AutoCADderTuesday, May 22, 2007
AutoCAD does more than it offers to users
Studying the DXF Reference can reveal some interesting features built in AutoCAD which are not available in the common user interface (in the standard menu/dialog UI).
Did you e.g. know that you can set raster images to display only in aligned plan views? If you have a raster image representing a underlay scale, reference, logo, etc. - maybe it makes no sense to have it displayed in 3D views, perspectives and rotated views. The AutoCAD drawing database (DWG) has a setting for hiding such images in views not aligned with screen (non-plan views).
You can use the following simple LISP macro with the IMGNA (image not aligned) toggle command to demonstrate this functionality. Please note that there is no internal user command or setting to control this feature in AutoCAD.
Did you e.g. know that you can set raster images to display only in aligned plan views? If you have a raster image representing a underlay scale, reference, logo, etc. - maybe it makes no sense to have it displayed in 3D views, perspectives and rotated views. The AutoCAD drawing database (DWG) has a setting for hiding such images in views not aligned with screen (non-plan views).
You can use the following simple LISP macro with the IMGNA (image not aligned) toggle command to demonstrate this functionality. Please note that there is no internal user command or setting to control this feature in AutoCAD.
; Hide image when not aligned with screen
; AutoCADDer - http://autocadder.blogspot.com
; Original LISP rewritten by R.K. McSwain
;
(defun C:IMGNA (/ e val msg nv)
(setq e (entget (car (entsel "Select an image: "))))
(if (eq 2 (logand 2 (setq val (cdr (assoc 70 e)))))
(setq nv (- val 2) msg "\nThis image will be hidden in non-aligned views")
(setq nv (+ val 2) msg "\nThis image will be displayed even in non-aligned views")
)
(setq new (subst (cons 70 nv) (assoc 70 e) e))
(entmod new)
(princ msg)
(princ)
)
Sunday, February 25, 2007
AutoCAD 2008 compatibility
How compatible is AutoCAD 2008 with the older versions?
OK, the DWG files are compatible - that's important. AutoCAD 2008 still uses the DWG2007 format. It looks like the DWG file format is upgraded every 3rd AutoCAD release so we are safe for one more AutoCAD release (AutoCAD 2009 ?).
As for add-on applications it is more complicated. Generally, AutoCAD 2008 should run the 2007-versions of add-on applications. The 32-bit version of AutoCAD 2008 is binary compatible with AutoCAD 2007. VisualLISP, VBA, ActiveX and most ARX add-ons will probably run unmodified, there may be some problems with their installers.
With the 64-bit version of AutoCAD 2008, it is a different story. The LISP applications should still run fine. For VBA add-ons there is some workaround developed by Autodesk. ActiveX and ObjectARX applications need to be upgraded to work with AutoCAD 2008 64-bit.
OK, the DWG files are compatible - that's important. AutoCAD 2008 still uses the DWG2007 format. It looks like the DWG file format is upgraded every 3rd AutoCAD release so we are safe for one more AutoCAD release (AutoCAD 2009 ?).
As for add-on applications it is more complicated. Generally, AutoCAD 2008 should run the 2007-versions of add-on applications. The 32-bit version of AutoCAD 2008 is binary compatible with AutoCAD 2007. VisualLISP, VBA, ActiveX and most ARX add-ons will probably run unmodified, there may be some problems with their installers.
With the 64-bit version of AutoCAD 2008, it is a different story. The LISP applications should still run fine. For VBA add-ons there is some workaround developed by Autodesk. ActiveX and ObjectARX applications need to be upgraded to work with AutoCAD 2008 64-bit.
Labels: 64-bit, ARX, AutoCAD 2008, LISP, VBA
Friday, February 02, 2007
Talking AutoCAD
A nice tool for AutoCAD is described in the CAD Forum tip Talking AutoCAD - you can make AutoCAD talk to you with just 3 lines of LISP code.
The warnings spoken by the sample utility can be a bit obtrusive but fortunately you can silence them with the QUIET command.
I can imagine broad usage of such warnings spoken loudly to my operators - like "don't draw on layer 0", "use osnaps", "save regularly"...
The warnings spoken by the sample utility can be a bit obtrusive but fortunately you can silence them with the QUIET command.
I can imagine broad usage of such warnings spoken loudly to my operators - like "don't draw on layer 0", "use osnaps", "save regularly"...
