AutoCAD: Secrets Every User Should Know

ISBN-10: 0470109939

ISBN-13: 9780470109939

"I've been using AutoCAD for 22 years and have written a hundred books on the subject. I reviewed many CAD books back in the days when book reviews were common in CAD publications; some were innovative, others were just sad. But for nearly a decade, it's been mostly silence on the book review front. Then earlier in the summer, a book arrived in the mail from Sybex: AutoCAD Secrets Every User Should Know by Dan Abbott. Reading it, I got excited: here's a book for every AutoCAD user, even...

Discover Powerful Techniques and Features That Most Users Overlook Whether you're designing houses, landscapes, or machines, there are AutoCAD tricks-of-the-trade that even seasoned users don't know—tips that can improve your skills, understanding, and productivity. This practical, in-depth book reveals those secrets. You'll find smart ideas on customization, applying graphics standards, managing symbol libraries, leveraging 3D, and more. It even includes an insider's look at features that are used in the field but often ignored in other books, such as DOS functions, scripts, and AutoLISP® programming. The final chapter, AutoCAD Puzzlers, challenges readers to solve real problems from real AutoCAD users.Explore real-world solutions and best practices. Is it faster to produce an accurate drawing or an inaccurate one? Find out why you should take technical graphics standards seriously and how to make AutoCAD apply themHarness information rarely found in other books, such as how to rapidly change thousands of drawings using scripts and batch files, how to use the Visual LISP® editor to produce and debug AutoLISP programs, and moreTake full advantage of AutoCAD's interface to improve your productivityEnjoy bonus extras, including the AutoLISP programs, other code used in the book, and a review of key features by release www.sybex.com

Introduction. Chapter 1: AutoCAD Productivity. Design Standards. AutoCAD Best Practices. Feature Review (All Releases). Chapter 2: Managing Your System. Managing Files. Managing AutoCAD. Directories. Why DOS Isn’t Dead Yet. External Commands and Command Aliases. Chapter 3: Customizing the AutoCAD Interface. Tool Palettes (All Releases). The Customizable User Interface (CUI). Linetypes (All Releases). Chapter 4: Applying Graphics Standards. Dimensions. Dimensioning Rules. Text Styles. Linetypes and Weights. Applying Standards. Chapter 5: Symbols, Tables, and Fields. Blocks. Dynamic Blocks. Symbol Libraries. Assigning and Extracting Attributes. XRefs: External References. Fields and Tables. Chapter 6: Plotting. Model Space, Paper Space, and Layouts. What to Put Where. Plotting a Layout. AutoCAD Graphics in Other Applications. Chapter 7: AutoCAD Scripts. Characteristics of Scripts. Writing and Running Scripts. Updating Thousands of Drawings. Chapter 8: AutoLISP by Example: Getting Started. Background. Writing AutoLISP Programs. AutoLISP Examples. Automatic Loading. Chapter 9: AutoLISP by Example: Getting Better. Debugging Techniques. Error Handling. Annotation. Selection Sets and Entity Manipulation. IF Function. Repeat Function. WHILE Function. COND, INITGET, GETKWORD. Text and String Manipulation. Getting to DOS with AutoLISP. Chapter 10: 3D For Everyone. Overview. Managing Coordinate Systems. Creating a Model. Using Existing 2D Geometry. Final Suggestions. Chapter 11: AutoCAD Puzzlers. The Puzzlers. The Solutions. Index.