Using LISP without VLA

I have a setup program at the moment that works well with adding support path directories to AutoCAD in full versions of AutoCAD.

There is a 3rd party application called CADSTA that makes AutoCAD Lt be able to run lisp commands but nothing with VLA

I am wondering if it is possible to run a purely lisp driven routine without VLA to get the same thing done?

example code of what I currently use but doesn't work with CADSTA for AutoCAD LT

(defun c:SMC-setup (/ FilePrefs addEnviron EnvironBase acadEnviron)
 (setq  FilePrefs (vla-get-files
     (vla-get-preferences (vlax-get-acad-object))
   )
 )
 (setq acadEnviron (vla-get-supportpath FilePrefs))
 (setq
   EnvironBase  "C:\\Program Files\\"
 )
 (setq  addEnviron
 '("Shadow Multi Cast" "Shadow Multi Cast\\Data"   );;;add any others you want to this list
 )
 (if (not (vl-string-search
     (strcat EnvironBase (car addEnviron))
     acadEnviron
   );;;make sure we haven't already done this
     )
   (progn
     (mapcar
 '(lambda (x)
   (setq acadEnviron (strcat acadEnviron ";" EnvironBase x))
 )
 addEnviron
     )
     (vla-put-supportpath FilePrefs acadEnviron)
     (princ "\n....Shadow Multi Cast Installed")
   );progn
   (princ
     "\n....Shadow Multi Cast already Installed...nothing done."
   )
 );if
 (princ)
)

(setenv "ACAD" ... )

Example: Support File Search Path Functions

thanks for that, working well

During past years I saw many such LT enablers rising, just to be downed soon by Autodesk. From what it seems all of those use accesses that weren't acceptable under EULA terms. In some cases the developers of those tools were forced to uncover their users database for Autodesk to go against them, too (even just by cease-and-desist notifications).

You may want to take this into consideration when decide to rely on an LT enabler, more so invest in it.

Why not just jump ship entirely to BricsCAD for a total cost of under $1,000US for the platinum version. No special addons required to run LISP with VLA, BRX, ARC, DLL & more extensions, plus they have lisp functions and VLA functions that ACAD doesn't have.

Yeah I actually use full version of AutoCAD but a company I know has AutoCAD LT on 3 of their machines and want to be able to use lisp. So it's not really an issue for me, just for them.

And a lot of people want a lot of things they can't afford.....

Seriously, if it's a company......tell them to do it the right way before ending up in a court room. BricsCAD for under 1000$? C'mon...

That's like getting a month of rent for 1$ and wanting free power hehehhhh, No skin off my back but you'd probably get some points for saying "Hey look if you want this.....and you don't want to pay autodesk prices....this is your best option"....otherwise like Msasu state you run the risk of being 90% complete with a project and then suddenly the company not existing or being tied up in court....either way doesn't smell good for your payout.

My two cents just be careful but of course it's up to you, sorry if this was rude

No not rude at all. I agree with you. I think they make enough money to cover the costs of getting the proper software. But at the end of the day, it's up to them if they want to take the risk. It's a shame though that LT doesn't have lisp functionality without the need for the 3D component.

I will look into that BricsCAD and see what its all about and tell them if its worth investing in.

Yes, and I can hear the response from them now....(context inspired best guesses of course though!)

"Well we bought LT in order to SAVE money"

"Which it does, compared to the same functionality in autocad- however, the REASON LT is LT and LT is not AutoCAD full is the omission of LISP, among other things, so.....we can cheat the system and you all may get a call from autodesk........"

"and we can be next on this list........or, for what would be the equivalent cost of one WEEK of pay for any manager we could have it all, a full (but alternate) version of CAD, that uses LISP freely and legally......"

That's how i'd personally handle it , but just from what I've read in this thread the context may be far different than the one I've described. I'd imagine that any un-willingness to make such a switch would come from either the company actually not having as much money as they appear to, or from the person making the decision not knowing about bricsCAD. I've never used it myself....been spoiled with the latest versions of autoCAD most of the time.....however and frankly, if it's good enough for the people on THIS forum in particular (along with other autolisp forums but separate from regular drafting forums) then BRICScad is good enough for me. Or at least...should the need arise

anyways just hoping to help.

I run both ACAD and BricsCAD, mainly because I use Architectural Desktop in ACAD, and do civil work in BricsCAD. If I could dump ACAD I would in a heartbeat (still using 2004), have to many house plans on file to do away with it. BricsCAD has come a long way in a few years, they seem like a young ambitious group of people that are very dedicated to their cause and a very willing to resolve any issues that may arise. Much more customer/user oriented than stockholder oriented ACAD.

I have downloaded a trial version of BricsCAD. I notice it can't read VLX file types and every time I run a lisp command, the appload screen keeps popping up throughout the command. Any ideas on what is causing this?

Post code only way to know whats going on.

BricsCAD cannot read ACAD COMPILED lisp files, they have their own compiler, not shipped with the program but free download on their site.

The BricsCAD compiler runs independent of the CAD program (stand alone) which allows a lot of flexibility, you can create batch programs to automatically launch the compiler and run. The documentation sent with the compiler is not 100% accurate it took me a while to figure it out. I could post the initialization code with the line switches for automatic operation if anyone is interested.