-------------------ACAD newsletter--------------------- Newsletter about AutoCAD and AutoLISP ------------------------------------------------------- Vol 1, No 1 January 2001 ------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------- Welcome to ACAD newsletter! --------------------------- ACAD newsletter is a monthly newsletter that helps YOU to learn AutoCAD and AutoLISP for free! It's distributed by subscription only. Instructions for subscription and unsubscription are below. The purpose of the newsletter is to give her readers a better understanding of AutoCAD and AutoLISP. The readers of the newsletter could be draftspersons, students, AutoLISP programmers, and AutoCAD professionals. The readers of the newsletter could be new to AutoCAD. But they can also have a professional experience with AutoCAD. Whatever the newsletter gives her readers good and thorough information about AutoCAD and AutoLISP. Copy write @ 2001 JEbooks If you like this newsletter, please help spread it. Know somebody interested in AutoCAD and or AutoLISP? A friend? Tell him or her. Let's know and get a FREE Ad in one of the next issues of ACAD newsletter. Privacy Policy: We respect your privacy. Your e-mail address will never be sold or distributed to anyone. Subscribe: mailto:acadnewsletter-subscribe@topica.com Unsubscribe: mailto:acadnewsletter-unsubscribe@topica.com If you're interested in advertising in this newsletter send an e-mail to the editor. Jos van Doorn, editor Contact: mailto:josvandoorn@hotmail.com ------------------------------------------------- For best viewing maximize the window to full size ------------------------------------------------- In this issue we have prepared for you.... 1. Top Sponsor Section 2. Notes from the Editor. 3. About AutoCAD PGP File 4. AutoLISP Program for Drawing Blanks - Part 1 5. Privacy Policy, Legal Stuff and Advertising Info. ---------------------- 1. Top Sponsor Section ---------------------- Are you in e-commerce? Or thinking about it? Then here is a place to check out: http://www.sitesell.com/josvandoorn.html You'll find here the following four e-books: 1. Site Build It! The book helps to build a steady stream of targeted visitors who are ready to buy. Who's it for? - Affiliates and would-be affiliates - Online storekeepers and Net auction vendors - Professionals selling their services - Entrepreneurs who e-sell their own products 2. Make Your Knowledge Sell There's a book in everyone. You know something that other people would pay to know. MYKS! is a proven system that shows you how to find "the infoproduct within," how to create and publish it, and how to market and sell it. 3. Make Your Price Sell The right price can literally triple your net profits. Heck, it can make the difference between success and failure. And if you don't have a product yet or are considering one, a feasibility study can save you a year of time and expense. 4. Make Your Words Sell If you want to sell more, use the right words. Because words sell, not graphics. The book will help to find the right words. Use it to sell your products. Or even use it to start your own copywriting business. It goes even better. You can become an affiliate. Their program was chosen "Best of 1999". They give a lot of support. And as an affiliate you'll get a discount on the books! ------------------------ 2. Notes from the Editor ------------------------ Welcome to JEbooks newsletter. I hope you'll like it. Please take a minute and forward this to a friend. I would like to welcome all the new members who joined since the last issue, we are now getting a lot of new members all the time.... Depends on what you mean a lot... Anyway all of this is thanks to a great new program I joined recently which is called TNL. It's a site which generates you hundreds and soon thousands of subscribers to your newsletter free. All you need to do is run an ad promoting it in your newsletter. We got about 150 subs from this service already and we're a very targeted list! I heard that there are lists that got a lot more! It was launched about 10 days ago and it's been a hit! This is simply a magnificent program which you mustn't miss at and it's free too! This newsletter has an article about the ACAD.PGP file and it has an article about an AutoLISP program for drawing blanks. Do you like those articles? Great. Maybe you want to read about other subjects. Feel free to send us an e-mail. Just tell us about what subject you want to read. And we'll make an article about it. Also we're thinking of moving to a biweekly schedule meaning you'll get an issue once every two week.. Any drawbacks on this? Let me know... Jos ******************************************************* HIGHEST PAYOUT OF ANY AFFILIATE PROGRAM FOR EZINES! Get Paid up to 8$ for Each Visitor! The FunEZines.com affiliate program is paying you 8 cents per each EZine or Newsletter Subscription which originates from your link. This gets to be as high as 8$ per click! Go on Join us now & you'll make money in no time! Visit: http://www.funezines.com/affiliates/signup.cgi?referrer =josvan ******************************************************* Eliminate your long distance phone bills. With PhoneFree.com you can place free PC-to-PC calls anywhere in the world. You can even make free video calls, or send pictures and files while you talk. Install PhoneFree in minutes. All details can be found at: http://www.bepaid.com/users.rhtml?REFID=11502666 ******************************************************* ------------------------- 3. About AutoCAD PGP file ------------------------- AutoCAD commands can be entered in several ways. The pull-down menus can be used or the toolboxes. Names of commands can also be entered via the keyboard. But there is another and quicker way for entering AutoCAD commands. The commands can be abbreviated and to engage the command the abbreviation is typed in. Here the ACAD.PGP file is used. In the file are the abbreviations specified and the commands to which they refer. The syntax is: abbreviation,*command The abbreviation is entered at the command prompt. For the abbreviation one, two, or three letters are used. The letters used for the abbreviation are the start of the command or identifying the command. The abbreviation A could be used for the ARC command. Before the name of the command an asterisk is placed. That's done to identify the name of the command as a command. For transparent commands the minus symbol prefix is used. Here are some examples of abbreviations and commands that can be used in a ACAD.PGP file: A, *ARC AR, *ARRAY AT, *DDATTDEF ATE, *DDATTE B, *BLOCK BH, *BHATCH BR, *BREAK C, *CIRCLE CH, *DDCHPROP CHG, *CHANGE CHA, *CHAMFER CP, *COPY D, *DDIM Z, *-ZOOM The abbreviations and the commands can be placed in the ACAD.PGP file as mentioned. The folder for the ACAD.PGP file is the SUPPORT folder of AutoCAD. Not only AutoCAD commands can be specified in the ACAD.PGP file. Also external commands can be specified there. The external commands can be DOS commands and Windows commands. The syntax is: Command,[Dos/Windows Request],Bit Flag, Prompt Examples of external DOS commands as can be specified in ACAD.PGP are: CATALOG, DIR /W, 0,File specification: , DEL, DEL, 0,File to delete: , DIR, DIR, 0,File specification: , SH, , 1,*OS Command: , SHELL, , 1,*OS Command: , TYPE, TYPE, 0,File to list: , Examples of external Windows commands as can be specified in ACAD.PGP are: EXPLORER, START EXPLORER, 1,, NOTEPAD, START NOTEPAD, 1,*File to edit: , PBRUSH, START PBRUSH, 1,, Command is entered at the command prompt. The DOS/Windows request is the name of the command. The prompt is displayed at the command prompt after the command is entered. The meaning of the bit flag is: bit meaning 0 wait for the application to finish 1 don't wait for the application to finish 2 run the application minimized 3 4 run the application hidden 5 hide the application and don't wait 8 put the argument string in quotes The bit flag field is filled with the sum of the desired bits. Bits 2 and 4 are mutually exclusive. If both are specified, only the 2 bit is used. The most useful values are likely to be 0, 1, 3, and 5. The values 2 and 4 should normally be avoided. They make AutoCAD unavailable until the application has completed. Bits 2 and 4 are mutually exclusive; if both are specified only the 2 bit is used. Bit 8 allows commands like DEL to work properly with filenames that have spaces. ------------------------------------------------------- About the author: **************************************************** * Writer of this article is Jos van Doorn. He is * * an AutoCAD specialist, AutoLISP programmer and * * editor of the ACAD newsletter. To subscribe to * * the FREE newsletter send e-mail to: * * * * mailto:acadnewsletter-subscribe@topica.com * * * * He has written six AutoCAD books. Interested in * * the books. Let him know. Send an e-mail to: * * * * mailto:josvandoorn@hotmail.com * **************************************************** ******************************************************* Send a FREE animated greeting. Go to their site. Ther you'll find a lot of member services such as: My AddrBook, My Photos, My Horoscope, My Calendar. Cards can be sent in 14 languages. There are 16 catagories of cards. Go to: http://www.blab.com/ecards ******************************************************* MAKE BIG MONEY AS AN EZINE PUBLISHER! My Online Success ezine was made while I was sleeping! NO pain...lots of gain! Become a prestigious ezine publisher in 5 minutes! Learn more at: http://www.EzineHelp.com/resellers/10124 ******************************************************* ----------------------------------------------- 4. AutoLISP Program for Drawing Blanks - Part 1 ----------------------------------------------- Let's make a start with the blanks program. In this newsletter and the enxt three newsletters the program will be explained. The parts are: 1. description of the program naming convention of the program 2. main program 3. layer function 4. draw function -------------------------- Description of the program -------------------------- The blanks program can be used to draw blanks in a drawing. Blanks are rectangles with a text in it. The size of the blanks depends on the size of the text. Blanks can be drawn on different layers. Before a blank is drawn a layer is set. The name of the layer on which the blanks are drawn is entered. If the layer exists then the layer is set and all the blanks are drawn on that layer. If the layer doesn't exist then it's created. All the blanks are drawn on the new layer. In general blanks are drawn in existing drawings. Therefore before the place of the blank is determined by selecting a point it most be possible to move it in the drawing. Naming convention of the program The program is called BL.LSP. It has three parts: 1. the main program 2. a function for setting the layer 3. a function for drawing the blank The program has a name, the functions have names, and the used variables in the program have names. A convention is used for naming all these elements. The name of the program is short. That makes typing in the name of the program at the command prompt easy. This thought doesn't go for the functions. The names of the functions have five positions. The name of the function for setting the layer is SETLA. The name of the other function is DRWBL. The names of the functions are descriptive. SETLA stands for SET LAYER. DRWBL stands for DRAW BLANK. Using five positions for the name of a function is good enough. The names of the used variables are short and also descriptive. The names of the variables only have two positions. Here is a list of all used variables. Var Use Var Use LA layer HT height text CT continue LB length blank P1 starting point HB height blank TX text NR number LS list PT point VL value IP insertion point LT length text **************************************************** * Writer of this article is Jos van Doorn. He is * * an AutoCAD specialist, AutoLISP programmer and * * editor of the ACAD newsletter. To subscribe to * * the FREE newsletter send e-mail to: * * * * mailto:acadnewsletter-subscribe@topica.com * * * * He has written six AutoCAD books. Interested in * * the books. Let him know. Send an e-mail to: * * * * mailto:josvandoorn@hotmail.com * **************************************************** ******************************************************* Free Ezines & Newsletters! Visit FunEzines.com now and grab FREE Ezine & newsletters on any imaginable subject! The quality is top notch and the price is FREE! It doesn't get any better than that! Visit: http://www.funezines.com/index.cgi?referrer=josvan ******************************************************* http://www.MintMail.com/?m=156987 Get paid cash every time you receive email! Sign up FREE at: http://www.MintMail.com/?m=156987 ******************************************************* ----------------- 5. Privacy policy ----------------- This newsletter is only sent on request. Our list of subscribers is strictly confidential. That means that your details have never been and never will be passed on to any third party. Your privacy is greatly respected. Should you ever wish to unsubscribe, full instructions are always provided. Spread the word about this newsletter by leaving this information intact if you are forwarding it to a friend. Better yet, tell your friend to subscribe! Use the subscription E-mail address below! We would really appreciate it! To subscribe: mailto:acadnewsletter-subscribe@topica.com Advertising info: If you wish to advertise in this newsletter, you shouldn't wait a second longer. Ad rates now are the lowest for the season. The ad rates are: Top sponsor message: 10$ per issue Ad in the sponsors section: 5$ per issue Exclusive sponsor mailing: 35$ per mailing The ad guidelines are: Ads have to be up to 8 lines including a URL and a mail to tag. Each line can have up to 60 chars. Exclusive mailing can have up to 75 lines 60 chars per line. Legal stuff: ACAD newsletter publishes original content and tips that are distributed by readers. ALL of our articles are original and copyrighted 2001 and on by Jos van Doorn and any other contributing publishers. If you wish to publish any of the content here in your newsletter please contact Jos van Doorn at mailto:josvandoorn@hotmail.com He's the editor of this newsletter. Reprinting or reproducing this newsletter can be done only if you keep it all together. You may NOT reproduce any part of this newsletter in a way without a written permission from the list owner. The signatures are to be kept intact. ------------------------------------------------------- Disclaimer: ACAD newsletter accepts no responsibility whatsoever for the content or legality of any customer's advertisement shown in any e-mailing. It is the advertisers' responsibility to check and abide by the Local, State, Federal and International laws pertaining to the products, services or business opportunities they advertise, as well as all laws pertaining to the products, services and/or business opportunities promotions. All offers in this publication, are void where prohibited by law! ----------------josvandoorn@hotmail.com---------------- Jos van Doorn - editor ACAD newsletter Jalan Watan 12 CA-4-24 68000 Bandar Baru Ampang Malaysia (03) 42706214 ------------------------------------------------------- -- Jos N. van Doorn. AutoCAD specialist, AutoLISP programmer. Also publisher of ACAD newsletter. Subscribe for FREE. To subscribe to ACAD Newsletter: mailto:acadnewsletter-subscribe@topica.com ______________________________________________________ Get Paid... With Your Free Email at http://www.zwallet.com/index.html?user=josvandoorn