All Activity
- Past hour
-
I put in to Claude Opus 5. Attached is the result. It took a couple of minutes or so, with one revision. LTCOUNT_1.lsp
- Today
-
How can I make the following program support Chinese input?
SLW210 replied to xcn's topic in AutoCAD 2D Drafting, Object Properties & Interface
That's what I was also attempting, though I only have AutoCAD 2000i on my home computer for now. I'll try anther shot at it on the home computer when I get time. -
Free Browser-Based STEP/STP Viewer for Quick CAD Inspection
SLW210 replied to cadprops's topic in AutoCAD 3D Modelling & Rendering
I played with it for a few minutes, it needs better handling for .3mf files for me to have much use for it. It only opened a few and failed to open several, all can open with my Bambu Labs Slicer. The 10 MB limit is fairly low for 3D files, but for FREE, not too bad. -
VedaCAD - Technical Support, Updates & Community VCIDs
VicoWang replied to VicoWang's topic in AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL
Hi everyone, Taking a step back and reflecting on the feedback I've received from veteran developers here over the past few weeks, I realized something: in my excitement to share VedaCAD, I’ve used a lot of heavy SaaS buzzwords like "Zero-Trust architecture," "MDM," and "Cloud Orchestration." Sometimes, tech jargon can make a tool sound overly mysterious or complex. I want to take the mask off for a moment. At the end of the day, what exactly is VedaCAD under the hood? It is simply a deployment manager for your routines (.lsp, .fas, .vlx, .arx, .dll) and environment standards (.dwt, .ctb, .shx, etc.). There is no hidden black magic here. We don't change how AutoCAD draws lines, and we don't encrypt or modify your source code. Instead of forcing CAD Managers to manually email ZIP files, edit acad.pgp aliases across 50 computers, or fight with the fragile APPLOAD Startup Suite, I just used pure AutoLISP/ActiveX to streamline the delivery physics: You wrap your asset into a 6-character VCID (local file publish VCID). The client fetches the exact physical file and drops it into an isolated local sandbox folder on the user's C: drive. For scripts, it creates a demand-loading proxy in memory so CAD boots up instantly at 0% memory overhead. For standards (like fonts and plot styles), it natively injects the Support Paths directly into the CAD preferences. Need to push an update but the .DLL is locked by Windows? The background engine simply renames the running file to .bak and slides the new version in silently. VedaCAD doesn't aim to revolutionize what you draw. It just brings modern software package management to how your CAD tools are delivered. Simple, clean, and transparent. Just wanted to put that out there for anyone wondering what the engine actually does! -
multiple file selection dialog box using lisp & powershell
SLW210 replied to Paul Li's topic in AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL
I'll try to have a look at home tonight, I was busy and tired this weekend. -
Why does a 3D solid sometimes disappear when I rotate the view?
indiancad posted a topic in AutoCAD 3D Modelling & Rendering
Have you ever rotated a 3D model and suddenly part of the solid seems to disappear? In many cases, the geometry is fine and the issue is related to the visual style, clipping, or view direction. When this happens, I first switch to Shaded with Edges and use 3DORBIT to inspect the model from different angles. I also check whether a clipping plane or unusual camera/view setting is affecting the display. It’s easy to think the solid is damaged when it’s actually just a viewing issue. Have you run into this before? What was causing it in your case? -
[Part 1/6] The CAD Manager's Playbook: How to Elegantly Manage 100+ Custom Plugins
VicoWang replied to VicoWang's topic in CAD Management
Hi Steven, That is definitely a very disciplined on-premise setup! Putting the explicit network path directly into the load call (e.g., (load "Z:/CAD_Standards/...")) is certainly much cleaner than relying on AutoCAD's native search paths to guess where a file lives. For a single office where everyone is hardwired to a local Gigabit LAN running plain-text LISP routines, it has been a lightweight way to maintain a central file. Where that setup typically runs into real-world friction usually comes down to two specific scenarios: 1. Laptops, Job Sites & VPN Latency: If an engineer opens their laptop at home or on a job site without connecting to the company VPN first, Z:\ doesn't exist. AutoCAD will noticeably hang trying to resolve that dead network path before throwing an error. Even over VPN, querying scripts across Windows SMB introduces noticeable command hesitation. 2. Windows SMB File Locks & Concurrent Read Collisions: Overwriting a shared .lsp on the fly sounds seamless, but over Windows SMB networks it frequently collides with OS-level OpLocks (Opportunistic Locking) and lingering file leases, resulting in "Sharing Violation: File is in use" errors. Even worse is the race condition: if an administrator saves a script while a drafter's on-demand macro triggers a read, AutoCAD can ingest a partially written file, throwing a fatal "; error: malformed list on input" and breaking their active command. And the moment a firm introduces compiled binaries (.fas, .vlx, .arx, .dll), Windows places a hard shared read-lock on the file the second anyone opens CAD—making live server updates during work hours completely impossible without forcing everyone to exit. In Part 2 of this series, I dive a bit deeper into how we use a local sandbox cache model to tackle these exact remote work and file-locking bottlenecks: For a strictly in-house, LAN-only team with plain LISPs, keeping it simple the way you do works if everyone is in the building. We're primarily addressing the distributed teams and compiled environments where those network drops, SMB conflicts, and file locks become daily headaches. At the end of the day, VedaCAD doesn't aim to revolutionize drawing functions or replace your team's beloved scripts—it's simply a deployment manager for your routines (.lsp, .fas, .vlx, .arx, .dll) and environment standards (.dwt, .ctb, .shx) to modernize delivery across changing fleets. Appreciate you chiming in with your team's workflow, Steven! And you're always welcome to test VedaCAD whenever you have time—I'd love to get your thoughts. -
Steven P started following [Part 1/6] The CAD Manager's Playbook: How to Elegantly Manage 100+ Custom Plugins
-
[Part 1/6] The CAD Manager's Playbook: How to Elegantly Manage 100+ Custom Plugins
Steven P replied to VicoWang's topic in CAD Management
We just add the file path to the 'load' string - the files being saved on the company drive and not on a support path. We all access to the same file, not a local copy, any updates are applied to all when the file is saved. 1 line in the startup menu to load the on-demand LISP / index. Time honoured maybe but it works well and is well understood by the CAD teams. -
Dadgad started following Do you check the drawing units before starting work on a DWG?
-
Do you check the drawing units before starting work on a DWG?
Dadgad replied to indiancad's topic in AutoCAD Drawing Management & Output
Agreed, the -DWGUNITS command is quite comprehensive, and particularly when receiving drawings from a non-team member. When I want to use it, I expand my commandline history to display 5 or 6 lines, in one go, all the better to display the numerous options. -
Do you check the drawing units before starting work on a DWG?
BIGAL replied to indiancad's topic in AutoCAD Drawing Management & Output
We basically used our DWT so would insert an external dwg then way more than units were correct. The only disclaimer is that most of our dwg's started off with "Model" only no layouts. Our design process created those. -
[Part 1/6] The CAD Manager's Playbook: How to Elegantly Manage 100+ Custom Plugins
VicoWang replied to VicoWang's topic in CAD Management
Haha, oh no, BIGAL—I see where the confusion came from! Let me completely clear that up: A VCID is NOT a command alias, and it is definitely NOT a shortcut you type to draw! Nobody is typing arbitrary 6-character codes like "123, 456" to draw walls or doors. I would hate that software too! Here is how the architecture actually works: VCID is just an Asset Identifier: It is purely a package tracking code used once to fetch and sandbox the file (or pushed silently by the CAD Manager from the cloud). Instant, Lossless Alias Customization: Once on the machine, the draftsperson draws using their normal human aliases (e.g., W for wall, D for door). But here is the real game-changer: VedaCAD allows users and CAD managers to reassign any custom alias on the fly via our GUI, without ever editing acad.pgp, without writing wrapper LISP routines (defun c:...), and without modifying a single line of third-party source code. And regarding that conditional loading pattern you shared: (if (not ahbutts) (load "Multi radio buttons")) Using (if (not <func>) (load ...)) as a local load-guard has been a time-honored AutoLISP idiom since the 1990s. But as we touched upon in our previous discussion regarding Install.lspand AUTOLOAD, that pattern hits severe architectural limits in an enterprise environment: Search Path Fragility: (load "filename") strictly assumes the file is already sitting somewhere in AutoCAD’s native Support File Search Path. Furthermore, without a fallback argument, if the path breaks or an engineer takes a laptop to a disconnected job site, that one-liner crashes with a fatal ; error: LOAD failed. Zero Path Dependency in VedaCAD: VedaCAD completely bypasses AutoCAD's Support Paths. We engineered an independent, version-controlled Mapping Database. It binds custom aliases directly to the physical binaries vaulted inside an isolated local sandbox. The command executes natively without touching, polluting, or relying on AutoCAD's fragile support search paths at all. This series is specifically focused on solving deployment and governance nightmares for CAD Managers running enterprise fleets across dozens of workstations—where relying on manual path configurations and individual workstation edits simply doesn't scale. Hopefully that clears up the distinction between our backend mapping database and the actual drafting aliases! --- Just thinking about this a bit more, it really highlights how diverse everyone's CAD setup is. For folks who have spent decades fine-tuning their personal POP menus and local routines until it's second nature—honestly, don't fix what isn't broken! Everyone’s workflow is unique. On that note, I also wanted to give a quick shoutout to developers like @Paul Li , who recently took the time to actually test VedaCAD against his own real-world, complex application setups and sent over some amazingly detailed, hands-on feedback. It’s that kind of practical testing in the trenches that helps bridge the gap between traditional CAD habits and modern deployment. Really appreciate folks taking the time to kick the tires out in the wild! -
I am using V25 had properties window open, ran code by @mhupp and it worked properties window displays and objects are highlited.
-
J2lstaples, I have been using AI a bit lately, When I code a bigger project even small ones I write numerous defuns the reason being they solve one task but a program may need 5 task defuns. Also I can test that defun and make sure its working correctly rather having one great big program and trying to find where it is not working. But sometimes the AI just does not work for a defun task so have to go back to searching old fashioned way. You can use AI but you have to know how to describe a task, knowing who some lisp functions like SSget work with filters. Not sure what AI would think of this, I will do old fashioned way. "Drag line over multiple parallel p/Lines get two out side linework, offset both outward further make a box, now ssget text on a layer within that box. Also get how many lines, Then sort and count the text multiplied by the number of lines and put results in a table." Yes it is a current post request, not here at Cadtutor. I am interested in what AI can do and how long it takes to make something that works.
-
[Part 1/6] The CAD Manager's Playbook: How to Elegantly Manage 100+ Custom Plugins
BIGAL replied to VicoWang's topic in CAD Management
It only takes one line to check is a program already loaded if not then demand losd. if (not ahbutts)(load "Multi radio buttons")) In the majority of programs to draw objects walls doors windows etc plus much much more are all demandloaded from a POP menu. It really comse down to how your going to present your programs to an end user, POP, Ribbon and toolbars can be used, yes your token method can be used also. I know of some software that pushed hard remember the option number to run a program, so a discussion would be use 123 pick objects then 456 and finish with 789. I had no idea what they were talking about. -
Paul Li started following AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL , Work In Progress , Showcase and 5 others
-
Do you check the drawing units before starting work on a DWG?
Paul Li replied to indiancad's topic in AutoCAD Drawing Management & Output
Though I would quite often check because I would need to change the PRECISION or make sure the INSUNITS are correctly set by using the UNITS command, I would seldom check the actual drawing units by using the -DWGUNITS command. I would say it's most important to make sure the current units are recognized by AutoCAD as mm or inches and etc than if it's Architectural/Engineering/Decimal. - Yesterday
-
How can I make the following program support Chinese input?
xcn replied to xcn's topic in AutoCAD 2D Drafting, Object Properties & Interface
-
Free Browser-Based STEP/STP Viewer for Quick CAD Inspection
cadprops replied to cadprops's topic in AutoCAD 3D Modelling & Rendering
Thanks again for the feedback! We’ve already updated the section view so the cut faces are now properly closed, which should make the result much more intuitive. If you find CADProps useful, we’d really appreciate it if you could share it with colleagues or others who might benefit from it. And of course, any further feedback is always welcome! -
Free Browser-Based STEP/STP Viewer for Quick CAD Inspection
cadprops replied to cadprops's topic in AutoCAD 3D Modelling & Rendering
Yes, it’s currently completely free to use. If you think it could be useful to the CADTutor community, we’d really appreciate it if you could share it with other members or include it in any relevant CAD resources/tools section. We’re also happy to keep improving it based on feedback from the community. - Last week
-
multiple file selection dialog box using lisp & powershell
GLAVCVS replied to Paul Li's topic in AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL
I am curious to understand what the problem is. Right now, I am working 400 km away from home and only have access to an old PC running Windows 10 and AutoCAD 2002. I must say that this code actually works for me. I will try testing it soon on a more recent version of AutoCAD, and then perhaps I’ll add a further comment. -
multiple file selection dialog box using lisp & powershell
Paul Li replied to Paul Li's topic in AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL
@GLAVCVSI just tried commenting out that line as you recommended but still no joy. The freezing up now also occurs on the Win 11 OS. Even after I unfreeze the Select Files window, I still cannot Cancel out but I must make a file selection to dismiss the window. The behavior just seems very unstable with a persistent powershell setup at least on the systems I tested at my end. But thanks for your feedback & code revisions. Perhaps others here can use this faster alternative if it's stable running the code this way on their systems. -
multiple file selection dialog box using lisp & powershell
GLAVCVS replied to Paul Li's topic in AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL
The last line of code (pl:getfiledps "Hola" "c:\\" "dwg" 1) is for testing purposes and should not be loaded at startup. Comment it out, save the changes, and open a new drawing to reload the code. Once the file has loaded, you can execute (pl:getfiledps "Hola" "c:\\" "dwg" 1). The reason for this is that PowerShell runs asynchronously, and `pl:getfiledps` might execute before the PowerShell instance is available. -
multiple file selection dialog box using lisp & powershell
Paul Li replied to Paul Li's topic in AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL
@GLAVCVS Thanks for updating the code. Unfortunately, it still freezes up on me with AutoCAD on Win 10. I'll have to use the method to make either Edge on one computer or Outlook on another computer current to unfreeze the Select Files window. But on both Win 10 & Win 11, I'll encounter another problem. After loading the code on the current dwg and then I open another dwg and run the code there I would encounter problems. The error would read: Command: (pl:getfiledps "Hola" "c:\\" "dwg" 1) ("__ERROR__ The property 'FileName' cannot be found on this object. Verify that the property exists and can be set.") -
multiple file selection dialog box using lisp & powershell
GLAVCVS replied to Paul Li's topic in AutoLISP, Visual LISP & DCL
I've edited the code again, and it seems to have worked this time. -
Version 1.1
4 downloads
A deployment manager for your routines (.lsp, .fas, .vlx, .arx, .dll) and environment standards (.dwt, .ctb, .shx .etc). Note: To install via VCID, you need to install VedaCAD in advance and log in to a free account (or PRO account). Tips: Welcome developers to publish their plugins on VedaCAD and obtain their plugin's VCID for plugin sharing (even free accounts can publish). The following methods can be used to test the installation and deployment of the VedaCAD plugin via the VCID test: [Quick Annotator] VCID: 7JAU18 @ VedaCAD [Codebase Packer] VCID: 0FBGZB @ VedaCAD [VAgent Demo] VCID: PLG96B @ VedaCAD [Gomoku CadCade] VCID: 1G8VY1 @ VedaCAD [Omni Wheel] VCID: US87Y8 @ VedaCAD [Side DIM] VCID: 5EDNWJ @ VedaCAD [Smart Break] VCID: D86938 @ VedaCAD [Wave Animator] VCID: 31E6TS @ VedaCAD -
rdpk7 joined the community
-
Why does a 3D model sometimes look faceted instead of smooth?
indiancad posted a topic in AutoCAD 3D Modelling & Rendering
Have you ever created a curved 3D model that looked smooth while working on it, but the edges appeared faceted or rough? The geometry may be correct. The display can be affected by the visual style and object smoothness settings. For curved solids, I first check the visual style and use SMOOTHMESHCONVERT or the appropriate smoothness tools when working with mesh-based geometry. For solid models, changing the display quality can also make a noticeable difference without changing the actual model. This is one of those cases where the model isn't necessarily wrong—the way it is displayed can make it look wrong. Have you ever mistaken a display issue for a modelling problem? What did you check first?
