External and internal walls question

As you may know I am not a trained cad person, so forgive me if this question is stupid lol

When you guys/ladys draw 2D walls do you draw everyline or is there a special linetype you can load and just draw with ie exteral bricks/blocks and internal walls as a linetype ? and once the lines are drawn you can insert windows doors into it etc or would you have to use a lisp ?

using architectural desktop (ADT) you can do this

but in plan autocad you may have to draw each line (which does have its benefits)

It's possible that with a custom lisp routine you could do it but as stated previously plain AutoCAD does not have the capability. Develop your custom linetypes and use these with a multiline lisp routine and you should be good to go.

As far as inserting windows and doors with automatic line breaks again that is not something plain AutoCAD can do. Lee Mac recently developed a lisp routine that can insert a block into a line (and break it too) but I don't think it is set up to work with multiple lines.

If you need all these capabilities then switch software or pay someone like Lee to develop the custom lisp routines for you.

Thanks guys for your help, looks like I might have to get the boss to pay out somemoney

Thanks guys for your help, looks like I might have to get the boss to pay out some money

You could always talk to Lee Mac and see if he thinks it can be done and what he might charge you if it could. It might be less expensive in the long run compared to buying a whole new piece of software. Think too of the learning curve. Depends on what the long terms need of your company are. Good luck.

Been reading up on custom linetypes when did express tool arrive in autocad can not find it in 2008 ?

Express Tools has been around for quite a while. Originally it was shipped on separate CD's.

If you cannot find it perhaps that is because it was not loaded. The lisp routines are not automatically loaded upon installing the program. The user has to check off a specific box during the install process. If you have the DVD handy Express Tools can still be installed.

found this did what it said and its installed just wasnt turned on http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2010/ENU/AutoCAD%202010%20User%20Documentation/index.html?url=WSfacf1429558a55def27e5f106b5723eec-79d6.htm,topicNumber=d0e2295

Yep that happens too. Now check out the Express Tools FAQ. Some commands are command line only.

have a look at this post and the image I posted

http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showthread.php?54832-What-is-the-best-way-to-do-2x4-s-layout

Its all done with plane jane autocad but does have a lisp suite to automate it. It was a commercial product that I was involved with.

I have always just drawn the lines and then off set for various wall types, thickness etc.

Have done this for a while now and it's quite fast.

Cheers Dodge

Hey Dodge good to see another aussie

re offset lines check out some of the multi line lisps that have been posted here draw 4 lines at once and filleted.