Select objects and the status bar reads 14 objects selected. Deselect and it reverts to whatever it said before. TALLYBAR is small, but it removes a constant low-grade uncertainty — did that window actually catch the row of blocks, or only most of them?
What TallyBar does
TALLYBARON enables the counter; TALLYBAROFF disables it and restores the status bar. The counter is enabled automatically when the file loads.
How to use it
- Load the routine with
APPLOAD, or put it on your support file search path. It turns itself on. - Select objects and read the count in the status bar.
- Type
TALLYBAROFFto turn it off,TALLYBARONto bring it back.
How it works
Two reactors do the work, and the second is there for a specific reason.
:vlr-pickfirstmodified fires whenever the pick-first selection changes, which covers ordinary windowing and clicking. That is the main trigger.
:vlr-commandEnded is needed because QSELECT and SELECTSIMILAR build their selection without raising a pickfirst event. Without that second reactor those two commands would leave a stale count on display — which is worse than no count, because you would believe it.
The status bar text is the MODEMACRO system variable, so displaying the count means overwriting MODEMACRO and putting it back afterwards.
Notes and limits
- It overwrites MODEMACRO. If you use that variable for something else, the counter will contend with it.
- It loads enabled. Use
TALLYBAROFFif you would rather it were not. - Reactors live for the session.
- Nothing in the drawing is changed.
Download and details
| Name | TallyBar — show a live count of the current selection in the status bar |
| Download | TallyBar.lsp — 9.7 KB, plain AutoLISP source. Downloads directly; no zip to unpack. |
| Type | AutoCAD AutoLISP routine |
| Commands | TALLYBAROFF, TALLYBARON |
| Requires | the ActiveX layer (loaded automatically by the routine with vl-load-com). |
| Source size | 9.7 KB, 240 lines |
| Error handling | Yes — a *error* handler restores every system variable it changed, on cancel as well as on error. |
| Undo | Not needed — this routine only reads the drawing and changes nothing. |
| Compatibility | AutoCAD (any release with AutoLISP), BricsCAD, ZWCAD, GstarCAD, ProgeCAD and other IntelliCAD-based platforms. AutoCAD LT needs a LISP enabler. No .NET, no ObjectARX, no installer. |
| Author | YZ, August 2026 |
| Licence | Free to use, supplied “as is” with no warranty. |
References
- CORRAL LISP — select everything inside an irregular boundary
- FOLLOWON LISP — select a whole connected chain in one pick
- More free AutoLISP routines on this site
- Wisey’s Steel Shapes — free structural steel section drawing program