Getting map surround as IElement in ArcObjects?

Question

In an MXD file, I have a page layout and a map with a north arrow, and I need to move it in the page layout programmatically using ArcObjects Java SDK.

I managed to get the north arrow map surround object:

for(int i = 0; i < dataFrame.getMapSurroundCount(); i++) {
        IMapSurround mapSurround = dataFrame.getMapSurround(i);
        if(mapSurround instanceof INorthArrow) {
            log.info("North");
            // ...
        }
        if(mapSurround instanceof IScaleBar) {
            log.info("scale bar");

        }
    }

Now, I need to get my north arrow as an IElement, in order to apply an Envelope as a geometry, that will cause the north arrow to be moved within the page layout.

INorthArrow cannot be cast to IElement (ever tried).

Any idea to get an IElement?

Answer 1

Cast the layout to IGraphicsContainer and call IGraphicsContainer.FindFrame, passing the map surround as its argument. The returned frame is an IElement instance.