Las Vegas, Nevada. November 27-30, 2001

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1 Las Vegas, Nevada November 27-30, 2001 Speaker Name: John Clauson Course Title: AutoCAD Gadgets and Gizmos Course ID: GD22-3 Course Outline: It s difficult to know everything about AutoCAD. It has many obscure and little used functions. We ll explore quite a few of them in this session. No doubt you will know many; others you may have never seen before. Don t feel obligated to use all of them. Perhaps one or two will make a difference in how efficiently you do your work. We ll also explore some strategies that may help improve your productivity. They are simply methods of using existing tools in ways that have proven to work well. Only a few of these tips require programming, though you shouldn t have to write code to use AutoCAD productively until you re getting the most from what came off the shelf. You can contact me at john.clauson@augi.com to get any code you see here today. Startup Icons For Projects Or Profiles... 3 Fast Desktop Access... 3 Drop It In... 3 Multiple Launching Strategy... 3 Find and Start... 3 Create Folders On the Fly... 3 Quick Seek... 3 Favorite Places in AutoCAD Sort Files... 4 Use Wildcards... 4 Delete... 4 Manage Files With Context Menus... 4 Navigate... 4 Quick Navigation With Shortcuts... 4 Avoid Dialogs... 4 Prevent Docking... 4 Quick Recall... 4

2 Tailor the Coordinate Display... 5 Tour de File... 5 Poor Man s Compare... 5 Tour de Vport... 5 Tour de Object... 5 Reorder Objects... 5 Quick Layer Creation... 5 Quick Properties... 5 Portable Toolbars... 5 Toolbar Recovery... 6 Where It s At... 6 Keep On Keepin On... 6 Calculator Tips... 6 Draw Complementary Arcs... 6 Convert a Circle To Two Arcs... 6 Project 2D Views With OTRACK and POLAR... 7 Quick TRIM... 7 Toggle TRIM/EXTEND... 7 One-step Trim/extend... 7 Displace It... 7 Get a Grip On It... 7 Show Your References... 7 Cool Copying... 8 Instant Erase... 8 Watch Your Back... 8 Length Matters... 8 Helpful Boundaries... 8 Match Those Overrides... 8 Stack Dual Dimensions in R Moving Dimension Text... 9 Drop to Insert... 9 Easy Attribute Mobility... 9 Plotting Shortcut Preload Page Setups... 9 Remove Page Setups... 9 Fighting Corruption Ignore the Background Quick Background Toggle Tips and Tricks Resources On the Web GD22-3 p. 2

3 Launching / desktop Startup Icons For Projects Or Profiles You can have several AutoCAD icons on your desktop, each one launching AutoCAD with a different profile or in a different default folder. To copy a desktop icon, right click and drag it. Release the button and select Copy. Next right click on it and select Properties. Change the Start In folder to select a new default folder. To use another profile, add a space after the AutoCAD startup command, type /p and a space, and then type the path to an.arg file that you have saved to the hard disk. An example: c:\program files\autocad 2000\acad.exe /p c:\program files\autocad 2000\john.arg Be sure to use quotes in the line above if any folder names or file names are more than 8 characters. Note: In AutoCAD 2000x the Start In designation is ignored if the REMEMBERFOLDERS is 0. Fast Desktop Access Hold down the Windows key and press M or D to immediately minimize all windows and get to the desktop. Drop It In With AutoCAD running, use an Explorer window to drag one or more files into a non-graphic area of the AutoCAD screen to open the file(s). You run a LISP or script file by dragging it into the graphics area of an open AutoCAD window. Call up a different menu or insert a text file the same way. Multiple Launching Strategy Keep a My Computer window open to your most commonly used folder. Drag and drop files from it into AutoCAD. Find and Start Use the Find function of Explorer to locate a drawing. Drag and drop the drawing icon from the Find (or Explorer) window onto the desired AutoCAD desktop icon. You can drag and drop multiple files at once in AutoCAD 2000x if SDI is 0. File management in OPEN / SAVEAS It s possible to mimic most of Explorer s functions from the Select File dialog box with AutoCAD s OPEN and SAVE AS. Be sure to have the Details button pressed. Create Folders On the Fly Navigate to the folder you desire and click the New Folder button. Name the folder and double click on it to put your drawing there. Quick Seek Click once on any file name in the file listing, and then quickly type the first one or two characters (more if you re fast) to get near the file you want. GD22-3 p. 3

4 Favorite Places in AutoCAD 2002 In the AutoCAD 2002 Places list of the Select File dialog box, you can right click to add the current, or any other, folder to the list. For an alternative in older versions, see Quick Navigation With Shortcuts below. Sort Files Use the column headers (with the Details button activated) to find the most recent or largest files. Use Wildcards Type a* in the File name text box to find all the file names in the current folder that begin with a. Use c?nn* to find file names with any single character preceded by a c and followed by nn. Delete Highlight any number of files and press the Del key. The Shift+Del method of bypassing the recycle bin works here, too. Manage Files With Context Menus Right click on a file name to cut, copy, paste, rename, Zip, or View/plot it with Volo View. Right click in a blank area to paste file(s) or create a new folder. Navigate You can move around through folders and drives with the list box and the Up One Level and Create New Folder buttons. Quick Navigation With Shortcuts In your default startup folder, make folder shortcuts for other commonly used folders. To do this, open Explorer, right click and drag the folder for which you re making the shortcut onto your default startup folder. Release the mouse button and select Create Shortcut(s) Here. If you put a shortcut to your default folder in the one for which you just made a shortcut, you can go back and forth exclusively with shortcuts. This is a big time saver if your commonly used folders are on different branches or drives. Interface Avoid Dialogs In AutoCAD 2000x, you might prefer the command line version of ATTEDIT, for example, to the new dialog box. To avoid dialog boxes, type a minus before the command, such as attedit. Prevent Docking To put a short toolbar on top of the right end of your command window, or anywhere else, hold down the Ctrl key while you move the toolbar. Quick Recall The Up Arrow key recalls typed commands one at a time. It works across successive drawings in R14, and in AutoCAD 2000x if SDI is set to 1. GD22-3 p. 4

5 Tailor the Coordinate Display Three settings are available for the COORDS variable. 0 grays out the coordinate display, which then only shows the coordinates that you pick with the pointing device. 1 is the default setting, where the display is continuously updated with the absolute coordinates of your cursor. 2 also makes the display continuously update, but shows the relative coordinates in distance and angle as you pick points. Tour de File You can cycle through all your open drawings in AutoCAD 2000x with Ctrl+Tab, and go backwards through them with Shift+ Ctrl+Tab. Poor Man s Compare Open two or more versions of the same original file (that have the same extents). ZOOM EXTENTS in each one and then quickly cycle through them with Ctrl+Tab for quick comparisons. You can also do this with drawings that have the same saved views. Tour de Vport Can t select a paper space viewport because a larger one overlaps its boundary? Press Ctrl+R to cycle through the viewports. Tour de Object When you want to select one of several objects that overlap, hold down the Ctrl key and keep picking until your desired one highlights. Then press <Enter> to confirm that selection and continue with your command. Reorder Objects Use the Ctrl key to cycle between objects as you change the display order to permanently move one forward or back. Quick Layer Creation In the layer control dialog box, type several new layer names, separated by commas but no spaces. Quick Properties This can be a huge time saver. Use the Shift and Ctrl keys for multiple selections, and then set their layer, color and/or linetype properties by making selections in the appropriate list boxes on the Object Properties toolbar. Portable Toolbars You won t need to rebuild your personal toolbars when a new release comes out, or if you move to another computer, if you create them on a separate menu. Here s how. First, make a personal menu. With Notepad, create the following file and name it MyStuff.mns or whatever you like. ***MENUGROUP=PERSONAL ***TOOLBARS Next, use the MENULOAD command to load the new menu file. Whenever you create a personal toolbar, be sure to put it in the PERSONAL menu group. AutoCAD will write the menu code, including help strings, for you as you create the toolbars and buttons. To make the menu truly GD22-3 p. 5

6 portable, edit it to find out which icon names were used, change the bitmap names as desired and put them in the menu code. As long as you put your menu file and accompanying bitmaps in a folder that is part of the AutoCAD search path, you can load your personal menu on any machine. I ve used this method to port my personal menu to every release from R14 through AutoCAD Toolbar Recovery You know a toolbar is turned on, but it s not on the screen. Here's a command line method to get it toolbar back on the screen, providing you didn't actually delete it. Command: -toolbar Toolbar name (or ALL): "_Object Properties" Show/Hide/Left/Right/Top/Bottom/Float: <Show>: f Position <0,0>: 200,200 Rows <1>: 1 Command: Note: Be sure to type the minus before the command name and surround the toolbar name with quotation marks. Creating geometry Where It s At symbol in an expression recalls the last point designated. Example: after placing the first circle, locate others concentrically by when asked for the subsequent center points. Keep On Keepin On The MULTIPLE command repeats the next command endlessly until you press Esc. You might want to create buttons for certain multiple commands, like ERASE. Calculator Tips The AutoCAD calculator can be used for some very exotic functions, but you can use it for some quick and simple functions. Invoke it at any time by typing cal or picking the tool button. At the expression>> prompt type (cur+cur)/2 to select a point midway between the next two points picked. It s transparent and works with osnaps. You can use cal to do math for many value prompts. This calculator uses standard mathematic notation, no batteries are required and you can t leave it in your car. Draw Complementary Arcs This method completes a circular shape with a second arc. Let s say you have a hole that s partially obscured in a view, and you want to change part of the circle to a hidden linetype. First, TRIM out the obscured segment. Then MIRROR the remaining arc and select the same endpoint of the arc twice. Ignore the reprimand and continue the command. Now you can do what you need to with the new arc. I first saw this method on Convert a Circle To Two Arcs Try C2A.LSP, an AutoLISP routine contributed to the November 2001 PaperSpace magazine by Alireza Parsai, to automate this function. Be sure to use an object snap for at least the point at which you select the circle. (Contact me at john.clauson@augi.com for this file.) GD22-3 p. 6

7 Project 2D Views With OTRACK and POLAR Judicious use of these functions can enable you to project 2D views accurately with very little trimming or input from the keyboard. Once you get the hang of it, you might even enjoy it. Editing geometry Quick TRIM Every object will be a cutting edge in the TRIM command if you simply press <Enter> when prompted to select the cutting edge(s). Toggle TRIM/EXTEND In AutoCAD 2002, press the Shift key to EXTEND during the TRIM command, or vice versa. One-step Trim/extend When the lines you need to TRIM and/or EXTEND are vertical or horizontal, the CHANGE command is an easy way to do it. Just select the lines, with the ORTHO ON, and at the Specify change point or [Properties]: prompt, select the desired point on the boundary. Displace It You don t have to pick a start point for MOVE, COPY or STRETCH if you can express the distance in coordinate values. Here s an example that moves an object 3 units to the right and 1 unit up with the displacement option. Invoke Move and select the objects. When prompted for the base point or displacement, type 3,1 <enter> <enter>. You can use distance and angle as well; just don t use symbol. Get a Grip On It Grips stop being annoying when you find out how cleverly you can use them. Grips can act like osnaps. Select two separate lines to activate their grips. Pick a grip at the end of one line, and then pick a grip at the end of the other line. Easier than STRETCH, right? You can pick multiple hot grips with the Shift key. Select several objects to active their grips. Before the first pick on any grip, hold down the Shift key and pick the grips you want to be hot. Then release Shift and pick a grip to manipulate. Use grips and direct distance entry to lengthen or shorten several lines at the same time. Select the items to activate their grips. Use the method above to make their end grips hot. Then, with ORTHO on, move the cursor and type in the amount to lengthen or shorten them. To line up a pair of parallel lines, select them, turn ORTHO on and select the middle grip of the one to move, and then select the middle grip of another. Show Your References Many experienced AutoCAD operators ignore the REFERENCE option for ROTATE and SCALE. For ROTATE, the REFERENCE option forces AutoCAD to read the current angle of a vector between two points, and you then type in the new angle. The order in which you pick the points determines the direction of the vector. GD22-3 p. 7

8 Let s say we have a line of undetermined angle and we want to make it exactly 45. Invoke ROTATE and select the line and base point. With osnaps on, pick the end you selected as the base point and then the other. Type in 45. For SCALE: An example of using the REFERENCE option for scale would be to match a raster image to a vector object, such as a floor plan. Select the object to scale and the base point. At the Specify scale factor or [Reference]: prompt, type r. Then pick two points on the raster image. Finally type in the distance that you desire between those points. Cool Copying With grips enabled and ORTHO on, select the objects to copy. Pick a grip. Right click and select COPY. Move the cursor in the desired direction. Type the desired distance and press Enter. Hold the Shift key down, and as you move the cursor, copies of the object(s) will appear in multiples of that distance. Correcting mistakes Instant Erase Copy the ERASE tool button. Key in this macro command line: ^C^C_erase single. Now objects will disappear as soon as you click on them, without making you confirm the selection each time. [EM] Watch Your Back Typing U <Enter> is the equivalent of typing undo 1, but the full UNDO command has several options. You can use Undo Mark and Back when experimenting. If you type undo m to set a bookmark in your file, later you can type undo b, which will undo back to that mark. Now, what if you want to save some of those entities before undoing to the mark? Copy them to the clipboard first, and paste them back in after you get back to the mark. Inquiry Length Matters The length of arcs is part of the LIST information. You can also use PEDIT to join multiple end-to end objects and LIST their total length. Helpful Boundaries To quickly calculate the area for any enclosed configuration, run the BOUNDARY command and select a point inside the area. Then LIST the Last item. The end of the listing will show the area and perimeter. Then UNDO twice or ERASE Last to remove the polyline that the BOUNDARY command created. Dimensioning Match Those Overrides You say you have only a few dimensions to which you want to apply a series of overrides without making another dimension style. Apply the overrides to one of them and use MATCHPROP to copy them to the others. GD22-3 p. 8

9 Stack Dual Dimensions in R14 In Release 14, you can have the alternate units text appear below the primary unit text. On the Annotation tab of DDIM, enable alternate units and type \P in the Suffix text box for primary units. Be sure it s a capital P. Moving Dimension Text To change the way dimension text behaves when moved set the appropriate variable (DIMFIT in R14 and DIMTMOVE in AutoCAD 2000x) in your dimension style. As overrides, those variables will not apply to existing dimensions. Blocks and attributes Drop to Insert Drag a file from Explorer into an open AutoCAD window to insert it as a block. Easy Attribute Mobility There s an easier way to move an attribute than ATTEDIT. Use DDSELECT or OPTIONS/PREFERENCES to enable grips within blocks. Pick any entity of the block to display the grips and then select the insertion grip of the attribute. The STRETCH option will be active, so drag the grip to move the attribute. Sorry, you can't use this technique to rotate, scale or mirror attributes this way. [EM] Plotting Plotting Shortcut Preload Page Setups Save time by using Page Setups to populate your plot dialog box with defaults. If your company has several plotters on a network, you can avoid many headaches by storing default page setups for common sheet sizes on each plotter in a drawing that s accessible by everyone. With some menu code, you can also preload them into the current drawing every time you plot. Start a new drawing, named PSETUP.DWG for this example, in a public location. Create and save the desired page setups. You ll need to do this in both model and layout modes, assuming you use both. In your menu file, you could use the following code to load all the page setups into the current drawing every time you execute the plot command. This code assumes that the drawing containing the page setups is on the network in a folder called cad. [&Plot]^C^C(command "insert" "n:/cad/psetup")(command)(command "purge" "b" "psetup" "no")(princ);plot You might find different ways to automatically load page setups. Remove Page Setups Use PLOTCONFIGS.DVB to remove unwanted page setups when sharing drawings with outside sources. (Contact me at john.clauson@augi.com for this file.) Housekeeping GD22-3 p. 9

10 Fighting Corruption You say you a zoomed extents and your drawing shrank to a tiny portion at the corner of your screen? One or more objects have blown (impossible) extents. You can use WBLOCK with the Select objects: method to put only what s on the screen into the new file. Invoke WBLOCK, name the new drawing and press Enter at the Block name: prompt. Pick the insertion point and window all of your drawing objects at the Select objects: prompt. OPEN the file you just created, but don t save the changes as you leave the corrupted drawing. This is like a PURGE All in AutoCAD 2000x, but it also removes corrupted objects because they can t be displayed. Using AutoCAD in other programs Ignore the Background If you set the new system variable WMFBKGND in AutoCAD 2000x to 0ff, AutoCAD ignores the screen background color when you cut from AutoCAD and paste into Word, or create a Windows metafile (.WMF). Be careful it won t make a white AutoCAD entity black in Word, so watch your colors. Quick Background Toggle Use BTOGGLE.DVB to toggle the background of either model space or paper space between black and white. (Contact me at john.clauson@augi.com for this file.) Don t Forget the Internet Tips and Tricks Resources On the Web AutoCAD tips and tricks abound on the Internet. Here are just a few good sites to explore GD22-3 p. 10

Getting Started. In This Chapter

Getting Started. In This Chapter Getting Started In This Chapter 2 This chapter introduces concepts and procedures that help you get started with AutoCAD. You learn how to open, close, and manage your drawings. You also learn about the