Here is a macro combined with a couple of scripts that I wrote this week. What it does is import data from another drawing (containing street names in this case) with a Map 3D query based on a rectangular area.

The Macro:

^C^Cscript;P:/GIS/XREF-CITY-MAP.scr;(alert "Pick two diagonal points to define the import area.");(setq firstp (getpoint "Pick first point: "));\(setq secondp (getpoint "Pick second point: "));\script;P:/GIS/IMPORT-STREETNAMES.scr;

I’ll break it down for you. Read more »

Here is a site that helps you learn AutoLISP in plain English. You will be guided slowly to create your own AutoLISP program! Check it out…

I just read an excellent tutorial by David Watson at CADTutor.net. David writes, “AutoCAD can be used to create a simple “walk through” of any 3D model. For example, if you have designed a new pedestrianisation scheme for a town centre, you could use AutoCAD to give a slide presentation to show how the scheme would look from a pedestrian eye view as the person moved through the space. This is an extremely useful technique for presenting schemes to clients or the general public who may not necessarily have a good understanding of plans.” Read more »

There may be times when you would want to turn on/off the dialog box when inserting an attributed block into your drawings. For example, if you are creating a script or macro that inserts an attributed block you might want to set ATTDIA to 0 (zero) at the beginning so that the it will prompt for attributes on the command line only. Read more »

Murph has written an excellent post on creating contours from shape files with elevations. I have been using this method for a while now. In fact I have written scripts and macros to automate importation of contour data into my drawings. Read more »

Nothing makes writing scripts more enjoyable than ScriptPro, a free program from Autodesk (download it…). This small program allows you to run a script on multiple drawings at once. Here is how to use it… Read more »

Ellen Finkelstein has written a simple procedure for writing scripts in AutoCAD. As I’ve said again and again on this blog, scripts are a huge time saver! It is worth the time to learn how to write them.

Tomorrow I will show you how to use scripts with Autodesk’s free ScriptPro software.

A while back, I received some survey data in the form of a comma-delimited text file containing rows of Northings, Eastings, & elevations. I needed to take that information and place blocks at every location in my drawing. At the time I only had plain AutoCAD (I wasn’t using Civil 3D yet). Being lazy, I wasn’t about to sit there and type the coordinates by hand. So I wrote a script! Here is how I did it. Read more »

For those of you who are new to writing scripts in AutoCAD, I have included a simple script as an example to show you how it works. Read more »

One of my favorite things about using AutoCAD is the ability to write and run scripts to help me do repetitive tasks quickly. A script is a series of commands (just like you type into the command line) that you can save in a text file and run on any drawing whenever you need it. Since it is saved in a text file, you can easily share it with colleagues who might need to use it. I have a library of scripts for repetitive tasks we do at work on a regular basis. Here is how to get started writing a script. Read more »

Not being a programmer I am not going to get into the technical details of constructing AutoLISP code, but I am going to share with you 5 simple AutoLISP codes to help you make selection-sets. Read more »