AlinOz Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Just thought this would be a good place to 'whack in' my input into the one place. Been around for a couple of Decades with AutoCAD and all self taught (trial and Error), so I have a few little things that may be left field that I've worked out over time. Here's my first bit of advice - If you think there may be a better way of doing something in AutoCAD, there probably is... The next bit is - Anyone who thinks they know everything about AutoCAD is fooling themselves - As a user for 20 years, trust me, there is always something new to learn!!! That's it for now - my Tips follow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlinOz Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Seeing that Tool Palettes seem to be the flavour (flavor for my US friends) of the month, here's one that can save a lot of setup time. Problem: I've just dragged in 20 blocks from a drawing in DesignCenter to my tool Palette. Perfect... But I want to automatically insert them on a particular layer, allow them to rotate or carry out any of the other 'attributes' available from the Tool Properties Dialogue. I've just got bored adjusting the first 5 and questioning is it really worth the hassle. Using the left mouse button just wants to insert the Block so I cant use the Shift or control keys to select multiple Tools for editing. Solution: Right Click on the first tool that you want to select - yes the pull-down appears, but don't worry about that for now. Hit the Shift or the CTRL Key as neccessary (I'll assume you all know the difference between the Shift and the CTRL keys and what they do during selections) and then using the Left hand button you can choose multiple Tools. When you have selected the Tools you want to apply the settings to, Right Mouse click on any of the selected Tools, choose Properties, make the appropriate adjustments in the dialogue an they're applied to all the chosen tools. Try it, it's a great time saver and ensures consistency between the insertions8) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlinOz Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Just been cruising the Tips and Tricks and it's great to see people getting excited about using the Selection Set Tools (C for Crossing, W for Window, L for Last, P for Previous, etc.). Back in my days (oh, I sound like my father), before the introduction of Implied Windowing if you didn't know these, you were up the proverbial creek without a paddle. Unfortunately, the new crop of up and comers are somewhat nobbled by this new fangled interface with them there icons and dialog Boxes. But, rejoice - Autodesk has managed to maintain a stack of Golden oldies hiding in the background because they couldn't work them into a Dialogue Box (and I think to keep us Old Farts happy too). Here's one you can't do in the new versions of AutoCAD - Edit multiple Attributes in one go. Here's how: use the -ATTEDIT command (yes, many of the 'old' command prompt based commands start with the '-' in front of the usual command). Its first prompt is "Edit Attributes one at a time" - tell it N and answer the following prompts according to your needs and whallah, you can change all your (for example) acronyms to their full description. So, there you go, you can be lazy and type in CPU in your attributes all over the place and expand it out to 'Central Processing Unit' in one go. OK, you guys got me - You can now use the Find Replace and tell it to do the Attributes too! Well, mine was just an example: the -Attedit does a LOT more than that... Have you ever tried to make a script or Lisp trying to use the new fangled version? Guess what it won't work the way you'd like. I have an Item numbering Lisp that automatically increments the Item No in Attributes and it can only work on the old command... It even allows you to change colours, angles, styles... for individual Attributes (think about the opportunity here)!!! Bonus Tip: Talk to us old farts (we still have a place in the AutoCAD society) and learn by 'playing' with it:oops: By the way, there's a number of other 'special' things you can do with multiple selected Tools - Delete them, Cut and paste them into another Palette, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tankman Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 Bonus Tip: Talk to us old farts (we still have a place in the AutoCAD society) and learn by 'playing' with it. Did you mean working with it? Like this old fart's Erector Set? Work is much easier when playing with AutoCAD! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlinOz Posted June 29, 2009 Author Share Posted June 29, 2009 And work can even be easier after you've 'played' with it and put a few commands together to make it work the way you want it to... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlinOz Posted June 29, 2009 Author Share Posted June 29, 2009 Oh WOW!!! That post just made me feel more at home - I just became a Senior Member... That's a better description for an old Fart... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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