LT Unlimited

Unwanted Lists in Multi-line Text

There have been a lot of improvements in multi-line text in the last several releases, from tabs in 2004 through columns in 2008. One of the best improvements, though (in my opinion), was the introduction of automatic numbered & bulleted lists.

However, there are times when they don't quite work the way we want them to. In our office, our standard abbreviations are contained in mtext. Since the format is the abbreviation (usually ending with a period), followed by a TAB, then the actual word, AutoCAD decides that this is a lettered list. So when you try to modify it, say, to add a project-specific abbreviation, the next line after "TYP. TYPICAL" becomes "TYQ.", with no way to change it.

To work around this:

• Double-click on the mtext you want to change.
• Right-click in the editor or click the Options arrow (on the toolbar at the top of the editor) and uncheck Bullets and Lists-->Allow Bullets and Lists.
• You will get a warning that you have turned off bullets and lists for this entity. This is a true statement. However, you have also turned off bullets and lists COMPLETELY. They won't work in any drawing until you turn them on again.
• Make the edits to your "list".
• Right-click in the editor or click the Options arrow (on the toolbar at the top of the editor) and re-check Bullets and Lists-->Allow Bullets and Lists. This step is VERY IMPORTANT, because as mentioned above, you won't get any automatic numbering or bullets until you turn it back on.
  

Rename named objects

You can change the name of “named objects” (such as layers, blocks, linetypes, etc.) with the RENAME command. It brings up a dialog listing the object category on the left, the specific object types on the right, and two fields at the bottom for the old and new name.

After you select an instance to rename (wildcards such as * work to select multiple instances) and have entered in the new name, you have two options. Clicking “rename to” applies the change to the selected objects and leaves the dialog box open for more selections. Clicking “OK” applies the change and exits the command. (I’m not sure why they didn’t just have an “apply” button like most other dialogs of this nature.)

This tool should be used with care, since most of the objects here are usually defined in accordance with company standards & shouldn’t be modified, but it’s nevertheless a useful command to know.

Trim Hatches

Hatches can now be trimmed just like many other AutoCAD objects. The only catch is that you must select a boundary for trimming (you can’t hit enter to select all eligible objects). If the hatch was already associated with the original boundary (i.e. you could stretch the boundary and the hatch would follow), it’ll also be associated with the new boundary. For hatches that are already non-associative (missing or detached from their boundaries for whatever reason), this can be a much faster method of editing them than deleting & recreating.

Get to know dynamic block grips

Everyone's familiar with the little square blue grips that show up on AutoCAD objects like line, arcs, circles, etc. But 2006 introduced Dynamic Blocks, and with them came a whole new set of grips, light-blue in color and with shapes that identify their functionality. Here's a quick rundown on the new grips:

Preview Your Selection

New in AutoCAD 2006 was the ability to "preview" selected objects -- in other words, if you hover over an object, it gets a little thicker and dashed so you can see that it would be selected if you left-clicked there. There are lots of options to control this display; experiment to see what combination suits you best.

To globally turn this on or off, go to Tools-->Options-->Selection tab, under "Selection Preview".

To see more options, click the "Visual Effects Settings" button. Now you can set previewed objects to dashed, thickened, or both, and set the "area preview" (your crossing and window selections) color and effects.

Still not happy with how it works? Click the "Advanced Options" in the Visual Effects box. Now you can choose which objects are affected by the selection preview. Personally, I exclude xrefs and objects on locked layers from the preview. Many people exclude hatches as well, since they can be a little distracting if they're large and are constantly flashing on and off.

One final tip for taking advantage of the Selection Preview effects: If you have two objects on top of each other, and hover over them, one will highlight. If you'd rather select the other, use CTRL+Space. This cycles through all objects available for selection. I find this to be the biggest advantage of the selection preview.

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For the command-line fans out there, here are all the system variables that control the above-referenced effects:

• SELECTIONPREVIEW
• PREVIEWEFFECT
• SELECTIONAREA
• WINDOWAREACOLOR
• CROSSINGAREACOLOR
• SELECTIONAREAOPACITY
• PREVIEWFILTER