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My experience of AutoCAD 2008 aka Spago.
New and/or enhanced functions
Still missing. Wish list for the next time
Existing bugs
Removed
Tips & Tricks
Readme
Updates & Service Packs
Links
New Commands
Changed Commands
Removed or Obsolete Commands
New System Variables
Changed System Variables
Removed or
Obsolete System Variables
AutoCAD training video
JTB World's software compatible with AutoCAD 2008
Drafting (2D)
Multiline Text (MTEXT)
Spell checking
Dimensioning
Data Extraction (Block Attributes and Objects)
Tables
Layers
Layer Notification
Annotation Scaling
Multiple Segment Leaders
2D Customizable Dashboard
Blocks / Block Editor / Dynamic Blocks
Presentations
Lights (Photometric), Materials, Entourage
Workflow
Use DWF as Underlay/Reference
Import, Export, and Underlay DGN 8 and XM Files
Tool Palettes
Dashboard
CUI
Miscellaneous
User Interface
The new 2D Drafting and Annotation workspace contains only toolbars, menus,
and palettes related to 2D drafting and annotation.
The dashboard displays buttons and controls that are associated with 2D drafting
and annotation.
The Dashboard can be customized with commands and droplists using CUI.
To further automate the user interface, when you select a tool from the
Dashboard the corresponding tool palettes automatically display.
When you drag an object from the drawing to an inactive tool palette, AutoCAD
automatically activates it enabling you to drop the object to the proper
location.
You can customize the icons associated with tools on the tool palette using
the new Specify Image menu option available when you right-click on a tool. If
you no longer wish to use the selected image, an additional right-click menu
option enables you to remove it, automatically restoring the default image.
When you modify the location of tools on a tool palette, their order is
maintained in the tool catalog (unless the catalog file is read-only) as well as
in the profile. This enables you to share your tool palettes without having to
manually reorganize the tools.
The new TPNAVIGATE command enables you to set a tool palette or tool palette
group current using the command line interface.
The drawing status bar at the bottom right contains tools for scaling
annotations.
Different tools display for model space and paper space.
When the drawing status bar is turned off, its tools are moved to the
application status bar.
On the menu bar, InfoCenter provides access to multiple sources of
information.
You can enter keywords or a question for help, display the Communication Center
panel for product updates and announcements, or display the Favorites panel to
access saved topics.
The Communications Center panel displays links to product update and
announcement information and RSS feeds, and may include links to Subscription
Center and CAD Manager specified files.
You can now directly edit layout tabs like in Excel. Double-Click on the name
to change it. Hold down the Ctrl key and drag to copy the tab (layout).
If you are using sheet sets, you can easily add a layout from the current
drawing to the active sheet set. Right click over the layout tab and select the
new Import Layout as Sheet option from the right click menu or simply drag and
drop the layout tab onto the sheet list. Using either of these methods will
display the Import Layouts as Sheets dialog box listing all the layouts in the
drawing, with the specified layout already selected. You can easily select
additional layouts to import without having to access the right-click menu or
drag and drop for each layout.
The Customize User Interface (CUI) dialog box has been updated, making it
more powerful and easier to use. Enhancements to pane headers, borders, splitter
bars, buttons, and tool tips make it easier for you to understand and manipulate
the controls and data in the CUI dialog box. With the CUI dialog box open, you
can drag and drop buttons directly on a toolbar to rearrange or remove them. In
addition, you can Copy and Paste or Duplicate CUI elements such as commands,
menus, toolbars from within the CUI dialog box.
The Command List pane includes a new search tool that enables you to filter
command names as you type. You can view the macro associated with a command by
simply passing your cursor over the command name and you can drag and drop
commands from the Command List directly onto a toolbar.
The CUI customization tree enables you to create a new toolbar based on an
existing menu. If you drag and drop a menu element to the top level of the
Toolbars node, AutoCAD creates a new toolbar; if you drop it onto another
toolbar, AutoCAD creates a flyout.
A new Dashboard node enables you to customize panels in the AutoCAD
Dashboard. Customizing a Dashboard panel is very similar to customizing
toolbars, both within the CUI dialog box and on the Dashboard itself. In
addition, you can create a new row of tools in a dashboard panel by dragging a
toolbar from the Toolbar node to the Dashboard node.
When you select a toolbar or dashboard from the customization tree, a preview
pane displays a customizable representation of the selected element. You can
drag commands from the customization tree or command list directly into the
toolbar/panel preview. And you can drag and drop tools in the preview pane to
rearrange or remove them. When you select a tool in the preview pane, the
corresponding tool is automatically selected in the customization tree and
command list. Likewise, selecting a tool from the customization tree
automatically highlights it within the preview pane and the command list. The
Button Image pane displays the name of the image file below the icon preview and
a tooltip displays the name of each button icon as you pass your cursor over the
image.
When you access the CUI dialog box by choosing Customize from the right-click
menu of a toolbar, tool palette, or dashboard panel, it opens in a simplified
state with only the Command List displayed. You can also access the CUI in this
simplified state using the new QUICKCUI command.
Tables
Enhanced tables now give users the option to combine AutoCAD and Excel
tabular information into a single AutoCAD table. This table can be dynamically
linked so that notifications appear in both AutoCAD and Excel as data is
updated. Users can then select these notifications, allowing instant updating of
information in either source document. See
image.
Alternatively, if you already have data in an Excel spreadsheet, you can copy
and paste the Excel data as AutoCAD entities (PASTESPEC command). Pasting Excel
data as AutoCAD entities automatically creates a new table with the static
values already entered. The resulting table is the same as if you had started
from an empty table and then entered the values manually.
Figure
Auto-fill cells.
Table Spanning.
DataExchange command links tables two-way with Excel 2003/2007 spreadsheets.
The DataLink command allows you to modify links.
The Excel table is included with packages created by the eTransmit command.
The split-long-mtext-into-multiple-columns feature also applies to tables: long
tables can be split into columns.
MTEXT
The enhanced MTEXT editor provides the ability to specify the number of
columns required and flows new text between those columns as users make edits.
The space set between each column of text and the edge of the paper is also
customizable. All of these variables can be adjusted to specific values in the
dialog box, or adjusted interactively using the new multicolumn text grips. See
image.
A new Paragraph dialog box enables you to specify tabs and indents as well as
paragraph alignment and spacing.
Multiple Line MTEXT Attributes
Imports from Word 2003 and 2007 with formatting intact.
And, the new Text panel on the Dashboard provides easy access to text-related
tools including multline text, single line text, Find, Spell Check, text styles
and text height.
When creating or editing multiline text, new controls in the Text Formatting
toolbar, provide more formatting options for your MTEXT objects.
New column controls enable you to wrap an MTEXT object across multiple
columns. You can specify dynamic or static columns and adjust the number of
columns as well as the column and gutter width and height. Grips and the text
formatting ruler provide visual editing options.
Multileader
This new object is a big improvement on the old QLEADER command. MLeader
keeps text or block attached to the leader, it can justify all selected leaders,
and combine multiple leaders into one. New leader lines can be added to existing
MLeaders, and there are new editing grips on the mleader line. Command
shortcut command is MLD. Multileader styles helps to define different
multileaders for different purposes. The dashboard has a specific area for these
commands.
AUGI has an article
here.
Layers
You can access the layer Isolation tools from the Layers panel of the
Dashboard. The Layer isolate functionality (LAYISO) command includes a new
option for you to lock and fade background layers rather than simply hiding
them. You can control the amount of fading of using a slide bar or with the new
LAYLOCKFADECTL system variable. Since objects on a locked layer cannot be
edited, their grips are not displayed upon selection.
Layer States - new dialog box and new droplist in the Dashboard.
The Layer States Manager, which you can now access outside of the Layer
Properties Manager, provides powerful features for managing and editing saved
layer states. Access the Layer States Manager using the new LAYERSTATE command
(LAS alias) or from the Layer panel of the Dashboard as well as from its
previous location in the Layer Properties Manager. New import options enable you
to import layer states directly from DWG, DWT, or DWS files in addition to the
traditional LAS files. You can edit layer states and view layer states from xref
files.
Layer Properties Manager
You can easily rearrange the display order of layer properties by dragging
and dropping the column headings and you can control which layer properties are
displayed by turning them on or off from a right-click menu. A new Customize
Layer Columns dialog box, accessible from the right-click menu, enables you to
toggle the visibility of multiple columns. See
image.
A new layer creation option in the Layer Properties Manager enables you to
create a new layer that is automatically frozen in all viewports. You can access
this option from a button as well as from the right-click menu. Additionally, if
you right-click on an existing layer, you can freeze that selected layer in all
viewports. The Rename option in the right-click menu is also new in AutoCAD
2008. However, you can still rename an existing layer by pressing F2 or by
clicking twice (slowly) on the layer name.
You can display objects differently in selected layout viewports while
retaining their original layer properties in model space and in other layout
viewports. With layer property overrides, you no longer need to use tedious and
error-prone methods such as duplicating geometry on separate layers or making
copies of xrefs. Instead, when working in a viewport, you can use the Layer
Properties Manager to set overrides for VP Color, VP Linetype, VP Lineweight,
and VP Plotstyle. When a viewport contains overrides, a Viewport Overrides
property filter is automatically created and the override properties are
indicated with a different background color. You can select the Viewport
Overrides filter to view all layers that contain overrides. A right-click menu
in the layer list enables you to remove viewport overrides and a new
VPLAYEROVERRIDESMODE system variable enables you to temporarily ignore the
overrides for viewing or plotting.
The viewport overrides only affect the display of object properties that are
set to BYLAYER. You can quickly change object properties including Color,
Linetype, Lineweight, Material, and Plotstyle, of selected objects to BYLAYER
using the new SETBYLAYER command. The SETBYLAYER command enables you to modify
multiple properties at the same time and it works on objects within blocks and
nested blocks as well as the block definitions themselves. A new SetByLayer
Settings dialog box, accessible from the SETBYLAYER command, enables you to
control which properties to include in the operation.
A Settings button in the Layer Properties Manager provides access to the new
Layer Settings dialog box where you can enable layer evaluation, apply the layer
filter to the layer toolbar, and change the background color for viewport
overrides.
The new Layer Panel on the Dashboard acts as a central location for your
Layer tools. It includes all of the tools from the Layers toolbar and more!
SetByLayer command forces blocks and other objects to use the color specified
by the layer of the block. Supports nested blocks.
Layer Notification
Clicking on the Settings button in the Layer Properties Manager shows this
dialog box. It allows you to evaluate what should happen when new layers are
added to a drawing. Even xrefs can be evaluated and you can be notified on
different actions like Open, Save, Attach/Reload xrefs, Insert, Restore layer
state and Plot. In a multi-user environment this functionality is useful as a
help so you don't end up plotting a drawing with new layers that you are not
aware of. But don't rely fully on it since there are some pitfalls as seen
further on.
Unreconciled New Layers is a notification that let you know that new layers
has been found. If you right click on the Unreconciled New Layers icon you can
also access the New Layer Notification Settings.
Unreconciled New Layers is a temporary filter that shows the layers that can
be reconciled using right click. Being a filter makes it also easy to review the
layers before acting on them.
LAYEREVAL and LAYERNOTIFY system variables are saved in each drawing and are
the settings for unreconciled layer evaluation and notification. It can be a
good idea to enforce the values using acaddoc.lsp.
But remember even though you set LAYERNOTIFY to 0 it might still show the
notification because the notification is showed before the setting is changed.
In a single-user environment or if you don't want to use this new feature just
add the following two rows to acaddoc.lsp.
(setvar "LAYEREVAL" 0)
(setvar "LAYERNOTIFY" 0)
Layer notification does NOT happen during publish operations that run in the
background (such as publishing from SSM).
The drawing has to be opened and saved in AutoCAD 2008 once for the
notification to work properly. The "Resave all sheets" option in SSM does NOT
initiate this.
The alert before plot shows for the commands PLOT, -PLOT and PUBLISH. It does
NOT show if the command is run from a script file (.SCR) or used in AutoLISP.
The alert does NOT show if you start using a plot preview followed by plotting.
Take also a look at you templates and consider if you want layers in them to
be unreconciled or reconciled. When saving as a template there is an option for
that. Consider also what LAYEREVAL and LAYERNOTIFY should be set to.
Since the baseline that is saved in the drawing needs to know if a layer is
reconciled it makes the drawing larger and there is no easy way to purge that
information once it has been added. Changing LAYEREVAL and LAYERNOTIFY does not
help. But I've made an AutoLISP function that solved this. More about it can be
found
here. Download for
PurgeReconciledLayers.LSP.
An animation is available on this
Autodesk blog post by Heidi Hewett.
Annotation scaling
Introduces the concept of annotation scale as an object property. Designers
can set the current scale of a viewport or model space view, and then apply that
scale to each object and specify its size, placement, and appearance based on
the scale set for the viewport. In other words, annotation scale is now
automated. See
image.
Blocks / Block Editor / Dynamic Blocks
Now 3DORBIT can be used within the block editor.
Using the parameter description activates tooltips when you hover over
dynamic grips.
You can quickly update a block definition in the current drawing to match a
block on the tool palette by selecting the new Redefine option from the
right-click menu of a block tool.
Using dynamic blocks is more intuitive with new grip tips! When you hover the
cursor over a dynamic block grip, the associated parameter description is
displayed as a tooltip.
A new option in the XCLIP command enables you to clip the inverse of a
selected boundary. For example, if you select the Invert Clip option and then
specify a rectangular boundary, everything within the rectangle is removed from
the display.
Block attributes have been updated to support multiple lines of text. The
Attribute Definition and Edit Attribute dialog boxes include a new Multiple
Lines control. When you select Multiple Lines, the Default text box is disabled
and you’re provided with access the Multiline Attribute editor.
The Multiline Attribute editor is a simplified version of the MTEXT editor
enabling you to enter text, adjust the width for text wrapping, insert fields,
underline, and overline. You can use the right-click menu to access additional
MTEXT editing options such as Import Text, Background color, and Autocaps. When
you define a muiltiline attribute, an additional control in the Attribute
Definition dialog box as well as in the Enhanced Attribute Editor, enables you
to specify a Boundary Width.
Spell checking
The SPELL command now checks words in dimensions, zooms into words being corrected; added
option to ignore words with numbers or words with special characters; where to
check selection option.
Dimensioning
Inspection dimension. This type of dimension has the value, a tag, and a
percentage. The command is DIMINSPECT.
The DIMJOGLINE command adds or removes a jog line on a linear or aligned
dimension. You can edit the jog location using grips and you can turn off the
jog or edit its height using the Properties window. Additionally, a new option
for linear jog size is included on the Symbols and Arrows tab of the Dimension
Style dialog box.
The DIMSPACE command adjusts the spacing equally between parallel linear and
angular dimensions.
Here is before and here is the result
of the command
The new Dimension Break tool (DIMBREAK command) enables you to break
dimension or extension lines where they intersect geometric objects or other
dimensions. After specifying the dimension that you want to break, you can
select intersecting objects to use as cutting edges or you can choose the Auto
or Manual options. When you break a dimension by selecting objects or using the
Auto option, the breaks will automatically update when the intersection point
moves. If the objects are moved so that they no longer intersect, the break will
disappear and if they are moved back the break will automatically return to the
proper location. The Manual option enables you to specify start and end point of
the break. You can use the Restore option to remove all the breaks from selected
dimensions or leaders.
Enhancements to diametric, radial, and jogged radial dimensions enable you to
dimension an arc beyond its endpoints. The process for creating these dimensions
hasn’t changed. However, when you specify the location of the dimension line,
you can drag beyond the endpoints of the arc. AutoCAD will automatically create
an arc extension line using the same properties, such as extension line color
and extension line offset, as traditional extension lines.
A new option for angular dimensions enables you to place the dimension text
outside of the angle being measured. You can access the new option, Quadrant,
from the right-click menu when prompted to specify the dimension arc line
location. The Quadrant option asks you to specify the quadrant (angle) that you
want to dimension separate from specifying the dimension arc line location. If
the dimension arc line location that you specify is outside of the quadrant that
is being measured, AutoCAD will automatically create an arc extension line to
the dimension text.
The Tolerances tab of the Dimension Style dialog box has been updated to
include controls for aligning tolerances. You can align stacked tolerances using
either the decimal separator or the operation symbol
Data Extraction (Block Attributes and Objects)
Properties of objects can be extracted, such as the length of a line or
polyline. Custom created rows or columns are retained.
DWF
When a DWF file is attached as an underlay you can specify which layers to
display. Use the DWFLAYER command.
DGN Import & Export
MicroStation's DGN files can be imported or attached like xrefs. This is
limited to 2D drawings only. DGN 8 and XM Files only.
You can use the new DGNATTACH command to attach a DGN file to your AutoCAD
drawing as an externally referenced underlay. When you attach a DGN file, it is
displayed in the External Reference palette along with other externally
referenced files such as images, DWG xrefs, and DWF™ underlays. You can clip the
display area of a DGN underlay using the new DGNCLIP command and you can adjust
its properties, including contrast, fade, and monochrome, using the Properties
palette or through the DGNADJUST command.
You can import V8 DGN data into your AutoCAD session as a new DWG file using
the new DGNIMPORT and DGNEXPORT commands. The V8 DGN file format has also been
added to the list of supported file types in the IMPORT and EXPORT commands.
After selecting a DGN file to import, AutoCAD displays the Import DGN
Settings dialog box. Using this dialog box, you can specify how DGN references
should import into the AutoCAD drawing. You can choose to ignore external
references, translate reference data into the drawing file, or create a DGN
underlay. In addition, you can choose to explode text node to text elements
(this option maintains the shape of text created along a path) and you can
choose to convert the DGN file to AutoCAD units using the DGN file’s Master or
Sub units.
When you export an AutoCAD drawing to DGN file format, AutoCAD displays the
Export DGN Settings dialog box. You can choose to translate all DWG references
to DGN files, bind all DWG references into one DGN file, or ignore DWG
references. You have the option to export externally referenced DGN files (underlays)
and you can specify a seed file and units (master or sub). Specifying a seed
file allows you to choose to export the data as a 2D or 3D file using imperial
or metric units and master or sub units.
Visualization
Managing Materials
The Materials palette has been updated to provide faster, easier access to
materials properties. It includes expandable panels, which enable you to view
and edit material setting without having to access multiple dialog boxes.
In the Material Editor panel, you can specify the type of material and select
from a wide range of pre-defined templates. The pre-defined templates include
appropriate values, such as shininess, opacity, and translucency, for common
materials. Using these templates, you can quickly create realistic materials
without being a “materials expert.”
The Maps panel enables you apply diffuse, opacity, and bump maps to a
material and you can synchronize any or all of the maps with the material. When
the maps are synchronized with the material, any changes you make to the
material will automatically apply to the specified maps, saving you time and
reducing errors. The list of supported map types has been increased to include
more procedural maps, such as Checker and Tiles, enabling you to achieve more
realistic results than from texture maps alone. A button next to the Map Type
provides access to map-specific properties by replacing the current Materials
panels with Map-specific panels. When you finish customizing the map properties,
you can easily return to the general Materials panels.
The Advanced Lighting Override panel enables you to adjust material lighting
parameters for greater realism. Adjustable overrides include Color Bleed,
Indirect Bump, Reflectance, and Transmittance.
The Material Offset and Preview panel enables you to preview the material as
well as adjust the offset and rotation values.
Applying Photometric Data
In AutoCAD 2008, you can create realistic rendered images by applying real-world
photometric properties to light sources. For example, you can reference the
lighting catalog for a specific fixture and then use the candela, lumen, or lux
values to adjust the lamp intensity. Photometric properties are accessible from
the Command line when you create a new light or from the Properties window when
you select an existing light.
In addition to the improvements to materials and lighting, a new –RENDER
command (don’t forget the dash “-“) enables you to use the command line
interface to select from the available render presets. With this command line
option, you can automate the rendering process by creating a script to batch
render multiple scenes.
Miscellaneous
RECOVERALL Repairs a damaged drawing and xrefs - The selected drawing file
and all attached xrefs, including all nested xrefs, are opened, repaired,
resaved, and closed.
- Drawing files are saved in the current drawing file format.
- Copies of the original drawing files are saved as BAK files.
- If the object enabler is present, custom objects are updated.
Results are displayed in the Drawing Recovery Log window. Each drawing file
checked includes a Drawing Recovery Log that can be expanded or collapsed. The
entire log can be copied to the Windows clipboard with the Copy to Clipboard
button.
AutoCAD 2008 includes support for Microsoft® Direct3D® hardware acceleration
only in Windows Vista.
New texture compression enhancements will require less video memory and
improve performance when display images and textures.
Sheet Set Manager (SSM)
A new option in the right-click menu of the Sheet List tab enables you to
publish your sheet set in reverse order. When this option is enabled, the sheets
that you plot using Publish to Plotter or Publish using Page Setup Override will
plot in reverse of how they are listed in the sheet set manager.
Two additional enhancements provide greater flexibility when plotting from
the Sheet Set Manager. When using the Publish using Page Setup Override option
to create a DWF file, it will honor the Sheet Set Publish Options enabling you
to publish to a multi-sheet DWF file. Also, a new system variable,
PUBLISHCOLLATE, allows you to disable homogeneous plotting when you publish
using Page Setup Override option. Disabling homogeneous plotting allows plots
from other drawings or sheet sets to enter the plot spool.
AutoCAD 2008 includes a new toolbar that enables you to try out some of the
functionality available in Autodesk® Impression software. With Impression you
can create presentation-ready graphics directly from your AutoCAD drawings.
When you first select a tool from the Autodesk Impression toolbar, you are
prompted to download and install the Autodesk Impression technology preview.
Once it is installed you can sample some of the Autodesk Impression pen and
pencil tools by automatically importing the current AutoCAD view into Autodesk
Impression.
After opening a DWG or DWF file in Impression, you can add everything from
distinctive line types to textured color fills, using pre-built or custom
appearance styles. Libraries of styles can be saved and reused, allowing you to
generate unique looks for your work while saving time. Because Impression
understands CAD data, you can take advantage of the power of layers and blocks
when creating their images.
System requirements
The AutoCAD 2008 DWG file format is the same DWG file format as in AutoCAD
2007.
AutoCAD 2008 can be installed side-by-side with any other AutoCAD or Autodesk
vertical solution—including AutoCAD 2008–based products.
Third-party add-on applications based on Visual LISP® or AutoLISP®, VBA,
ActiveX® and ObjectARX® programming languages and developer tools for AutoCAD
2007 are compatible with AutoCAD 2008 32-bit. AutoCAD 2008 is binary compatible
with 2007 and has the same DWG file format.
Third-party applications for AutoCAD 2004/2005/2006 based on Visual LISP or
AutoLISP are also compatible with AutoCAD 2008. Third-party VBA based
applications for AutoCAD 2004/2005/2006 are compatible with AutoCAD 2008 32-bit
in some cases, but there are instances in which those applications will need to
modified. For more details on AutoCAD 2005/2006 VBA-based application
compatibility, please refer to www.autodesk.com/developautocad. Third-party
applications for AutoCAD 2004/2005/2006 based on ActiveX and ObjectARX will need
to be upgraded to be compatible with AutoCAD 2008. Check with your application
developer/supplier regarding availability of applications built for AutoCAD
2008.
Third-party applications for AutoCAD 2007 based on ActiveX and ObjectARX will
need to be upgraded to work on AutoCAD 2008 64-bit.
System Requirements
The system requirements for 32-bit AutoCAD:
- Intel® Pentium® 4 processor, 2.2 GHz
Recommended
- Microsoft® Windows Vista™, Windows® XP Home
and Professional (SP2), Windows® 2000 (SP4)
- 512 MB RAM
- 750 MB free disk space for installation
- 1024x768 VGA with True Color
- Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 6.0 (SP1 or
higher)
Available on CD (Worldwide) and DVD (select
countries and languages)
Additional System Requirements for 64-bit
AutoCAD
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition and
Windows Vista 64-bit
- AMD64 or Intel EM64T processor
- 1GB RAM, 2GB for Windows Vista 64-bit
- 750 MB free disk space for installation
AutoCAD 64-bit cannot be installed on a 32-bit
Windows Operating System.
The System requirements for Windows Vista or 3D
modeling (32 and 64-bit AutoCAD)
- Intel® 3.0 GHz or greater
- 2 GB RAM or greater
- 2 GB free hard disk available not including
installation
- 1280 x 1024 32-bit color video display
adapter (True Color) 128 MB or greater, OpenGL®,
or Direct3D® capable workstation class graphics
card.
- For Windows Vista, a Direct3D capable
workstation class graphics card with 128 MB or
greater is required.
Get information on graphics hardware certified for
use with AutoCAD 2008.
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AutoCAD 2008 supports multiple CPU systems. The performance of AutoCAD
graphics and rendering systems will benefit from multiple CPU systems.
Support for multileader styles using the RENAME, FILTER, -PURGE
commands and the Design Center.
FIND dialog box should be modeless to be able to easy zoom and pan
transparently during
the command.
FIND should be able to find and maybe even replace text that is nested in
blocks or xrefs.
FIND command should also highlight the text that is found.
When showing the layout tabs it would be good to lock the position of the
Model tab if there are multiple layout tabs that eventually hides the model tab.
Hide/Unhide layout tabs like in Excel 2007.
Since spell check zoom into the text it can affect performance on large
drawings that needs to regen a long time it might be good to have some legacy
functionality left to speed up the process.
There should be an option to exclude some linetypes from being scaled when
using annotation scaling. Typical ones are BATTING and ZIGZAG.
Bcount command should support dynamic blocks.
The annotative option in the Hatch and Gradient dialog box and the Block
Definition dialog box should persist.
It should be possible to specify a hatch to be annotative on a palette tool.
In dialog boxes like the Open dialog box it should be possible to save
changes like column width, sorting, grouping etc.
Snap hierarchy for object snap. For example automatically find first mid
then end then int.
Connections for objects like in Actrix or Visio.
Dynamic 3D blocks.
Enhance the Enhanced Attribute Editor so that the value could be added
directly within the list grid box.
Ability to edit attributes in place without the Enhanced Attribute Editor. As
an option.
Enhance text editing. When you edit one text click on another text and edit
that one directly. This will save keystrokes compared to today when you have to
exit out the editor and then double click on the second text object to edit.
Add an option to start an empty drawing when the last drawing is closed. The
reason is that functionality like SSM doesn't work without a drawing open.
Import/export tools that support native SketchUp files (SKP).
Support creation of animations to DWF.
3D DWF should support hyperlinks.
Save current layer filter to the drawing so it can be restored automatically
when reopened. Include also a drawing system variable.
Reorder the location of anchored palettes and be able to lock the order.
Specify the height of anchored palettes individually. Now all are maximized
in height.
When changing a Cylinder solid to Elliptical it should be possible to set
Elliptical to No.
When changing a Cylinder solid to Elliptical it should be possible to
directly change major and minor radius with the grips.
Polygon Mesh creation as real surfaces.
Live section that work on a per viewport basis.
FlatShot support for named blocks.
SSM should maintain focus from placing one view to the next. Each time you go
back to the resource drawing tab after placing a view the focus reverts back to
the top of the list.
SSM: Support of completely blank fields or empty fields (especially when using SSM). Not with "----". It could
be that they where visible on the screen but not plotable Should be an
option if you still want "----". Workaround: entering ALT-0160 (Non-break Space) on
the keyboard followed by an enter. To do it hold down the ALT key and type
the numbers 0 1 6 0 on the numeric keypad. This requires a True Type Font to
work.
Right click on a toolbar and end up at the right place to edit it in CUI.
CUI: Support for tool palettes and tool palette groups.
CUI: be able to disable/enable items. Have them show up only in CUI.
Eattext should be able to retain the settings of a customized table.
Eattext should be able to include the file name and the path of the extracted
drawing.
Support of the new OpenType fonts. Suffix=OTF and also TTF. OpenType fonts
that use PostScript outlines.
In the layer properties manager multiple xrefs can be selected but only one
show it's layers. All selected xrefs should show their layers or you should not
be able to select multiple xrefs.
When zooming with the mouse wheel in perspective it would help if the
zooming was centered on the crosshair just like when in parallel projection
mode.
Make the Minstert command more user friendly with dialog box UI.
Existing bugs, defects, feature limitation or other issues.
FIND - the "zoom to" button in the find command dialog box does not zoom
correctly if the ucs is non world or the text found is not on a world ucs.
(Solved in AutoCAD 2009)
The Search tab in Visual LISP help is not working. (Solved in AutoCAD 2009)
SSM: Renaming the layout on a drawing breaks the hyperlinks in the Sheet List
Table to the Sheet in question.
When moving a clipped xref the objects outside the clipping shows up. This
didn't happen in AutoCAD 2005.
Adding \X before <> on an arc dimensions make the arc sign double in size
and the measurement disappears.
2004 introduced a bug (or change) when it comes to dimensions. The
placement of alternate units are now above the dimension line. In 2002 it
was below. "\X" doesn't help as primary unit suffix. But "\X " works as a
workaround, observe the space after the X, change also the placement of the
alternate units to be After the primary value.
Selecting multiple files in the opening dialog box and pressing enter doesn't
work.
The Rename dialog box doesn't accept renaming of for example blocks with
names including the # character.
Dimensioning with DIMSCALE set to 0 and using VPMAX doesn't work as
expected. The scale of the viewport is not respected.
In some extreme situations where the coordinates are large zoom to object
does not really zoom up the object as one would expect.
Sometimes when you show the AutoCAD Text Window there is no way to scroll.
Workaround is to resize the window.
I define this as a bug since it's so annoying. If you have removed some of
the default annotation scales in a drawing and inserts a drawing that has not
been saved with AutoCAD 2008 and does not contain any annotation scales all
default annotation scales are added anyway. It seems like it is hardcoded in the
program so a hotfix from Autodesk is needed. (Solved in AutoCAD 2009)
Using PURGE command deletes standard multileader style. You cannot use the
MLEADER command after you have used the PURGE command with the Purge Nested
Items check box selected, as this purges the standard multileader style.
Workaround here. (Solved in AutoCAD 2009)
Using FIND and find and replace on MTEXT with paragraph spacing removes the
paragraph spacing formatting and leaves a ; character. (Solved in AutoCAD 2009)
.NET API: The property Ole2Frame.IsLinked and Ole2Frame.LinkPath fails on a
LINKED OLE object. (Solved in AutoCAD 2009)
DWG to PDF plotting has problems to accurately center a sheet on the paper.
It's getting better with a higher DPI but not much. (Solved in AutoCAD 2009)
In VBA this will fail:
ThisDrawing.Application.Preferences.User.HyperlinkDisplayTooltip = False with
Run-time error '-2147467259 (80004005)': Method 'HyperlinkDisplayTooltip' of
object 'IAcadPreferencesUser' failed
getfiled bug hangs AutoCAD (probably related to Windows Vista) See this
post.
Using an ampersand (&) in naming layouts has changed. A layout named so&so
shows up like soso. Notice that the character after & is underlined.
Probably a bug that slipped through. (Fixed in SP1)
Custom scales which exist in the nested xrefs are no longer duplicated in the
host drawing. (Fixed in SP1)
All dynamic block properties are now not correctly extracted. (Fixed in SP1)
There are some problems with rotated multi-line attributes (Mattributes)
definitions. They automatically move a the distance of the text height. The move
happens when the drawing/block is saved and opened. (Fixed in SP1)
Unresolved fields in multi-line attribute makes the definition move. The move
happens when the drawing/block is saved and opened. (Fixed in SP1)
Linetypes not always display properly after zooming operations. (Fixed in
SP1)
Use this link to report a bug to Autodesk that bugs you:
http://www.autodesk.com/submitbug
The option to enable the Startup dialog has been removed from the Options
dialog box. The Startup dialog can be enabled by changing the value of the
STARTUP system variable. Set the value to 1 to enable and 0 to disable.
REGEN has no function in 3D so if you really need to regen use the
undocumented REGEN3 command.
Screen flashing can be a problem related to some Microsoft Intellipoint
drivers. Try another driver version.
Installation and Configuration
Installing from Dual CD/DVD ROM Drive Systems
- Installation fails if you attempt to install AutoCAD with both
installation CDs in each drive of a dual CD/DVD ROM drive system. When
asked for the second installation disk, the disk in the second CD drive
is not recognized. You must replace the first disk with the second disk
in the same drive in order to complete the installation.
HTML Help Fails When Launched from a Network Drive
Disk Imaging
- If your computer is in a SATA RAID environment and you are
experiencing licensing instability, using disk imaging software to
distribute Autodesk products can cause problems with product activation.
If you attempt to activate the product in a SATA RAID environment, you
may get an "Activation code limit exceeded" message.
Error Reporting
Some Non-English 2006 Product Line Installers Fail if 2008 Products Are
Already Installed
- The installer for the Autodesk 2008 product line installs .NET
Framework 2.0. This prohibits the installation of some non-English
Autodesk 2006 products after a 2008 product has been installed.
Reinstall .NET 1.1 and its related service pack to install 2006-based
products.
- Insert the 2006-based product CD in the drive.
- Browse to \Bin\acadFeui\support\dotnetfx\ and
double-click dotnetfx.exe to install .NET 1.1.
- From the same folder, double-click NDP1.1sp1-KB867460-X86.exe
to install .NET 1.1 Service Pack1.
- To install a non-English version, do the following:
- Browse to \Bin\acadFeui\support\dotnetfx\language\
and install langpack.exe.
- Install the 2006-based products.
Licensing
Updated PLIST Information Is Ignored
- Updated Product List (PLIST) information is ignored in a distributed
license server environment. Periodically, Autodesk might update the
PLIST information in a network license file.
For instance, you have an existing license file containing PLIST
information residing on the first server of a distributed license server
environment. If you purchase another Autodesk product with a license
file containing updated PLIST information, and it resides on a different
server in the distributed server environment, the older PLIST data from
the first server is recognized instead of the newer PLIST data.
To make sure the updated PLIST file is read obtain a new license file
from Autodesk that contains the latest PLIST information. Alternatively,
you could add the updated PLIST to the first server in the distributed
license server environment to make sure that it is always read.
Network License Guide Update
- Due to late changes in the AutoCAD 2008 Installation Wizard, the
Network Licensing Guide procedures for installing the Network License
Manager and Network License Activation Utility are confusing. The
following procedures are updated for clarity.
Install the Autodesk Network License Manager
To install the Autodesk Network License Manager
- In the AutoCAD 2008 Installation wizard, click Install Tools and
Utilities.
- On the Welcome to the AutoCAD 2008 Installation wizard page,
click Next.
- On the Select the Products to Install page, make sure Network
License Manager is selected and click Next.
- Review the Autodesk software license agreement for your country
or region. You must accept this agreement to proceed with the
installation. Choose your country or region, click I Accept, and
then click Next.
Note If you do not agree to the terms of the license and
wish to terminate the installation, click Cancel.
- On the Review - Configure - Install page, click Configure.
- Click the Network License Manager tab, if multiple product were
selected in step 3.
- On the Select the Installation Location page, either accept the
default installation path (C:\Program Files\Autodesk Network License
Manager\) or click [...] to specify a different path. If you enter a
path that does not exist, a new folder is created using the name and
location you provide. Click Configuration Complete.
Warning Do not install the Network License Manager on a
remote drive. When you install the Network License Manager files,
you must provide a path to a local drive. You must specify the drive
letter; the universal naming convention (UNC) is not supported.
- Once returned to the Review - Configure - Install page, click
Install to begin installing the Network License Manager and any
other selected tools and utilities.
- When the Installation Complete page displays, click Finish.
Install the Network License Activation Utility
To install the Network License Activation utility
- In the AutoCAD 2008 Installation wizard, click Install Tools and
Utilities.
- On the Welcome to the AutoCAD 2008 Installation wizard page,
click Next.
- On the Select the Products to Install page, make sure Network
License Activation Utility is selected and click Next.
- Review the Autodesk software license agreement for your country
or region. You must accept this agreement to proceed with the
installation. Choose your country or region, click I Accept, and
then click Next.
Note If you do not agree to the terms of the license and
wish to terminate the installation, click Cancel.
- On the Review - Configure - Install page, click Configure.
- Click the Network License Activation Utility tab, if multiple
product were selected in step 3.
- On the Select the Installation Location page, either accept the
default installation path (C:\Program Files\Autodesk Network License
Manager\Network License Activation Utility\enu\) or click [...] to
specify a different path. If you enter a path that does not exist, a
new folder is created using the name and location you provide. Click
Configuration Complete.
- Once returned to the Review - Configure - Install page, click
Install to begin installing the Network License Activation Utility
and any other selected tools and utilities.
- When the Installation Complete page displays, click Finish.
Hardware
SATA RAID Environment Failure
Graphics Card Driver Update
Remote Access Applications
- It is not recommended that you use any type of remote access
application in conjunction with AutoCAD when AutoCAD is configured to
use hardware acceleration. Most remote access applications cannot
support hardware acceleration, and as a result, can cause general
display failure and instability. If you need to use remote access
applications, disable hardware acceleration or use the /NOHARDWARE
command line switch to start AutoCAD in Software mode.
Hewlett-Packard Designjet Printer Driver
- Autodesk no longer ships the Windows system printer driver for the
Hewlett-Packard Designjet series on the product CD. If you need this
driver, you can download it at
http://www.designjet.hp.com.
Hardware Certification Database
Graphics Card Driver Update
It is recommended that you verify and update your graphics card driver to
optimize AutoCAD. Use the following procedure to identify your current
graphics card driver.
To identify your graphics card driver
- Start AutoCAD.
- At the command line, enter 3dconfig.
- In the Adaptive Degradation and Performance Tuning dialog box, click
View Tune Log.
- Review the 3D Device section for information about your system's
graphics card driver and driver version.
If you find that you do need to update your driver, visit
http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-graphicscard to look for a
certified driver for your graphics card. If you do not find one, visit the
graphics card manufacturer's website.
Note: If the graphics card manufacturer does
not have an updated driver, check the system manufacturer's website.
Companies like IBM, Hewlett Packard, and Dell often supply their own
system drivers.
Drawing Environment
DWF Underlays
- It is recommended that you insert DWF underlay files on locked
layers to avoid editing them by mistake. When zooming in on DWF underlay
files and then using a window selection method, the DWF underlay may be
selected even though the geometry in the underlay does not appear to be
selected.
- It is recommended that you do not use DWFATTACH and PASTECLIP for
DWF underlays while using REFEDIT.
- When using REFEDIT in a drawing, if you use PASTECLIP to paste a DWF
underlay, you may be unable to save back your changes. The following
message may be displayed:
Cannot save back changes because objects in the
working set reference objects outside of the working set. The
Refedit session is still active. Press F2 after dismissing the
dialog to see the list of missing references.
This error message may also be displayed when you have a DWF underlay
attached in the host drawing and then try to use DWFATTACH on the same
DWF underlay file in the xref during REFEDIT. The workaround to save
back your other REFEDIT changes is to delete the DWF underlay that you
attached or pasted during the REFEDIT session.
Tool Palettes
- Tool palettes created in the current release should not be used in
previous releases.
Opening Sample Drawing Files in Windows Vista
- Due to Windows Vista restrictions, all sample files found in the
AutoCAD Sample folder and subfolders are read-only. Sheet Set Manager
sample files can be opened in the Sheet Set Manager but cannot be
changed.
Searching Files in Windows Vista
- To search contents within drawing files in Windows Explorer for
Windows Vista, use the Advanced Search and select the "Include
non-indexed, hidden and system files" option.
Autodesk i-drop
- For i-drop to operate properly on a system running Windows Vista,
the user should be set to Run as Administrator.
3D Environment
AutoCAD 2007 exposed a new 3D Modeling environment which you can access
by means of the VISUALSTYLES command and choosing any non-2D style. The 3D
environment has some behavioral differences when compared to the legacy 2D
drafting environment, such as:
- Draw order is not supported in 3D
- Memory usage in 3D is higher
- REGEN and REGENALL does not necessarily clean up display artifacts.
To reset the display, cycle VISUALSTYLES between 2D and non-2D styles.
Direct 3D with Windows Vista
- When Direct 3D is enabled in a Windows Vista environment, the cursor
appears as black and white instead of color in non-2D visual styles. Any
changes to the cursor from the Options dialog box are not enabled in
this environment.
Materials
Procedural Materials Are Not Converted by CONVERTOLDMATERIALS
- Procedural materials that are applied to objects in AutoCAD 2007
models are not converted by the CONVERTOLDMATERIALS command in AutoCAD
2008.
Animation and Rendering
Animation Output
- The Quicktime Player cannot play MOV files saved with characters
that are not native to the current operating system.
- Windows Vista versions K and N (available in Korea and Europe) do
not come with Windows Media Player installed. In order to use the
animation feature in AutoCAD, download the latest version of Media
Player from the Microsoft website.
Featured Content and Technologies
- To install featured visualization content and technologies, enable
the Communication Center and configure it to receive updates. Once it is
configured, a new channel called "Featured Content and Technologies"
will be visible and content will be available for download.
Other Drafting Issues
Annotative Attributes in Multileader Content Blocks
- It is not recommended to use annotative attributes in multileader
content blocks. Doing so may cause visibility issues with those blocks.
Use only non-annotative attributes and non-annotative blocks as content
in annotative multileader objects.
Solid Hatches
- Drawings that contain solid hatches may produce larger plot files
than drawings with other types of hatches.
Visibility of Hatches
- The HPMAXLINES system variable was introduced to prevent systems
from running out of memory. Based on the current HPMAXLINES setting,
some hatches may not display. To fix this problem, change the HPMAXLINES
value.
Annotative Hatches in Viewports
Nonrectangular Viewports
-
Assigning a noncontinuous linetype to a nonrectangular viewport can
result in model space geometry that is irregularly clipped inside the
viewport, or it can cause AutoCAD to become unstable.
- When you use the JPGOUT, PNGOUT, BMPOUT, and TIFOUT commands in a
layout that contains nonrectangular viewports with a 3D visual style and
with all objects and viewports selected, portions of other viewports may
be obscured and objects may not be visible. You can use the PUBLISH
command to create more accurate raster output.
- Do not freeze layers that contain nonrectangular viewports; instead,
turn off layers with nonrectangular viewports or set the Plot property
of the layer to No Plot. When you freeze a layer that contains a
nonrectangular viewport, the viewport boundary becomes rectangular.
Objects in the viewport that should be clipped by the boundary of the
nonrectangular viewport appear to be clipped, but when you regenerate or
plot the drawing, the objects are not clipped as you expect. To correct
the problem once it exists, you must thaw the layer and then regenerate
the drawing.
External References
- Due to the xref polling cycle, you can encounter a time lag when
attempting to use the Manage Xrefs icon to reload DWG xrefs. Referenced
DWG files are not ready to be reloaded by this method until you see the
balloon notification on the Manage Xrefs icon. To expedite the reloading
process, use one of the following methods:
- Right-click the reference drawing in the File References list of
the External References palette and then click Reload.
- Click Reload All References on the button controls at the top of
the External References palette.
- Enter -XREF at the Command prompt and use the Reload option.
Saving Drawings to Previous File Formats
- When moving or copying surface objects from the current release to
R14, a fatal error may occur.
Project Organization
Sheet Sets
- The Sheet Set
Manager is not fully functional if
- A command is active.
- No drawing is open.
- The sheet set is locked by another user.
- A lock icon displayed in front of the sheet set name in the
Sheet Set Manager indicates that the sheet set is locked. Hold your
cursor over the lock icon to view a tooltip that shows who has the
sheet set locked.
- When you select a sheet in
the Sheet Set Manager, the sheet's status may be listed incorrectly as
Locked for Edit by Unknown in the Details area. To update the sheet's
status, open the sheet.
- If you remove a sheet
from a sheet set and then import the sheet back into the sheet set,
fields that display sheet set information in block attributes are
displayed as pound signs. To correct these fields, you can either
recreate the field or reinsert the block. If you recreate the field,
because the sheet is already in a sheet set, you should use a sheet set
property field, not a placeholder field.
- Sheet set fields (fields that were
selected from the sheet set category) behave differently than other
types of fields. By default, other types of fields update automatically
when you save the drawing or when you use REGEN. In contrast, sheet set
fields store the last values that were used, and they display these
stored values if the information referenced by the sheet set field is
not accessible. To update the value in a sheet set field, use the
UPDATEFIELD command. If the information referenced by the sheet set
field is still not accessible, the value for the field will be displayed
as ####.
Using One DWT for Page Setups and Blocks on a Network
- Some sheet set functions are
unavailable when two network users access a sheet set that uses the same
drawing template file (DWT) for label and callout blocks, sheet
template, and page setup overrides. To avoid this problem, do not use
the same DWT file for storing page setups and block libraries.
Plot and Print Drawings
Plot Large Raster Images
- Two new system variables were added in AutoCAD 2007 to allow you
greater control over plotting drawings that contain large raster image
attachments or when plotting high resolution, large, rendered/shaded
viewports on large size media.
- RASTERTHRESHOLD
- Type: Integer
- Saved In: Registry
- Initial Value: 20
- Specifies a raster threshold in megabytes. If the plotted
raster image exceeds this threshold, the availability of system
memory is checked. The plot is aborted if the image is too big
for the available memory.
- RASTERPERCENT
- Type: Integer
- Saved In: Registry
- Initial Value: 20
- Sets the maximum percentage of available virtual memory that
is allowed for plotting a raster image.
Publish Drawings
DWF Files
- Raster images in DWF underlays are not plotted when plotting to DWF.
- Plotting DWF underlay files that contain raster images can produce
unexpected results.
Text
MTEXT Heights
- The MText height value will be reset to 0 if its default height
wasn't modified during creation.
Language
Multiple-Language Support
- Drawing properties in AutoCAD 2008 are saved with Unicode
characters. For instance, if you save the latest format drawing
containing multiple language drawing properties to a 2004-format
drawing, the drawing properties are converted to the native characters
of the current Windows language. If text cannot be converted to the
native characters, it is saved to CIF codes (\U+nnnn) or MIF codes (\M+nxxxx).
- When saving the latest format drawing to a 2004-format drawing, any
new symbol or dictionary names (for example, layout name, text style
name, dimension style name) created in AutoCAD 2008 are saved in the
language that was used when the symbol names were created.
- When you copy and paste characters that have been created using a
language other than the system language, the characters may not be
displayed correctly. You can correct this display with the In-Place Text
Editor.
To correct the display to show the original language
- Double-click the text to open it in the In-Place Text Editor.
- Right-click inside the editor. Click Character Set and choose
the original language.
- In order to view and edit drawings with
characters that are not included in the languages specified for your
operating system, make sure supplemental language support is installed
in your computer operating system. You can specify the language in the
Regional and Language Options dialog box, available from the Windows
Control Panel. (You may be able to view text that uses SHX fonts without
specifying extra language support.)
- Text styles for Asian languages that use SHX and Big Font can
support characters only from the same code page. For example, text
styles that use a Japanese Big Font cannot support German or Korean
characters. (English characters, which are part of every code page, are
supported.) Multiple-language support for non-Asian languages is
supported for text styles that use SHX fonts with Big Fonts disabled.
(The SHX font must define the required characters.)
- To make it easier to use multiple-language
multiline text on operating systems that support different languages,
use a TrueType font setting in the In-Place Text Editor.
- Multiple-language support does not exist in some
earlier versions of AutoCAD. For example, when you save a file to
AutoCAD 2000 format, the contents of multiple-language multiline text
may be corrupted. This problem is more likely to happen when you open
and save a drawing on an operating system with a system language setting
that differs from the system in which the drawing was last saved.
Folder or File Names
- AutoCAD 2006, AutoCAD LT 2006, and prior versions were not Unicode
applications. When sharing drawings with earlier, non-Unicode, versions,
use ASCII characters to ensure compatibility when you save files, insert
xrefs, and specify folder paths.
Double-Byte Character Issues
Data Source Names
- Character codes (such as 0x??41 and 0x??61) that are used for data
source names may not be handled correctly. This problem occurs when you
create multiple data sources using optional names (Japanese) specified
in the database configuration. As a result, some of the data source
names may not be listed. When this problem occurs, you can change the
name of the unlisted data source to another name.
Subobject and Object Cycling
Text Display
Vertical Text for Asian Languages
- SHX fonts - Text can be created with SHX fonts and Big Fonts
for vertical display in the same way as for previous releases. For best
results, use the single-line TEXT command, not MTEXT. You can select a
vertical style in the Text Style dialog box.
TrueType fonts - You still select fonts starting with the @ sign,
but now the text is automatically rotated 270 degrees. (In AutoCAD 2005
and earlier versions, you had to manually rotate this text.) Vertical
cursor movement is now supported for vertical text.
Font Display
- If the default font doesn't support the characters you enter using
the In-Place Text Editor (MTEXT command), an alternative font is usually
substituted.
- CIF or MIF codes entered with the In-Place Text Editor (MTEXT
command) or with the DTEXT command are now automatically converted to
display the actual characters.
Updated bigfont.ini
- AutoCAD 2007 and AutoCAD 2008 are handling custom SHX Big Fonts
differently than AutoCAD 2006 and earlier versions. If custom SHX Big
Fonts are used in your drawing files, you need to add the SHX Big Font
names and their code page ID into the bigfont.ini file in your
Support folder. Please refer to the header section of this
bigfont.ini file to learn how to add them.
Command Entry
AltGR and Key Combinations
- ALTGR+ any key results in a halt of command entry. This is caused by
the CTRL+ALT combination of implied faces extrusion. If you use an ALTGR
keyboard layout, the workaround is to set IMPLIEDFACE to 0 (zero).
Developer Information
Changes That May Affect Scripts
Changes to the following commands or system variables may affect
pre-existing scripts:
Visual LISP
Notifications
- In some cases, the vlr-sysVarWillChange and vlr-sysVarChanged
notifications are triggered multiple times for one system variable
change.
Grips
- AutoCAD no longer supports grips on unselected objects. As a result,
the gripset argument of the AutoLISP sssetfirst function is ignored, and
the ssgetfirst function returns nil for the first selection set
returned.
True Color
- If you have a full installation of AutoCAD, utilities for working
with True Color are located in the \Sample\VisualLISP folder, in
the color-util.lsp file. The utilities can be used for operations
related to True Color, such as getting the components of a true color
number, converting a color index or color name to a true color value,
returning a DXF group code list, and working with an entity list.
The following AutoLISP functions provide access to the True Color user
interface:
(acad_truecolordlg color [allowbylayer] [currentlayercolor]).
Prompts for colors through a dialog box. The color parameter is a dotted
pair describing the default color; the first element of the dotted pair
must be one of the color-related DXF group codes (62, 420, or 430). If
the allowbylayer parameter is present and is not nil, the ByLayer and
ByBlock buttons are shown. When the operation is successful, the
function returns a list of one or more dotted pairs describing the color
selected. The last dotted pair in the list indicates the color selected.
The function returns nil if the user cancels the dialog box.
(acad_truecolorcli color [allowbylayer] [alternatePrompt]).
Prompts for colors at the command line. The first two parameters are
identical to acad_truecolordlg, and the third parameter is an optional
prompt string. If this string is omitted, the default value is "New
color."
The entmod and entmake Functions
- In AutoCAD 2004 and later releases, the entmod and entmake functions
have new behavior in color operations. DXF group code 62 holds AutoCAD
Color Index (ACI) values, but code 420 holds true color values. If the
true color value and ACI value conflict, AutoCAD uses the 420 value, so
the code 420 value should be removed before attempting to use the code
62 value. For more information, perform a full installation of AutoCAD
and see the color-util.lsp file located in the \Sample\VisualLISP
folder.
Load Errors
- If LOAD encounters an error while loading a separate-namespace VLX,
some functions may have been exported to the current document namespace
before the error was detected. You must be sure to fix the error,
rebuild, and reload the VLX in order to ensure that the correct version
of all functions is exported to the current document.
- When the CUILOAD command loads a partial menu in MDI, the MNL file
for that menu loads once for every open document, with all user
interaction occurring in the current document. To avoid redundant
printed messages or user prompts when AutoCAD is initiated with multiple
drawings, it is recommended that you do not include any user interaction
in MNL LISP code. Instead, use MNL code to load any needed AutoLISP
files for subsequent menu item selections. Use the acad.lsp or
acaddoc.lsp files to execute AutoLISP code to be processed when a
drawing is opened.
Display of the Multiple Design Environment Dialog Box
- The Multiple Design Environment dialog box allows you to change the
default functionality of the initialization of the AutoLISP environment.
This dialog box is displayed under the following conditions:
- The Do Not Show value of the AcadLspAsDocDlg registry key is set
to 0.
- There are no scripts running, and there is no AutoLISP or
ActiveX application running.
- The ACADLSPASDOC system variable is set to 0.
- An acad.lsp file exists in the AutoCAD search path.
- An acaddoc.lsp file does not exist in the AutoCAD search
path.
- The SDI system variable is set to 0.
If all these conditions are true, the Multiple Design Environment dialog
box is displayed the first time that a second document is opened in each
session.
ActiveX and VBA
Visibility of the AutoCAD Process
- VBA scripts that run at startup should check whether the AutoCAD
process is visible or invisible. If the process is invisible, the script
should not execute, because the process may be performing background
plotting or publishing operations. To check whether the AutoCAD process
is visible or invisible, you can use the Visible property of the
Application object in the AutoCAD Object Model.
http://blog.jtbworld.com for more tips & tricks. For posts specific
about AutoCAD 2008 use this
link.
Autodesk's
AutoCAD 2008 newsgroup
Web Browser
News Reader
New Features Workshop for 2008
http://www.autodesk.com/autocad
Heidi Hewett's Blog
Between the Lines
Lynn Allen's Blog
Compare Your Version of AutoCAD with AutoCAD
2008
Consult the AutoCAD Release Comparison Matrix for
a side-by-side comparison of what’s been added to
since your last upgrade.
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AutoCAD 2008 Questions and Answers
See the full listing of the most commonly asked
questions about AutoCAD software.
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Frequently Asked Questions
ANNORESET - Resets the location of all scale representations for an
annotative object to that of the current scale representation
ANNOUPDATE - Updates existing annotative objects to match the current
properties of their styles
ATTIPEDIT - Changes the textual content of an attribute within a block
AUTOPUBLISH - Publishes drawings to DWF files automatically
CUSTOMERINVOLVEMENTPROGRAM - Opens the Customer Involvement Program (CIP)
dialog box.
DGNADJUST - Changes the display options of selected DGN underlays
DGNATTACH - Attaches a DGN underlay to the current drawing
DGNCLIP - Defines a clipping boundary for a selected DGN underlay
DGNEXPORT - Creates one or more V8 DGN files from the current drawing
DGNIMPORT - Imports the data from a V8 DGN file into a new DWG file
DIMBREAK - Adds or removes a dimension break
DIMINSPECT - Creates or removes inspection dimensions
-DIMINSPECT - Creates or removes inspection dimensions
DIMJOGLINE - Adds or removes a jag line to a linear or aligned dimension
DIMSPACE - Adjusts the spacing equally between parallel linear and angular
dimensions
DWFLAYERS - Controls the display of layers in a DWF underlay
FREEPOINT - Creates a target point light without a prompt for the target
point
FREESPOT - Creates a free spotlight, which is similar to a spotlight without
a specified target
FREEWEB - Creates a free weblight which is similar to a weblight without a
specified target
LAYERSTATE - Saves, restores, and manages named layer states also directly
from DWG, DWT, or DWS files.
MLEADER - Creates a line that connects annotation to a feature
MLEADERALIGN - Organizes selected multileaders along a specified line
MLEADERCOLLECT - Organizes selected multileaders containing blocks as
content into a group attached to a single leader line
MLEADEREDIT - Adds leader lines to, or removes leader lines from, a
multileader object
MLEADERSTYLE - Defines a new multileader style
NEWVIEW - Expedites the creation of a new view
OBJECTSCALE - Adds or deletes supported scales for annotative objects
QUICKCUI - Displays the Customize User Interface dialog box in a collapsed
state
RECOVERALL - Repairs a damaged drawing and xrefs
-RENDER - Command prompt version of the RENDER command
RENDEREXPOSURE - Provides settings to interactively adjust the lighting
global for the most recent rendered output
TARGETPOINT - Creates a target point light
TPNAVIGATE - Displays a specified tool palette or palette group
WEBLIGHT - Creates a weblight
3DCONFIG - Added plot emulation and texture compression options
-3DCONFIG - Added plot emulation and texture compression options (Command prompt
version)
ATTDEF - Added support for annotative scaling
-ATTDEF - Added support for annotative scaling (Command prompt version)
ATTEDIT - Multiple-line attribute support
BATTMAN - Added support for annotative scaling
BLOCK - Added support for annotative scaling
-BLOCK - Added support for annotative scaling (Command prompt version)
CHPROP - Added support for annotative scaling
CUI - Added dashboard panel customization and some enhancements for customizing
toolbars
DASHBOARD - Added access to the Customize User Interface from the shortcut menu
DIMANGULAR - Added the Quadrant option
DIMDIAMETER - Added the Extension line option
DIMJOGGED - Added the Extension line option
DIMRADIUS - Added the Extension line option
DIMSTYLE - Added new tolerance alignment option, size option for linear jog, and
break spacing
-DIMSTYLE - Command prompt version of DIMSTYLE (Command prompt version)
DISTANTLIGHT - Modified to support entering photometric properties
EATTEXT - Now activates the DATAEXTRACTION command rather than the Attribute
Extraction wizard
-EATTEXT - Command prompt version of the EATTEXT command (Command prompt
version)
ETRANSMIT - Added support for visual fidelity
HATCH - Added support for annotative scaling
-HATCH - Added support for annotative scaling (Command prompt version) HATCHEDIT
Added support for annotative scaling
-HATCHEDIT - Added support for annotative scaling (Command prompt version)
INSERT - Added support for annotative scaling
-INSERT - Added support for annotative scaling (Command prompt version)
-LAYER - Added option to import layer states from drawings, the Edit option now
includes Material and Description suboptions, the Import option now includes
DWG/DWS/DWT formats, and the Export option includes the LAY file format (Command
prompt version)
MATCHCELL - Added support for double line borders, border linetypes, and new
cell formats
MTEXT - Added support for annotative scaling
-MTEXT - Added support for annotative scaling (Command prompt version) MVIEW
When used on a layout, a new option, Layer, removes all layer property override
values and resets them back to their corresponding global properties
MVIEW - When used on a layout, a new option, Layer, removes all layer property
override values and resets them back to their corresponding global properties
OPTIONS - Added the Maintain Visual Fidelity check box to the Open and Save tab
as well as the Display Drawing Status Bar check box to the Display tab
PASTESPEC - Enhanced for pasting Microsoft Excel data from the clipboard to
create a data link to this information immediately
PLOT - Affected by the hardware configuration settings Plot Emulation and
Texture Compression
POINTLIGHT - Start and end limits for attenuation are supported with the Direct
3D driver; also added prompting for area-sampled shadow options and photometric
prompting
QSELECT - Added support for annotative scaling
SPELL - Now checks words in dimensions, zooms into words being corrected; added
option to ignore words with numbers or words with special characters
SPOTLIGHT - Start and end limits for attenuation are supported with the Direct
3D driver; also added prompting for area-sampled shadow options and photometric
prompting
STYLE - Added support for annotative scaling
-STYLE - Added support for annotative scaling (Command prompt version)
TABLE - Added From Style and Data Link branches
-TABLE - Added From Style and Data Link branches (Command prompt version)
TABLESTYLE - Defines a new table style
TEXT - Added support for annotative scaling
VIEW - Modified to support the new sky background option, when applicable
-VPORTS - Added option, Layer, removes all layer property override values and
resets them back to their corresponding global properties (Command prompt
version)
XCLIP - Added the Invert option
ASSIST - Opens Quick Help in the Info palette, which provides
context-sensitive information
ASSISTCLOSE - Closes Quick Help and the Info palette
3DCONVERSIONMODE - Used to convert material and light definitions
3DSELECTIONMODE - Controls the selection precedence of visually overlapping
objects when using 3D visual styles
ANNOALLVISIBLE - Hides or displays annotative objects that do not support the
current annotation scale
ANNOAUTOSCALE - Updates annotative objects to support the annotation scale when
the annotation scale is changed
ANNOTATIVEDWG - Specifies whether or not the drawing will behave as an
annotative block when inserted into another drawing
ATTIPE - Controls the display of the in-place editor used to create multiline
attributes
ATTMULTI - Controls whether multiline attributes can be created
AUTODWFPUBLISH - Controls whether the AutoPublish feature is on or off
CANNOSCALE - Sets the name of the current annotation scale for the current space
CANNOSCALEVALUE - Returns the value of the current annotation scale
CMLEADERSTYLE - Determines the current multileader style
COPYMODE - Controls whether the COPY command repeats automatically
DATALINKNOTIFY - Controls the notification for updated or missing data links
DGNFRAME - Determines whether DGN underlay frames are visible or plotted in the
current drawing
DGNOSNAP - Controls object snapping for geometry in DGN underlays
DIMANNO - Indicates whether or not the current dimension style is annotative
DXEVAL - Controls when data extraction tables are compared against the data
source, and if the data is not current, displays an update notification
HPMAXLINES - Controls the maximum number of hatch lines that will generate
LAYEREVAL - Controls when the Unreconciled New Layer filter list in the Layer
Properties Manager is evaluated for new layers
LAYERNOTIFY - Specifies when an alert displays for new layers that have not yet
been reconciled
LAYLOCKFADECTL - Controls the dimming for objects on locked layers
LIGHTINGUNITS - Controls whether generic or photometric lights are used, and
indicates the current lighting units
LIGHTSINBLOCKS - Controls whether lights contained in blocks are used when
rendering
LINEARBRIGHTNESS - Controls the global brightness level of the drawing when
using default lighting or generic lights
LINEARCONTRAST - Controls the global contrast level of the drawing when using
default lighting or generic lights
LOGEXPBRIGHTNESS - Controls the global brightness level of the drawing when
using photometric lighting
LOGEXPCONTRAST - Controls the global contrast level of the drawing when using
photometric lighting
LOGEXPDAYLIGHT - Controls if exterior daylight is used when using photometric
lighting
LOGEXPMIDTONES - Controls the global mid tones level of the drawing when using
photometric lighting
MSLTSCALE - Scales linetypes displayed on the model tab by the annotation scale
PERSPECTIVECLIP - Determines the location of eyepoint clipping
PUBLISHCOLLATE - Controls whether plotting a sheet set, multi-sheet plot file,
or plot spool file can be interrupted by other plot jobs
RENDERUSERLIGHTS - Controls whether user lights are translated during rendering
SAVEFIDELITY - Controls whether the drawing is saved with visual fidelity
SELECTIONANNODISPLAY - Controls whether alternate scale representations are
temporarily displayed in a dimmed state when an annotative object is selected
SETBYLAYERMODE - Controls which properties are selected for SETBYLAYER
TABLETOOLBAR - Controls the display of the Table toolbar
TEXTOUTPUTFILEFORMAT - Provides Unicode text file output options
VPLAYEROVERRIDES - Indicates if there are any layers with viewport (VP) property
overrides for the current layout viewport
VPLAYEROVERRIDESMODE - Controls whether layer property overrides associated with
layout viewports are displayed and plotted
VSFACEHIGHLIGHT - Controls whether layer property overrides associated with
layout viewports are displayed and plotted
AFLAGS - Added a value for the new Multiple Lines mode
DCTMAIN - Displays the three letter keyword of the current main spelling
dictionary
DIMSCALE - Automatically set to 0 when an annotative dimension style is made
current
ASSISTSTATE - Indicates whether the Info palette that displays Quick Help is
active or not
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