|
 |
Volume IV Issue 18 |  |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dear Elise,
This year I am skipping AU. I attended AU five years running. AU is a great event and if you have never gone, you really should try to get out there at least once. However, I have gotten to the point that if I am not teaching at AU, the only reason to go would be to connect with colleagues. Much as I like my colleagues...the cost of attending AU is a little hard to justify solely to hang out. On the other hand, I have a lot to learn about SolidWorks, have never attended a SolidWorks conference, and haven't been to New Orleans since before Katrina hit. Additionally, the cost of SolidWorks World is less than $800 (if you register early)...half of the cost of AU. Granted, the SolidWorks conference is also about half the size, but that just makes it more cozy. Let me know if you plan to be there too and maybe we can get together for a drink during the conference or try to track me down and be sure to say 'hi'.
For some reason, within 24 hours of my landing in the hospital, I received more than five requests from users all over the world wanting free lisp routines. My policy on lisp requests is pretty basic. If it takes less than fifteen minutes for me to write the routine, it is free and I will generally do it. You would be amazed by how many routines can be written in under 15 minutes. The second rule is only one freebie per person. You would be amazed at how many people suddenly think of me as the Free Lisp Routine Fairy....hey, don't abuse my good nature....that's like taking the whole bucket of Halloween candy instead of your fair share. However, if the routine is going to take more than 15 minutes, I usually decline the project. Most people aren't willing to pay my going rate for a lisp routine...I mean it could easily cost as much as a seat of AutoCAD software if it is a particularly challenging program. Martin Streat of the UK recently requested a version of my popular cabnum lisp routine. This routine creates two layers and then auto-places a prefix; i.e. A/B/C and then a subtext number, auto-incrementing the numerical values. What makes the routine interesting is that the -layer command has changed somewhat, so that now you can set color using True Color or RGB values. If I hadn't written the routine, I wouldn't have learned that. Secondly, the routine allows you to freeze the layers for the prefix and subnumber separately or set them to No Plot if desired. The code is open and commented, so if you are interested in lisping, you can learn how to create layers and control how text is placed.
SolidWorks has an interesting feature when you are in 2D Drawing mode. You can view a horizontal and vertical ruler around your drawing. This allows you line up views, notes, etc. To access it, simply go to Views->Rulers.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
 |