tailoring
autocad

the customizing e-book by ralph grabowski

 

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Table of Contents
-Tailoring AutoCAD

About the Author
-
Ralph Grabowski


Recent Updates

20 December
Web page updated with sample pages and detailed table of contents.

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17 December
Tailoring AutoCAD eBook available.

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27 November
Tailoring AutoCAD eBook announced.

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Sample Pages

Click thumbnail for full-size view.

Chapter 1

 

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 Chapter 2

 

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Chapter 3

 

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Chapter 4

 

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Chapter 5

 

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Chapter 6

 

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Chapter 7

 

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Chapter 8

 

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Chapter 9

 

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Chapter 10

 

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Chapter 11

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tailoring AutoCAD is the  e-book by Ralph Grabowski for those wishing to customize AutoCAD Release 13 through 2002. The e-book can be purchased in PDF format. 

This e-book is based on the popular Tailoring AutoCAD series, originally published in AutoCAD World magazine, and then updated for use on the www.upfrontezine.com Web site.

The series has been updated for AutoCAD 2000/i/2 and expanded with additional material:

  • Introduction to customizing.
  • Changing the AutoCAD environment.
  • Aliases, .pgp file, and keyboard shortcuts.
  • Toolbar modification and macros.
  • Menu customization and macros.
  • Custom linetypes.
  • Custom hatch patterns.
  • Custom shapes/fonts.
  • Writing script files.
  • Using DIESEL expressions.
  • Introduction to AutoLISP programming.

The book features

  • Dozens of tips.
  • Illustrations in full color (CD and email editions).
  • Formatted for printing on standard 8.5x11 paper.
  • Margins designed for three-hole punching. 

ordering the book

To order the 158-page Tailoring AutoCAD e-book:

  • Web Download Price: Sent to you by email in Acrobat PDF format: US$15.80 (3.85MB download). 
  • On CD in Acrobat PDF format: US$20.80 (incl. shipping).
  • Add US$25 for CD delivery by FedEx.

PayPal
You may make payment in US$, Euro, Yen, British pounds, CDN$, and other currencies (converted to US$).

Check or Money Order

  • US funds drawn on a bank with its address in the USA.
  • Canadian funds drawn on a bank in Canada (incl. GST).
  • British funds drawn on a bank in Great Britain.

By Mail
You may mail payment to:

      "Tailoring AutoCAD"
      upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd.
      34486 Donlyn Avenue
      Abbotsford BC
      V2S 4W7     Canada


feedback

I welcome your feedback for correcting and improving the text. Send your email to grabowski@telus.net  

table of contents

1: Introduction  to Customization

The Many Ways of Customization, Which Customization?, Shortcut Tips

2: Customizing the Environment

Starting AutoCAD, Using Command-line Switches, /b Switch, /c Switch, /nologo Switch, /p Switch, /r Switch, /s Switch, /t Switch, /v Switch. Changing Window and Layout Elements, Colors, UCS Icon , Command Line Font, Keyboard Shortcuts, Toolbars and Command Line, Menus and Tablet. Setting and Restoring Profiles, Support File Paths, Search Path Options, Support File & Working Support File Search Paths, Device Driver File Search Path, Project Files Search Path, Menu, Help, and Miscellaneous File Name, Text Editor, Dictionary, and Font File Names, Print File, Spooler, and Prolog Section Names, Printer and Plot Support Files,Search Path for ObjectARX Applications , Automatic Save File Location, Data Sources Location, Drawing Template File Location, Log File Location, Temporary Drawing File Location, Temporary External Reference File Location, Texture Maps Search Path. Drafting and Selection Preferences, AutoSnap Settings, Grips Settings.

3: Aliases, PGP, and Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut Keys, Defining Shortcut Keys. The .pgp File: Aliases, Alias Format, Alias Rules, Aliases Defined by Autodesk, Creating a New Alias.

4: Toolbar Macros

Customizing Toolbars, Rearranging Toolbars, Dragging Toolbars, Toggling Toolbar.  Changing Toolbar Buttons, Changing Button Size, Drawing Icons, Writing Toolbar Macros, Simple Macros , Advanced Macros, Toolbar Macros Are No Panacea. Customizing the Toolbar — R11, R12, LT R1 and R2, Looking Inside a Toolbar Macro, Title Bar, AutoCAD LT Command, Image - Character , Next & Previous, Delete, Cancel, & OK, Customizing the INI File, Additional Toolbar Definitions, Dialog Box or Text Editor?, LT R1 & 2’s SetEnv Command, Customizing Macros Directly, Editing the Macro Directly, Multiple Command Toolbar Macros, Conserving with Aliases.

5: Menu Macros

Loading (and Unloading) Menu Files, Loading Menu Groups, Loading Menu Bar Items, Menu File Type. My First Menu, A Single-Command Menu, Section Labels, Menu Metacharacters, Shortcut Menu Aliase. My Second Menu, Loading .mnu a Second Time, Adding More Menu Macros, Adding Options to Commands, Using Coordinates in Macros, Making Macros “Official”, Cancelling a Previous Command: ^C, Adding Keyboard Shortcuts: &, Separating Macros Visually: -- , Adding Submenus: ->, Right-Justified Text: \t , Grayed-out Item: ~ , Adding a Checkmark: !., Waiting for User Input: \ , Providing Input to the User: ^H, Writing Really Long Macros: +, Repeating a Command.  Toolbars, Accelerator Keys, Image Tiles, Tablet Overlays, and the Screen Menu, Toolbar Customization, Custom Shortcut Keys, Image Tiles, Tablet Menus, Screen Menu,

6: Linetypes

Commands Affecting Linetypes, System Variables that Affect Linetypes, The Special Case of Polylines. Customizing Linetypes, Testing the New Linetype, Creating Linetypes with a Text Editor, The Linetype Format, Line1: Header, Line 2: Data. Complex (2D) Linetypes, Text, Text Style, Text Scale Factor, Text Rotation Angle, Text Orientation, Text Offset Distance, Embedding a Shape, 3D Linetypes?. A Parallel Linetype?, Alternatives to the Parallel Linetype.

7: Hatch Patterns

Where Do Hatch Patterns Come From? Associative and Non-associatve Patterns.  Creating Custom Hatch Patterns, Hatch Command,  BHatch Command, Understanding the acad.pat File, Comment and Header Lines, The Hatch Data, Tips on Creating Pattern Codes, Adding Custom Patterns to the Palette, Stage 1: Creating a Slide from a Hatch Pattern, Stage 2: Updating the acad.slb File.

8: Shapes & Fonts

About Shape Files, The Shape File Format, Header Fields, Definition Lines, Vector Codes, Instruction Codes, 0/000: End of Shape, 1/001: Draw Mode, 2/002: Move Mode, 3/003: Reduced Scale, 4/004: Enlarged Scale, 5/005: Save (Push), 6/006: Recall (Pop), 7/007: Subshape, 8/008: X,y Distance, 9/009: X,y Distances, 10/00A: Octant Arc, 11/ 00B: Fractional Arc, 12/00C: Bulge Arc, 13/00D: Polyarc, 14/00E: Flag Vertical Text Flag,

9: Writing Script Files

What are Scripts? Script Files, Drawbacks to Scripts, Strictly Command-Line Oriented, Script Commands and Modifiers, Script, RScript, Resume, Delay, Special Characters, (space) ;  (semicolon), ' (apostrophe), * (asterisk), Backspace, Esc.

10: Diesel Expressions

The History of Diesel, What Diesel Does, Brief Listing of Diesel Functions, Math Functions, Logical Functions, Conversion Functions, String Functions, System Functions, Jumping Into Diesel, Diesel Error Messages, $?, $(func)??, $(func,??), $(++), Debugging Diesel , Diesel Programming Tips, Diesel in Menus, $M=, $(getvar,dimaso), Reusing Toggle Code, Diesel in AutoLISP, Via the setvar Function, Concatenate Two Diesel Strings, Via the MenuCmd Function.

11: AutoLISP Programming

The History of AutoLISP, The AutoLISP Programming Language, Simple AutoLISP: Adding Two Numbers, AutoLISP in Commands, Remembering the Result: SetQ, AutoLISP Functions, Math Functions, Geometric Functions, Conditional Functions, String and Conversion Functions, External Command Functions, Accessing System Variables, GetXXX Functions, Selection Set Functions, Object Manipulation Functions, Advanced AutoLISP Functions, Writing a Simple AutoLISP Program, Why Write a Program? The Id Command, The Plan of Attack, Obtaining the Coordinates, Placing the Text, Putting Them Together, An Alternative to LISP Programming, Writing a Simple AutoLISP Program, Cont’d, Sprucing Up the Code, Conquering Feature Bloat, Naming the Program, Saving the Program, Automatically Loading the Program, Using Car and Cdr, Saving Data to a File, The Three Steps, Open the File, Write Data to the File, Close the File, Putting It Together,  Layers,  Text Style, Tips in Using AutoLISP, Use an ASCII Text Editor,  Loading LSP Code into AutoCAD, Toggling System Variables, Be Neat and Tidy, Suppress That nil, Read-Write-Append File, Quotation Marks as Quotation Marks, Keep Variables to Six Characters, Tabs and Quotation Marks

 no appendices


about the author

Ralph Grabowski has authored and co-authored 50+ books on CAD management, ArchiCAD, AutoCAD, Generic CADD, IntelliCAD, MicroStation, TurboCAD, VDraft, Visio, HTML, and VRML. He is the editor of two e-newsletters, upFront.eZine and IMAGINiT.eZine.

Mr Grabowski received his B.A.Sc ('80) degree in civil engineering from the University of British Columbia. He currently works and lives in the beautiful Central Fraser Valley region of British Columbia, Canada.

You can visit his Web site at www.upfrontezine.com.


opyright 2002 by upFront.eZine Publishing, Ltd. All rights reserved worldwide.