Customizing AutoCAD

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PRACTICAL EXAMPLES
Look how AutoLISP is used
in order to improve design

What means customizing?

AutoCAD® is a general-purpose drafting system designed with an open architecture so you can customize and extend its many features. As a result, you can expand and shape AutoCAD according to your needs. The basic customization features for AutoCAD include the following:
Running external programs and utilities from within AutoCAD; making a Help system for applications and in-house procedures; creating custom dash and dot linetypes, hatch patterns, shapes, and text fonts; creating custom menus and toolbars to modify the AutoCAD user interface; customizing the status line and five application programming interfaces (APIs).

The programming interfaces to AutoCAD

Command scripts.
ActiveX Automation^TM (previously known as OLE Automation).
Any application that serves as an Automation controller (such as Visual Basic or any of the Microsoft® Office 97 applications).
AutoLISP® and Visual LISP®.
ObjectARX® programming interface, you can use the Microsoft C++® .

AutoLISP
AutoLISP, a specialized implementation of the LISP programming language, is an integral part of AutoCAD.

AutoCAD introduced AutoLISP as an application programming interface (API) in Release 2.1, in the mid-1980s. LISP was chosen as the initial AutoCAD API because it was uniquely suited for the unstructured design process of AutoCAD projects, which involved repeatedly trying different solutions to design problems.

Designning at computer velocity

You can adapt AutoCAD to your work needs by using AutoLISP to automate repetitive tasks and create new AutoCAD commands. You can write your own AutoLISP programs or use third-party and shareware programs.

AutoLISP applications or routines can interact with AutoCAD in many ways. These routines can prompt the user for input, access built-in AutoCAD commands directly, and modify or create objects in the drawing database. By creating AutoLISP routines you can add discipline-specific commands to AutoCAD. Some of the standard AutoCAD commands are actually AutoLISP applications.

Customizing or buying third-party packages?

Many add-on packages on the market pretend to take all the strain out of design and drawing using AutoCAD. However, the users still make a lot of manual tasks and utilize a small amount of capabilities of these "finished" packages.Perhaps this kind of packages do not fill the expectatives and needs of users. Customizing seems to be the best and personal solution to specific needs of users.

"Any serious AutoCAD user has a hard drive full of AutoLISP routines (or even compiled C programs) that do most of the meat of production: insert entire subsections into a drawing, calculate complicated metrics, adjust scales, make customizing, editing, marking-up, plotting, etc. a snap and save us hundreds of man hours -PER PERSON- a year."
A.G.
W.J.