Last updated July 28, 2026
LOTNO places lot numbers on a subdivision plan. Tell it the number to start from, then click in each lot in turn — it writes the number, increments, and waits for the next click. Numbering a fifty-lot stage becomes fifty clicks rather than fifty pieces of typing.
It is by David Perry, dated 15 August 1993, and the header points at a personal COGO site that has long since gone.
What it does in practice
Text is placed middle-centre justified on the point you click, which is what you want for a number sitting in the middle of a lot — the click position is the centre of the number rather than a corner of it. Everything uses the current layer and the current text style, so it drops into whatever annotation setup the drawing already has.
The loop keeps going until you tell it to stop, so the rhythm is click, click, click along a row of lots without touching the keyboard. To finish, press Enter at the location prompt.
One nice piece of care in the code: it checks whether your current text style has a fixed height, and adjusts what it sends to the TEXT command accordingly. A great many routines of this age assume one or the other and break on the opposite setting; this one handles both, which is why it still works on a drawing set up either way.
Command echo is switched off while it runs and restored to whatever you had when it finishes.
It numbers, it does not label
Worth being clear about the scope. This writes a bare number — 1, 2, 3 — with no prefix, no suffix and no enclosure. If your plan needs “LOT 1” or a number inside a circle, this is not the tool, and you would be better off with the numbering collection, which offers prefixes, suffixes and bubbles across seven commands.
What LOTNO has over that collection is simplicity: one command, one prompt, and a click-to-place loop that does not ask you anything else. For plain sequential numbering that is the faster tool.
Command reference
The file defines a single command, LOTNO, and reminds you of it when it loads: “Type LOTNO to begin.”
How to load it
Unzip LOTNO.zip and load LOTNO.LSP with APPLOAD, or add it to the Startup Suite if you do subdivision work. There are no support files. Our AutoLISP guide covers loading.
Step-by-step usage
- Set the layer and text style you want the numbers on, and check the text height suits the plan scale.
- Type LOTNO.
- At “Enter starting lot number:” type the first number.
- At “Text location:” click in the middle of the first lot. The number appears and the counter advances.
- Keep clicking through the lots in order. Press Enter to finish.
Work in plan order rather than jumping about, since the numbers come out in click order and there is no going back to insert one you skipped.
Compatibility notes
Dated 1993, so written-for rather than tested-on. It uses basic input functions and AutoCAD’s own TEXT command, and it already handles the text style question that trips up most routines of this vintage, so it stands a reasonable chance on a current release.
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 it. See what runs on AutoCAD LT. It only adds text, so nothing existing is at risk.
Download
| Name: | Lot Number |
| Description: | Creates lot numbers in order, on the current layer with current text style. It will prompt you at the command line for the beginning lot number. |
| Type: | AutoCAD AutoLISP Routine |
| Author: | David Perry |
| File Size: | 1 Kb |
| Cost: | Free |
| Worked on: | AutoCAD |
| Download File: | LOTNO.zip |
Related routines
- Numbering collection — seven commands with prefixes, suffixes and bubble enclosures.
- CIVILINE — draw and label the boundaries around the lots.
- COGO bearing and distance label — boundary annotation for the same plans.