Lynn Allen's Blog

An AutoCAD Hip Tip from New Jersey

Ahhhhhhh - my travel/speaking schedule has caused me to desert those in my blogdom...but I thought I'd pop back in for a quickie.

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Finding XREF object property information:

An attendee in my New York presentation last week was looking for a tool that allowed him to find out layer information on objects in attached xrefs.  For example, he wanted to know what layer a specific line was on in an external reference.  I scratched my head for a minute and a nice lady (also waiting in line to ask me a question) threw out the XLIST command.  Perfect!  The XLIST command (which is actually an Express Tool) makes it easy to find out information about objects in xrefs or blocks.

For example - below is an external reference.  I'd like to know what layer the green lines are on.

No Prob Bob!  Just use the fabulous XLIST command and select one of the green lines. You'll get the results as seen below:

Hoorah!  Problem solved (and I so love that...)

I'm off to Philly tomorrow...now if only I could get my own Tour bus...(in my dreams!)

An Almost Autumn AutoCAD Hip Tip

I trust everyone enjoyed one of the last weekends of summer..I am so not ready to see these nice days fade away into fall.  Those of you back east are starting to get those beautiful autumn leaves (I am so envious).  I hope to see some of them when I'm off to New York and New Jersey this week.

I received so many emails from you readers out there trying to help out with the "empty text dilemma" of last week.  A million thanks to each of you who sent me a solution - you are all brilliant!  Many of you wrote to me suggesting Quick Select (QSELECT).  This great command makes it easy to filter out all the text objects (I will go into more detail below).

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on finding Invisible Text Strings (the Sequel):

One reader, Rob Nykvist, sent me an AutoLISP routine that he uses to get rid of empty text strings.  I'm hoping he's okay with my sharing this nice routine with all of you! It appears to be written by Julia Ball and then updated by Rob (I always like to give proper credit).  Using this routine is super simple.  Download blanktxt.lsp file to a directory you can get to easily.  Use the APPLOAD command in AutoCAD to load the command into the current drawing session.  You then run the lisp routine inside of parenthesis like this:  (BLANKTXT)  - this is done at the command prompt.

Note:  I noticed that it couldn't find my empty MTEXT objects but it did a great job at deleting any text strings created from the DTEXT or TEXT commands.

You can also use the cool QSELECT command to find your empty text strings. This is available in the upper right corner of the Properties dialog, keying it in directly at the command prompt, in the Tools menu or from the default right-click menu (phew!).  Let's just say there is no shortage of places to find QSELECT (this command obviously has a very good marketing dept).  Below you'll find the settings you need to choose to delete the text created with the TEXT or DTEXT commands:

So you will select Text (Object type), Contents (Properties), *Wildcard Match (Operator) and a space under Value.

It's VERY important that you hit the space bar under the Value option...

This same process works for your MTEXT objects as well.  In fact this was just about the only way I could figure out how to delete empty MTEXT objects.

Incidentally - if you aren't familiar with the way QSELECT works you will now have a selection set of empty text objects (they will be highlighted) - you can then easily erase them.

A great big thank you to everyone who wrote me about these pesky empty text objects...Jeff Ng (who went to great lengths to lay all of the QSELECT options out for me), Darin Schreier, Rene van den Brink (who also recommended using the good old FILTER command) along with many others of you.  Thank you so much!

Well - that was a long post!  I need to go pack for my trip back East tomorrow!

Join Me in New York, New Jersey and Philly!

Late next week I'm off to New York City, New Jersey and Philadelphia!  If you live in any of those areas please come and join me as I cover some of my favorite AutoCAD tips. Be sure to introduce yourself to me as a blog reader (it's always so nice to connect with you out there in the blog world!).

João Greno Brogueira has been working overtime lately with his aggregated Autodesk blog site.  If you want to read all of the Autodesk blogs (when their content changes) in one easy to find place you can get the info at:     All the Autodesk Blogs 

This is great for you who "just can't get enough" (or perhaps are having problems sleeping.)

Quite a few readers chimed in on some added powerful benefits of the QTEXT command - let's take a look!

An AutoCAD Hip Tip on Finding Empty Text objects:

Have you ever run into a drawing where it becomes a postage stamp when you do a zoom extents - even though all of the layers are visible?  There is something out there - but where is it and what is it?  Often it is an empty text string - they entered the DTEXT or TEXT commands and entered a couple of spaces for the text (heaven forbid!) Technically it's a text object - but it's empty.  How are you going to find that?  This can be very irritating if it happens to be placed far out in outer limits,  QTEXT to the rescue!

Turn QTEXT to ON, regenerate the drawing and those nasty little hidden text strings will appear as rectangles.

So there is a big disclaimer here! - if you are on AutoCAD 2007 or 2008 you will not get the rectangles (drats!  What happened?).  You will get some microscopic dots that might help you out (it's better than nothing I suppose).  And if you have empty MTEXT objects - well I couldn't get QTEXT to recognize those at all...(double drats!).  So if you have any great suggestions to offer up here it would be appreciated!  I know we have some super gurus out there...

Thanks to Philip and Tracy for their input here on QTEXT!  Keep these great ideas coming...

And fabulous news about Bill Everett...  At least it is a step in the right direction...

I'm off to Vegas tomorrow for some meetings on User Groups (strictly business!) so you may not hear from me for a couple of days.

A Discount on Great Autodesk Courseware!

For those of you who like to read your way to knowledge (I have my hand up here as well), you should definitely take a look at the Autodesk Official Training Courseware. 

Here you will find some great titles like "The Essentials of Customizing AutoCAD" and AutoCAD 2008, Transitioning from AutoCAD 2007 (which would go into things like Annotation Scaling!) along with courseware on all your Autodesk products.  And believe me...the guys who write this courseware are definitely in the know!  I've attached a sample chapter of the "Essentials of Customizing AutoCAD" curriculum.  This chapter focuses on Workspaces and the CUI.

Download aotc_sample_chapter_customizing.pdf

You'll also get this courseware if you take a class from an Autodesk Training Center.  For those of you who know me, I am a big fan of all things ATC.  That's exactly where I go when I need to learn a new Autodesk product (like Inventor).

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I hope you are enjoying the week!  It's hard to believe the NFL is up and running.  Our hearts and thoughts definitely go out to Kevin Everett and his family.  It's so very sad when these young men get hurt especially as seriously as Kevin did.

A Weekend AutoCAD Hip Tip to Save You Time

I was chastized by more than one reader for not mentioning anything about the NFL opening game and the fabulous victory for the Colts (for those of you just tuning in - I am a huge Colts fan).  What a great game (although I was a tad concerned in the first half).  And then last night Peyton Manning was on SNL (a repeat)...it's a Peyton Manning Extravaganza! 

Autodesk University is exploding with nearly 5000 attendees signed up so far!  We're running about 30% more sign-ups than last year...wow!  This is going to be the biggest AU yet!  If you haven't signed up for this super exciting conference (CAD Mecca) - go directly to www.autodesk.com/au!  Do not pass go - do not collect 200 dollars...

An AutoCAD Hip Tip that saves you time when you are overwelmed with too much text!

Bryan Duffel reminded me of a very simple command that can really help you save time when you've been inundated with too much text on your screen.  As Bryan noted - this is especially helpful when you have users who have exploded inserted excel tables.  So what does QTEXT (short for Quick Text) do for you?  Quite simply - it converts your text to rectangles...and rectangles regen SOOO much faster than text strings.  So enter the QTEXT command and turn it ON...followed by a regen to see the results.  When you need that text back - simply turn QTEXT back off. 

For those of you who remember the old days when we heavily relied on QTEXT to speed us up, you also remember that the rectangles were oh so much longer than the actual text (which could make you think your text didn't fit properly).  Worry not because QTEXT now gives you a rectangle that matches the length of the text (as it should!). 

BTW:  QTEXT also works on attributes

Have a fabulous week! 

Oh Where Oh Where has my Little Lynn Gone?

I know I'm behind on my blog postings when dave e-a starts to send me emails asking about my whereabouts! I am "technically" on vacation this week (hence the silence) and I guess I thought you wouldn't notice...but not so!  I suppose that's a good thing - I need to worry when nobody notices...right?

Alright - so now I'm feeling really sorry for poor Miss Teen So. Carolina...she is definitely feeling like that Southwest Airlines commercial..."So you want to get away?"  Shaan Hurley sent me another hysterical link on Miss Teen So. Carolina's brain that you might find funny...although I post it in shame (but it is funny). 

We had the first of a series of webcasts for our Autodesk University speakers helping them prepare for AU.  Two top rated instructors, Robert Green and Matt Murphy, gave us a great presentation on creating a great outline and doing research for a presentation - I even picked up a few tips!  Robert Green is a world-renowned expert on CAD Management and asked me to promote his recent survey...so...

Calling all CAD Managers!  Be sure to fill out the CAD Management survey today!  (how was that Robert?)

Now on to an AutoCAD Hip Tip:

AutoCAD Hip Tip on Revealing Invisible 3DFACES:

Philip Schlickenmaier kindly reminded me of yet another system variable that helps you select the "unselectable"  (see last post).  If you or someone else has created a 3DFACE with invisible edges - good luck trying to select it!  Those invisible creatures can be a real nuisance.  No fear - the SPLFRAME system variable is here!  Simply set SPLFRAME to 1 and do a REGEN.  Presto!  All those sneaky invisible edges appear and you can do with them as you please!

I'm off to enjoy my next two days off...just hanging around home trying to get myself organized (emphasis on the word "trying"!)    Enjoy!