AutoCAD Platform Customization: User Interface, AutoLISP, VBA, and Beyond

Take control of AutoCAD for a more efficient, streamlined workflow

AutoCAD Platform Customization is the most comprehensive guide to streamlining and personalizing the AutoCAD platform. The AutoLISP and VBA programming languages open up a myriad of customization options, and this book provides expert guidance toward applying them to AutoCAD, Civil 3D, Plant 3D, and other programs based on the Autodesk AutoCAD platform. Detailed discussions backed by real-world examples and step-by-step tutorials provide user-friendly instruction, and downloadable datasets allow for hands-on learning. Through customization you can increase screen real estate, streamline workflows, and create more accurate drawings by unleashing powerful programming languages that allow the user to command the software how to work, instead of the other way around.

AutoCAD customization is commonly performed by system administrators and CAD managers, but senior drafters and savvy users are increasingly taking customization into their own hands. AutoLISP and VBA are two popular and versatile tools that allow for going beyond the boundaries of normal user interface customization options, allowing users to:

• Enforce drawing and CAD standards, and automate repetitive tasks
• Customize the workspace, including tool sets, ribbon tabs and panels, and palettes
• Modify graphical objects, set system variables, integrate with external software, and more
• Manage blocks, change the interface, create dialog boxes, and communicate with Microsoft Office applications

The ideal design environment puts the tools you need right at your fingertips, removes unnecessary steps, and fosters precision through good communication. Customizing, including applying AutoLISP and VBA to AutoCAD, enables all of this and much more. For the designer who needs to work smarter because it’s impossible to work any harder, AutoCAD Platform Customization provides the key information, insight, and techniques that will help to increase your productivity with AutoCAD.

Table of Contents

Part I AutoCAD Customization: Increasing Productivity through Personalization
Chapter 1 Establishing the Foundation for Drawing Standards
Chapter 2 Working with Nongraphical Objects
Chapter 3 Building the Real World One Block at a Time
Chapter 4 Manipulating the Drawing Environment
Chapter 5 Customizing the AutoCAD User Interface for Windows
Chapter 6 Customizing the AutoCAD User Interface for Mac
Chapter 7 Creating Tools and Tool Palettes
Chapter 8 Automating Repetitive Tasks
Chapter 9 Defining Shapes, Linetypes, and Hatch Patterns
Chapter 10 Using, Loading, and Managing Custom Files

Part II AutoLISP: Productivity through Programming
Chapter 11 Quick Start for New AutoLISP Programmers
Chapter 12 Understanding AutoLISP
Chapter 13 Calculating and Working with Values
Chapter 14 Working with Lists
Chapter 15 Requesting Input and Using Conditional and Looping Expressions
Chapter 16 Creating and Modifying Graphical Objects
Chapter 17 Creating and Modifying Nongraphical Objects
Chapter 18 Working with the Operating System and External Files
Chapter 19 Catching and Handling Errors
Chapter 20 Authoring, Managing, and Loading AutoLISP Programs
Chapter 21 Using the Visual LISP Editor (Windows only)
Chapter 22 Working with ActiveX/COM Libraries (Windows only)
Chapter 23 Implementing Dialog Boxes (Windows only)

Part III AutoCAD VBA: Programming with VBA and ActiveX (Windows only)
Chapter 24 Understanding the AutoCAD VBA Environment
Chapter 25 Understanding Visual Basic for Applications
Chapter 26 Interacting with the Application and Documents Objects
Chapter 27 Creating and Modifying Drawing Objects
Chapter 28 Interacting with the User and Controlling the Current View
Chapter 29 Annotating Objects
Chapter 30 Working with Blocks and External References
Chapter 31 Outputting Drawings
Chapter 32 Storing and Retrieving Custom Data
Chapter 33 Modifying the Application and Working with Events
Chapter 34 Creating and Displaying User Forms
Chapter 35 Communicating with Other Applications
Chapter 36 Handling Errors and Deploying VBA Projects