Without A Net

In The Box: System Variable Editor

In this installment of the "In The Box" series, I'll look at the System Variable Editor from the Express Tools. If you prefer to skip the reading part, you can jump to the bottom of this post and watch a short video of me demonstrating the System Variable Editor.

Command-line access for this feature is the SYSVDLG command. In the menu, it's under Express->Tools->System Variable Editor. On the Express Tools ribbon tab, it's on the Tools panel as System Variables.

SYSVDLG was created to be a one-stop-shop to view and edit AutoCAD system variables. From this dialog, you can scroll a list of the AutoCAD system variables and for each selected system variable you can see the default value, current value, type, where it's saved, description, and you can edit the system variable value right in the dialog. If that's all SYSVDLG did it would be moderately convenient but maybe not a regular use tool. Fortunately, it does a bit more.

Wildcard Search

The edit field directly above the system variable list allows for filtering the list based on user input.  Want to see all those system variables related to hatch patterns? Enter HP* and the list will show you only the matching names:

Trying to remember the name of a system variable and all you know is that it contained "ANG"? Filter the list for *ANG*:

When nothing is entered in the edit field, the list resets to display all system variables. The ability to do wildcard searches makes it quick and easy to find specific system variables by name.

Saving a List of System Variables

SYSVDLG allows you to write a list of system variables out to a file. When nothing is selected in the list you can click the "Save All…" button and it will write out the entire list of system variables. When the list is filtered (via wildcard) the button changes to "Save Filtered…" and it only writes out the filtered list. When two or more system variables are selected in the list the button changes to "Save Selected…" and it only writes out the selected system variables. When writing out the list, there are two format options for the output file: SVF and SCR.

If you save to a file name with an SVF extension, it creates a file that can be read back in to SYSVDLG using the "Read…" button. Reading in an SVF file changes the current system variable values to match those saved in the file. Want to recreate the same dimension variable settings on another machine? Filter the list on DIM*, save the file, move to the other machine and read that file back in to SYSVDLG with the "Read…" button.

When saved as an SCR file, it is automatically ready to run as a standard script. Here is the format of an SCR file output from SYSVDLG:

…
(setvar "APBOX" 0)
(setvar "APERTURE" 10)
(setvar "APPLYGLOBALOPACITIES" 0)
; read-only - APSTATE 0
; read-only - AREA 0.0000
(setvar "ATTDIA" 0)
(setvar "ATTIPE" 0)
(setvar "ATTMODE" 1)
…

The file is written using the AutoLISP (setvar) function to restore the system variable values and it also includes the read-only values (but commented out since you can't actually set them anyway).

In addition to using these files to easily restore system variable values, you can also use them to diff an environment. Do you want to see how system variable settings differ between two drawings or machines? Save out two separate files from SYSVDLG and use WinDiff or your favorite file diffing tool to find the differences. With over 850 system variables in AutoCAD, comparing two output files from SYSVDLG could be the fastest way to find your culprit system variables.

Caveats With Verticals

The System Variable Editor was introduced about 10 years ago and does not get the system variable list directly from AutoCAD but from an installed file named SYSVDLG.DAT. This file is updated with each AutoCAD release to include new system variables and any changes to existing ones. As far as I know, this file only contains AutoCAD system variables and does not include system variables that are specific to vertical products, such as AutoCAD Architecture or AutoCAD Mechanical, unless those product teams updated their own version of that file (which I doubt). All of which is to say: if you're using a vertical product, SYSVDLG will likely report an incomplete list of the system variables that are actually available in your product. Just be aware of that.

The System Variable Editor is one of those lesser-known, unsung heros in my AutoCAD toolbox. It's my go-to feature when looking for a particular system variable or needing to compare different environments.

 

In The Box: The Three Faces of SAVE

Today's featured command came in courtesy of Samir Abdelmawla who suggested I talk about "the other SAVE command":

"The command SAVE as typed on the command line offers a different option than what you see on the File -> Save, Ctrl + S or the Save icon on the Quick Access Toolbar, as all of these invoke the QSAVE command. The SAVE command is similar in a sense to SAVEAS command the only difference is that it creates another drawing file without changing it as the current drawing. So if you are working on design options and want to keep a snapshot and continue on the same drawing, use the SAVE command."

Essentially, there are three options for saving: QSAVE, SAVE, and SAVEAS.

QSAVE

QSAVE is the one most people use all the time because, as Samir points out, it is the one associated with the most-used menu and toolbar options for saving. QSAVE just does a quick save (hence the name) of the current drawing. No fuss, no muss, no options. If the drawing is unsaved, it will prompt for a name but nothing beyond that.

SAVE

With SAVE you have the option of changing the drawing name (or path) when saving the current drawing. This allows you to create an entirely new drawing file from the current drawing, but without it becoming the current drawing.

Example:

I'm working in TOM.DWG and I issue the SAVE command. I change the name to TOM2.DWG and that creates a new drawing on disk named TOM2.DWG, however my current drawing is still TOM.DWG (and is not considered saved). Again, as Samir has noted, this is nice for creating interim "snapshots" of drawings without the saved drawing becoming the current drawing.

Note: Closing the original drawing immediately after a SAVE to another name or location will not prompt to save any unchanged work in the original drawing. Although those changes were saved to the new drawing file it also reset DBMOD for the current drawing. AutoCAD no longer sees the current drawing as having any unsaved changes so it will close the drawing without prompting you to save. Important safety tip.

SAVEAS

The SAVEAS command is very much like SAVE except that if you change the drawing name, it creates a new drawing and makes that drawing current.

Example:

I'm working in TOM.DWG and I issue the SAVEAS command. I change the name to TOM2.DWG and that creates a new drawing on disk named TOM2.DWG and my current drawing is now TOM2.DWG. If there were changes to TOM.DWG between my last save and the SAVEAS, they are not included in TOM.DWG (but are in TOM2.DWG).

For both SAVE and SAVEAS, if you use the same path and name as what the current drawing already has, you will be prompted to overwrite. In those cases it's like doing a QSAVE but with an extra prompt to deal with.

In The Box: OOPS

Today's featured command is OOPS and was recommended by Without a Net readers, Richard Woollacott and Todd Rogers.

The OOPS command has been around for a very long time but I couldn't nail down exactly how long so I asked dave espinosa-aguilar if he knew. He dug through his old AutoCAD manuals and found a reference to it in his 1.4 (AutoCAD-86) manual so it's a least been around that long and probably longer:

In the same way that LAYERP is a like a targeted undo for recent changes to layer settings, OOPS is an undo for the last set of objects you erased. Whereas UNDO undoes operations you've performed (in reverse sequence), with OOPS you can erase something, do several other operations and then issue the OOPS command, and the erased objects will be restored without affecting the other stuff you did in between.

OOPS is a good for when you realize, several commands later, that you actually shouldn't have erased that set of objects a few commands ago. That's the beauty of OOPS: you can have 200 commands between now and the time you last erased something and OOPS will bring it back. Before there was an option to retain objects when creating a block, OOPS was ideal for getting your objects back after they were turned into a block.

There are a couple things to know about OOPS:

• OOPS is only good for one resurrection at a time. Unlike UNDO, there is no stack for OOPS; once you restore the last set of erased objects the OOPS command will have no affect until after something else has been erased.
• You can't use OOPS to restore an object whose layer has since been purged.
• It is somewhat common that using the UNDO command can affect OOPS; not too surprising considering what those commands do. Your mileage may vary.

I know that OOPS is old hat for many of you but I expect there are new AutoCAD users for whom OOPS is brand new and shiny.

Thanks to Richard and Todd for the suggestion and dave e-a for the historical research.

In The Box: Hidden ZOOM Options

Last week I asked Without a Net readers to share their favorite, lesser-known AutoCAD commands or options and I've already gotten a couple of suggestions that took me on a walk down memory lane.

Dan Bonenfant with Duncan-Parnell Geomatics offered the following:

"This is a command I’ve used for years and was once a command line option of the zoom command. The option is no longer listed but is still available. It is Zoom Left. Basically you type in Z (for zoom) then L (for left). You then pick the lower left corner of what you would like as the window and type in a scale factor or zoom level like this:"

I have to admit, I had totally forgotten about the Zoom Left option. The Left option is much like the Center option except that, instead of specifying the location that will become the center of the display window, you specify the location that will become the lower-left corner of the display window. This is one of many options in AutoCAD that has been around forever but no longer appear at the command-line or in the help docs. Dig through some old R12 docs and I'll bet you find a few more.

Another similar option is the Zoom Vmax option. The Vmax option zooms out to the furthest coordinates, as far as possible without triggering a regeneration. This is different from the Extents option, which zooms out to the extents of the actual objects in the drawing window.

Thanks for the reminder, Dan.

Everyone else, keep sending in those forgotten or underdog features.

In The Box: LAYERSTATESAVE

The LAYERSTATESAVE command was added to AutoCAD 2010 with little mention – it's not even covered in the documentation – but it's useful for quickly saving a new layer state or replacing an existing layer state.

It provides a minimalist interface that only allows you to provide a layer state name and description. That's it. This is useful for those times when you're right in the middle of something and decide you want a snapshot of your layers as they are at that moment.

It's quicker than using the Layer State Manager dialog or the –LAYER command because it requires fewer keystrokes and no mouse clicks. If you assign it an alias, such as LSS, its even less keystrokes. Type LSS, type the name, and hit Enter. If you enter an existing layer state name it will ask if you want to replace it. Hit Enter one more time and it will overwrite the existing layer state with the new snapshot.

This dialog is also available in the Layer Walk feature. If you're using Layer Walk to inspect a bunch of layers and decide you want to save a current snapshot of the layers to a layer state, you can click the "Save Layer State…" option in the right-click context menu and get this same interface.

Sometimes people ask about all those options in the Layer State Manager dialog that don't appear in the LAYERSTATESAVE dialog. Don't they need to set those options to choose what layer properties get saved in the layer state? Actually, no.

Those options only determine which layer properties are restored when you restore a layer state. Every time a layer state is saved, AutoCAD automatically saves all the properties of each layer. This avoids a situation where you saved a layer state without saving the Lineweight property only to later realize you wanted to restore that property.

What's in the Box?

Recently, I was out with a friend and we were discussing the new Verizon iPhone announcement and the difference between an iPhone on AT&T and one on the current Verizon network. I explained that a CDMA iPhone would not be able to do both a phone call and data access at the same time. To demonstrate how this worked on AT&T I had him call me from his iPhone, switch over the home screen, look up a location in Maps, and then switch back to the phone call. He could even talk to me while he was in the Maps app because the call was still active. He looked at me and said, "I've had this phone for over a year and never knew I could do that."

I started thinking about how this is often the case with AutoCAD. AutoCAD is coming up on 30 years old and as of the 2011 release, has 1100+ commands and 850+ system variables. For most AutoCAD users (myself included) there is untapped productivity hidden in commands we never knew or have long since forgotten.

In his class on how to become an AutoCAD power user, my friend, dave espinosa-aguilar, says, "Learn the program; all of it.", and he makes the following point:

"Most users today do not even know, understand or exploit over 25% of the technologies they’ve already paid for."

It's a reality and it doesn't just apply to AutoCAD. I've used robust software such as Final Cut Studio and Pro Tools for years and I've still just scratched the surface of what these packages can really do … and they are much younger than AutoCAD. Even if you've been using AutoCAD for ten years, there was already close to 20 years of functionality in place when you started. With each new release, you get to hear all about the new features and functionality in AutoCAD but what about the other really useful stuff that has been there for years that you still don't know about?

With this in mind, I've decided to start an intermittently recurring series of blog posts (Is that non-committal enough?), highlighting one potentially lesser-known feature, command, option, or system variable at a time. The idea is introduce you, in bite-size chunks, to functionality that you already own but may have never used. This won't be a daily series–there will often be important support-related stuff to talk about–but I hope to do it often enough that you regularly discover something useful to add to your AutoCAD toolbox. I'll call this series of posts, "In The Box".

I'm also going to make this a chance for you to share with other Without a Net readers from your own wealth of AutoCAD knowledge. Send an email to [email protected] and tell me about some underdog feature or little-known option that you use all the time and how it helps you and I'll share your input in a future blog post.

I'll start.

Purging Regapp IDs

You cannot purge unreferenced regapp IDs from a drawing using the Purge dialog (even when clicking the "Purge All" button) but you can using the command-line version of PURGE. In the –PURGE command, you'll see a Regapp option that does not appear in the dialog version. Choose this to purge unreferenced regapp IDs from the drawing you're working in. Why would you want to do this? Check out this post from last year for more information: Managing Regapp IDs.

There. A quick and simple tip, yet an option that many people still don't know about (but should).

Your turn.