onkelbob Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I have a lisp that generates steel shapes. I am having trouble using it on autocad 2012. Can anyone tell me the way to put the program in autocad 2012. Also one of the forums told another user that that feature was already in 2012. ??? Where is it. Maybe I just don't know how to invoke the program. I dropped the lisp file in the bag in the applications pop up, where do I put all the data folders that are with the lisp file. It is already shown in the list of applications (however it is listed in a light grey color). The lisp program is a tip from cadylist. the first line to the lisp is: " ;Tip1779: STL.LSP STEEL SHAPES OF ALL TYPES AND SIZES ©2002, Al Rogers $50 Bonus Winner ;STL.LSP Version 1.1 - Al's STEEL MILL " I have been away from acad for a while and am wondering if I have to edit the ;Tip1779; from the lisp file or what do I do to it if anything. And where do I put all the data folders that are with the lisp file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack_O'neill Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 I'm not much of a lisp programmer, but I can tell you that anything after a semicolon ";" is ignored by the software as a comment. I use 2010, so 2012 may be different, but I'm guessing you either didn't load the program correctly or put it in the wrong directory or something. One of the 2012 users will show up in a bit and give you better instructions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 You will find some steel shapes in the form of Dynamic Blocks on one of the tool palettes. There are steel beams for use with both imperial and metric users so don't use the wrong one. I think it is the Structural palette if I am not mistaken however since I am not on my cad computer at the moment I cannot confirm that for you. A jump from 2002 to 2012 is significant. It could be that a lisp command has been dropped or replaced that was used in the lisp routine you are trying to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onkelbob Posted January 29, 2012 Author Share Posted January 29, 2012 You will find some steel shapes in the form of Dynamic Blocks on one of the tool palettes. There are steel beams for use with both imperial and metric users so don't use the wrong one. I think it is the Structural palette if I am not mistaken however since I am not on my cad computer at the moment I cannot confirm that for you. A jump from 2002 to 2012 is significant. It could be that a lisp command has been dropped or replaced that was used in the lisp routine you are trying to use. It is under the structural pallet. Lots of help here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 We try our best. You just happened to inquire at a bit of a slow period. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nestly Posted January 29, 2012 Share Posted January 29, 2012 The Program is called Al's Steel Mill, and I've been using it for years. It works fine in 2012, just unzip the files, and make sure add the path to that folder to your AutoCAD2012 support paths Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack_O'neill Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 It is under the structural pallet. Lots of help here. It was Sunday afternoon when you posted, after all. Not a lot of activity on here on weekends, and especially Sundays. did you check to see if you'd added the program and it's files to the correct folder, or added a path to it as Nestly suggested? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 I was right. Tool Palettes > Structural tab > Beams and Channels are both available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted January 30, 2012 Share Posted January 30, 2012 There is a STL_Help.txt in the folder with all the information to install Al's Steel Mill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onkelbob Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 It is under the structural pallet. Lots of help here. Yes this is fine but there are steel angles also used in steel design, they are also a pain to draw every time. I still would like to load my lisp program Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onkelbob Posted January 31, 2012 Author Share Posted January 31, 2012 Yes this is fine but there are steel angles also used in steel design, they are also a pain to draw every time. I still would like to load my lisp program I am not sure how to add paths. or configure autocad in 2012 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReMark Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Tools > Options > Files > Support File Search Path. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Open the folder where you unzipped the files into, find the STL_Help.txt open it and read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevUK Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Yes this is fine but there are steel angles also used in steel design, they are also a pain to draw every time. I still would like to load my lisp program You have only got to draw them once if you make them into a block! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Tillman Posted February 2, 2012 Share Posted February 2, 2012 I have been using the stl.lsp program for years and it works fine under 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2007, 2004....just about any version I've run in the past it works. You just need to make sure that all the files ( and there are at least a dozen or so of them in this package) are all in your Support path. It works great for me. I know the newer versions of ACAD come with a complete library of the AICS manual but this program which was written years ago is still one of my favorites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onkelbob Posted February 3, 2012 Author Share Posted February 3, 2012 You have only got to draw them once if you make them into a block! there are inch and half inch sizes of angles up to 12 inches. That means each angle size may have a many unequal legs and various leg (web) thicknesses. I have no idea how many different sizes that would be.I know also that I can make blocks that stretch, but that turns into a lot of work too. The lisp program is still the best solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SLW210 Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 Did you get it working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nestly Posted February 3, 2012 Share Posted February 3, 2012 there are inch and half inch sizes of angles up to 12 inches. That means each angle size may have a many unequal legs and various leg (web) thicknesses. I have no idea how many different sizes that would be..... To answer that question, there are 182 different L-Shapes in Al's Steel Mill just from 1/2" angle to 8" angle. But Steel Mill can generate an unlimited number of L-shapes because it has a feature that allows the the user to specify any flange thickness, and two flange lengths.... and that's just for L-Shapes. Additionally, dynamic blocks for steel cannot be "stretched" accurately as the fillets and radii on angles and beams are not proportional to either the thickness, or flange/web lengths. The only way a Dynamic block can accurately reflect a wide size range is via visibility states, or lookup tables. Furthermore, Steel Mill also generates any size or shape steel as a 3D Solid, or a Surface. IMO, the single advantage of using blocks for steel shapes is BOM. ... so onkelbob, did you get Steel Mill working? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshBero Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 For anybody looking for shapes that does not have Mechanical, you can find them here. I am in the process of exporting the entire steel shapes library and placing the content online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tzframpton Posted May 29, 2012 Share Posted May 29, 2012 For anybody looking for shapes that does not have Mechanical, you can find them here. I am in the process of exporting the entire steel shapes library and placing the content online.Al's Steel Mill is a great add-on to vanilla AutoCAD and has been floating around for years. http://cadtips.cadalyst.com/standard-blocks/steel-shapes-all-types-and-sizes Also, all Autodesk "vertical products" have an extensive steel library that comes standard, with great functionality since they are "AEC Objects". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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