormat As String' and replace docExport with pExport , I receive the error message: Implementing class ‘ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.ExportPDFClass’ for interface ‘ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.ExportPDF’ cannot be found.
• artwork21: Can you add the Select Case lines in your code, not seeing it. Are you providing a value for the ExportFormat variable?

Answer 1

Take out the PageExtent function, and get the tagRECT bounds from the frame to export, the output resolution, and the screen resolution (bound * (300/96)). This should work to export your page layout:

Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.Carto
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.esriSystem
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.Geometry
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.Output
Imports System.Windows.Forms
Imports ESRI.ArcGIS.ArcMapUI
Public Class ExportPDF
 Inherits ESRI.ArcGIS.Desktop.AddIns.Button
 Protected Overrides Sub OnClick()
 PDFModule()
 End Sub
 Protected Overrides Sub OnUpdate()
 Enabled = My.ArcMap.Application IsNot Nothing
 End Sub
 Public Sub PDFModule()
 Dim pMxDoc As IMxDocument
 Dim pActiveView As IActiveView
 Dim pPageLayout As IPageLayout
 Dim pExport As IExport
 Dim pPixelEnv As IEnvelope
 Dim lDPI As Long
 Dim tExpRect As tagRECT
 Dim hDC As Long
 Dim strOutPut As String = "your file path here.pdf"
 Dim res = 96
 pMxDoc = My.ArcMap.Application.Document
 pPageLayout = pMxDoc.PageLayout
 pActiveView = pPageLayout
 pExport = New ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.ExportPDF
 pPixelEnv = New Envelope
 pExport.ExportFileName = strOutPut
 lDPI = 300
 pExport.Resolution = lDPI
 tExpRect.left = 0
 tExpRect.top = 0
 tExpRect.bottom = My.ArcMap.Document.ActiveView.ExportFrame.bottom * (lDPI / res)
 tExpRect.right = My.ArcMap.Document.ActiveView.ExportFrame.right * (lDPI / res)
 pPixelEnv.PutCoords(tExpRect.left, tExpRect.top, tExpRect.right, tExpRect.bottom)
 pExport.PixelBounds = pPixelEnv
 hDC = pExport.StartExporting
 pActiveView.Output(hDC, lDPI, tExpRect, Nothing, Nothing)
 pExport.FinishExporting()
 End Sub
End Class

• MapinTX: Even with the explicit reference I still receive the "Implementing class" error message. I receive it on 'New ExportPDF' and on 'New ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.ExportPDF'. I have checked again and I am importing and Referencing ESRI.ArcGIS.Output. I just tried taking away the import and reference and adding them again but I still have the error. And for some reason I am still receiving the "unable to cast object" error solely on line 47 even if there is no code present at that line or if all the code for my PDF Createmodule is below line 47.
• Dan Jurgella: Edited my answer to show the exact changes I made to your code as posted above (your 2nd code block). With these changes do you still get invalid cast exception?
• MapinTX: I made the changes you specified but I am still receiving the both the "Implementing Class" error for the ExportPDF and the "Invalid Cast exception" error at line 47.
• Dan Jurgella: You might want to edit your first post to reflect the exact code you are using at this moment, since there might be a line or two we are missing. Other than that, I'm sort of out of ideas at the moment.
• MapinTX: I have updated my 1st code to reflect the changes that were made from your suggestions.

Answer 2

The snippet I mentioned in my comment, http://help.arcgis.com/en/sdk/10.0/arcobjects_net/conceptualhelp/index.html#/d/000100000026000000.htm, is pulling in the ExportFormat value through the function argument. When the function is called from a different method it is providing that value (e.g. "PDF" or "JPG"), which you are not using the function arguments. You need to assign that value to the variable before the Select Case statement:

e.g

 Dim pExport = IExport
 'pExport = New PDFCreate <------------- not needed
 ExportFormat = "PDF"
 Select Case ExportFormat
 Case "PDF"
 pExport = New ExportPDF

• MapinTX: I have included the ExportFormat = "PDF" into my code as you showed in your example but I am still receiving the "Implementing class ‘ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.ExportPDFClass’ for interface 'ESRI.ArcGIS.Output.ExportPDF’ cannot be found" error message.
• artwork21: I would suggest to add in a try/catch logic to see what line number you are getting the error. Do you have all the required dependencies imported?
• MapinTX: As far as I know I have imported all the required dependencies. When I use breakpoints and debug I am receiving the "Unable to Cast..." message right before the Try Catch snippet for 'pExport = New PDF Create. I am also receiving the "Implementing class..." error for pExport = New ExportPDF.
• MapinTX: I have included a screen shot of the messages at the bottom of my original post.
• artwork21: I do not think you need this statment, pExport = New PDFCreate