AutoDesk labs plugins

AutoDesk Labs has a bunch of cool plugins for AutoCAD. The one that that looks especially useful to me is RefUcsSpy. From the site:

Many AutoCAD users have reference files set up in World coordinates. Attaching such files when in a different User Coordinate System (UCS) can result in the contents appearing at incorrect locations. This plugin can be used within AutoCAD to detect when reference files are being attached when the UCS is not “World.” If it is not, the user will be prompted whether they would like to temporarily set the UCS to World for the duration of the attach command.

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If you are into things that are cool

…then you might like this.  For those of you who don’t have Google Earth Pro, I found an application that will automatically download and stitch together Google map tiles (as well as Microsoft maps).  This means you can create a high resolution image of your map area, limited only by the maximum zoom level of Google Maps.

Here’s what you need:

gMapMaker, available here.  (latest version is 0.7.3.2 as of this writing)

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PDFCreator

PDFCreator is a free, open source printer driver that allows you create PDF files without the need for any Adobe software.  I use it all the time, using Acrobat only to crop and rotate my PDFs.  It features auto-naming and auto-saving, so it is great for batch plotting.  Check it out.

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Introducing: the AutoCAD coordinizer

Happy New Year!  I’m back, and I have present for you.

I’m proud to reveal my latest bit of coding handiwork, the AutoCAD Coordinizer.  I originally created this in PHP, but didn’t have a free web host for it, so I just ported it to Python and put it on Google’s Apps site.

What it does, basically, is take the output of a LIST or ID command (or series of commands) and extract the X and Y values, placing them in a handy list.  I wrote it to simplify the creation of coordinate tables.

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OS Tools – FolderView

To wrap up my series about open source/freeware utilities for Windows, I’d like to present Folder View.  This simple but useful application gives you a quick way to access shortcuts to your most commonly-used folders.

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OS Tools – VirtuaWin

To continue the theme from last week’s post about handy-dandy OS Tools, I’d like to talk about VirtuaWin.  This wonderful and simple open source (and free) application will put the power of virtual desktops at your fingertips.  There are other virtual desktop options out there, but this one is my favorite.

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OS Tools – Launchy

This post isn’t specifically about AutoCAD, but about some of the freeware/open source tools I use to make working in Windows faster and more efficient.  My top three favorite open source apps are Launchy, Folder View and VirtuaWin.  These tools are great for speedy application or folder launching, and for managing your desktop space.  Best of all, all three are free.  This week I want to talk about Launchy.

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WblockAll

Here’s a handy utility:

WblockAll

It’s a free compiled LISP script. Use APPLOAD to load it into AutoCAD.

What it does is export all blocks in a drawing into separate drawing files in a folder of your choice. I find this to be useful when looking for poorly-defined blocks. I stumbled across WblockAll the other day when I had a drawing with a file size that seemed like it was about twice as big as it should be. I WblockAll’d the drawing, and immediately found a block that was half the size of the original file. That was my culprit. I replaced it with a smaller block in the drawing and my problem was solved. Thanks, Xanadu!

I’m sure you can find your own uses for it.

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