Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

From the Vault

Originally published February 2003

Lazy Lisp

It's not just "Lots of Insipid, Stupid Parentheses" and you don't have to understand it to use it

(DEFUN C:UA()(COMMAND "UCS" "OB" PAUSE "PLAN" "")(PRINC))
Two characters went from this…	…to this. Interested?

LISP actually stands for 'List Processing". It is the native programming language for all AutoCAD versions, therefore, any Lisp routine you write will work in any AutoCAD. Here's an easy one that automates the Zoom Extents option:

(DEFUN C:ZE()(COMMAND "ZOOM" "E")(PRINC))
(	AutoCAD takes off if you hit the spacebar so the open paren puts it on hold.
DEFUN	DEfine FUNction. You're telling the Lisp routine what you're setting up.
C:	Whatever characters come after C: is what you type to 'run' the Lisp.
()(	The 'clutch'. Push it in (, change the gear ), let it out (. No options. Don't need to know.
Command	For all one line Lisps, you need to let AutoCAD know you are using Commands.
"fullcommand"	Don't put aliases here, you're not buying anything. Commands and options.
(PRINC)	Locking the door on the way out. Suppresses that 'nil' you see in some routines.
)	Resolve all the open parens.

Sample Lisp routines you all should be using…

There are several Lisp routines on my website, www.autocadtrainerguy.com. Go to the Michael's Kitchen link, then into the Junk Drawer.

The Lisp files in this section are zipped for ease of distribution from my website. The following procedures should answer most of the questions you have regarding what to do. These steps presume you have AutoCAD 2002 installed in the default location.

Note: Those of you only interested in the numbering routines of Objno, Wsnum and Prefix, there is a separate .zip file called Numbers.zip containing those files only.

Once you have downloaded the zip files, here's what you will need to do:

1. Copy the files into the
   C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 2002\Support folder.
2. Unzip the file which contains the Lisp routines.
3. Go into AutoCAD and go to Tools/Load Application.
4. Click on the little suitcase icon at the bottom to open the Startup Suite dialog.
5. Click Add, then navigate to the
   …\Support folder where the .lsp files are located.
6. Select the files from Step 2 (you can select each of them while you're in the dialog if you hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard).

7. After you have selected them, click the Add button to return to the Startup Suite dialog where you will see them listed.
8. Click Close, then Close out of the Load Application dialog.

Some functional routines from CAMP.lsp
IF	This routine turns off the image frame of an inserted raster image.
II	This routine turns on the image frame of an inserted raster image.
TV	Rather than choosing Window/Tile Vertically, use this routine to tile the open drawings vertically.
DE	Use this to launch the Dist command with the Endpoint osnap for each pick.
ZE	Automates the Zoom/Extents routine.
UA	This routine will bring the selected line to horizontal in the drawing window along with the rest of the drawing. Works great when you want to work in a room at an odd angle but bring it square so you don't have to keep turning your head. You can then work on the drawing with Ortho on, too.
UW	This one puts the UCS back to World and takes the drawing with it.

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