Last updated July 28, 2026
Eleven small routines that each draw one architectural element in plan: doors of four swing types, a sliding door, a garage door, a window, stairs in two views, a ceiling grid, and a multiple-explode utility thrown in. Each is a separate file with a two-letter command, and each asks for the width and then draws the symbol.
The value is in the door set. Getting a door swing right in plan — the leaf at the correct angle, the arc struck from the right hinge point, the jamb breaks in the wall — is fiddly enough that most drafters end up with a block library. This gives you the same result parametrically, at whatever width you type.
The eleven commands
- SSSA — single swing, single acting door. The ordinary door.
- SSDA — single swing, double acting. A door that swings both ways.
- DSSA — double swing, single acting. A pair of doors opening one way.
- DSDA — double swing, double acting. A pair swinging both ways. Note that this one asks for the width of one leaf and doubles it.
- SD — sliding glass door.
- GD — garage door.
- SW — single window.
- STAIRS — side view of stairs, from a start point.
- STAIRT — the stair in the other view.
- CE — ceiling grid, the largest routine in the set.
- XX — multiple explode. Nothing to do with the others; it explodes a whole selection rather than one object at a time.
The four-letter door names follow a consistent scheme once you see it: the first pair is single or double swing (one leaf or two), the second pair is single or double acting (opens one way or both). Once that clicks, the names stop looking like alphabet soup.
Two-letter command names are a real risk
SD, SW, GD, CE and XX are all two characters. Two-character names are exactly what people assign to their own most-used aliases, and AutoCAD ships plenty of its own. Load all eleven files into an existing customised setup and something you rely on may quietly become a door.
Because each command is in its own file, you have an easy way out: load only the ones you want. If you only need the door set, load the four door files and leave the rest alone. That is a genuine advantage of the way this collection is packaged.
What the routines have in common
They are consistent, which suggests one author working to a pattern. Each declares all its variables local, switches command echo off, and validates its input properly — the width prompts refuse a null, zero or negative answer rather than letting a bad number through into the geometry.
Each also opens with a call to a DOS-era memory management function. It is harmless on a modern release, which ignores it, but it dates the collection to the late 1980s or early 1990s.
How to load it
Unzip Archlisp.zip to get the eleven files. Load the ones you want with APPLOAD, individually. There are no support files and no dependencies between them, so cherry-picking works. Our AutoLISP guide covers loading.
Step-by-step usage
- Load the file for the element you want.
- Type its command — SSSA for a standard door, for instance.
- Enter the width when asked. For DSDA, give the width of one leaf.
- Follow the placement prompts to set the position and orientation. The symbol is drawn.
Draw one of each at a known width in a scratch drawing first, so you can see which command gives which symbol without working through the names.
Compatibility notes
No dates in the files, but the memory-management call places them in the DOS era. Written-for rather than tested-on. They use basic point and angle arithmetic with AutoCAD’s own drawing commands, which is the kind of code that tends to survive.
Plain AutoLISP with no dialog boxes and no Express Tools calls, so nothing requires the full product; LT users on LT 2024 or later, the release that brought AutoLISP to LT, should be able to run them. See what runs on AutoCAD LT.
Download
| Name: | ARCHLISP collection |
| Description: | A series of architectural lisp commands such as; ceiling.lsp – Draws a ceiling grid. dsda.lsp – Draws a double swing, double acting door, dssa.lsp – Draws a double swing, single action door, gd.lsp – Draws a garage door, sd.lsp – Draws a sliding glass door. ssda.lsp – Draws a single swing, single action door. sssa.lsp – Draws a single swing, single action door. stairs.lsp – Draw side view of stairs. stairt.lsp – Draw side view of stairs, but a bit different. sw.lsp – Draws a single window. xx.lsp – multiple explode. |
| Type: | AutoCAD AutoLISP Routine |
| Author: | Anon |
| File Size: | 6 Kb |
| Cost: | Free |
| Worked on: | AutoCAD |
| Download File: | Archlisp.zip |
Note that the listing above describes both ssda.lsp and sssa.lsp as “single swing, single action” — they cannot both be, and the file comments confirm SSDA is the double-acting one. The command list further up this page is taken from the comments inside the files rather than from the listing.
Related routines
- Building collection — more doors and windows, from an Australian bulletin board.
- WALLS — the walls these openings sit in.
- CABINET — parametric cabinet elevations.