AutoLISP Routines

VIEWFRAME draws, in model space, the outline of what a paper space viewport is showing. It answers “what part of the model does this sheet actually cover?” without opening the viewport and guessing. What ViewFrame does Run it across a whole drawing set and you get a key plan — a rectangle in model space for every sheet, showing its … [Read more...] about VIEWFRAME LISP: Draw Viewport Extents Into Model Space

PEDIT can insert a vertex, but only by walking the vertex list one step at a time until you reach the right segment. VERTINJECT puts a vertex where you click, and keeps prompting so several can be added in one go. What VertexInject does The polyline looks completely unchanged afterwards — which sounds obvious and is the entire difficulty. How to use … [Read more...] about VERTINJECT LISP: Add a Vertex to a Polyline Where You Click

VALUETALLY counts how many times each distinct attribute value appears, and builds the result as an AutoCAD table. What ValueTally does Where TAGTOTAL adds numbers up, this counts occurrences — so it answers “how many of each type?” rather than “what do they come to?”. Point it at a drawing full of door blocks with a TYPE attribute … [Read more...] about VALUETALLY LISP: Count Attribute Values Into a Table

USAGELOG records which of your custom LISP commands actually get used, and how often. The point of it is pruning. What UsageLog does Once a library runs to a hundred routines, nobody knows which ones earn their keep. Run this for a month and the answer is in a spreadsheet: the commands nobody has invoked once are candidates for deletion, and the ones used forty … [Read more...] about USAGELOG LISP: Record Which LISP Commands Actually Get Used

TWINOFFSET offsets an object to both sides at once. The obvious use is anything with a centreline: roads, walls, ducts, trenches, cable routes. Draw the centre once, offset both faces in a single operation. TWOF is the short alias. What TwinOffset does Three options are offered at the distance prompt. Through lets you pick a point instead of typing a distance, and … [Read more...] about TWINOFFSET LISP: Offset an Object to Both Sides at Once

Pick a piece of text, pick a curve, and the text follows your cursor along that curve — always the right distance from it, always turned to match the curve’s direction at that exact point, always the right way up. What TrackText does This is the pipe label that has to sit above the pipe and run with it, the road name along a bend, the contour value on … [Read more...] about TRACKTEXT LISP: Slide Text Along a Curve, Aligned to It