AutoCAD Tips&Trix

Tips when changing license server

Upgrade Autodesk Network License Manager within minutes

Delete AutoCAD layer filters

Silent installation of Autodesk migration tools

• If you want to create toolbar button images using BMP-files that look great you need to know that the shade of gray that AutoCAD recognizes as a transparent background is 192,192,192. This applies from Release 13 to up to at least AutoCAD 2009.
• Do you need a freeware viewer for DWG files in 2004 format now that Autodesk doesn't have a free alternative to Volo View Express? Here are two alternatives. I prefer the first one though.
  Free DWG Viewer powered by Brava
  Bentley View
   
• Example how to add personal mtext symbols like below. Go here.
  
• TrueType® text objects are filled in plot preview but not in plotted output
  http://support.autodesk.com/getdoc.asp?id=TS67821
• Recover damaged drawing when RECOVER command is not successful
  http://support.autodesk.com/getdoc.asp?id=TS19369
• Recover damaged drawing files
  http://support.autodesk.com/getdoc.asp?id=TS67106
  http://www.cvis.com/NK/NK_After%20the%20Crash.htm
• You want to select a solid hatch and have a hard time to select it. If the hatch is rectangular try to select on an imaginary line going from the lower right corner to the upper left corner. You can also try using select crossing. Another way is to click on the boundary of the hatch and use CTRL to cycle between the objects and make sure you select the correct object.

Undocumented

• 3DCONFIG has a hidden option that is not documented. Try enter V and you will see this:
  Command: 3DCONFIG Configure: 3DCONFIG
  Enter option [Adaptive degradation/Dynamic tessellation/Render
  options/Geometry/acceLeration/eXit] <Adaptive degradation>: V
  Configure: adVanced
  Enter option [Redraw on window expose/Cache viewport draw geometry/Display
  lists/Fast hidden line only/Pixel Deviation/eXit]
• Undocumented commands are +CUSTOMIZE, +DSETTINGS, +OPTIONS, +UCSMAN, and +VPORTS. With the '+' sign before the command name AutoCAD ask you to enter the index for the tab that will be active in the dialog box. +PUBLISH is another one.
• The undocumented SPACESWITCH system variable can be used to allow or forbid switching between paper space and model space within a layout viewport (floating modelspace) with a double click.
• FNSPLITL (File Name Split To List) is an undocumented lisp function. It returns a list of (path filename extension). Example: (cadr (fnsplitl (getvar "dwgname")))
• The option RESFIT in commands like FILLET when asked to select  an edge of a 3D solid. RESFIT is short for "resolution fit." ACIS uses it as the fit tolerance value when approximating curves and surfaces.
• What is QAFLAGS?

QAFLAGS been used a long time (<r12) by developers and autodesk themself too.

QAFLAGS acceps a value between 0 and 32767
bit 0 (1) : ^C in menu macro cancels grips (acts like keyboard <Esc>).
bit 1 (2) : no pause during text screen listings.
bit 2 (4) : no "alert" dialogs (text display instead).
bit 7 (128) : accepts "screen picks" (point lists) via (command) function.

Normally QAFLAGS should be set to 0. Because it might be set to other values it is a good idea to put (setvar "QAFLAGS" 0) in acaddoc.lsp or any other of your lisp files that you use for startup.

Xref

• Q: I have problems binding xrefs.
  
  A: Ideas how to resolve problems with binding xrefs.
  
  If you have nested xrefs that are unloaded you cannot bind them. The solution is either to detach them where they are attached or to change them from attach to overlay.   
  
  Try to PURGE both the drawing with the xrefs and each xref.
  
  If there are nested xrefs unloaded you have to either detach them or set them to overlay
  
  Try to bind the xrefs one by one and close and open the xref dialog box for each time and find if there is a specific drawing you cannot bind.
  
  If you find one or more xrefs that are not bound try to attach them one by one into a new empty drawing. Now try to bind. This can give you a hint of where the problem resides.
  
  If the xref contains proxy objects there might be an "Invalid" message. To resolve the problem try to find an object enabler. To have a hint of if there are proxy objects and what application have created them set the system variable PROXYNOTICE to 1 and reopen the drawing. If a notice of proxy objects are displayed try to find the missing application. AecArchBase is for example Architectural Desktop. Be sure that the Show Proxy Objects option is selected on the Open and Save tab in the Options dialog box. If you are allowed to (since this destroys intelligence and maybe some geometry), you can saveas DXFr12, close the drawing, open it again and then save as DWG2000-format. This might even be necessary to be repeated twice. Try wblocking everything into a new drawing and attaching it instead of the old. You can use QSELECT to find proxy objects. Look for the Object type: ACAD_PROXY_ENTITY. Observe that if they are nested in blocks you have to explode all blocks one or many times to find it.
  
  Try to recover and audit both the drawing and the xref file.
  
  Check if there is a block in the xref file with the same name as the xref itself. If so rename one of them.
  
  It might be possible for the one creating the xref file and having the custom application to explode the objects into plain AutoCAD objects.
  
  To detach an xref that exists in multiple layouts: In each layout, erase the object representation of the xref you want to detach. From the Insert menu, choose Xref Manager. In the Xref Manager, detach the xref.
  
  There might be blocks with no name.
  
  If you are unable to detach multiple references. This error can occur when you try to detach an xref that is used in multiple layouts. For example, you might have referenced the same title block into multiple layouts. Make sure that you have purged the drawing as well.
  
  Try do detach, attach and bind.
  
  Try this on another PC. Sometimes a reboot has helped.
  
  If nothing else is working detach the xref and insert it with INSERT command. But first check the inserting point, scale, rotation, layer, if it's clipped and so on.
  
  Look if you have blocks with invalid names like "70/50/30" in the xref you cannot bind. <>/\":?|,=` are invalid characters in block names.
  

Plotting

• Q: How can I plot with previous plot settings from the command line to use in scripts or in a LISP program?
  
  A: (command "-plot" "no" "" "previous plot" "" "" "" "")  

• Q: How can I plot by code and set it to plot more than 1 copy?
  
  A: Following work to plot 3 copies using the previous plot setting from the command line:
  
  (progn
    (command "-plot" "no" "" "previous plot" "" "" "Y" "N")
    (setq plotnr 3)
    (setq ad (vla-get-activedocument (vlax-get-acad-object)))
    (setq plot (vla-get-plot ad))
    (vla-put-NumberOfCopies plot plotnr)
    (vla-PlotToDevice plot)
  )
  
  Notice that you can't change the setting in the plot dialog box. If you want
  to do that you have to do it from outside AutoCAD like this.
  1) Start an external application like (startapp "f:\\SetPlotNo.exe"), could
  be done with VB as follow.
  2) Make sure that the active tab of the plot dialog box is the first one,
  could be done setting the following registry to 0,
  HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R15.0\
  ACAD-1:409\Profiles\AutoCAD 2002\PlotSettingActiveTab
  3)  Open the dialog box by using SendKeys to AutoCAD.
  ...
      AppActivate AcadApp.Caption
      SendKeys "PLOT ", True
      SendKeys "%b ", True
  ' No of copies
      SendKeys "3", True
  ...
  
  This might give you some ideas...

• Q: I want to show the plot dialog box using lisp. How do I do?
  
  A: This will work: (initdia) (command "._plot")

dbConnect

• Q: I want want to easy copy links/queries/labels created with dbConnect from one drawing to another.
  
  A1: Create an empty drawing with only the links/queries/labels you want, let's say you call it dbTemplate.dwg. To easily have them into an existing drawing you only have to insert dbTemplate.dwg and explode it and there you go. This could easily be done on a button. Observe * before the drawing name makes it explode. -insert *dbTemplate.dwg 0,0 1  0
  
  A2: Open dbConnect Manager with CTRL+6. Drag and drop the links/queries/labels from one drawing to another.
  
• Q: The labels disappears after I reloaded them. Where are they?
  
  A: You have probable used a wrong field as key. It has to be a field that is unique.

Installations

• Q: My silent install doesn't continue to the end.
  
  A: Check the C:\WinNT\AcadDeploy.log (or in C:\Windows) file that might give you some hint of what has happened. One reason might be that there is no place left for the installation. You can also try to run the following file that you'll find in you share installation folder. \IMAGE\client.exe

FlexLM

• Q: How can I easily distribute environment variables to set LM_LICENSE_FILE?
  
  A: Create a registry file named license.reg looking like below where EMTNT04 and ARNNT02 are the names of two servers, change to fit yours or you can use the IP address.
  
  REGEDIT4
  [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Environment]
  "LM_LICENSE_FILE"="@EMTNT04;@ARNNT02"
  
  This can then be called in a command file like this:
  
  regedit /s \\servername\sharename\license.reg

• Q: Is it possible to use version 8.3c (or newer) of FlexLM?
  
  A: Yes, we use it without any problems. Running both AutoCAD 2002 and AutoCAD 2004 has worked well.

• Q: How can I check the status from a client PC?
  
  A:  have an cmd-file on client machines so it's possible to check the license status without doing it on the license server. Example below, where arnnt04 is the name of the server. The path to lmutil must be changed to work for you.
  
  @echo off
  "M:\CAD\LMTOOLS\cmd\lmutil" lmstat -a -c 27000@arnnt04
  pause

• Example on how the adskflex.opt file can look like:

REPORTLOG +d:\flexlm\license\report.rl
# If the application is idle for 900 seconds
# the server reclaims the license.
TIMEOUT 42600ACD_2004_0F 900
TIMEOUT 43200ARCHDESK_2004_0F 900
TIMEOUT 46300ACD_2005_0F 900
TIMEOUT 46700ARCHDESK_2005_0F 900
# This line defines the Group "ADTUSER",
#add or remove login names here.
GROUP ADTUSER user1 user2 user3
GROUP ACADUSER user1 user4 user5 user6
GROUP ADTEXCLUDE user4
# This line will reserve 1 licens for the group "ADTUSER"
RESERVE 1 43200ARCHDESK_2004_0F GROUP ADTUSER
# This line will exlude user4 from using ADT
EXCLUDE 43200ARCHDESK_2004_0F GROUP ADTEXCLUDE
# This line will allow maximum 2 licenses
#for the group "ACADUSER"
MAX 2 42600ACD_2004_0F GROUP ADTUSER

ADT

• Q: Tips on ceiling grids?
  
  A: Ceilings don't need to be drawn in the base plan, you can do them in xrefs even on small projects. A great way to make frids is to go to a reflected display & use Bpoly to create ceiling boundaries, then convert to
  ceiling grids.

• Q: How can I change the title bar to say AutoCAD instead of Architectural Desktop?
  
  A: Have a look here to download the code.

AutoCAD Command and System Variable Map

To download PDF version (90Kb) Click Here

ADC - AutoCAD Design Center

Do you miss preview images/icons of blocks? Use the command BLOCKICON. It generates preview images for blocks created with Release 14 or earlier and even A2k.

You can get ADC to navigate to a specific folder, drawing or even custom contents like layouts.

You can start ADC like these examples, (can be placed in a custom menu for easy access):

(command "._adcnavigate" "r:/cad/r15g/blocks/")
(command "._adcnavigate" "r:/cad/r15g/blocks/template.dwg/")
(command "._adcnavigate" "r:/cad/r15g/blocks/template.dwg/layouts")

;;; Navigate to current drawings path
(command "._adcnavigate" (getvar "dwgprefix"))

(callADC "r:/cad/r15g/blocks/" "template.dwg" "layouts")

(defun callADC (path fname custcont)
  (if (/= fname "") (setq fname (strcat fname "/")))
  (command "._adcnavigate" (strcat path fname custcont))
)

Arguments

path	a valid existing path
fname	an existing dwg or dwt-file or an emty string: ""
custcont	any of (blocks" "dimstyles" "layers" "layouts" "linetypes" "textstyles" "xrefs") or an emty string: ""

Mouse

The following table lists the IntelliMouse mouse actions supported in AutoCAD.

Did you know that you can use this functionality when in the orbit command too?

You might want to disable the scroll bars in drawing window since it might interfere with scroll-mouse.

Remember also to set MBUTTONPAN to 1.

If you have another mouse you might have to :

1) Set wheel button 2 option to "Middle"
2) Turn on "use Office 97 compatible scroll only"
3) Set the Scrolling size option to "None" if not the first two worked.
4) Do you have the latest driver?

How can I know where my drawing is inserted as an xref?

Use DesignCenter or Ctrl+1 and Find Button.

There you have the option to search for xrefs in many drawings.
There is also possible to find Blocks, Dimstyles, Drawings,Layers
Layouts, Linetypes and Textstyles.