This post is to clarify what I’m talking about in my Survey. These are some of the tools I have been using for a few years. I’ve handed them around to a few colleagues I have worked with over the years and they seem to find them handy.
Broadcast & IT System Design and Documentation
CAD tools survey 2011
I have been coding time-saving tools for my own use in AutoCAD for years. I have had prods from various cohorts over the years to release these tools into the wild. That is what this survey is about.
AutoCAD Layers are not Layers
AutoCAD “Layers” should be called Collections, or Bundles. They are a way of grouping objects (lines, blocks, text, whatever you like) together so you may easily adjust properties they share.
Full-screen Shortcut for AutoCAD
I wanted a full-screen shortcut like Internet Exploder, Firefox and other web browsers, just for having a good look at a drawing on the whole screen with no distractions.
The Cleanscreen command is a good start but it didn’t go far enough for me, so I hacked it and added a few things to it. Now my full-screen has only the Top window bar with the quick-access menu and nothing else.
One Version of the Truth
There should only ever be One Version of the Truth in any documentation system. This is the one problem that will cost you more time and heartache, via inconsistencies conflicts and mistakes, than anything else I have discovered so far.
CAD tools survey 2011 Results
I posted a survey, “The CADbloke CAD tools feasibility study”, to assess the feasibility of releasing a few of my custom CAD tools into the wild. If you haven’t already done so, could you please help me out by completing the survey?
AutoCAD LT Missing Plot Styles
Plot styles names differ from the LT version. The run-of-the-mill “Color-dependent Plot Style Table” in AutoCAD is called “acad.ctb” but the equivalent plot style in AutoCAD LT is called “acadlt.ctb”. Why? DO NOT ASK WHY !! There’s nothing to be gained from that.
AutoCAD Find and Replace Wildcards are broken
I found this bug when doing a find and replace on some IP addresses in an AutoCAD drawing. I was using it as a template for a new drawing so I wanted to reset the IP addresses to a default to avoid duplicating the existing values. Here is what I started with … So, I [...]
ACNE and the case of the Missing Cable Numbers
I have run the drawing through ACNE more than once and I get the same result: some of the cables are missing from the cable schedule. Why?
Installing ACNE on Windows 7
There are two parts to the Windows 7 and ACNE tale – installation and running. The crux of the matter is that you need to install and run ACNE as a Windows XP compatible application
Using ACNE with Excel 2007 or 2010
ACNE was originally developed to run in Windows XP and with versions of Excel that used the .XLS format (97 & 2003). Excel’s file format changed to the .XLSX format with the release of Office 2007 and continues with Office 2010. Both ACNE and Excel need some adjustments to make ACNE work properly.
Articles in this series
- Installing ACNE on Windows 7
- Using ACNE with Excel 2007 or 2010
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