The Mad Cadder

Where is the ACAD.PGP file?

Many CAD users change the aliases of common commands in the ACAD.PGP file. The location of this file has been moved around over the years and finding it has always been a problem.

The quickest way to access the PGP file is within AutoCAD.

1. Tools pull-down menu
2. Customize
3. Edit Program Parameters (acad.pgp)

This will open the file within Notepad. All you have to do is make modification to the command aliases.

For example, many people change the COPY alias from CO to just C.

Note:
1. You cannot have two alias with the same letters. For example, you cannot use C for the COPY and for    the CIRCLE commands.
2. Any changes made to the PGP file will only take affect aftere restarting AutoCAD.

The Old Zoom

Many users of AutoCAD do not like the new dynamic zoom effect in the application. When using the zoom window or zoom extents command, the drawing area zooms in or out very smoothly. It almost looks like a guided missile going in for the kill. If you do not like this new zoom look, there is a system variable that controls this "VTENABLE".

The VTENABLE system variable is set to 3 by default. Setting this to 0 will have the zoom command act as it did in past releases.

Lock the display of a Viewport Part II

There is another way to lock the display of the viewport:

1. Select the viewport.

2. Right-click, choose Display Lock --> Yes

I would like to thank Donna Stelzer for this tip.

Lock the display of a Viewport

One of my biggest pet peeves is an AutoCAD operator that does not lock the display of a viewport in Layout (paperspace). It is very annoying when another user double-clicks the middle of a viewport to make a change in model space but zooms and changes the scale.

To prevent a user from changing the scale of a viewport use the Display Lock option in the Properties of the Viewport:

1. Select the viewport.
2. Open the Properties.
3. Scroll down to find Display Lock (default is NO)
4. Change the NO to YES.

Now, if you were to double-click inside the viewport and zoom, you are still zooming the paperspace, not the model space. This prevents a user from messing-up the scale.

Double-clicking MTEXT or DTEXT not working

Since the release of AutoCAD 2002, double-clicking either MTEXT or DTEXT would automatically open the text editor. This elevated the old "DDEDIT" or "ED" command to edit text.

Sometimes, this option stops working. If this does occur, check the system variable DBLCLKEDIT. This should be set to ON.

Setting Temporary Dimensions for Walls in Revit

During the placement of a wall a temporary dimension will appear showing how far away you are from the closest wall or object. The temporary dimension from a wall will always measure from the centre of the wall not the inside or outside face by default

I know that when picking the WALL command you can choose the LOC LINE for wall centre or exterior face for example, but this is for the wall you are about to place, not the temporary dimension that appears while placing the wall.

For example, I would like to place a new interior partition 10' from the inside face of another wall that it 4" wide. I would have to type in 10'2" to place the wall because I have to factor in that the measurement is from the centre of the wall and I must include half the width of the wall.

How can I set the temporary dimension to be on the face not the centerline?

Solution - Settings > Temporary Dimensions > Faces

Combine Zoom and Pan as one for Undo/Redo

UNDO/REDO are very powerful commands, until it comes to zoom and pan. Do I really want to undo/redo every little zoom or pan? NO!

In previous versions of AutoCAD, ADT, or ABS, the UNDO/REDO command applied to each instance of zoom or pan. In a typical drawing a user zooms or pans around hundreds of times, there is no easy way of undoing or redoing a string of consecutive zooms or pans.

Now in AutoCAD, ADT and ABS 2006 the ZOOM and PAN command can be combined into one UNDO/REDO. You can use the new "Combine zoom and pan commands" which is located in OPTIONS. This will combine consecutive zoom and pan operation into one, so you can UNDO/REDO in one step.

Go to TOOLS-->OPTIONS-->User Preference Tab, then select the "Combine zoom and pan commands" under the Undo/Redo section.

Automatic Layer Filter Delete

Layer filters are a great tool to organize the many layers that are created by an AutoCAD user. The drawback to Layer filters is that they do increase the size of the DWG file. I had a friend send me a DWG file once that was 2 MB in size. The DWG contained only one line, drawn on layer 0 and had been purged and audited of any blocks or errors. The reason for the large file size, was that he had roughly 800 Layer filters.

Layer filters are associated with objects or blocks. If a block is set to a layer that is in a Layer Filter and the block is copied from one drawing to another, the Layer filter will also be copied over. To remove all the layer filters within the over-sized drawing, I used an old LISP routine called LAYERFILTERSDELETE.

Autodesk has now recognized that layer filters have become more of a problem then a useful tool. Therefore, with the release of AutoCAD 2006, a new system variable is available that will automatically delete layer filters when the drawing contains more that 100 of them.

The system variable is LAYERFILTERALERT. With this variable, you have better control on when and if layer filters should be deleted. By default, this variable is set to <2>. The following outlines what all the options do:

0 - Off

1 - When Layer Manager is open, deletes all filers, mo message is displayed

2 - When Layer Manager is open, displays a message that states the problem, recommends deleting all filters and offers a choice.

3- When the drawing is opened, displays a message that states the problem and offers to display a dialogue box where you can choose which filters to delete.

Revert back to the old DTEXT editor

By default in AutoCAD 2006, the DTEXT command works differently compared to earlier versions. It is now known as "In Place" DTEXT. To revert back to the old DTEXT, use the system variable called DTEXTED.

On the command line type: DTEXTED. Changed the system variable from the default 0 (zero) to 1 (one).

0 = Displays the In Place Editor

1= Displays the Edit Text dialogue box.

Go back to the old MTEXT editor in AutoCAD 2006

The new MTEXT editor is pretty neat. It displays the text in a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) format. This may be annoying to some users. There is a a way to revert back to the old editor from AutoCAD 2005.

On the command line type MTEXTED. Notice the default value is "internal". Change the value to "oldeditor". If you wanted to go back to the new 2006  MTEXT editor, put the word "internal" in the value.