AutoCAD Platform Customization. Ambrosius Lee

Чтение книги онлайн.

СКАЧАТЬ regions and hatch fills. The management of layers and linetypes and the control of the appearance of objects are also covered.

      Bonus Chapter 2: Modeling in 3D Space In this chapter, you learn to work with objects in 3D space, and 3D objects. 3D objects can be used to create a model of a drawing which can be used to help visualize a design or detect potential design problems. 3D objects can be viewed from different angles and used to generate 2D views of a model that can be used to create assembly directions or shop drawings.

      Bonus Chapter 3: Development Resources In this chapter, you discover resources that can help expand the skills you develop from this book or locate an answer to a problem you might encounter. I cover development resources, places you might be able to obtain instructor-led training, and interact with fellow users on extending AutoCAD. The online resources sites listed cover general customization, AutoLISP, and VBA programming in AutoCAD.

      NOTE

      Bonus Chapters 1, 2, and 3 are located on the companion website.

      Companion Website

      An online counterpart to this book, the companion web page contains the sample files required to complete the exercises found in this book, in addition to the sample code and project files used to demonstrate some of the programming concepts explained in this book. In addition, the web page contains resources that are not mentioned in this book, such as the bonus chapters. The companion web page can be found at www.sybex.com/go/autocadcustomization.

      Other Information

      This book assumes that you know the basics of your operating system – Windows or Mac OS X – and AutoCAD 2009 or later. When appropriate, I indicate when a feature does not apply to a specific operating system or release of AutoCAD. Most of the images in this book were taken using AutoCAD 2014 in Windows 8 and AutoCAD 2014 in Mac OS X 10.7. While the images were taken in AutoCAD 2014 for consistency across the book, the content still applies to AutoCAD 2015, which was the latest release available when the content was completed.

      NOTE

      Part II doesn't apply to AutoCAD LT^®, and Part III doesn't apply to either AutoCAD LT on Windows or Mac OS or AutoCAD running on Mac OS.

      Styles and Conventions of This Book

      This book uses a number of styles and character formats – bold, italic, monotype face, all uppercase or lowercase letters, among others – to help you distinguish between the text you read, sample code you can try, text that you need to enter at the AutoCAD Command prompt, or the name of an object class or method in one of the programming languages.

      As you read through this book, keep the following conventions in mind:

      • User interface selections are represented by one of the following methods:

      • Click Application button ➢ Options.

      • On the Ribbon, click Manage tab ➢ Customization ➢ User Interface.

      • On the menu bar, click Tools ➢ Customize ➢ Interface.

      • In the drawing window, right-click and click Options.

      • Keyboard input is shown in bold (for example, type cui and press Enter).

      • Prompts that are displayed at the AutoCAD Command prompt are displayed as monospace font (for example, Specify a start point:).

      • AutoCAD command, system variable, and AutoLISP function names are displayed in all lowercase letters with a monospace font (for example, line or clayer).

      • VBA function and AutoCAD Object library member names are displayed in mixed case letters with a monospace font (for example, Length or SendCommand).

      • Example code and code statements that appear within a paragraph are displayed in monospace font. Code samples might look like one of the following:

      • (command "._circle" PAUSE 3)

      • MsgBox "ObjectName: " & oFirstEnt.ObjectName

      • The MsgBox method can be used to display a text message to the user

      • ' Gets the first object in model space

      Contacting the Author

      I hope that you enjoy AutoCAD Platform Customization: User Interface, AutoLISP, VBA, and Beyond, and that it changes the way you think about completing your day-to-day work. If you have any feedback about or ideas that could improve this book, you can contact me using the following address:

      Lee Ambrosius: [email protected]

      On my blog and website, you'll find additional articles on customization and samples that I have written over the years. You'll find these resources here:

      Beyond the UI: http://hyperpics.blogs.com

      HyperPics: www.hyperpics.com

      If you encounter any problems with this publication, please report them to the publisher. Visit the book's website, www.sybex.com/go/autocadcustomization, and click the Errata link to open a form and submit the problem you found.

Part I

      AutoCAD Customization: Increasing Productivity through Personalization

Chapter 1

      Establishing the Foundation for Drawing Standards

      Drawing standards, also known as CAD standards, are guidelines that help you name the files that are created inside or outside of the Autodesk^® AutoCAD^® software for a project, the named objects that are used within a drawing file, and the file formats that you might accept. Much like the marketing or management teams use the same logos and memo templates, all drafters or professionals using AutoCAD software in your company should follow a set of company standards.

      Without having a well-defined set of standards, you will find it harder to share and output files within a company, and in turn this can lead to delays and make it nearly impossible to achieve a consistent look to all the drawings that your client receives. In addition, it is difficult to customize AutoCAD to help enforce your company's standards if there really are no standards.

      Can you imagine what a client might think when a company sends them a set of drawings that contain different fonts or title blocks, or the inconsistent use of lineweights?

      Well-established drawing standards ensure that your drawings all look the same when they are presented to the client, and they can make it easier to

      • Train new drafters and other professionals on your company's standards that use AutoCAD

      • Identify which drawing and externally referenced files are associated with a project

      • Determine the purpose of a named object in a drawing

      • СКАЧАТЬ