WorldCAD Access

Can You Help These Guys?

External Text Editor for AutoCAD John Goodwin writes, "For many years I have used a text editor in AutoCAD from Premiere Designs called MARED. It is a lisp based text editor which allows picking and windowing idividual non-multiline text entities and editing them in a free form editor. It has always been difficult to reconfigure Autocad to accomodate this text editor as sucessive versions of AutoCAD have been released. I have never understood why AutoCAD has never incorporated a good free form text editor in their software. "Anyway that being said, what is out there that you would recommend?" Electrical... Read more →

Sheetsets - huh!

I spent last week writing a new chapter on sheetsets for my book Using AutoCAD 2005: Advanced (Autodesk Press). When Autodesk allowed us journalists to write about the new AutoCAD release, I declared sheetsets to be the paperspace of AutoCAD 2005. My experience of last week proves the postulate true. You don't just apply the SheetSet command to your drawings; you need to spend time -- hours or maybe even days -- preparing all your firm's computers before you enter the NewSheetSet command for the first time. Here are some things I learned the hard way: * The sheet must... Read more →

AutoCAD 2005 Easter Egg

CAD Forum is a Web site in the Czech Republic with thousands of tips for AutoCAD users. One recent tip describes how to see the easter egg hidden in AutoCAD 2005: In the Layer Properties Manager dialog box, hold down the Shift+Ctrl keys, and then click on the "Inverse Filter" option. A dialog box appears with the names of the Autodesk development team in Matrix style (but in Autodesk blue instead of CRT green). Right-click to control the display. The site also describes how to access easter eggs in ADT, Revit, and other Autodesk software. Read more →

Speeding Up Reader 6

A painful aspects of Adobe Reader 6 is that it loads too slow. I use my computer to make a living, so it costs me when software is slower than I am. The Inquirer posted a fix, which can also be found at many other Web sites (just search for "EWH32.api"): 1. Find the plug_ins folder under Acrobat 6 2. Rename it plug_ins_disabled. 3. Create a new folder named plug_ins. 4. Copy the following files from plug_ins_disabled to plug_ins: EWH32.api (external window handler) printme.api (print documents) search.api (search documents) I did that, and found that Reader now loads in a... Read more →

TIPS: AutoCAD 2005

Q: By any chance do you know if Autodesk finally figured out that most people tend to use the Copy command a lot, and so make the command a MULTIPLE COPY (by default) using the ESCape key to get out of the command? - RW A: It has been. Took long enuf, eh? The Copy command now defaults to Multiple mode, and you press Esc to stop it. Scripts, macros, and programs don't need to be updated, because the command still accepts the M option. - - - Q:We are a company developer of AutoCAD. What's new in Autocad 2005... Read more →

TIPS - Where are AutoCAD Support Files?

Q: AutoCAD 2004 hides all sorts of files in screwy new places, leaving little "Where are my files?" help messages in the \Support folders, where they would have been in AutoCAD 2002. Specifically, I'm looking for the Targa files used for applying textures. Now, even with several hours of searching help and so on, I have yet to figure out where AutoCAD 2004 has put them. I was suspecting some compressed file somewhere, and a "wizard" required to add textures, but still no luck searching online either. Now I am wondering if the textures there are hard-coded in AutoCAD itself,... Read more →

TIPS: Macros

Q: Would you please tell me what macros are please? - student.ul.ie A: A macro is anything more than a single command. For example, in AutoCAD you zoom into a windowed area with the ZOOM command, followed by the W option. When you assign that to a menu item or a toolbar button, "zoom w" is called a macro. A macro can consist of just a command and an option, as shown above, or consist of many commands, their options, and other programming code (AutoCAD macros can include Diesel expressions and AutoLISP functions). Macros often include additional code to make... Read more →

TIP: AutoCAD LT - Batch Plotting

Q: We are currently using AutoCAD 2000i LT. I want to be able to "Batch Plot" to an Oce A0 plotter. I receive several hundred e-mailed drawing a week, and want to speed up the process of printing. - AW A: There are several ways of doing this. 1. Set up LT for spooled (or batched) plotting. Search LT's help file for "batch file plot spooling". 2. Use a third-party program that reads and prints .dwg files. You may want to check with Oce whether they can suggest such software. 3. Get full-priced AutoCAD, which as a separate application for... Read more →

Tips: AutoCAD - Complex Linetypes

Q: I am an AutoCAD user, but I have trouble to create a complex linetype. Is it possible to make a flow line that looks like ----->------>--------> something like what I'm showing? - M. K. K-R. A: Yes, it is possible. Here is the steps: 1. Open the acad.lin file in Notepad. 2. Scroll down to 3. Take some existing code, and make a copy of its, such as: *FENCELINE1,Fenceline circle ----0-----0----0-----0----0-----0-- A,.25,-.1,[CIRC1,ltypeshp.shx,x=-.1,s=.1],-.1,1 4. Figure out the code for the > symbol, and stick it in the copied code, as shown below: *ARROWFLOW,Flowline Direction ---->----->---->----->---->----->-- A,.25,-.1,[">",STANDARD,x=-.1,s=.1],-.1,1 You're going to have... Read more →

Tips - AutoCAD: Auxilliary Views

Q: Could you tell me if Intellicad and/or Autocad have a capability of creating an "auxiliary view" for lines that don't lie entirely "in" the WCS xyz planes? Auxiliary views are a basic thing I learned when I was a 12th grade senior in high school. I am now 63 and building an airplane and have a need to put my fuselage, tailwheel, and left main landing gear into a CAD program so I can analyse/measure changes in wing angle of attack with changes in length of main gear legs, re-orientation of tail wheel, and use of larger diameter tires.... Read more →