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Path: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu!bloom-beacon.mit.edu!hookup!news.dfn.de!fu-berlin.de!news.mathworks.com!uunet!in1.uu.net!svc.portal.com!news1.best.com!shellx.best.com!shell1.best.com!psheerin From: psheerin@shell1.best.com (Peter K. Sheerin) Newsgroups: comp.cad.autocad,comp.answers,news.answers Subject: comp.cad.autocad FAQ Supersedes: <3u9hi9$le@news1.best.com> Followup-To: poster Date: 15 Sep 1995 17:37:45 GMT Organization: Best Internet Communications Lines: 648 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU Expires: 30 September 1995 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <43cdl9$1ii@shellx.best.com> Reply-To: psheerin@best.com NNTP-Posting-Host: shell1.best.com Content-Type: text/x-usenet-FAQ; version=1.07; title="AutoCAD FAQ" Summary: This AutoCAD FAQ, posted to comp.cad.autocad, comp.answers, and news.answers. Feedback is greatly appreciated. Keywords: cad AutoCAD FAQ X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Xref: senator-bedfellow.mit.edu comp.cad.autocad:15876 comp.answers:14303 news.answers:53037 Archive-name: CAD/AutoCAD-faq Version: 1.07 Posting-Frequency: weekly Last-modified: 7:28 am Thursday, September 14 URL: http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/CAD/AutoCAD-faq/faq.html Welcome to the comp.cad.autocad newsgroup and autocad@jhuvm.jhu.edu mailing list! This newsgroup / mailing list is for discussion of AutoCAD, Autodesk's products and related topics. Here are some answers to "frequently asked questions" (FAQs) in this newsgroup. However, be warned that the only mechanism we use to compose these FAQs is to gather information submitted by people around the net, post it regularly, and incorporate feedback. All evaluations are the opinions of those who submitted them; your mileage may vary. This is the first pass at the FAQ. It should be considered a beta version, designed to finesse the format. I'll start adding more questions to the FAQ soon, but first I want to get input on what information to include up front, separate from the Q&A section. This FAQ will be found in multiple locations (See "Where is this FAQ posted?") This FAQ is being maintained in an ASCII format that can be translated directly to HTML (the Web format) by some nifty software written by Thomas A. Fine, at Ohio State University. See the following link for an example of what the Web FAQ archive looks like: http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/top.html See the following link to see an example of what a properly formatted FAQ looks like (most of the others are just conversions of FAQs not maintained in Mr. Fine's format): http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/faq-format/top.html Copyright Statement ------------------- This document is Copyright 1995, by Peter Sheerin. Permission to republish this document for commercial purposes must be obtained from the author. Revision History ---------------- August 6th, 1995 Added questions, updated URLs to point to new HyperText FAQ archive. Updated patch level list. Updated listserv addresses. July 15, 1995 Added copyright notice. Updated document and structure to accurately conform with Tom Fine's FAQ format; it should work now. Updated document template and macros to aid maintaining FAQ format. July 10, 1995 Gained *.answers approval. Section 1. Questions about this FAQ ----------------------------------- 1.1.) What is a FAQ? FAQ stands for "Frequently Asked Questions". A FAQ is a list of questions and answers about a particular topic that is designed to answer the most commonly-asked questions, so that they donÆt have to be answered over and over. They are typically found on USENET, and associated with specific newsgroups (equivalent to CompuServe Forums). They are also a good repository for odd bits of information about the topic that would otherwise get lost among all the other discussions. This is the first time a FAQ has been created for AutoCAD; I hope you find it useful! 1.2.) Where is this FAQ posted? This beta copy will appear in only two locations, initially. Posted to comp.cad.autocad Posted to the CADENCE forum on CompuServe as a message Once the format has been stabilized, and I've added a significant number of questions, this will also be posted to the following locations: * comp.cad.autocad * comp.answers * news.answers * the CADENCE Magazine WEB and FTP sites * the Ohio-State Web FAQ site * to the CADENCE forum on CompuServe, as a library upload 1.3.) How to I submit questions to the FAQ? Please e-mail all submissions (or better yet, questions *with* answers) to: psheerin@best.com and include the words "AutoCAD FAQ" on the subject line. Do not expect a reply from such messages. If you need to contact the FAQ maintainer, please send e-mail to psheerin@best.com and don't put the above words in the subject line. Please do let me know in each submission if you would like credit for the answer, and if you would also like your e-mail address included. 1.4.) What format should the Q&As be in? I maintain the FAQ in a Word for Windows 6.0 document, with styles defined to match the format necessary for the parser that converts the FAQ into HTML code, for the World Wide Web version. This means I'll take anything that reasonably resembles the Q&As in this document. 1.5.) Who is maintaining the FAQ? Peter Sheerin is the Technical Editor for CADENCE Magazine, who is maintaining this FAQ in his copious spare time. Section 2. Information About comp.cad.autocad --------------------------------------------- 2.1.) Is comp.cad.autocad newsgroup mirrored to an e-mail listserv? Yes, the listserv at jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu mirrors all postings to the Usenet newsgroup. This is especially useful for those that do not have an Internet connection to newsgroups. In addition, the posts are logged into monthly files and archived at JHU, and are available for retrieval via the listserv. To subscribe to the list Autocad, send an e-mail message to: listproc@listproc.hcf.jhu.edu In the body of the text put only: subscribe autocad your_first_name your_last_name (ie, subscribe autocad Mickey Mouse) There's no need to indicate your address, the listserv will automatically pick it up. You should receive a reply from the listserv indicating that you have been added to the AutoCAD mail list. For further instructions on how to use the listserv send a message to the same address with one word in the text body: help If you send a separate message to the listserv with the words "index autocad" you'll receive a reply detailing what archive files are available (April 1992 to the present). To get yourself off the mail list, simply send a message to the listserv stating: "signoff autocad" (or) "unsubscribe autocad" Again, you will receive a reply indicating you've been removed. 2.2.) If I don't have access to Usenet newsgroups, how can I post to comp.cad.autocad? If you're on the AutoCAD mail list from the listserv@JHU, you can still interact with the newsgroup. First, any e-mail message you receive forwarded from the newsgroup will have the original person who posted it as the Reply address (not the newsgroup). Second, if you want to post a reply or a message to the AutoCAD list through the listserv, send your mail to: autocad@listproc.jhuvm.hcf.jhu.edu There are over 350 subscribers to the AutoCAD mail list at this address. However, your message will not be posted to the comp.cad.autocad newsgroup. To post to the newsgroup itself without having an Internet newsgroup connection, you can send your message via e-mail to a server in Texas that will post it to the newsgroup for you. Address your mail to: comp-cad-autocad@cs.utexas.edu Note that while the newsgroup is called comp.cad.autocad, the server recognizes it by the name comp-cad-autocad. Section 3. General Questions and Answers -------------------------------- 3.1.) What are the latest versions of AutoCAD? * OS/2 1.0 Release 10 * SCO Xenix Release 10 * DOS 286 Release 11 * DOS 386 Release 13c3 * Windows 3.1/WfWG Release 13c3 * Windows NT (Intel) Release 13c3 * Windows NT (Alpha) Release 13c3 * Windows 95 (Currently Unsupported)* * Mac System 7 Release 12 * SunOS 4.1 Release 12 * Solaris 2.0 Release 13 * HP/UX 9.x Release 13 * SGI Iris Release 13 * IBM AIX Release 13 * DEC Ultrix Release 12 * = Release 13 has been announced on these platforms, but is not shipping yet. 3.2.) Are patches available for any versions of AutoCAD? Yes. Use ftp://ftp.autodesk.com/pub/autocad/patches to log to Autodesk's FTP site. Most of the latest patches will always be there. Occasionally, "lesser" patches will only be available on CompuServe or from your dealer. Just little things like AutoVision, ADE, etc. 3.3.) Are customized menus compatible across platforms? The only differences would be in LISP code embedded in the menus, and platform-specific icon (toolbar) systems. In Release 12, toolbars are present in the Windows version only, and have their own unique definition format. Release 12 for Windows and for the Macintosh allow certian text menus to be replaced by icons; these formats also differ. 3.4.) How can I view GIF files (or other raster images) inside AutoCAD? In AutoCAD Release 12 or Release 13: The GIFIN, PCXIN, and TIFFIN commands let you import raster files into your AutoCAD Drawing. AutoCAD displays the imported image and lets you drag the image into position and scale it to the desired size. The imported image is made up of one SOLID entity for each pixel in the original image (though some combining is made for groups of same-colored pixels), so they can have a dramatic effect on file size. The pull-down menu under Render. Try Render, Files, Replay Image... AutoCAD Render will load (and ask you to configure it if you havenÆt already done so), then display a dialog box enabling you to temporarialy display TGA, TIF, RND, or GIF files in the AutoCAD graphics window, without actually inserting it into the drawing (basically the same concept as with VSLIDE). Section 4. Electronic Resources ------------------------------- 4.1.) Are there any FTP sites for AutoCAD files? Yes. A list and descriptions follow: A handful of files are available on Autodesk's own FTP site ftp://ftp.autodesk.com/ , which just recently opened up. The key files are the moment are the patch files to upgrade some versions of Release 12 to c3 (for DOS) and c4 (for Windows). Autodesk now has a Web site of their own, which includes lots of goodies, including their technical support documents: http://www.autodesk.com/ CADENCE Magazine has all of the code ever published in the magazine available at ftp://ftp.mfi.com/pub/cadence/ CADENCE also has a Web page: http://www.mfi.com/cadence/ There is a public archive of many AutoCAD related files available at ftp://oak.oakland.edu/pub/msdos/autocad/ Please pass on any other sites that you know about! 4.2.) What forums are available on the commercial services, such as Compuserve? Well, CompuServe, for one ;-). Autodesk maintains several forums: * ACAD, for discussion of AutoCAD * ARETAIL, for discussions of the Retail Products divisions' software * ASOFT, for discussions of 3D Studio, and other multimedia products The CADENCE forum is the official CADENCE Magazine presence on CompuServe, with a forum and libraries, including code published in the magazine. 4.3.) What vendor BBS and web sites are available for drivers, tech support, etc.? Lots. Please help me add to this list: * Calcomp BBS 714/236-3045 * HP Plotters http://www.hp.com 4.4.) Other miscellaneous resources There is a gopher service available on the internet called the "Electronic Newsstand", which offers (partial) electronic versions of many different magazines. Typically, the Table of Contents, and one or two articles from each issue are posted, along with subscription information. Currently, both CADENCE (gopher://gopher.internet.com:2100/11/alpha/all/cadence/) and Cadalyst (gopher://gopher.internet.com:2100/11/alpha/all/cadalyst/) are on-line here. Section 5. AutoCAD Usage Questions ---------------------------------- 5.1.) When in tilemode = 0 in a modelspace window, if you use the windows scoll bars, it scolls the Paperspace view, not the Modelspace view. Am I missing something or Is this an absurd action? Yes, it is an absurd action, but we're stuck with it for now. 5.2.) What are the numeric code equivelants to the special text codes (%%)? alt+177=▒ (+/- tolerance symbol) alt+176=░ (degrees symbol) alt+216=╪ (circle diameter symbol) alt+248=° (small circle diameter symbol) <i>(Is this standard? -PKS)</i> The above numeric key sequences are for DOS. Under Windows, prefix the alt code with a zero, for a total of four digits. 5.3.) The special character codes (%%) don't work in Release 13. Why not? Using the %% character string does not work in mtext but still works for dtext and regular text. However, Unicode supports many more symbols. The old format of typing %%c for diameter is \U+2205 in Unicode, %%p for plus/minus tolerance symbol is \U+00b1 in Unicode, and %%c for degree symbol is \U+00b0 in Unicode. For overlining: \O & \o \Othis is overlined text\o for underlining: \L & \l \Lthis is underlined text\l See Autodesk fax information document #967 for more detailed information: http://www.autodesk.com/prodsup/techdoc/faxback/fax967.html 5.4.) What are the actual dimensions for the standard, named paper sizes? It varies with the field of work, and sometimes it varies from company to company. Usually if you are working in a mechanical field: A size is 8-1/2 x 11 B size is 11 x 17 C size is 17 x 22 D size is 22 x 34 E size is 34 x 44 But most architechtual and civil engineers use a slightly larger sheet which is: A size 9 x 12 B size 12 x 18 C size 18 x 24 D size 24 x 36 E size 36 x 48 ??? All DIN/ISO Formats have a proportion of sqrt(2). The A0 sheet has exactly 1 m2 in area. A1 has exactly half the area of A0, and its sides are sqrt(2) shorter (length is equal to A0 width, width is half of A0 length) and so on. The B and C formats (there is also a D) are thought for corresponding enveloppes, folders, etc. (standard enveloppe is C6 or C6L [110 x 220]). B sizes are geometrically intermediate to A sizes. C and D are geometrically intermediate sizes to A and B. All numbers are in international units (rounded to the next mm). class A B C -------------------------------------------------- 0 841 x 1189 1000 x 1414 917 x 1297 1 594 x 841 707 x 1000 648 x 917 2 420 x 549 500 x 707 458 x 648 3 297 x 420 353 x 500 324 x 458 4 210 x 297 250 x 353 229 x 324 5 148 x 210 176 x 250 162 x 229 6 105 x 148 125 x 176 114 x 162 The specific values for the "A" sizes: Size Size in mm Size in Inches Total area ----------------------------------------------------------- A0 841 mm X 1189 mm 33.1" X 46.8" 1.0 sq. meter A1 594 841 23.4 33.1 .5 A2 420 594 16.5 23.4 .25 A3 297 420 11.7 16.5 .125 A4 210 297 8.3 11.7 .0625 A5 148 210 5.8 8.3 .03125 5.5.) How do I maintain frozen layers in a file that contains an external reference? I don't want to re-visit the layer control dialog every time I open the drawing. Look up the system variable VISRETAIN. Xrefs appeared in Release 11, but this variable was not introduced until Release 12, and doesn't work properly until Release xx. 5.6.) Is their way or anything that will let AutoCad save as EPS or Adobe Illustrator files? Believe it or not, but AutoCAD has three ways to export a drawing in EPS format: 1. The PSOUT command. 2. The Plot command, with AutoCAD configured with a PostScript driver, then plot to file. 3. The Plot command, with AutoCAD configured with the PostScript Raster Output driver (creates a raster-only EPS file). -- From Ralph Grabowski Section 6. AutoCAD Config and Memory ------------------------------------ 6.1.) We are experiencing a huge number of instances where our users recieve an "Unhandled Exception" error in AutoCad R13. We are using 486 PC's under Windows 3.1 on a Novell Netware 4.1. Can anyone offer any suggestions. Many have found this problem also. The cure is to increase the virtual memory size. The absolute minimum should be 65MB. Some will need even larger sizes. Section 7. Plotting Questions --------------------- 7.1.) AutoCAD R12c3 network version running on a Sun Sparc attempting to plot to an HP pen plotter. I recieve the following error message after a few minutes of plotting: "An error has occurred while writing to the hard copy device. Please check that it is turned on, online, and has paper. Abort <Y/N>" This situation is forcing me to sit in front of my station and keep hitting the return key just to keep the plotter running. You need to change the plotter time-out value. You can do this in the configuration of the plotter or at the plot dialog box. If you set the value at 0, the plotter will wait forever. The default is 30 seconds. Timeout messages occur when AutoCAD temporarily stops sending information to the plot device because its buffer is full. Once the plot device "catches up," AutoCAD sends information again. See your Installation and Performance guide for more information. 7.2.) Where can I find plotter drivers for my DesignJet? Robert McNeel & Associates (Seattle Washington (206) 545-7000) sells PlotPack, which provides excellent HP-GL/2 support. Don't forget HP's drivers at ftp://ftp-boi.external.hp.com in the directory pub/plotter/win_dos 7.3.) Where can I find an AutoCAD printer driver for the 550c. He can't seem to get the printer to work with the supplied drivers. Try printcad part of PRTGL152.zip from an MSDOS\SIMTEL\Plot Directory available at many sites on the net. It has an on-line manual which shows how to set up the program for different printers. It produces very good results. There is also a commercial package, Print a Plot Pro, available. And don't forget to check out HP's latest drivers. They always seem to be coming out with an upgrade which improves upon previous releases. Section 8. Networking Questions ------------------------------- [under construction] Section 9. Digitizing Questions ------------------------------- [under construction] Section 10. ADS or ARx Questions -------------------------------- [under construction] Section 11. AutoLISP Questions ------------------------------ 11.1.) Where can I find AutoLISP routines on the Internet? Code from CADENCE magazine is available at ftp://ftp.mfi.com/pub/cadence ftp://ftp.synapse.net/private/c/cadsyst Ventana has a site at http://kells.vmedia.com/archivers/autocad.html 11.2.) AutoLISP is powerful and convenient. However, debugging an AutoLISP program is quite difficult. Are there any recommended debugging techniques? Are there any tools that can help? There are some debugging programs like ALLY [from oak.oakland.edu] and Vital Lisp from Basis Software, but, in practice, the best support you can have for debugging is write your code in a well designed, modular style, pulling out distinct tasks into separate functions and then liberally using nested function calls. This will allow you to use the TRACE function as needed to locate any errors. -- From Ben Olasov Section 12. Menu Customization ------------------------------ [under construction] Section 13. Networking Questions -------------------------------- [under construction] Section 14. AutoCAD Solid-Modeling Questions -------------------------------------------- 14.1.) Does anybody know if there is a newsgroup/mailing list/WWW-Site etc. dealing with the ACIS Geometric Modeler? You might want to try the listserver at cs.columbia.edu. There is a mailing list on it called "acis-alliance". To subscribe, do the following: * send mail to "listserver@cs.columbia.edu". * make the first line of the message "subscribe acis_alliance". * You should get mail back confirming your addition to the list & giving you other useful info. There is also an ftp site there. Here is the skinny on that: There is an anonymous FTP site supporting this group: it is at cs.columbia.edu. FTP to cs.columbia.edu (128.59.16.20) using the user name of "anonymous" and a password of your e-mail address (please, only FTP OUTSIDE of regular business hours, EST). Change to "/acis-alliance" and there you will find an directory called "incoming" as well as some other directories containing various files. Feel free to upload any useful ACIS stuff and to announce them through the mailing list. Section 15. AutoSurf Questions ---------------------- [under construction] Section 16. AutoVision Questions -------------------------------- [under construction] Section 17. R12/R13 Rendering Questions --------------------------------------- [under construction] Section 18. AutoCAD Error Messages/Crashes ------------------------------------------ This is a list of error messages reported by AutoCAD. 18.1.) ALERT: read_sbuf buffer wrap:func=55 len=514 pmscrn=1988 ascrn=2502 occurred in Release 12 when writing a block to disk -- ****************************************************************************** * Peter K. Sheerin Technical Editor, | Work : psheerin@mfi.com * * CADENCE Magazine & AutoCAD Tech Journal | CompuServe: 71621,3173 * * 600 Harrison Street, San Francisco, CA | Personal : psheerin@best.com * * * * <URL:http://www.mfi.com/cadence/> <URL:http://www.best.com/~psheerin/> * * <URL:http://www.mfi.com/atj/> * ******************************************************************************