Which automation environments are supported?

Understanding automation : Which automation environments are supported?

Which automation environments are supported?

For CorelDRAW versions 6 through 9, the only method of automating tasks was using the Corel SCRIPT language. Solution developers used Corel SCRIPT to create intelligent mini-applications for drawing shapes, repositioning and resizing shapes, opening and closing documents, and setting styles within CorelDRAW.

Although the Corel SCRIPT language was useful for automating basic tasks, a more flexible and powerful solution became necessary. For version 10, CorelDRAW was enhanced with support for the Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) engine, which handled behind-the-scenes automation. The addition of VBA made CorelDRAW immediately accessible to millions of VBA and Microsoft Visual Basic (VB) developers around the world. Since then, VBA has been supported by every version of the CorelDRAW software suite.

More recently, the software suite added support for Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Applications (VSTA), the successor to VBA.

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Although CorelDRAW no longer includes the Corel SCRIPT editor, it does include the Corel SCRIPT run-time engine. Therefore, you can easily migrate scripts that were written for earlier versions of CorelDRAW to later versions of the software. For information on using Corel SCRIPT with CorelDRAW, see “Working with scripts” in the main Help file for CorelDRAW (draw.chm).

By supporting VBA and VSTA, the software suite offers a platform for the following:

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developing powerful corporate graphical solutions — such as automated ticket generators, customized calendars, and batch file-processors

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streamlining workflows — such as with on-the-fly page-layout mechanisms

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customizing default software features — such as the creation, alignment, or transformation of objects

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...and much more!

VBA and VSTA each provide their own fully integrated development environment (IDE), with contextual pop-up lists, syntax highlighting, line-by-line debugging, and visual designer windows. These features are particularly helpful to inexperienced developers.

For more information on VBA and VSTA, see the following topics:

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What is VBA?

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What is VSTA?