Lynn Allen's Blog

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Selecting the "Unselectable"

Well first off - if you haven't seen the fabulous answer Miss South Carolina gave on the Miss Teen USA contest yet - be sure to check this out for a little giggle.  I must admit I do feel sorry for the poor thing as I'm sure she is quite embarassed over this...(but then that didn't stop me from posting the link now did it!)  It's sure to make you smile and we need that when we're dealing with CAD, drawings,managers, and all that other stress we run into at work.

And speaking of stress...

There's nothing more frustrating than trying to select an object in your drawing only to find your selection goes ignored.  You pick and pick and pick to your hearts content and yet AutoCAD turns its nose up at you and pretends you don't exist.  Depending on the type of object that is suddenly invisible to AutoCAD (but not to you), there are a few settings that just might do the trick for you.

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Selecting the Unselectable:

There are a variety of objects that are sometimes difficult to select.  Images, OLE Objects and wipeouts are the culprits I will address today. 

For example - you have a drawing with an Excel table in it.  The table was inserted with a simple copy/paste - which makes it an OLE object.  You need to move it - but alas, you can't select it!  The system variable OLEFRAME to the rescue.

Here are your settings for OLEFRAME:

0	Frame is not displayed and not plotted
1	Frame is displayed and is plotted
2	Frame is displayed but is not plotted

You will need to set OLEFRAME to 1 or 2 in order to select it.

Or perhaps you have an image in the drawing file.  Same scenario - you can't select it!  You're going to need to use the command IMAGEFRAME to sort this out.

Oddly enough - IMAGEFRAME is an actual AutoCAD command while OLEFRAME is a system variable - go figure!  Here are the settings for IMAGEFRAME:

0          Image frames are not displayed and not plotted.

1          Image frames are both displayed and plotted. This setting is the default.

2          Image frames are displayed but not plotted.

(Ok...basically the same as the settings for OLEFRAME).  It's nice that you can now display the frames for editing purposes, and yet they don't plot...very nice.

So what if you have a wipeout in the drawing?  Well then you're dealing with yet another animal altogether.  In this situation you will use the TFRAMES command to display and edit the frame.  This is a toggle setting so simply keying in TFRAMES will toggle the setting between on and off. Below you can see the wipeouts with TFRAMES off  (left) and with TFRAMES on (right).

So there is my Hip Tip for a Thursday!  Only one more day before the big 3 day weekend in the U.S.  (For the "US-Americans" as Miss So. Carolina would say).  Enjoy!

An AutoCAD Hip Tip to Kick off the Weekend

I figure most of you won't get to this Hip Tip until Monday (can't say I blame you).  For those of you who are reading blogs on Friday afternoon I commend you for your commitment to improving your skills!  Or perhaps you are bored...or perhaps you are trapped in an elevator that conveniently has wireless and you have nothing else to do while you are waiting for them to come and get you out! (my imagination runneth over).

Yesterday I enjoyed a great event in Southern California, the Southern California CAD Summit - put on by U.S. CAD.  They had a full house and offered all types of classes (I even took a couple).  Kade King did a great job talking about Autodesk Design Review 2008, DWF, DWG TrueView  (free stuff on www.autodesk.com).   U.S. CAD just changed their name from L.A. CAD (lest anyone be confused.)

A reader sent me this cartoon (thank you Chris!). 

Love it!

On to an AutoCAD Hip Tip on Layer States:

First off - you need to understand that most AutoCAD gurus use Layer States.  Layer States are golden when you want to really ramp up your design time!  A layer state is basically a saved snapshot of your layer settings that you can restore at any point in time.  If you find yourself spending a great deal of time going into the layer dialog box and flipping layers on and off then you need to use Layer States!  Pre-AutoCAD 2008 you have to go into the Layer dialog box to get to your saved layer states.  With AutoCAD 2008 you can go directly to the Layer State Manager from the Layer toolbar (and I love saving steps - don't you?).

You can also get to it from the updated and fabulous Dashboard:

Or even better - there is a new drop-down list on the Dashboard that allows you to go straight to your saved Layer States in no time flat!  This is the ultimate in time-saving.

In fact...I would go so far as to recommend putting that drop down list on a toolbar so you could get to it even faster than you can in the dashboard! I usually anchor my dashboard (because it is so darn big) which means I have to move my cursor to the icon, wait for it to roll out and I don't always have the patience for this (although I should).  Putting the Layer States drop-down list in a toolbar can easily be done in the CUI by grabbing the "Layer State Combo Control" from the command list (or the dashboard) and dragging/dropping it onto a toolbar (probably the Layers toolbar would make sense).  Below you can see the listing in the CUI.

 

Create Layer States and use them!  They are fabulous and will save you so much time...You'll have to spend some time up front creating them but they are definitely worth the investment.

Have a great weekend!!!  Thanks for all the great emails you've been sending to me...they are always appreciated.

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Attributes

Well it's been a delightful weekend out here in No. California.  Nice and sunny - but not too hot.  I saw Bourne Ultimatum over the weekend and must say I give it two thumbs up!  A great action flick to be sure. 

I've had a few people email me with questions about the attributes now available in the new MLEADER command (AutoCAD 2008).  These are great for ballooning and other such things and are automatically created for you. 

There are some key system variables that will affect how those attributes work when creating your MLEADERS that I feel need to be reiterated.

AutoCAD Hip Tip on Attribute Settings:

There are two system variables that affect how attributes behave as they are being inserted.  ATTREQ and ATTDIA.  The settings of these two key setvars can make all the difference in the world so let's take a look!

ATTREQ:  When ATTREQ is set to 0, you will not be prompted for an attribute value as you are inserting the associated block or MLEADER.  You would then need to double-click on the block (or MLEADER) to set the value.  More than likely you'll want ATTREQ set to 1 to save additional steps.  More than one reader emailed me with this issue.

ATTDIA:  When set to 1, you will receive the attribute dialog box prompting you for a value as seen below.  When set to 0 you will be prompted at the command line.  This is really your personal preference.

So there you have it!  I'm off to finish my article on MLEADERS for Cadalyst!

And this just in - Michael Vick pleads guilty (what a shock).  If he ever plays for the NFL again I won't watch another game until he's gone (which is a huge deal for me - I even have Direct TV's NFL Sunday Ticket!).  Personally, I liked Jay Leno's recommendation to put him at the front of the "Running of the Pit Bulls". 

Since this is a corporate blog I'll stop right there...you can fill in the blank on how I feel about anyone who abuses animals...

A New Free AutoCAD Bonus Tool!

I just received notice that there is a new Bonus Tool out there for all you AutoCADDERS (you know who you are!).  It is called CommandComplete and does exactly as the name infers - it completes your commands for you (just like your "Significant Other" completes your sentences for you).  And it works on both AutoCAD 2007 and 2008 (which is a nice treat indeed!).  All the information you need to install it and get it running is found at the below link.

AutoCAD CommandComplete Bonus Tool.

It looks like this:

 

You start to type and then AutoCAD will help you find the command or system variable you are after.  You'll notice that this new tool offers up a variety of matches that start with or contain the text you key in. You'll even see that it displayed the setting for my selected system variable as well as a brief explanation.  Very cool!

You can configure how CommandComplete works in the AutoCAD default menu.  This menu displays when no commands are in progress and you right click on the drawing area as seen below.

Here you can turn off CommandComplete, control the search process, tell it to ignore system variables, etc.

Now CommandComplete works great if your command line is at the bottom of the screen. Since I do so many presentations I moved my command line to the top of the screen so my audiences can see it more easily (especially those in the back of the room).  Just to make this clear - I do realize that God intended the command line to be at the bottom of the screen (and that is where it belongs!).

It doesn't work so well at the top of the screen as seen below:

It gets cut off...but then it's a new tool (and it's free)...

Give the new CommandComplete a try!

Over and out...

Autodesk University Opens for Pre-registration and Happy Birthday AutoCAD!

First off - I've received some very funny emails regarded my "partially obstructed view" on my cruise last week.  The all time best, however, was sent to me by one of my favorite all time AutoCAD buddies, dave espinosa-aguilar (who also happens to be our all time best Autodesk University speaker).  He sent me a picture of a "partially obstructed dave".

How hysterical is that?  You should definitely use this as your AU picture (you look like Wilson, the neighbor, on Home Improvement). 

All kinds of good things are going on today.  First off - Autodesk University signups have begun for AUGI and Subscription members.  If you want to get a jumpstart on registration for AU 2007 be sure to sign up for AUGI ASAP!  The popular hands-on labs always book up quickly so don't wait too long. Traffic was so intense today you managed to bring the website to a screaching halt so you might want to wait until tomorrow to sign up (let those chipmunks running the AU website wheel catch their breath please).

Did you know that this year is the 25th Anniversary of that little known product called AutoCAD?  Take a look at the 25 year timeline at AutoCAD Timeline.  Happy Birthday to you...Happy Birthday to you...You don't look a day over 24.

I'm getting ready for next week's L.A. CAD - CAD Summit next week.  If you are living in Southern California and would like to catch my AutoCAD 2008 Tips and Tricks presentation in person - or one of the other great classes they are offering - be sure to join us next week!.

Back on the Blog Saddle Again!

Where has the time gone?  Thank you for all the very nice emails asking how I survived the party (and cooking for 100 people!).  We all survived, thanks to the help from everyone in the family who really pulled it together for me!  It became very clear, very quickly that I was not qualified for such a venture! I believe a good time was had by all (pictures to follow). Nearly everyone brought donations for the local Humane Society and I can't wait to take everything over to all the needy dogs, cats and rabbits (yes - someone donated rabbit food!)

Last week I was in work crunch mode trying to get everything together in the office before we took a short weekend cruise down to Mexico with all of our kids (hence the blog silence)  Weekend cruises are much too short...just when you start to relax you are back home!  We opted for a room with a "partially" obstructed view.  Apparently the word "partial" means:  a great big dirty lifeboat will be in the way of your view.

If this is a partially obstructed view - what does an obstructed view look like?  Hysterical!

We were also one of the first fliers to try the new Virgin America airline (after only 2 days in business - were we brave or what?).  We couldn't resist the great prices (there were 7 people flying - that adds up oh so quickly!).  The airplanes were brand new, everyone was oh so nice, but they clearly didn't know what they were doing quite yet.  We were delayed for 2 hours on the flight out because they couldn't figure out who was on board and who wasn't...they checked my daughter in twice and left me out (so we had to go back and get me a boarding pass) and they weren't able to get the personal video systems to work.  The flight back was a little more organized (only delayed by 1 hour this time) and I was able to watch TV on the flight home - which was pretty cool. 

Pics from the Carribean Anniversary party:

A little dancing going on (and some hugging apparently).  It was impossible not to dance to the band.

There I am with Jane by the cupcakes.  Jane and Priscilla offered to make 100 cupcakes - can you believe it?  Not only were they very festive and beautifully decorated but they tasted fantastic!  (completely from scratch).  They probably won't make another cupcake again as long as they live...

Everyone had a bet on what time my daughter Ashley would fall off her 8 inch heels...whoever had 9:30pm won!  (that's my son Joshua on the right there).

Even Tiffany dressed appropriately in her tropical garb.

Hey...if you are in town next year be sure to stop by the shindig!  (If we have the courage to try it again). 

An AutoCAD Hip Tip for changing Text Case

The doors to Autodesk University will be opening up soon for registration.  Be sure to sign up early to ensure you get the classes you want to attend.  Those hands-on labs go the fastest as they only have 80 seats per class.  Last year at the Venetian the halls were pretty congested (the escalators had a line) so this year we are staggering the classes somewhat to help alleviate the traffic.  There are plenty of other cool things up our AU sleeves so be sure to tune into the Autodesk University web page for the latest,  This year we'll have over 500 courses...so there will surely be some topics that you'll find of interest!

On to an AutoCAD Hip Tip for Changing the Case of Text, Mtext, Attributes and Dimension Text:

If you've ever received a drawing from someone where the text case is all mixed up - for example - the text should be all upper case and yet it isn't - you know the pain involved in manually correcting it.  This fabulous Express Tool TCASE couldn't be easier to remedy just such a situation.

All you do is select the offending text (or select all of the text if needed) and indicate to AutoCAD exactly what you want the result to look like as seen below.

And Voila!  What used to be a very time consuming task is over faster than you can say "AutoCAD University".  Well - maybe that's a bit of a stretch but you get the idea!