[ Tutorials ] [ Tips and Tricks ] [ CADzette Archives ] [ Downloads ] [ Books ]

Architectural Desktop Tips

AutoCAD Commands Redefined in ADT

If you are a Lisper and trying to call some commands in ADT2004 - you should be aware that ADT 2004 redefines some of the more common commands - and if you try to run the same routine in AutoCAD2004 - it could work just fine.

These commands are actually redefined in the ADT menu file during the load time. If you look at C:/Documents and Settings//Application Data/Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004/R16.0/enu/Support/adt.mnl, you'll see (command "_undefine" "fillet"). After this line, "fillet" is redefined using AecFillet and Acad Fillet. This is to enhance the Fillet functionality to work with Aec entities. When the Fillet command is used, it first calls AecFillet. If the selected entity is not an Aec object (like a door or a wall), acad Fillet is called.

In a similar way, Layer command in ADT2004 now calls AecLayer. "chamfer", "dfxout", and "units" are all redefined in adt.mnl file.

In order to prevent problems, you should open the adt.mnl file (DON'T USE WORD!!!! It adds formatting. Use the Visual Lisp editor or Notepad.) and check out what commands are redefined.

Only folks who are knowledgeable should be checking under the hood like this - if you have doubts hire an experienced consultant. If you don't know one, check with Autodesk's ADN group and get a referral.

Disable the Drawing Status Display

You want to disable the display of the Drawing Status Bar in Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004.

In the initial release of Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004, you cannot disable the Drawing Status Bar. However, the Service Pack 1 and Service Pack 2 for Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004 enables you to turn off the Drawing Status Bar. The first time you run Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004 after you install Service Pack 1, the following registry key will be created:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R16. 0\ACAD-204:XXX\Profiles\\Preferences\AecStartup40

Note: "XXX" is a three-digit number reflecting the language of the product installed and is the name of the AutoCAD profile that is used at startup.

This key contains a ShowAecDrawingStatusBar value, which by default is set to 1. This enables the display of the Drawing Status Bar. If you set the ShowAecDrawingStatusBar value to 0, this will disable the display of the Drawing Status Bar in the next session of Autodesk Architectural Desktop 2004.

Note: There are two commands that are only available from the Drawing Menu on the Drawing Status Bar, Publish to Architectural Studio and Link to VIZ Render. If the Drawing Status Bar is disabled, you can launch these commands from the Command Line by entering PublishToArchStudio or VizRender. In addition, the Display Configuration selection list will no longer be available but you can access this command from the Command Line by entering DisplayManagerConfigsSelection or you can alternately use your Display Configurations the Display Manager command, which is available from the Format menu.

Download Service Pack 2 for ADT... »

List ADT Commands

To view a list of all the commands available in ADT, on the command line type: ARX,C

Add the Tools Menu to Your ADT Menu Headers

  1. Type Menuload at the command line.
  2. Highlight Tools in the AutoCAD menu group and insert.
  3. Close the menuload dialog.

You now have the Tools menu added.

Changing the Data Format of Space Tags in ADT 2005

You may have noticed that the space tag displays the area with decimal spaces. To modify the way data is displayed in your schedule tag:

  1. In the menu, go to Documentation->Scheduling->Data Format Styles.
  2. Highlight Area. Right click and select 'Edit'.
  3. Select the Formatting tab.You can control how whether or not your area has a prefix or suffix (Note that the default suffix is 'SF'.)You can set the precision on the right of the dialog box.You can select a dimension style by pressing the 'Set from Dimension Style' button. Be sure to select the 'Apply' button to have the precision change affect your space tag. Press Apply and OK to close the dialog.
  4. Go to Format->Multi-View Block->Multi-View Block Update to update the blocks.

To convert a space to an area

  1. Select the Document tools tab on the tool palette.
  2. Highlight the Area tool.
  3. Right click and select Apply Tool Properties to Linework and AEC Objects
  4. Select all the spaces. You can window around all the spaces and it will automatically filter out all the tags.