Cadalyst - July 2008 - (Page 46)

hottipharry By Bill Kramer Pleasures of Customization An object query function earns Harry’s kudos as July’s Top Tip. ne of the greatest pleasures you can experience as an AutoCAD operator is when a custom program works just the way you want. This month Harry applauds everyone who has ever ventured into the realm of customization tools and made it happen. O You might consider modifying this routine to work inside other functions of your own design. John, thanks for a great example of how to use LISP to make AutoCAD work the way you want. Tip 2299: Set Scaling Factors Set Scaling Factors by Jon Jonas is a handy little setup tool that adds standard architectural scaling factors to a current drawing. Load the LISP code and type Sclcvlarch. This routine only needs to be run once per drawing, and you can adjust the source code to match the scaling factors that you use for your work or use Jon’s standards. Short and sweet gets the job done. Tip 2302: Draw Stair Sections Jay Thomas sent in a utility called Draw Stair Sections, which automates the process of calculating and drawing stairway components in AutoCAD. The download includes the LISP code with an associated dialog box (DCL) and slide library (SLB) that should be located in the AutoCAD search path, as well as a text file (TXT) that explains how to use this marvelous productivity tool. Load the LISP code and type StairSec at the AutoCAD Command line to start. Thanks from everyone who draws stairs in their plans, Jay — you just made life easier. Tip 2300: Multiple Line Extensions Ron Perez has three tips among Harry’s favorites this month. The first one, Multiple Line Extensions, is a power tool that uses the object-level intersection method in Visual LISP. Your drawing must have an enclosing polyline or circle, along with lines that need to be extended to meet the enclosure. This routine extends all lines to the closed boundary. It also recognizes internal boundaries. To use, load the LISP code and type Mextend. After you draw a window around the area of interest, the rest is completely automatic. Two animated GIFs included with the download file show how the function works. Great programming, Ron! Tip 2303: Block Flipper The second genius routine from Perez is Block Flipper, a command function that rotates selected blocks by 180°. (One caveat: This routine will not rotate blocks found on locked layers.) To use this utility, load the LISP code into AutoCAD and type BR-180 at the Command line. You will be prompted to select objects — a filter is applied to only allow Insert object selection — which will then be rotated 180° after you have completed the selection. Nicely done, Ron. Tip 2301: Quadrant Snap Quadrant Snap, submitted by John Loudermilk, locates points at the 45°, 135°, 225°, and 315° angle points based on your point selection. This function is for use inside AutoCAD commands. To use this utility, load the LISP code and type (QS) when one of AutoCAD’s commands is waiting for a point input. When (QS) runs, you will be asked to select the quadrant of an arc or a circle. The point you select is used to determine which quadrant was picked and is then reset to match the exact halfway point of the quadrant. Tip 2304: Query an Object Perez’s third tip earns this month’s Top Tip prize. Query an Object displays information about an entity object that you select. Although most of the data presented is also available through the Properties dialog box, this function provides a few additional twists, such as checking for layers that can be plotted and for nested entity information from inserts and external references. Most important, from Harry’s perspective, is the fact that you can study and modify this routine to make all sorts of useful functions that Harry hopes you will share with him and the readers of Cadalyst. Thanks for the tips! Let’s hope they inspire others to send in their handiwork and get a cool Cadalyst T-shirt — perfect summer wear. Until next month, keep on programmin’. Cadalyst contributing editor Bill Kramer has been programming AutoCAD solutions, writing magazine articles and books, and teaching CAD/CAM/CAE customization for more than 20 years. Bill wrote the first article about AutoLISP in Cadalyst back in 1986. www.cadalyst.com cadalyst July 2008 Get the Code! 46 Download Harry’s July 2008 code at www.cadalyst.com/code. Downloads are free, provided as is without warranty or support. Tips included in “Hot Tip Harry” are tested with AutoCAD 2008, unless otherwise noted. Review tip submission guidelines at www.cadalyst.com/tips and then submit your AutoCAD tip to harry@cadalyst.com. Authors of all published tips will receive a Cadalyst T-shirt. The author of Harry’s Top Tip each month will win a $100 cash prize, and all published authors will be entered in the Hot Tip Harry 2008 Hot Code Contest random drawing for a chance to win a trip to Autodesk University 2008. http://www.cadalyst.com/code http://www.cadalyst.com/tips http://www.cadalyst.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Cadalyst - July 2008

Cadalyst - July 2008 Editor’s Window CAD Central FIRST Robotic Beasts Draw Students to Engineering Power! Speed! Action! — Mighty Mobile Workstations are Packed and Ready for Adventure! Vico Virtual Construction Suite 2008 AMD ATI FireGL V8600 and FireGL V8650 — 1-GB and 2-GB Graphics Cards Gaining Independence and Influence The Current State of MCAD Rewriting the Rules of PDM BIM Goes Residential CAD Cartoon Issue Indexes Pleasures of Customization

Cadalyst - July 2008

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