HyperPics: Beyond the UI

Heading to AUGI CAD Camp June 7th

Hey everyone out there... have you ever wanted to attend Autodesk University, but can't afford to go or be out of the office for a full week.  AUGI is offering a one day event in a city near you called CAD Camp.  This one day event is full of classes and opportunities for network with other people in your area.  From what I have heard these events are very good and offer a variety of sessions.  For a cost of $99 for those that sign-up before the early bird deadline and $129 for those that sign-up after the deadline it is hard to not find a reason to go.

I will be heading to the event that is closest to me on June 7th.  This event is being held in St. Paul, Minnesota.  It is still not too late to sign-up for the event, but sessions are filling fast.  So what are you waiting for... come out and learn some new tips and techniques that will help you back in the office.  If you are attending and want to chat just come up and talk.  I am out there more for the networking, but will be taking in many of the sessions that will be offered during the day long event.  Below is an over view of the schedule.  To find out what sessions are available visit the AUGI CAD Camp website.

7:30a - 8:30a		Registration Open - Exhibitor Showcase Open
8:30a - 9:00a		Keynote Address and Event Orientation
9:00a - 10:15a		Breakouts - Course Session 1
10:15a - 10:30a		Break and Exhibitor Showcase Browsing
10:30a - 11:45p		Breakouts - Course Session 2
12:00p - 12:30p		Solution Showcase
12:30p - 1:30p		Lunch
1:30p - 2:45p		Breakouts - Course Session 3
2:45p - 3:00p		Break and Exhibitor Showcase Browsing
3:00p - 4:15p		Breakouts - Course Session 4
4:15p - 4:30p		Break and Exhibitor Showcase Browsing
4:30p - 5:45p		Breakouts - Course Session 5
5:45p - 7:30p		Evening Reception and Main Stage Presentation  - Sponsored by Avatech

Hope to see some of you out there.

Sincerely,
  Lee

May Issue of HotNews

The latest issue of HotNews is full of many different articles covering a wide specrum of topics.  Get ready to learn some new things this month.

Migration Madness
First in a series of articles designed for those of you who wear the CAD manager's hat. This month, it's all about migrating to new versions.

ABS 2006: Tips and Tricks
Want some quick and easy ways to make the most of Autodesk Building Systems 2006? Here, straight from Autodesk, are some valuable tips & tricks.

TIPniques
Custom icons for Tool Palettes.

Customization Corner
Part 2 in the series on creating and customizing toolbars.

If you are not receiving AUGI HotNews or are not a member of AUGI go to the AUGI website and sign up. It is free to receive the newsletters and becoming a member is free as well.

Click here to access the AUGI website

Click here if you are already an AUGI member, but don't receive HotNews in your inbox

Sincerely,
  Lee

AutoCAD 2006 - Lock Attribute Position

AutoCAD 2006 introduces many great enhancements with blocks and the way they are inserted and managed.  One of the new features that is part of the updates in AutoCAD 2006 is the ability to set an Attribute so its position is locked and therefore can't be moved using grip editing.  The property can be changed through the Properties palette after it has been created through the Attribute Definition dialog box or ATTDEF command.  But what if you wanted to update an existing attribute through code or add this functionality to an existing LISP routine that you might have in your tool kit.

I have taken the time to figure out who Autodesk is handling this functionality at the object level.  Just like the Dimension Mask (or Fill Color) in AutoCAD 2005/2006, they are using Xdata on the object.  Below is a sample set of code that demonstrates how to set and unset the Lock Position behavior on an Attribute Definition.

;; Begin code
;; Written by Lee Ambrosius ([email protected])
;;                 HyperPics LLC (http://www.hyperpics.com)

;; Created on: 5/12/2005

;; AutoCAD Release: 2006

;; This program allows you to lock the position of an Attribute.

;; Sets the Lock Position behavior
(defun c:SetAttLock()
  (setLockPosition
    (car (entsel "\nSelect Attribute Definition to set Lock Position: "))
    '("AcDbAttr" (1070 . 0) (1070 . 1))
  )
)

;; Removes the Lock Position behavior
(defun c:RemoveAttLock()
  (setLockPosition
    (car (entsel "\nSelect Attribute Definition to remove Lock Position: "))
    '("AcDbAttr" (1070 . 0) (1070 . 0))
  )
)

;; Example (setLockPosition entityName '("AcDbAttr" (1070 . 0) (1070 . 1))))
(defun setLockPosition (entityName lstValue / entData)
  (if (/= entityName nil)
    (progn
      (setq entData (entget entityName '("AcDbAttr")))

      (if (= (cdr (assoc 0 entData)) "ATTDEF")
        (progn
          (if (/= (assoc -3 entData) nil)
            (if (= (nth 0 (cadr (assoc -3 entData))) "AcDbAttr")
              (setq entData (subst (cons -3 (list lstValue)) (assoc -3 entData) entData))
              (setq entData (append entData (list (list -3 lstValue))))
            )
            (setq entData (append entData (list (list -3 lstValue))))
          )

          (entmod entData)
        )
      )
    )
  )
(princ)
)
;; End code

Happy coding...

Sincerely,
  Lee

Express Tools - Updated System Variable Dialog for AutoCAD 2006

Express Tools are one of the best things in AutoCAD, but yet they are one of the things that some users of AutoCAD just don't know anything about.  Express Tools have been around since AutoCAD R14 when they were originally named Bonus Tools, then they were renamed to Express Tools with AutoCAD 2000.  One of the things that will bring some visibility to the features within the Express Tools is that they are no longer a separate install like they have been in previous releases.

It seems that even though the Express Tools have been added to the main install of AutoCAD, there seems to have been some updates that got missed for a couple of these tools.  Shaan Hurley has posted an updated file to the System Variable dialog box utility that allows you to change and view the current value for each of the system variables in the current release.  The updated data file can be downloaded from Shaan's blog.

Click here to download the updated System Variable dialog box data file.

Sincerely,
  Lee

Command Aliases Now Listed

I have just finished adding Command Aliases to the System Variable and Command reference pages on my website, HyperPics.com.  The Command Aliases that are listed on the pages are based on the defaults set in the acad.pgp file that ships with AutoCAD 2006.  Let me know what you think or would like to see added to these two listings in the future.

Click here to access the System Variable listing
Click here to access the Command listing

Sincerely,
  Lee

AutoCAD 2006 - System Variables Updated

I have just recently finished updating my system variables section of my web site with the latest information on AutoCAD 2006.  The site now displays the following information for each of the newly introduced system variables for AutoCAD 2006:

Description
Read-only state
Data type
Stored in
Default value
Comments
Whether it participates in the SysVarChanged event

You need to be a member of HyperPics.com in order to access this information.  As a non-member of the site you have access to the quick overview of which variable is used in which release only, but not the content that was mentioned above for each system variable.  Membership is free so what are you waiting for, click here for to sign up.

Click here to access the System Variable section of the website.

I will be updating the PDF files for reading off-line in the up coming days.  Stay tuned for more updated information on AutoCAD 2006.

Sincerely,
  Lee

AU 2005 - Orlando, Flordia

It’s never too early to start planning to attend the year’s largest week of learning Autodesk products and networking with new/old friends.  Last year, marked the 5th year of being in Las Vegas and it was the biggest turn out for AU yet.  Last year pushed the number of attendees over 4,000.  It was a lot of fun as usually and this year should be even bigger.  In favor of a different location Autodesk has chosen Orlando, Florida for this years AU.  So those that live on the East coats will have a short flight, while those on the west coast will get to experience the flight across the country.  Really doesn't matter too much for me as I am in the mid-West anyways.  So either direction isn't too bad.

This year’s event will be held at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin resort from November 28 - December 1.  This year marks the conferences 13th year, it will be interesting to see what is in store for the attendees.

Visit the AU 2005 web site for more information
Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin website

I have been at AU for the past 6 years and have enjoyed every minute of the experience.  The first year is typically hard to digest the amount of information that is taught in the hundreds of classes that you can choose from over the 4 days.  If you are a first time attendee don't expect to not be overwhelmed and prepare for lack of sleep.

If you attended last years event for the first time you have a good idea what I am talking about.  Hope to see you there as it is truly something that every user of an Autodesk product should experience at least once.  Don't wait until registration in August opens to ask the boss to attend AU, you might want to slowly work it in over the next couple of month's.

Sincerely,
  Lee

New AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2006 books

This year I have had the privilege to take a look at two very different books on AutoCAD 2006 and AutoCAD LT 2006.  These books have something to offer every user of AutoCAD and are both excellent resources to learning basic 2D to advanced 3D concepts. I am sure I will read plenty of other books on the new release yet this year, but these are the two that I have read so far.

AutoCAD 2006 for Dummies (available in May 2005)
The book is written by Mark Middlebrook and David Byrnes.  It is great for those that are new to AutoCAD or are casual users of the product.  It is a great follow up to the AutoCAD 2005 edition.  To learn more about the book, visit the Wiley publishing website.

AutoCAD 2006 and AutoCAD LT 2006 Bible (available in Sept. 2005)
The book is written by Ellen Finkelstein.  It is by far one of the best AutoCAD books that I have read from cover to cover, and is written for those that are both new and old users of AutoCAD.  Yes, I did say cover to cover - I have no life other than AutoCAD so what do you expect.  The book is one of the best on the market that covers just about every feature in the product and makes the features easy to understand and apply.  It is a great follow up to the AutoCAD 2005 and AutoCAD LT 2005 edition.  To learn more about the book, visit the Wiley publishing website.

If you are currently, using AutoCAD 2005 you might consider picking up those editions of the books as they provide many great tips that can help top make you more productive in your everyday drafting.

Sincerely,
  Lee

Teratrax Database Manager

During my recent ventures into SQL for my web site I had evaluated a couple different tools to create/manage my databases for my web site.  I found that Teratrax Database manager 4.0 was by far one of the easiest tools that I took a look at.  It made creating new tables and even managing some of the content very straight forward and easy.  For about $100 I feel it is worth the investment if you are the casual to more serious database administrator.

Click here to go to the Teratrax website

Sincerely,
  Lee

Autodesk 3ds Max 7.5 (Subscription exclusive)

Its still strange not having Discreet in the name, but rather Autodesk.  Even with Discreet missing from the title name, 3ds Max 7.5 has many great things to offer up.

3ds Max 7.5 is available exclusively to Subscription members and comes with Hair & Fur, mental ray 3.4 and features for design visualization that come with Autodesk Viz in one package.  Beyond these improvements there are going to be some additional eLearning tools, plus the Cloth Extension that was made available earlier this year.

What are you waiting for... head on over to the subscription web site to download and learn more about the exciting new features.
Subscription web site

Sincerely,
  Lee