HyperPics: Beyond the UI

Online/Offline Help for AutoCAD 2011 (Updated)

As you might have already noticed, the AutoCAD 2011 Help system looks a bit different.  The CHM files have been retired from use in AutoCAD and in their place are a series of HTM/HTML files.  CHM files in of themselves are really a series of HTM and JavaScript files all bundled together into a single packaged file and were specific to the Windows platform.  The downside to CHM files is that they are bulky in size, and therefore not easy to update.  This is one of the reasons why Autodesk shifted away from CHM files to web based files that are more accessible across all operating systems.

The good part of this change:

• Files are easier to update.
• You can share your favorite pages with others by sending them a URL.
• Ability to combine multiple resources together with the help documentation.
• Platform independent. As you know, Autodesk provides software solutions on Windows, Mac, iPhone and other platforms.  The Web based help system can be used across all of these platforms with much greater fidelity and allow us to focus on one Help platform instead of multiple ones.
• Documents can be accessed without needing to install all products or languages as they can be accessed from the Autodesk website.

Of course there are always two sides to things, so the not so good:

• It is a bit slower because the new system is depended on your Web browser.  If you use IE, chances are the pages can take a few seconds to display but in browsers and this is because of the number of plug-ins installed.  Browsers such as Opera and Chrome do load pages faster than IE.  There are things that are on going to improve performance on the version of the documents on the Autodesk.com Web site.
• Local versions of the files do not contain all of the features that the online version does.

  

To get the most out of the new online Help system, you will need to be connected to the Internet.  If you cannot be connected to the Internet, you should switch to using the locally installed files.  These files for the most part look and feel like their online counterpart.  To switch between the locally installed or online help files, do the following:

1. Right-click in the drawing area and choose Options.  Make sure no command is active before doing this.
2. In the Options dialog box, click the System tab.
3. Under the Help section,
   • Clear "Use Online Help from Autodesk Website when Available" if you want to use the locally installed files.  All online connectivity is disabled, unless you click an external link which will load a requested page.
   • Check "Use Online Help from Autodesk Website when Available" to use the online version of the help documentation. (It is located here: http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2011/ENU) 
4. For the Help Browser section, select if you want to use Internet Explorer or your Default System Browser.  Default System Browser means, use Firefox or Chrome if it is set as your default Web browser on your workstation.
5. Click OK to save your changes.

 

Other recent articles you might find interesting:

• PDF Docs for AutoCAD 2011 Now Available
• AutoCAD + Wiki = "Creative Hub" for Sharing Learning Resources

Sincerely,
  Lee

Update: Changed "Platform dependent" to "Platform independent". - LA (4/20/10)

PDF Docs for AutoCAD 2011 Now Available

Looking for the AutoCAD 2011 docs in PDF format?  The search is over, as they are now on Autodesk.com.  You can find the PDF docs from the landing page of the AutoCAD 2011 Online Help.  Under the Online Resources section, located on the right-side of the page, click Help PDFs.  You can also access the PDFs directly by clicking the following URL:

http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2011/ENU/pdfs/PDF%20Documentation.html

Note: The Command Reference Guide has not been posted yet, but should be posted early next week.  I will update the blog posting once the page has been updated. 

 

Sincerely,
  Lee

Isolation, is not Always a Bad Thing (Isolating Objects in AutoCAD 2011)

AutoCAD 2011 introduces the ability to hide objects in a drawing without turning layers on or off, or partial loading a drawing.  You can select objects to hide (HIDEOBJECTS command) or select the objects you want to remain displayed (ISOLATEOBJECTS command).  Both HIDEOBJECTS and ISOLATEOBJECTS are very useful when working in a busy drawing.

The following image shows the results of using the HIDEOBJECTS command on several room and door markers, along with some dimensions.  Using the UNISOLATEOBJECTS command redisplays the hidden objects.

 

You can access these three commands by doing one of the following:

• Type the command at the Command prompt
• Right-click and choose an option from the Isolate sub-menu
• Click or right-click the Light Bulb icon in the Drawing status bar icon tray

When a drawing contains isolated or hidden objects, the light bulb appears as a red-ish color (see the following illustration).  Click the Light Bulb icon and choose End Object Isolation to return the light bulb to its normal yellow-ish color and to unhide or unisolate all the objects in the drawing.

 

Note: Objects that are hidden or isolated using the HIDEOBJECTS or ISOLATEOBJECTS commands are not displayed when you plot the drawing.

You can isolate all objects on a given layer by using the LAYISO and LAYUNISON commands. For information on all of the commands mentioned in this article, see the Commands Reference section of the AutoCAD Online Help system.

Sincerely,
  Lee

 

AutoCAD + Wiki = "Creative Hub" for Sharing Learning Resources

What do you get when you take one part rich media wiki platform, one part community, and one part AutoCAD?  Give up, you get the AutoCAD Wiki Beta on wikihelp.autodesk.com.  Wikis are nothing new to the Internet (Wikipedia), nor are communities like the legendary CompuServe boards from years gone past, Autodesk Communities, or AUGI.  In the sense of a true wiki, the AutoCAD Wiki Beta is being positioned as a "creative hub" for users to create and share content, such as tips, videos, articles, and links to other sites.  Content creation and sharing is done using in-place editors right on the pages of the site; you must be logged into Autodesk.com to create and edit content.  You can view the wiki without needing to be logged in.

 

Content that is created or edited on the site goes through a moderation process before it is posted.  Based on the level of changes, a technical review might be made to the content to ensure it is accurate for visitors.  All postings will be moderated to ensure that the content that is being posted is appropriate for the site, which means you should not find links about blue pills, how to collect ultra-rare Beanie Babies, or where not to buy AutoCAD from.  In general, content being posted should be about the products that are being discussed or covered on the wiki.

The intent of the site is about sharing learning content that will help your fellow AutoCAD users.  We want it to be an enjoyable experience for those contributing or simply viewing content.  We also want to keep it a fresh site with new content that comes from both the community and Autodesk employees.

The Autodesk Wiki site offers a "Sandbox" that allows you to get you feet wet without the fear of breaking the site.  Once you have a grasp on things, feel free to jump in are rate content or even to post a tip or two.  You can also embed videos that you might have on YouTube or Screenr.com that you feel would help users of AutoCAD learn a new or old feature.  With the wiki beta, we are giving you the community a platform to step up and show others how you are using products like AutoCAD.

For additional information on the wiki, check out the following video by Lynn Allen.

This is a beta and something we are trying out right now, so its success is in your hands.  So what are you waiting for, start sharing your tips, links, or videos today.

Sincerely,
  Lee (aka LAmbrosius on the AutoCAD Wiki)

Danger VBA Developers, VBA Will Be Offline

Okay not quite as catchy or timeless as "Danger Will Robinson!" or "Robot is online." (both from Lost in Space), but I hope you get where this is all heading.  However, it is the ugly truth that is coming towards all of us at sub-light speeds.  AutoCAD 2011 will be the last release of AutoCAD that will support the ability to install a VBA enabler and run DVB project files.  That means, if you do not migrate your VBA programs (DVB files) to AutoLISP, .NET, or ObjectARX you will not be able to use them in the next release of AutoCAD.

Here is the text from the AutoCAD Readme about VBA and its future in AutoCAD:

Visual Basic for Applications (VBA)

Microsoft Visual Basic^® for Applications (VBA) is available for free download at http://www.autodesk.com/vba-download. Autodesk is transitioning from VBA technology to .NET Framework. The VBA module is available for AutoCAD 2011-based products as an unsupported feature. It will not be available in future releases of AutoCAD. Autodesk will provide documentation and other assistance to help customers and developers migrate from VBA to .NET Framework.

To migrate your VBA projects, you will need to download the VBA enabler for AutoCAD 2011 (or AutoCAD 2010) from the following URL:

  http://www.autodesk.com/vba-download

With a bit of effort and a basic understanding of .NET you can migrate your code from VBA to VB.NET.  To help make the transition, we created several procedures on creating a .NET project and placed them in the AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide which was posted last summer.  The AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide also contains a large number of code samples that can be copy and pasted into a VB.NET or C# project and used with minimal effort.  The AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide can be viewed from the following location:

http://www.autodesk.com/autocad-net-developers-guide

As the year goes along, I will post articles that focus on migrating from VBA to VB.NET and some of the basics of VB.NET as they might apply to you the VBA developer.  Until later, take some time to review the AutoCAD .NET Developer's Guide and let me know if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
  Lee

Command Database Updated (Draft)

I have made a series of updates to my Command database to reflect the new and changed commands in  AutoCAD 2011.  The PDF file has not been updated yet, and will not be until the System Variables database has been updated on my Website.  The Command database is located at:

http://www.hyperpics.com/commands/

A Call for Transparency (in AutoCAD)

Transparency is a term or buzz word that seems as popular as social media these days.  Depending on who is using the term it can mean very different things.  In AutoCAD, transparency controls how opaque or solid linework or fills appear.  AutoCAD 2011 allows you to add transparency directly to an object or by layer.  When you create hatch objects, you can specify a transparency value for the hatch object that is being created.  Using transparency with solid and gradient fills is a great way to highlight an area of a drawing or overlay multiple hatch objects without obscuring the objects under them.

The following illustration shows a tree that overhangs a curb.  The image on the left is using a transparency of 0, and the one on the right has been assigned a transparency of 45.  With transparency assigned to the hatch, you can see that a feature in the gutter was hidden before along with some of the sketch work of the tree.

 

Transparency can also be useful in drawing stamps that might indicate a drawing is in a draft state by stamping DRAFT across the drawing or even confidential if it should not be shared.  Watermarks can also be created using transparency, but appear behind the objects of a drawing.

To create a transparent object, you adjust the Transparency slider on the Properties panel of the ribbon.  Select Transparency Value from the Transparency drop-down list to the left of the Transparency slider.  When the Transparency drop-down list is set to ByLayer, the transparency value that is assigned to a layer is inherited by an object when it is created.  After an object is created, you can adjust an object's transparency value using the Properties panel on the ribbon or the Properties/Quick Properties palettes.

The display of transparency in the drawing window is enabled by default but if you find that the performance of AutoCAD seems to be slow, you can disable the display of transparency by clicking the Show/Hide Transparency on the status bar or changing the value of the TRANSPARENCYDISPLAY system variable.

To learn more about using transparency in AutoCAD, see the AutoCAD 2011 New Features Workshop.

The following new commands and system variables affect Transparency:

Commands:

• N/A

System Variables:

• TRANSPARENCYDISPLAY - Toggles the display of transparency objects in the drawing area on or off.
• CETRANSPARENCY - Controls the transparency value that is assigned to new objects.
• HPTRANSPARENCY - Controls the transparency value that is assigned to new hatch objects.

Following my blog for more information on other features introduced in AutoCAD 2011 and AutoCAD LT 2011.

Sincerely,
  Lee

Autodesk Announces AutoCAD 2011 and Other Products

Autodesk has just released AutoCAD 2011, AutoCAD 2011-based products, and other 2011 products today. I will have more information on the changes to AutoCAD 2011 on my Website over the next few weeks.  For more information on the latest product announcements, visit http://www.autodesk.com.