Michael’s Corner

Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

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This month…

From the Vault

Originally published February 2003

Variables in a Script

As many of you know, some variables in AutoCAD are registry settings (i.e., Cursorsize and Maxsort), but some variables are drawing settings (i.e. Filletrad and Mirrtext).

Try this: Using Notepad, create a simple text file with the variable name and the setting you most commonly use, similar to that shown here…

BLIPMODE OFF
CELTSCALE 1
CMDDIA 1
COLOR bylayer
DIMASSOC 1
DIMSHO 1
DRAGMODE AUTO
ELEV 0
FAC ETRES 2
FILEDIA 1

Include variables like DIMASO (now DIMASSOC in A2002), MIRRTEXT, etc. Save the file with an extension of .scr in a folder on your Search path. To run the script, you could either use the Script command and choose your .scr from the dialog, or you could drag 'n' drop it from Windows Explorer.

See this month's Odd Spot for another application of a script routine.

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