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I have a few AutoCAD drawings where I am having trouble understanding the correct orientation. When I compare the drawing direction with the actual direction outside using an online compass, I notice that the north side of the drawing does not always seem to match the real direction. An online compass is a digital compass tool that uses a phone or device’s GPS location and sensors to show the current direction. I use it as a quick reference to check directions like north, south, east, and west when comparing a drawing with the real environment. In AutoCAD, I know that the UCS, view rotation, and drawing setup can affect how the plan appears on the screen. However, I am not always sure which setting should be considered the main reference for the actual geographic direction. For example, I opened a site plan where the drawing was rotated, and the north arrow was not very clear. When I checked my direction with an online compass, the orientation seemed different from what I expected from the CAD file. I tried changing the view and checking the UCS, but I am still unsure if the drawing itself is rotated or if I am just viewing it incorrectly. Is there a simple way in AutoCAD to verify that a drawing has the correct north orientation? Should the north arrow always be connected to the UCS direction, or can it be independent from the drawing coordinates? I also want to know how other users usually check the direction of imported DWG files from different sources. Sometimes drawings created by others do not have clear orientation information, and it takes time to understand whether the layout is aligned correctly. What settings or commands do you usually check first when a CAD drawing does not match the real-world direction? Any tips for avoiding orientation confusion when working with site plans would be appreciated.

I have moved your thread to the AutoCAD Drawing Management & Output Forum. I didn't see any text in your posted .dwg, can you post a before and after example of what you need?

THX，By the way, I noticed RlxBatch in your screenshot. Assuming that's a subroutine library or a dependency file rather than a standard command, I thought I'd share a quick "hidden feature" built into the manager: If you are loading a core library that doesn't need a direct command alias to trigger it, you can leave BOTH the "Native Cmd" and "Custom Alias" fields completely blank when adding it. When you do this, VedaCAD flags it as a System Library: It hides it from the main DCL listbox, keeping your UI clean and focused only on actionable commands. It forces the file to load immediately upon AutoCAD startup. This actually ties into how VedaCAD handles performance. For standard commands (where you define an alias), the tool uses strict Demand Loading (similar to CAD's native autoload behavior, but managed internally). The actual LISP payload isn't evaluated into memory until the exact moment you type the alias. This means you can throw 100+ heavy routines into the manager without increasing your AutoCAD startup time or memory footprint. But for dependency files like RlxBatch, leaving the fields blank ensures those subroutines are pre-loaded into the namespace and ready for your other scripts to call.· Just thought that trick might be handy for your setup!

It looks great , you centainly know how to lisp like a pro, thanx! Not sure the image is getting through , ah , now it its , had to switch browser with a little less security...

Hi everyone, I'm Vico, an architectural designer. I've found this forum incredibly helpful over the years— so many of the LISP routines shared here have become the backbone of my daily workflow. But as my collection grew, one thing started driving me absolutely crazy: the APPLOAD dialog. The problem (I suspect I'm not alone) Managing dozens of .lsp, .fas, and .vlx files through that interface is clunky at best. You can't see what's loaded, what's conflicting, or even what half of them do without opening each file. And the Startup Suite? Let's just say it and I have a complicated relationship. Then there's the real nightmare: upgrading to a new PC. You spend half a day manually rebuilding your Startup Suite, redefining aliases in acad.pgp, and fixing broken Support paths — and you still forget something. My attempt at a solution Over the past few months I built a tool to solve this for myself, and I thought the community here might find it useful. It's part of a side-project I've been tinkering with called VedaCAD. The tool comes as a single compiled .vlx. By default it runs in Base mode — completely offline, no accounts, no network calls, nothing phoning home. It just sits quietly and manages your local scripts. What it does: Gives you a clean UI to see all your loaded scripts in one place — no more hunting through APPLOAD. Lets you assign custom command aliases directly from the interface, without manually editing acad.pgp or writing wrapper LISPs. Has a one-click "Export Config" that builds a lightweight JSON mapping of your entire environment. Take that file (plus your LISP folder) to a new machine, hit "Import Config", and everything comes back exactly as it was — script mappings, custom aliases, and paths, bypassing the native Startup Suite entirely. A couple of disclaimers It's written entirely in pure AutoLISP/Visual LISP and DCL, so it should be compatible all the way back to AutoCAD 2006 — none of that "requires .NET Framework X.x" nonsense. I've personally tested it on 2006, 2014, and 2024, and it runs smoothly right across that range. And again: fully air-gapped in Base mode. No telemetry, no registration nag, no "sign up to unlock." If you're paranoid about that sort of thing (I certainly am), you can verify with any network monitor like Wireshark. Why I'm posting I built this to scratch my own itch, and it's made my life genuinely easier. But I'm one person with one workflow — I'd be really curious to hear if this solves a real problem for anyone else, or if I've just been doing APPLOAD wrong all these years. If you'd like to give it a spin, the .vlx is attached. Happy to answer questions, and very open to feedback (including the critical kind). Cheers, Vico VedaCAD V1.0.VLX

I know this is an older topic, but the pain is still incredibly real. It is absolutely crazy that in 2026, migrating CAD environments still feels like we are stuck in 1999. I actually got so fed up with manually exporting .arg profiles and copying over Support folders that I built a cloud package manager to end this exact nightmare. It's called VedaCAD. The workflow is exactly what you’d expect from a modern development tool. Once you configure your assets on your old PC—whether they are executables (.fas, .vlx, .dll) or environment standards (.ctb, .cuix, .dwt, .shx)—you simply hit Push. Your entire environment matrix is vaulted to the cloud. When you sit down at your new PC, you just log into your account, hit Pull, and within seconds, your exact drafting environment and aliases are flawlessly restored. It is arguably the most elegant solution available right now for CAD migrations. If you are managing an office rollout: We also built an Enterprise MDM layer for this. As an admin, you can create user groups (Squads) and assign specific toolsets to them from your company's central asset pool. When an employee logs in, their terminal instantly syncs the exact plugins and configs they are authorized for. Group A never even sees Group B's proprietary scripts. No more USB sticks, no more broken network drives. If anyone is currently battling an office rollout and wants to know how to set up this kind of pipeline, just look up VedaCAD or drop me a DM. Always happy to geek out over CAD architecture! Cheers, Vico

I did not develop CSD. I have used it for many years, It is an Australian company with those behind it have been involved in the cad industry since 1980's. . I have a few CIV3D programs that were for daily use. Just very simple stuff like label a point RL etc, rotate cogo points, trees read Cogo point and using a dynamic block indicate trunk and spread. One thing I did do was I have a toolbar for surface display it has our contour intervals, 0.1, 0.25, 0.5 etc on/off, water drop, saves going to the toolspace. You just have to edit the code to your surface style names, it is metric but the toobar images can be remade for imperial. Supports multiple surface choice, let me know if interested. I need to redo the button images.

Welcome aboard. This is an easy task if your using color numbers, or much easier there is a CAD dwg Colorwheel which does what you want, I am trying to find it for you. It may be on your pc now. I could have name wrong. From a programming point of view just make an array of small squares a 16 x 16 then explode, select all 256 rectangs and via lisp hatch each one with a color number starting at 1.. Our company ctb had the first seven colors as black 1-7, the last few 250-256 as greys, the rest as color number. One thing similar as you mention linetypes etc is a legend.lsp so it displays all the layers, color linetype and name. As well as used blocks in current dwg. There are various versions around. colorwh.dwg

Hello everyone - I have attached block which I use as girt on project, I want to add text with length (Dynamic) and count if I do array of that block, would it be possible to use that text (length) and count to make the table with count and length Girt.dwg

Thanks, That's great! Did you develop it yourself? I'm looking for a developer to handle specific custom requirements(with source), as I plan to offer the solution to my clients afterward. If you're interested, please review the details and let me know your pricing and estimated timeline.

Hi, I have just started a new job and I am trying to print ctb file (2026), so I can see color number (with color box) , color (black/object color) and line weights. I have gone down the google rabbit hole which included AutoLisp code and it's a never ending circle. I would appreciate your advice on what seems like it should be an easy task. My request for help here has fallen flat. Thank you!

AI + AutoCAD, Python is the way, connect to agents in AutoCAD’s process space, I connect to LM studio

Paid tools are fine as well. I currently use a custom GPT called AutoCAD Automator. I usually design the overall algorithm myself. I use AI mainly to write supporting functions, research specific AutoCAD or ACIS/SAT topics in depth, compare alternative approaches, and help improve individual parts of the code. If you know a tool that would be more effective for this kind of workflow, I would be interested in trying it or switching to it.

Thank you. I am very happy to join this community that keeps pace with the times. It is my honor. I have seen your discussion about AI. As long as you put the master and the slave, not blind, they are just tools to make things better and faster.

I have moved your thread to the Civil 3D & LDD Forum. Please post in the most appropriate forum. What version are you using? Looks like new to 2025 Civil 3D. The help files from AutoCAD Civil 3D 2025 Autodesk Civil 3D Help | Modify the Level of Detail of Surfaces | Autodesk

Welcome to CADTutor!

One that’s free : ), Gemini, also GLM is pretty good a lisp. With AI, don’t try to one shot it, work though the ACIS/SAT patterns and ask questions

hi all, Could you please let me know the difference between these two icons? Both represent Surface files, but some appear in blue while others are normally grey Thanks

Set bit 1 of the QAFLAGS system variable (storing the original value and resetting after the command); with bit 1 enabled, the EXPLODE command will accept selection sets when invoked from the LISP API. Alternatively, ensure that this bit is not set and only pass a single entity with no double quotes. The key point is that by controlling the bit, you can ensure consistent behaviour.

@Danielm103 Thank you for the explanations and code examples. I will compare the suggested methods, decide which one is the most suitable, and start testing it. You mentioned that one of the code examples was generated with AI. Which AI tools do you use for writing or improving AutoLISP, Python, .NET, or ObjectARX code? Do you have any recommendations based on your experience?

Hi everyone, I'm Vico, an architectural designer with about 12 years in the industry. I'm based in China and have mostly been active in local developer forums, but I've always respected the open-source spirit here. I wanted to share a quick tool I wrote and also get your feedback on an idea. Codebase Packer — a LISP for AI-assisted work Over the past months I've been building a web-based side-project for CAD. The frontend work forced me to lean heavily on AI assistants (Claude, ChatGPT). The biggest bottleneck was always the context window: opening and pasting 30+ files manually drove me crazy. So I solved it with a little LISP routine. Codebase Packer lets you point at a folder and aggregate every file inside into a single .txt, ready for an LLM prompt. ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; ;;; ;;; ;;; Command CPK (Codebase Packer) - Version 1.0 Release ;;; ;;; ;;; ;;; Features: ;;; ;;; Efficiently extracts the directory structure and file contents ;;; ;;; of a project. Features smart character encoding detection and ;;; ;;; automatically saves the packed file as UTF-8 alongside the ;;; ;;; project folder for AI-friendly integration. ;;; ;;; ;;; ;;; Author: Vico Wang ;;; ;;; Compatibility: AutoCAD 2006+ (Visual LISP / ActiveX) ;;; ;;; ;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; (vl-load-com) (defun cpk:getdate ( / cd ) (setq cd (rtos (getvar 'cdate) 2 6)) (strcat (substr cd 1 4) (substr cd 5 2) (substr cd 7 2)) ) (defun cpk:read ( fn / ext charset stm text err ) (setq ext (strcase (vl-filename-extension fn) t) charset (if (member ext '(".lsp" ".dcl" ".mnl" ".bat" ".ini")) "GBK" "UTF-8") text "" ) (if (setq stm (vlax-create-object "adodb.stream")) (progn (setq err (vl-catch-all-apply '(lambda () (vlax-put-property stm 'type 2) (vlax-put-property stm 'mode 3) (vlax-put-property stm 'charset charset) (vlax-invoke stm 'open) (vlax-invoke stm 'loadfromfile fn) (if (> (vlax-get-property stm 'size) 0) (setq text (vlax-invoke stm 'readtext -1)) ) ) ) ) (if (= 'vla-object (type stm)) (progn (vl-catch-all-apply '(lambda () (vlax-invoke stm 'close))) (vlax-release-object stm) ) ) (if (vl-catch-all-error-p err) (strcat "// Note: Error reading file - " (vl-catch-all-error-message err)) (if (= "" text) "// Note: File is empty or extraction failed" text) ) ) "// Note: ADODB.Stream component missing" ) ) (defun cpk:traverse ( fso dir prefix islast root / fobj subdirs files items i cnt name rel ) (if (setq fobj (vl-catch-all-apply 'vlax-invoke (list fso 'getfolder dir))) (if (not (vl-catch-all-error-p fobj)) (progn (if (/= (strcase dir) (strcase root)) (setq name (vlax-get fobj 'name) rel (vl-string-translate "\\" "/" (substr dir (+ 2 (strlen root)))) out-tree (cons (strcat prefix (if islast "©¸©¤©¤ " "©À©¤©¤ ") name "/ # " rel) out-tree) ) ) (setq items nil) (vlax-for x (vlax-get fobj 'subfolders) (setq items (cons (cons x t) items))) (vlax-for x (vlax-get fobj 'files) (setq items (cons (cons x nil) items))) (setq items (reverse items) cnt (length items) i 0 ) (setq prefix (if (= (strcase dir) (strcase root)) "" (strcat prefix (if islast " " "©¦ ")))) (foreach item items (setq i (1+ i) name (vlax-get (car item) 'name) ) (if (cdr item) (cpk:traverse fso (vlax-get (car item) 'path) prefix (= i cnt) root) (progn (setq rel (vl-string-translate "\\" "/" (substr (vlax-get (car item) 'path) (+ 2 (strlen root))))) (setq out-tree (cons (strcat prefix (if (= i cnt) "©¸©¤©¤ " "©À©¤©¤ ") name " # maps to /" rel) out-tree)) (setq out-files (cons (list (vlax-get (car item) 'path) name rel) out-files)) ) ) ) (vlax-release-object fobj) ) ) ) ) (defun c:cpk ( / *error* old-cmd out-tree out-files fso shl fld root-dir root-name lst fn rel sv-dir sv-path stm cnt err ) (defun *error* ( msg ) (foreach obj (list fso shl fld stm) (if (and obj (= 'vla-object (type obj)) (not (vlax-object-released-p obj))) (vl-catch-all-apply 'vlax-release-object (list obj)) ) ) (if old-cmd (setvar 'cmdecho old-cmd)) (if (and msg (not (wcmatch (strcase msg t) "*break*,*cancel*,*exit*"))) (princ (strcat "\nCPK Error: " msg)) ) (princ) ) (setq old-cmd (getvar 'cmdecho)) (setvar 'cmdecho 0) (princ "\nSelect root folder to pack...") (if (setq shl (vlax-create-object "shell.application")) (progn (if (setq fld (vlax-invoke shl 'browseforfolder 0 "Select project root folder (Codebase Packer)" 0 0)) (setq root-dir (vlax-get (vlax-get fld 'self) 'path)) ) (vlax-release-object shl) ) ) (if root-dir (progn (setq fso (vlax-create-object "scripting.filesystemobject") root-name (vlax-get (vlax-invoke fso 'getfolder root-dir) 'name) out-tree (list (strcat root-name "/ # [Root Directory] " root-dir) "") ) ;; Automatically uses out-tree and out-files via LISP dynamic scoping (cpk:traverse fso root-dir "" t root-dir) (setq lst (list "Part A: Overall Folder and File Structure\n")) (foreach x (reverse out-tree) (setq lst (cons (strcat x "\n") lst)) ) (setq lst (cons "\n\nPart B: Specific File Contents\n" lst) out-files (reverse out-files) cnt (length out-files) ) (foreach x out-files (setq fn (car x) rel (caddr x) ) (setq lst (cons (strcat "\n------------------------------------------------------------\n" "File location: " rel "\n" "File name: " (cadr x) "\n" "------------------------------------------------------------\n\n" (cpk:read fn) "\n") lst) ) ) (setq lst (reverse lst)) (setq sv-dir (vl-catch-all-apply 'vlax-invoke (list fso 'getparentfoldername root-dir))) (if (or (vl-catch-all-error-p sv-dir) (= "" sv-dir)) (setq sv-dir root-dir) ) (if (/= "\\" (substr sv-dir (strlen sv-dir))) (setq sv-dir (strcat sv-dir "\\")) ) (if (setq sv-path (getfiled "Save Packed File" (strcat sv-dir root-name "-Packed-" (cpk:getdate) ".txt") "txt" 1)) (if (setq stm (vlax-create-object "adodb.stream")) (progn (setq err (vl-catch-all-apply '(lambda () (vlax-put-property stm 'type 2) (vlax-put-property stm 'mode 3) (vlax-put-property stm 'charset "utf-8") (vlax-invoke stm 'open) (foreach x lst (vlax-invoke stm 'writetext x)) (vlax-invoke stm 'savetofile sv-path 2) (vlax-invoke stm 'close) ) ) ) (vlax-release-object stm) (if (vl-catch-all-error-p err) (alert "\nUnable to write file. Please check permissions or file path.") (alert (strcat "Processing complete!\n\nProcessed " (itoa cnt) " files.\nFile saved (UTF-8) to:\n" sv-path)) ) ) ) ) (vlax-release-object fso) ) ) (*error* nil) (princ) ) (princ "\nCodebase Packer (Version 1.0 Release, Author: Vico Wang) loaded. Type CPK to start.") (princ) The story behind this tool That web frontend I mentioned? It turned into VedaCAD — an experiment in modernising how we manage CAD environments. We're all still copying .arg profiles and fixing broken Support paths like it's 1999. I wanted something simpler: wrap your scripts and configs into 6-character ShareCodes, Then type the ID in the VC panel and pull it down to use it directly. There is a fully free tier (BASE mode works offline, FREE tier allows sync up to 3MB per file). For creators, I'm experimenting with some tools like push-updates and a tip-jar (0% commission), but honestly the platform is still young and I'm here mostly to listen. If you'd like to try the Codebase Packer without copy-pasting, you can install it into AutoCAD using ShareCode 0FBGZB (whatever that means for you — no pressure). I'd genuinely appreciate any thoughts, especially from the veterans. Is "environment sync" a real pain point for you? Am I solving a problem that's just mine? Cheers, Vico

Thank you. My concern is not damaging the original solid, but losing topology after exploding the copy. I need to identify each face, its boundary edges, edge lengths, and which faces share the same edge. Would exploding a copy preserve enough information to determine these relationships reliably?

Just revisiting this after a little revelation - Joe Burke's SUPERFLATTEN will do exactly what I need

something like this (AI generated) ;;; ========================================================================= ;;; AutoLISP ACIS/SAT Geometric Decoder Script - Print to Screen ;;; Decodes scrambled DXF groups 1 and 3 data and prints it to the command line ;;; ========================================================================= (defun c:DecodeSatPrint ( / ent enx dxfPair strBytes itm lin cha decodedStr) (vl-load-com) ;; 1. User prompts to select a valid 3D Solid or Region (setq ent (car (entsel "\nSelect 3D Solid or Region to decode: "))) (if ent (progn (setq enx (entget ent)) ;; Verify if the entity type actually holds ACIS data (if (member (cdr (assoc 0 enx)) '("3DSOLID" "REGION" "SURFACE" "BODY")) (progn (princ "\n--- START OF DECODED ACIS SAT DATA ---\n") ;; 2. Parse and Loop through DXF group codes 1 and 3 (while (setq dxfPair (car enx)) (if (member (car dxfPair) '(1 3)) (progn ;; Convert string to ASCII character byte-list and reverse it (setq strBytes (reverse (vl-string->list (cdr dxfPair))) itm nil lin nil) ;; Rebuild scrambled bytes using standard bitwise operators (while strBytes (setq cha (car strBytes) strBytes (cdr strBytes)) (cond ((= cha 95)) ;; Skip formatting delimiters ((= cha 86) (setq itm (cons 73 itm))) ((= cha 32) (setq lin (cons (if itm (vl-list->string itm) "") lin) itm nil)) ((boole 6 cha 95) (setq itm (cons (boole 6 cha 95) itm))) ) ) ;; Print structural line streams directly to the command line (setq decodedStr (vl-list->string itm)) (if (/= decodedStr "") (princ (strcat decodedStr "\n")) ) ) ) (setq enx (cdr enx)) ) (princ "--- END OF DECODED ACIS SAT DATA ---\n") (princ "\nTip: Press F2 to open the AutoCAD Text Window to copy the full log.") ) (princ "\nError: Selected entity does not contain ACIS geometry data.") ) ) ) (princ) ) (princ "\nACIS SAT Decoder (Print version) Loaded. Type 'DecodeSatPrint' to execute.") (princ) asmheader body lump transform shell face face loop plane-surface face loop plane-surface coedge face loop plane-surface coedge coedge coedge coedge edge I'd bet you could make AI make a mini brep for lisp

It’s possible with lisp, but really hard. When you entget a solid, you see the garbage at the end that looks like “{kn rn {rn {km rnqhlokhlhhjjnimjmoll {kl nqhlokhlhhjjnimjmoll”, you can actually decode that and get vertices, edges and faces. Python, .NET, or ObjectARX you can use AcDbAssocPersSubentIdPE, It’s like a BRep shortcut. Or use Brep from pyrx import Ap, Db, Ed, Ge, Br print("added command pygetsubents") def pygetsubents(ent: Db.Entity): pe = Db.AssocPersSubentIdPE(ent.queryX(Db.AssocPersSubentIdPE.desc())) print("vertex") for vtx in pe.getAllSubentities(ent, Db.SubentType.kVertexSubentType): # Get the geometric position of each vertex pos = pe.getVertexSubentityGeometry(ent, vtx) print(pos) print("edge") for edge in pe.getAllSubentities(ent, Db.SubentType.kEdgeSubentType): curve = pe.getEdgeSubentityGeometry(ent, edge) print(curve.getStartPoint(), curve.getEndPoint()) print("surface") for face in pe.getAllSubentities(ent, Db.SubentType.kFaceSubentType): brface = Br.Face() brface.setSubentPath(Db.FullSubentPath(ent.objectId(), face)) print("Area", brface.getArea()) @Ap.Command() def doit(): es, id, pnt = Ed.Editor.entSel("\nPick it: \n") ent = Db.Entity(id) pygetsubents(ent) Command: DOIT Pick it: vertex (117.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,100.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,100.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,100.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,100.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,0.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,0.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,0.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,0.00000000000000) edge (17.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,100.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,100.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,0.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,0.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,100.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,100.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,100.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,0.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,0.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,0.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,100.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,100.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,100.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,0.00000000000000) (17.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,0.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,0.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,100.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,0.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,100.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,100.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,100.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,0.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,11.77489209746249,0.00000000000000) (117.71953884538620,16.43799615292209,0.00000000000000) surface Area 466.31040554595984 Area 466.31040554595984 Area 10000.0 Area 466.31040554595984 Area 10000.0 Area 466.31040554595984