Lynn Allen's Blog

And the AutoCAD 2008 Show Continues!

Well I definitely enjoyed the Academy Awards last night (as I always do).  I am a huge Ellen DeGeneres fan and was delighted to see her enjoy this great opportunity to emcee (although I wasn't too crazy about her outfits).  My top favorites won - so I'm good.  Loser me hasn't seen any of the top movies - I must do better next year!

Inserting an Excel File as an AutoCAD Table Entity

I had a couple of emails about the ability to Paste Link an Excel spreadsheet into AutoCAD 2008 - I definitely didn't make this clear so let me try again.  You have been able to do this previously with OLE - the advantage with the new method is that it will insert as an AutoCAD entity - a Table.  This table is updateable in AutoCAD and if you do make changes to the table - you can force changes to the Excel file as well...which is really nice!  You can also make changes to the Excel file and have it update the AutoCAD table...so this is a really nice tool.

Working with DGN Files in AutoCAD 2008

Now you can attach Bentley’s MicroStation V8 DGN files to your AutoCAD drawings or export DWG files to V8 DGN format (File menu> Export).  You can bring them in as externally referenced underlays with DGNATTACH (Insert menu>DGN Underlay. You can also clip the DGN from the shortcut menu (or use DGNCLIP) and use Properties to adjust contrast, fade and monochrome (or DGNADJUST). 

Import V8 DGN data with DGNIMPORT (File menu>Import). When importing, a settings dialog will prompt for information regarding external DGN references, text nodes and units to help you get the best results.

 

External References

A new option in the XCLIP command enables you to clip the inverse of a selected boundary (remove the inside rather than the outside).  There have been many requests for this capability so enjoy the possibilities!

So there are a couple more cool features we can all look forward to in AutoCAD 2008...and to finish off I want to share with you an absolutely adorable picture that was sent to me by Jack Androvich.  I opened this up in my Inventor class last week and everyone busted up laughing...

   

Tell me this isn't hysterical!  A birthday party for dogs...Thank you SO much Jack!!!

More AutoCAD 2008 Goodies

My Inventor 2008 training continues this week - some very, very cool features for you AutoCAD users who plan on making the move to Autodesk Inventor!  Now it is going to be easier than ever to make the transition.  I'm having a good time in class but Boy am I tired of sitting in class all day.   I did get an email asking why I haven't made any comments on the Academy Awards (since I am such a big fan)...well, unfortunately, I haven't  even seen one of the movies up for Best Picture and consequently I don't feel qualified to comment.  I hope Jennifer Hudson wins for best supporting actress because I remember watching her on American Idol and it's great to see her being successful.  And I would love Helen Mirren to win for The Queen...along with Forest Whitaker for Best Actor.  So there you have it!  My 2 cents worth (exactly 2 cents and no more).

More AutoCAD 2008 Goodies:

Layout tab improvements

• Rename a layout by double-clicking on the layout tab. 
• Reorder them with a simple drag and drop.
• Use Ctrl and Shift keys to select multiple layouts for dragging and dropping
• Hold down Ctrl while dragging to create a copy
• Drag and drop layout tabs onto the active sheet set to add a new sheet (or select Import Layouts as Sheet from the right-click menu)

Bi-directional Excel Tables

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could bring an Excel file into AutoCAD and truly link the file?  You change the Excel file and it updates in AutoCAD and vice versa.  Well the good days are here because now you can do exactly that! 

Use the updated Paste Special command, choose AutoCAD Entities and select Paste Link to insert the Excel spreadsheet into AutoCAD.  This creates a data link.  Should any changes occur in the .XLS file a bubble notification will appear letting you know the data link has changed, with an easy option to update.  Coolio!

More to come!!!  I wonder who will get voted off of American Idol tonight?

AutoCAD 2008 UI changes

Ok...I confess that last week I was on vacation (yes...again).  Soon I will be on the road for nearly 4 months straight with the 2008 launch so I'm trying to get in a little extra relaxation before the craziness begins!  The good news is that I might be coming to a town near you (I'll keep you posted) and I definitely hope to see you!  So I set my blog up to post while I was gone (pretty tricky - right?) - but now I'm back!  So let's get back to the good news - more AutoCAD 2008 "stuff".

Cool New AutoCAD 2008 UI Changes:

New 2D Workspace

If you are only using 2D AutoCAD commands why not use the new 2D Drafting & Annotation workspace?  This displays powerful 2D tools on the Dashboard.  If you remember from AutoCAD 2007 - we had this really cool Dashboard but it was 90% 3D tools...now we have some great new panels designed just for the popular 2D tools.

2D Dashboard Control Panels

New 2D control panels include easy access to layers, annotation scaling, text, dimensions, multi-leaders, tables, 2D navigation commands, object properties and block attributes.  When you select a tool from the Dashboard the corresponding tool palette also displays (where applicable).  You're going to love some of the new tools on the dashboard - and many of you will be SOOOOO happy to see that the Layer Unisolate (LAYUNISO) tool is back and planted happily on the Layer Control Panel - Happy Day!

Tool Palettes

You decide to customize your tool palettes by dragging and dropping geometry from the drawing to the palette.  You'll find that even if the desired palette is not active - you can easily drag your geometry to an inactive tool palette tab and it will be automatically activated for easy placement (just be sure to give it an extra second to switch).

A new Specify Image option on the shortcut menu makes it easy to assign an image to any tool (it was a little tricky before).

The location of tools on a tool palette is now saved in the tool catalog (and the profile) – this makes it easier to share your tool palettes with others and maintain the same look and feel.  So now when you share your palettes with others it will look the same on their computer as it does on yours!

TPNAVIGATE can be used to set a tool palette current at the command line (for programming purposes). 

That's good for now...more tips later this week!  I'm in an Inventor 2008 course this week trying to catch up on all the awesome new features!  Very, very exciting.  I'll leave you with a very cool image Eric Robb built in Inventor and used Inventor Studio to render.  This is supposed to be his office,I believe, with a nice picture of his family in it.  Eric Robb works for Avatech in North Carolina and is an Inventor Guru!

Have a great week!

More AutoCAD 2008 Info for YOU!

A few more nuggets before a 3 day weekend...I hope you get Monday off!  (all those of you in the U.S.)

MTEXT Column Wrap

Ever wish text would automatically wrap across multiple columns in wide areas of your drawing?  Your wish has been granted with the new dynamic columns option in the MTEXT command. Use Grips along with the text formatting ruler to get the exact results you are after. 

More control over paragraphs

The updated MTEXT command permits more control over paragraph alignment, indentations and spacing. 

More Efficient Spell Checker

No need to select objects first, the updated Spell Checker will search the entire drawing by default.  You can also specify the current space or specific objects if you prefer.  When an error is found, AutoCAD now highlights and zooms to the word in the drawing.

New Check Spelling Settings dialog allows you to customize the spell checker.  You can choose to include dimension text, attributes and Xrefs and set a variety of exclusions such as capitalized words or words with numbers..

Create Attributes with multiple lines of text!

New Multiple Lines option allows you to create attributes that support multiple lines, underlining, overlining, fields, etc.  Hoorah!!!

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Have a great weekend...

The AutoCAD 2008 Madness Continues!

Ok...let's get right to the point...on to more information on the next great release of AutoCAD!

New Layer Evaluation Tool

A new Settings button in the Layer command allows you to turn on a new layer evaluation tool. 

*           The first time you save or plot, the current list of layers is stored for evaluation purposes

*           When new layers are added a notification appears indicating “Unreconciled New Layers”.  Click on the link to view the non-matching layers.

*           A new layer filter for unreconciled layers will be automatically created.

*           Layer Settings allows you to customize this process

*           Two new system variables: LAYEREVAL and LAYERNOTIFY can also be used

New Layer Panel on the Dashboard

Quick access to all these cool new tools including the very popular Layer Isolate (LAYISO) and Layer Unisolate (LAYUNISO) commands! New fading options allow you to lock and fade background layers (rather than hiding them completely).

Recover drawings along with Xrefs

New drawing utility allows you to run the recover process on a drawing and all the associated xrefs.  Find this under Files>Drawing Utilities or use the RECOVERALL command

Change Copy Multiple Default

Set the system variable COPYMODE to 1 to default to a single copy.

Publish Sheet Sets in Reverse Order

New option in the Sheet List right-click menu allows you to publish in reverse order.

Control whether sheets are published as a single job

New PUBLISHCOLLATE system variable allows you to print one sheet at a time.  This allows other plots to enter the printing queue.

Stay tuned tomorrow for more exciting Bat-Preview Tips...

Happy Valentine's Day to you!

And my little Valentine's present for you is more AutoCAD 2008 preview information!  : )

Multiple Leaders

The new MLEADER command permits more control over leaders than ever before.  Not only can you control the order of leader creation (head first, tail first or content first), but you can also add multiple leader lines where needed.   

New Multileader Style Manager (MLEADERSTYLE) controls the format and display options (just like dimension styles).  New options include:

·          Type of leader line (straight, spline or none)

·          Type of arrowhead

·          Leader connection info

·          Text information

·          Assign a block (great for creating balloons!)

Tip:  use the right click menu to add additional leader lines.  Use grips for speedy editing.

Aligning Leader Lines

Leaders not lining up properly?  The new MultileaderAlign tool snaps leaders into place for you – you can even control the spacing between them!

Use the MLEADERCOLLECT command to combine multiple block-type leaders into a single multileader.

Smart Dimension Break command

The new DIMBREAK command breaks dimension or extension lines where they intersect objects or other dimensions.  The breaks automatically update if you move the intersecting objects (even if they no longer intersect!).  You can also use the Restore option to remove all breaks.

Other Cool Dimension Features:

• Create inspection dimensions with the new Inspection Dimension tool (DIMINSPECT)

• Add a jog to linear dimensions with the DIMJOGLINE command
• Evenly space dimensions with the DIMSPACE command.
• Dimension an arc beyond its endpoints with the updated diameter and radial dimension commands

• Place the dimension text outside of the angle being measured with the updated Angular dimension command
• New Tolerance alignment option in the Dimension Style dialog box allows you to align decimal separators or operational symbols.

Be nice to your Sweethearts today!

It's Official - AutoCAD 2008 is here!

The time has come...once again...for the blogging to commence on the next release of AutoCAD!  I'll be posting a few new features each day for those of you who prefer to take your medicine in smaller doses...  here we go!

Layer properties Per Viewport

There have been so many times I’ve wished we could assign layer properties per viewport – and finally the wish has been granted!  No more tedium duplicating geometry on separate layers and flipping the layers on and off per viewport.  Now you can double click in a viewport and assign a specific color, linetype, lineweight and plotstyle per layer that affects only the current viewport (Hoorah!)

 

Remove these viewport overrides from the right-click menu.  Use VPLAYEROVERRIDESMODE (phew!) to temporarily ignore the overrides for viewing or plotting.

These overrides only affect those objects that are bylayer.  Use the new SETBYLAYER command to quickly change objects to bylayer. (including those within blocks and nested blocks!)

Direct access to the Layer States Manager

New LAYERSTATE command (LAS alias) provides access to the Layer State Manager from the command prompt (also on the layer panel of Dashboard). Use the new Import option to bring in layer states directly from DWG, DWT or DWS files.  You can also edit or view layer states from Xrefs now!

Customize the Layer Manager

Now you control the display order of the layer property columns by dragging and dropping the column headings (put your favorites on the left for easy access).  Too many columns?  Turn off the ones you aren’t using by selecting Customize from the right-click menu.

New Layer Options

The shortcut menu allows you to create a new layer that is frozen in all viewports (also available as a new button).  Here you will also find the addition of freezing or thawing the selected layer(s) in all viewports. 

There are now three ways to rename a layer.  Double click on the layer name, Select a layer and hit F2, or select Rename from the shortcut menu.

Tune in tomorrow for more info on AutoCAD 2008!

Multiple Insertion Points! Part Deux!

Hmmm...do any of you remember the movie Hot Shot!  Part Deux?  (or is it just me...)

I received a great email from Kyle Krewson building on my tip from yesterday - so I'd like to include his suggestions (thanks Kyle!) along with a cool command that lives inside of the BEDIT command.

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Multiple Insertion Points Part II:

Yesterday we learned how to create a block with multiple insertion points.  We added in a few Point Parameters (see yesterday's post) to allow us to cycle through a variety of insertion points. Well - If you try to move your block with multiple point parameters by grabbing that grip - it wants to move just that point, rather than the entire block (which could be bad)...to make sure this doesn't happen to your block, be sure to include a Base Point Parameter (you'll see that on the bottom of the toolbar).  This will also be used as one of the insertion points for your block.  You'll probably want your Base Point Parameter to be the most frequently used insertion point.

I also came across the cool BCYCLEORDER command.  This command can only be used in the BEDIT command, but it allows you to control the order of the cycling.  It's super simple to move the insertion point order around - but do yourself a favor and name the parameters something logical.  This can easily be done in the Properties command.

Check it out!

I'm off to make dinner!  Happy AutoCADding!

A Super Bowl AutoCAD Hip Tip!

What an exciting Super Bowl!  Way to go Colts!  Of course we had a small Super Bowl shindig...and of course no one was allowed in unless they wore blue and white!  I even bought Colts shirts for all those in attendance (just in case)...  Congrats Peyton!  Below is a picture of me (after they won - hence the big smile) and Tiffany.  Thank you LIsa for the great Colts Balloon!

 

and a close up of Tiffany and her Colts hat (yes...a Colts hat!)

A good time was certainly had by all...(although I'm guessing Tiffany would have preferred to go without the hat!)  thanks so much for all the fun emails!

Ok...back to business...

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Creating Blocks with Multiple Insertion Points:

Unfortunately for us, blocks by their very nature have only one insertion point.  Depending on where you are placing a block, it would often be very advantageous if we could have more than one insertion point for a block.  I even know plenty of users who create multiple block definitions of the same block - just with different insertion points!  Such a drag!  You can easily create a block definition with multiple insertion points in the dynamic block editor.  Even if you have no desire to add any other dynamic block properties to a block - give this simple trick a try!  Come on...be brave!

If you've already created your block - double click on it to go into the block editor (BEDIT command).  You can also select the block and select Block Editor from the shortcut menu.

You'll need to add some custom grips.  I found the easiest way of doing this was with the Point Parameter.  Simply select it from the palette as seen below, and select the place on your block you want to use as an extra insertion point.  Repeat this process as many times as needed. 

At this point in time you'll see the evil exclamation marks staring at you...just ignore those (or at least try).  These indicate that you have assigned no action to them - but the world will still continue to rotate on its access without an action. 

Highlight just the grips you've inserted (not the entire parameter...just the grips) and go to the Properties command.  Under the Misc. section you will see an option for Cycling - make sure that is ON (It probably is).

Now save your block and exit.  Check it out!  As you are inserting your block press and release the Ctrl key and you'll find that the insertion point jumps from one custom grip to the next!  (Don't hold down the Ctrl key or you'll get a headache).  It's that simple!

Have a great week!

It's off to the Super Bowl!

I can barely stand the anticipation!  Who is going to win?  I'm just so happy the Colts made it this far - but just how much better would it be if the took it all the way!  You have all sent me so many different emails about the Super Bowl - everything from Wallmart predicts the Super Bowl winner through its sales (apparently they've been right 3 out of the past 4 years) to the most festive pet Squirrel:

How adorable is that?  Thank you all so much!  Good luck to both teams (but especially to you Colts!)  :-)

I spent the past couple of days in Oregon visiting the Autodesk Inventor team - I even had a chance to meet up with Amy Bunzel of the Autodesk Inventor Blog.  We were going to take a picture together and we forgot!  Bummer...she's great - and it's always great spending time with the Inventor gang - I always learn so much.

On to an AutoCAD Hip Tip on Moving Data from One Drawing to Another:

Forget the Insert and WBLOCK commands, use good old Cut and Paste to move objects from one drawing to another.  Highlight the objects, Copy to the clipboard (Ctrl+C) and then...wait!!!  Don't just do a typical Paste (Ctrl+V)...you'll lose the object's place in space (perhaps never to be found again!)  More often then not you're going to want to Paste to Original Coordinates.  This will paste the objects to the same space and location as they were in the original drawing.  Paste to Original Coordinates can be found in the right-click menu or you can assign it to a shortcut key (since it doesn't already have one assigned...Boo-Hoo!).

You can also choose to Copy the objects to the clipboard with a Base point.  This can be done by highlighting the objects, right-clicking, and selecting Copy with Base Point from the menu (shortcut key of Ctrl+Shift+C for you coordinated folks).  This also makes it easy to paste your objects into the target drawing in the proper location because they will appear relative to the base point you selected.

Tip:  If you find yourself using the "Paste to Original Coordinates" option more often than "Paste to Block" - why not give the shortcut key combination of the latter (PASTEBLOCK) to PASTEORIG.  This can easily be done in the CUI. 

I'm off tonight to a benefit for a local animal refuge charity called WildCare.  They call it the Nature Lovers Ball...I've taken a couple of injured birds there myself...they are a great organization!

Go Colts!!!