Subject: Re: A Very Basic Question on Accelerator Keys for R13
From: Mike McDougle
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 00:32:09 -0800
Reini Urban wrote:
>
> Joe Moses wrote:
> >I'm relatively new to ACAD R13 (and to AutoCAD in general). In an
> >effort to speed my productivity using it, I'd like to try and assign
> >certain commands to the function keys to mimic the assignment of
> >commands from my previous CAD software. ...
Reini - you don't need to buy extra software. Use an ascii editor to
edit the ACAD.PGP in the \R13\COM\SUPPORT directory. In there you will
see M, *MOVE C, *CHANGE and so on. Just make up your own and add
them to the list. But, remember, the more you add the more memory it
takes up. So if you see some there that you know you will never use,
just delete them. Also, make sure you make a backup copy of your
ACAD.PGP...just to be safe.
Mike McDougle
>
> BTW: Softengine 3.7 for Win is shipping soon. Finally with the long
> awaited SEKEY command.
> You can define a command on every key! and and all the mouse-keyboard
> combinations (eg. double-click left mouse = Zoom Window, Ctrl left =
> Zoom Prev. Alt-F5 = Stretch, Ctrl-F5 = DDLMODES, and so on.)
>
> Free demo (beta 2) is available at www.vibrant com
>
> ---
> Reini Urban, TU Graz, Architecture & X-RAY
> http://xarch.tu-graz.ac.at/autocad/
Subject: Re: force text inside (etc)
From: smoker@fs.cei.net (Joseph M. Liston)
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 14:43:48 GMT
Desi Moreno wrote:
>sid herbage wrote:
>>
>> (R12DOS)
>>
>> When I change a dimensioning feature such as "force text inside",
>> on some drawings all the existing dimensions immediately and
>> automatically take on this characteristic. On other drawings that
>> I'm editing, it is only applied to dimensions that I subsequently
>> create.
>>
>> Is there a switch that controls this?
>> --
>> ... Sid (sid@visgen.com)
>
>Sid, before you change the feature, create a new style, then change the feature on the new style. what
>happens is that the existing dim.s have a style name, and when you change a feature, all dims with that style
>will change.
>
>Dennis, Tony, Regesh, please correct me if I'm wrong !!
Greetings Desi:
You are correct in you statements. If a dimension has a style
and you change a system variable it will be applied to the current
style. If your current style is *unnamed* , the changes will be
applied to the subsequent dimensions. To apply a dimstyle to a group
of *unnamed* dimensions, type "dim" enter "up" enter and select all
the dimensions that you want to be in that style.
Regards Joe (smoker)
=====================================
The best things in life are free.
(except tech support)
Subject: Softengine new drivers. Get them.
From: smoker@fs.cei.net (Joseph M. Liston)
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 16:46:29 GMT
Greetings All:
I downloaded the latest Softengine beta driver from Vibrant
just before Thanksgiving. I wanted some time to play with it before I
posted an article on my reactions.
I have been using Softengine for about 4.5 years now. The drivers were
worth the wait. A really usable birdseye, detail window, toolbars &
toolstrips. But best of all, a configurable Icon Panel. I can get rid
of all those pesky toolbars and go back to a single click Icon Panel.
This panel is worth the cost of Softengine alone. No hassles trying to
get the toolbars to work with flyouts and multiple flyouts. The Icon
Panel is a plain ASCII text file that takes about 1hour to learn how
to program. Any standard .ico editor will allow you to make new
graphic icons. I just use text for speed of editing. When I get time I
will build some graphical icons. The best feature of the icon panel is
that when you are done picking a command, IT GETS OUT OF THE WAY. This
feature has allowed me to reclaimed about 1"of screen all the way
around my Autocad window. I now have the same Icon Panel I was using
in DOS R12 with many of my typical lisp programs added to the Panels.
If I was using a mouse this would be "Must Have" program. 2 or 3
button mice can now have display commands added to them like zoom w
with a shift key or zoom e with no regen by using a ctrl key or
various other combinations. Another nice feature is the birdseye zoom
and pan capabilities with the alt or ctrl keys. Move your crosshairs
to a point inside the birdseye and using your ctrl or alt keys zoom in
or zoom out. Move your cursor back into the main Autocad window and
you are zoomed there. I could go on for several pages on reasons to
use this product, but the main one I see is PRODUCTION. I do large
architectural drawings and zooming and panning eats up a lot of time.
I had quit using the DSVIEWER birdseye because of its unreliability
and general difficulty in using. I am happy again with my Autocad
display. :-))))
If anyone has any questions I will be more than happy to
answer them. I try to get to the newsgroups at least every other day
but I have had some problems with my ISP and posting.
Regards Joe (smoker)
=====================================
The best things in life are free.
(except tech support)
Subject: Re: A Very Basic Question on Accelerator Keys for R13
From: rurban@xarch.tu-graz.ac.at (Reini Urban)
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 19:07:29 GMT
Mike McDougle wrote:
>Reini - you don't need to buy extra software. Use an ascii editor to
>edit the ACAD.PGP in the \R13\COM\SUPPORT directory. In there you will
>see M, *MOVE C, *CHANGE and so on. ...
But X or X is slower than -X without . Just
a example. I used it with -E for _Endp and so on and these options
you cannot define in acad.pgp, only in the R13 Win [Accelerator]
section.
And there you cannot define key combinations because this key is
reserved for menu accelerators. But the key is better to reach
than the key, which was forced by the new R13 menus. With
its a pain to reach even -F not to mention the L or P. With
and the right counterpart (at least on my german keyboard it
got this name, right next to ) its no problem to hit -L
(for LOT in german) or -P (PERP in english, PUNKT in german)
Not to mention the mouse key combinations I mentioned in my former post.
So the new SE 3.7 driver is big enhancement, because its enables WIN
users the same usability as DOS users for the last years. I will
strongly consider removing R12 DOS from the harddisc soon.
---
Reini Urban, TU Graz, Architecture & X-RAY
http://xarch.tu-graz.ac.at/autocad/
Subject: Re: HELP: Exploding text
From: Dino Palazzo
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 11:12:25 -0800
samuele@bbs.cruzio.com wrote:
>
> There's a freeware program called xshp.lsp that does what you want,
> but is too old to handle the new r13 fonts. You'll need the .shp
> file for each font you want to explode; if you don't have that you can
> make it from the .shx with the shareware shx2shp.exe.
>
> -Sam Eisenpress
> In article <57jnh4$d4u@news.owt.com>, jgoddard@oneworld.owt.com (Josh Goddard) writes:
> > I am running R13 for Windows, and would like to explode text. This
> > seems simple enough, but I haven't been able to figure it out.
> >
> > I have been sending files via DXF to our machinist, and text does not
> > appear in his CAM software. I would like to explode my text into
> > lines and arcs to enable him to read construction notes, etc. which he
> > could later delete.
> >
> > Any suggestions would be appreciated.
> >
> > Josh
> >
Hi Josh I had the same problem for different applications. What I did
was to have someone that use composer (a program to make signs) convert
the font stencil that he had in his programs into dxf file and imported
into autocad.
that was easier than making the font into autocad.
I believe that you could also import fonts from corel-draw as wmf file
Good luck
Dino
Subject: Re: 3DSolid dxf format
From: rurban@xarch.tu-graz.ac.at (Reini Urban)
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 19:07:31 GMT
jeeper@halcyon.com (Dennis Shinn) wrote:
>Scott wrote:
>>Has anyone got a pointer to the format of a 3dsolid in dxf from acad13.
>>I'm trying to produce an application that can read these in and I
>>haven't got a clue what the dxf file is going on about. If anyone has a
>>pointer let me know
>
>The entity data for the ACIS solids in R13 is encrypted and not directly
>available to the end user. There was a thread recently where a utility was
>posted for parsing out the entity data.
I stored the posts from months ago at
http://xarch.tu-graz.ac.at/autocad/news/acis_decrypt (July 9)
and
http://xarch.tu-graz.ac.at/autocad/news/acis_decode.lsp (Nov 8)
theres a simple lisp program which shows how to decrypt it and access
the data in it.
owenw@manusoft.com (Owen Wengerd) has posted
this version on c.c.a. :
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
(defun ACISdecode (st / ln n c st1)
(setq st1 "" n (strlen st))
(while (> n 0)
(setq c (ascii (substr st n 1)))
(setq st1
(strcat
(cond
((= c 32) " ")
((= c 86) "I")
((chr (boole 6 c 95))))
st1))
(setq n (1- n)))
st1
)
...........................
(foreach lt ed
(if (= (car lt) 1)
(setq st (strcat "\n" (ACISdecode (cdr lt)) st)))))
;; ^^^^^^ added as Paul Kohut stated
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
; by Vladimir Nesterovsky, vnestr@netvision.net.il
(defun c:show3d( / d decode ) ;;GLOBALS: datalist datastr
(if (member(cdr(assoc 0
(setq d (entget(car(entsel "\nPick an object: "))))))
'("3DSOLID" "REGION"))(progn
(defun decode(s) ;; decode a string
(apply'strcat(mapcar'(lambda(c) ;; decode one char
(cond ;; by Owen Wengerd
((= (setq c (ascii c)) 32) " ")
((= c 86) "I")
(T (chr (boole 6 c 95))))) (strtol s))))
(setq datalist ;; list of converted strings
(apply 'append ;; remove all NILs and open all lists
(mapcar ;; that have artificially been built
'(lambda(a) ;; take strings out ---------------------+
(if(= 1(car a))(list ;; if dxf-code is 1 |
(decode(cdr a))) ;; decode the string |
nil)) ;; skip the unrelevant codes |
d))) ;; of entget <---------------------------+
;; here we may further analyze the data, may be it must be
;; reversed (at least Owen builds it that way) etc...
;; print the list one-by-one now:
(lp11 datalist)
;; or to get one result string
(setq datastr (strgather datalist "\n"))
(princ)
) (princ "\nNot an ACIS Object!") )
(princ)
)
;;use this to print list one-by-one
(defun lp11(l)
(foreach e l (print e)(read-char)))
;;turn string into list of characters
(defun strtol ( s / l c )
(repeat (setq c (strlen s))
(Setq l (cons (substr s c 1) l)
c (1- c) )) l )
;;gather strings list back to string, inserting delims in between.
(defun strgather( sl delims )
(substr
(apply 'strcat
(mapcar'(lambda(s)(strcat delims s)) sl))
(1+ (strlen delims))))
If you want just to convert encoded strings inside
entity data, you may use
(defun dec-ed(ed)
(mapcar '(lambda(a)
(if(/= 1(car a))a
(cons 1 (decode (cdr a)))))ed))
So the function becomes (with no error checking):
(defun c:show3d()
(lp11 (dec-ed
(entget(car(entsel"\nPick a 3d object, please: "))))))
---
Reini Urban, TU Graz, Architecture & X-RAY
http://xarch.tu-graz.ac.at/autocad/
Subject: Re: Can AutoLISP do this
From: waiwhite@zip.com.au (Ian A. White)
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 21:01:41 GMT
On Sun, 1 Dec 1996 01:33:13 -0500, you wrote:
>There is no SETENV function in AutoLISP (any release).
>
>Here is what happens when I try to call it:
>
>Command: (setenv "FOO" "BAR")
>error: null function
>(SETENV "FOO" "BAR")
>*Cancel*
Well, don't say this too loudly next to my computer, as I have a
(setenv) function. As I said before, my ACAD.LSP has MANY of these
function calls. Here is a log file from a session. I first do a
(getenv "test") and as it is not set, it returns nil. I then do a
(setenv "test" "something") and AutoCAD responds with "something". I
then do a (getenv "test"), and this time, as it has just been set, it
responds with "something". I then turn the log file off.
----------------------------------------
Command: (getenv "test")
nil
Command: (setenv "test" "something")
"something"
Command: (getenv "test")
"something"
Command: logfileoff
----------------------------------------
I am using R12_c4 for Windows. Again, the ACAD.LSP file is used byone
client with a misture of DOS and Windows AutoCAD. I will say that the
manual does not have anything on the (setenv) function. There are
references to (getenv) however. I simply worked on the basis that if
there was a (getenv), there had to be a (setenv). I must say, I did
not look up the manuals. Had I done so, I might not have tried it.
Regards,
Ian A. White, CPEng
waiwhite@zip.com.au
WAI Engineering
Sydney 2000
Australia
Subject: Re: »» Digitizer or Mouse for R13?
From: waiwhite@zip.com.au (Ian A. White)
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 21:01:38 GMT
John H. wrote in article
...
> What pointer device is best for Autocad R13.... Digitizer or Mouse?
>
> I have been using Autocad for 8 years and prefer the exactness and
> icon usage of a digitizer. It seems that more and more companies are
> "going with" the the use of the mouse. I want to convience my new
> employer to purchase digitizers. I have used Kurta is one,
> Summagraphics, GTCO, and Calcomp. Does anyone have any comments
> regarding the best pointing device?
A properly set-up digitiser will do everything a mouse can do, and
more. The problem is that at the moment the digitiser manufacturers
are in a state of turmoil with takeovers. They seem to have dropped
the ball, and many drivers are buggy. They have also failed to
provide proper installation methods, because many are of the opinion
that Win 95 is a flash in the pan.
Drivers are the biggest problem at the moment. It is for this reason
that many dealers are recommending their clients either switch to a
mouse, or not buy one in the first place.
A digitiser is by far the better device. As I said, it will do
everything the mouse can do and more. You still have all the access
to aliases in AutoCAD, and other features. A 12" x 12" digitiser (the
most common by a long way) takes up a little more than a mouse pad,
but it does a lot more. Even here, the physical space of a mouse pad
is misleading, as there is space needed around the mouse pad anyway.
If your work space is so tight, then you probably need to re-organise
it.
Trackballs are OK, however they are not designed for continual use.
You use fingers in a way that was never intended. The new ones which
use optical sensors are better, but still have their problems. It is
a wonder that the Kraft joystick has not made a comeback :-) I hope I
have not started something here.
Digitisers are the way to go. They cost more than mice, however they
offer more functionality than a mouse can ever offer. The key is to
get it set-up correctly. You may have to do some hunting for drivers.
Regards,
Ian A. White, CPEng
waiwhite@zip.com.au
WAI Engineering
Sydney 2000
Australia
Subject: Re: Menu files
From: waiwhite@zip.com.au (Ian A. White)
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 21:01:40 GMT
On Sat, 30 Nov 1996 14:54:18 -0800, Chop Chop
wrote:
>hi,
>
>This is cj here and recently i did a change in acad menu
>file and after loading that into CADr12 for Windows,
>There is this error message saying "An unmatched '<-' occurred
>in a hierachical menu" , i went through the whole file but it
>load alright in DOS ..Tell me what did i went wrong or i miss so
>that i can carry on with my project..Thanks alot for the help
Well, you still do have an unmatched <-.
You will have to do a search and make sure you don't have this
combination as part of a menu string.
A "trick" when writing menus is to follow programming techniques and
indent your menu. That is, when you start a cascading menu, the next
line should be indented by a couple of spaces. Then for each <-, you
return one indent. By the end of your POP menu, you should be back at
the beginning of the line.
Regards,
Ian A. White, CPEng
waiwhite@zip.com.au
WAI Engineering
Sydney 2000
Australia
Subject: Re: Invisible layer (Defpoints)
From: waiwhite@zip.com.au (Ian A. White)
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 21:01:36 GMT
On 29 Nov 1996 09:13:52 GMT, "S & C ASSEL"
wrote:
>Defpoints (LT Win95 + r13c4)
>On some of my drawings this layer is not visible. We have attempted just
>about everything and I am still waiting to get some info from drcsupport. I
>first noted this problem in LT(win95), but then the layer also disappeared
>in r13c4 (only on some drawings).
Objects on DEFPOINTS will never plot.
Layer 0 and Layer DEFPOINTS are linked as far as on-screen visibility
are concerned. In Layer 0 is frozen or off, then DEFPOINTS will not
display.
DEFPOINTS is used to store the associative dimension definition
points, and there are not to be plotted.
There is one other feature of DEFPOINTS. Any POINT on DEFPOINTS will
always show up as PDMODE 0, no matter what the current setting is.
Regards,
Ian A. White, CPEng
waiwhite@zip.com.au
WAI Engineering
Sydney 2000
Australia
Subject: Re: »» Digitizer or Mouse for R13?
From: "Trevor G. Bone"
Date: 1 Dec 1996 21:47:19 GMT
Try the WACOM Artpad II. I cancelled a digitizer purchase because of the
driver problem. Now I wouldn't be without the Artpad in any windows
application.
Regards,
Trevor G. Bone
aak95@dial.pipex.com
Ian A. White wrote in article
<32a2a463.29810365@news.zip.com.au>...
> John H. wrote in article
> ...
>
> > What pointer device is best for Autocad R13.... Digitizer or Mouse?
> >
> > I have been using Autocad for 8 years and prefer the exactness and
> > icon usage of a digitizer. It seems that more and more companies are
> > "going with" the the use of the mouse. I want to convience my new
> > employer to purchase digitizers. I have used Kurta is one,
> > Summagraphics, GTCO, and Calcomp. Does anyone have any comments
> > regarding the best pointing device?
>
> A properly set-up digitiser will do everything a mouse can do, and
> more. The problem is that at the moment the digitiser manufacturers
> are in a state of turmoil with takeovers. They seem to have dropped
> the ball, and many drivers are buggy. They have also failed to
> provide proper installation methods, because many are of the opinion
> that Win 95 is a flash in the pan.
>
> Drivers are the biggest problem at the moment. It is for this reason
> that many dealers are recommending their clients either switch to a
> mouse, or not buy one in the first place.
>
> A digitiser is by far the better device. As I said, it will do
> everything the mouse can do and more. You still have all the access
> to aliases in AutoCAD, and other features. A 12" x 12" digitiser (the
> most common by a long way) takes up a little more than a mouse pad,
> but it does a lot more. Even here, the physical space of a mouse pad
> is misleading, as there is space needed around the mouse pad anyway.
> If your work space is so tight, then you probably need to re-organise
> it.
>
> Trackballs are OK, however they are not designed for continual use.
> You use fingers in a way that was never intended. The new ones which
> use optical sensors are better, but still have their problems. It is
> a wonder that the Kraft joystick has not made a comeback :-) I hope I
> have not started something here.
>
> Digitisers are the way to go. They cost more than mice, however they
> offer more functionality than a mouse can ever offer. The key is to
> get it set-up correctly. You may have to do some hunting for drivers.
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Ian A. White, CPEng
> waiwhite@zip.com.au
> WAI Engineering
> Sydney 2000
> Australia
>
>
>
>
>
Subject: Re: Libraries.......
From: Rod Young
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 13:29:25 -0800
Dougie wrote:
>
> does anyone know of a lisp of other file that will insert mutliple bocks (from
> one directory) into one drawing for cataloging.
>
> 1) i don't want sharware that 1/2 works
>
> 2) i don't need to make slides out of them
>
> 3) nothing too fancy
>
> please email for help, I've been searching for this for a while.
>
> I tried Powerlib, doesn't even load properly.
> I tried Cadknowlegy, it is useless.
> I tried BlockMR, it is limited in it's capacity.
>
Our program RUN LISP includes (among many others) a routine to insert
multiple blocks from one (or many) subdirectories, and tile them to your
specifications.
You first select as many drawings as you wish, then the number of rows
and columns of tiles you want on the finished drawings; then the size of
the finish drawing.
RUN LISP will then create as many drawings, containing the inserted
drawings tiled as requested, and cycle through however many drawings it
takes for the number of drawings originally selected. Up to 1,000 at a
time may be processed automatically in unattended batch mode.
$25 + $5 s&h;
Demos of RUN LISP may be downloaded from the following ftp sites.
The demo versions do not contain the above described routine (it was
created after posting of the demos), but just drop me email if you want
me to email it to you.
Rod Young
--
Sierra Hermitage
If this ftp site is busy, go to and search
for mirror
sites worldwide where these demos may also be downloaded.
RUN LISP - batch acad R12
RUN LISP - batch acad R13
DIRECTORY TAMER - Simple EDM
BATCH PLOT - auto plot dwgs
AUTO LOADER - alisp manage
AUTOBMP - dwg > bmp
DWGDOC - attach file to dwg
FINDVARS - alisp helper
Subject: Re: HELP: Exploding text
From: jasonsjh@ms7.hinet.net (Sjh)
Date: Sun, 01 Dec 1996 17:38:47 GMT
samuele@bbs.cruzio.com wrote:
>There's a freeware program called xshp.lsp that does what you want,
>but is too old to handle the new r13 fonts. You'll need the .shp
>file for each font you want to explode; if you don't have that you can
>make it from the .shx with the shareware shx2shp.exe.
>-Sam Eisenpress
>In article <57jnh4$d4u@news.owt.com>, jgoddard@oneworld.owt.com (Josh Goddard) writes:
>> I am running R13 for Windows, and would like to explode text. This
>> seems simple enough, but I haven't been able to figure it out.
>>
>> I have been sending files via DXF to our machinist, and text does not
>> appear in his CAM software. I would like to explode my text into
>> lines and arcs to enable him to read construction notes, etc. which he
>> could later delete.
>>
>> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
>>
>> Josh
>>
Please setting a DXB plotter, plot your text drawing with DXB plotter,
then run DXBIN to call back your drafting. Now, your text will explode
in a series line elements.
...................................
.... by jasonsjh@ms7.hinet.net ....
...................................
