About Loading Autolisp Applications Autocad For Mac

• Free Autocad Lisp

After being placed in this folder, AutoCAD will automatically load it for you. So instead of using the commands NETLOAD or APPLOAD and then searching for your lisp file or.dll, it is automatically loaded and ready to be used without having to do anything but simply placing the routine in the folder.

How to Run an AutoLISP Program Saving the AutoLISP File Before we can run any programs we must make sure that the program file (.lsp file in this case) resides on the system. If you are downloading programs from my site, the method of saving the AutoLISP file may depend on the browser you are using.

For example, IE8 may prompt you to save the file directly to your computer, but I believe Firefox allows you to view the file contents in the browser itself, in which case, you can either go to File » Save Page As making sure that the Save as Type panel is set to All Files; or, you can simply copy the contents into an open Notepad file and save this as ' filename.lsp' (again, ensuring File Type is set to 'All Files'). Note that the filename used to save the source code is arbitrary and will not affect the program in any way - however, the majority of users use the function syntax (and perhaps include the program version) for convenience.

Loading the Program Method 1: Using AppLoad At the AutoCAD command line, type AppLoad (alternatively go to Tools » Load Application). Select the program file as previously saved and click Load to load the program into the current drawing session.

Click Close to close the Appload Dialog. ( load 'C: MyFolder MyLISP.lsp' 'MyLISP Failed to Load' ) If the LISP file does not reside in the AutoCAD Support Path, a full filepath is needed so that the LISP file may be located; in this case, be sure to use double backslashes when specifying the path. When finished, open a new drawing and the LISP files should load. Note: if using this method to load many LISP files on startup is causing drawings to open slower, refer to my tutorial on the use of to demand load LISP files. Method 3: Using the Visual LISP Integrated Development Environment (VLIDE) This method is aimed primarily at developers, as the offers many debugging utilities when writing & loading code.

To load a program using this method, type VLIDE at the AutoCAD command line. In the window that subsequently appears, go to File » Open File (alternatively, Ctrl+O), and select the previously saved file. Now go to Tools » Load Text in Editor (alternatively, Ctrl+Alt+E) Running the Program If the program has loaded successfully, you can now proceed to run the program in the current drawing session. The syntax (command name) to call the program may be displayed in the author's loading messages, or perhaps noted in the program header. If it cannot be found in either of these locations, you can inspect the source code itself to determine the command to use. The syntax will be located after the c: in a defun function call, for example.

AutoLISP is an application interface for automating of design tasks. When an AutoLISP application is loaded, it functions in its own namespace for each drawing that is open. A namespace is an insulated environment keeping AutoLISP applications that are specific to one drawing from having symbol or variable name and value conflicts with those in another drawing. For example, the following line of code sets a different value to the symbol a when executed in each open drawing. (setq a (getvar 'DWGNAME')) AutoLISP applications can prompt the user for input, access built-in AutoCAD commands directly, and modify or create objects directly in the drawing database. By creating AutoLISP routines you can add discipline-specific or workflow driven commands to AutoCAD. Some of the standard AutoCAD commands are actually AutoLISP applications.

You may choose to experiment by entering code at the Command prompt, which allows you to see the results immediately. This makes AutoLISP an easy language to experiment with, regardless of your programming experience. AutoLISP provides three file formats for applications:. Reading an LSP file (. Lsp)—an ASCII text file that contains AutoLISP program code. Reading an FAS file (.

Fas)—a binary, compiled version of a single LSP program file. Reading a VLX file (. Vlx)—a compiled set of one or more LSP and/or dialog control language (DCL) files. (VLX and DCL files are not supported in AutoCAD for Mac.). Note: Like-named AutoLISP application files are loaded based on their Modified time stamp; the LSP, FAS, or VLX file with the most recent time stamp is loaded unless you specify the full file name (including the file name extension). Even if you are not interested in writing AutoLISP applications, the program includes many useful routines. AutoLISP applications are also available for download from the Internet or third-party developers.

Free Autocad Lisp

Knowing how to load and use these routines can enhance your productivity.