Ralph Grabowski - CAD International...• a firm adding licenses of Bricscad to complement their...

Ralph Grabowski

2 Bricsad 11 for AutoCAD Users

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Table of Contents 3

Table of Contents

1 Bricscad for AutoCAD Users ....................................................... 7The Entire Bricscad Product Line ................................................................... 8

Risky Business ........................................................................................................................................ 8Bricsys Business ..................................................................................................................................... 8

Bricscad Platinum .......................................................................................................................................... 9Vondle Project Management...................................................................................................................... 9

The Advantages of Bricscad .........................................................................10Near-identical User Interface ..........................................................................................................10Additional Commands and System Variables .............................................................................11Support for Multiple Operating Systems .....................................................................................11No-charge Developer Network .......................................................................................................12

APIs .................................................................................................................................................................. 12Examples of Add-ons .................................................................................................................................. 12

Lower Purchase and Maintenance Pricing ...................................................................................13It Makes More than Cents ........................................................................................................................ 13

Bricscad is Not IntelliCAD .............................................................................14What’s Missing from Bricscad .......................................................................14System Requirements ...................................................................................15

Operating Systems ..............................................................................................................................15Recommended Hardware .................................................................................................................16

Netbook Support......................................................................................................................................... 16

AutoCAD-Bricscad Dictionary .......................................................................17


2 Comparing User Interfaces ..........................................................19Comparison of User Interfaces ................................................................................................................ 20

Summary of User Interface Elements .................................................................................................................................. 22

DesignCenter vs Drawing Explorer .................................................................................................23Options vs Settings .............................................................................................................................25

Brief Tour of Settings Dialog Box ............................................................................................................26Opening and Closing Nodes ..................................................................................................................... 27Accessing and Changing Values ............................................................................................................... 27Realtime Search ........................................................................................................................................... 28Exporting Settings ....................................................................................................................................... 28

User Interface Variations ..............................................................................29Prompt Menu .......................................................................................................................................29

Controlling the Prompt Menu ................................................................................................................. 29: vs Command: .....................................................................................................................................30More Command Options ..................................................................................................................30

Properties Palette vs Properties Bar .............................................................31Properties Bar ......................................................................................................................................31

Status Bar ....................................................................................................................................................... 32

Mouse Buttons .............................................................................................33Selection Sets .......................................................................................................................................33

3 Drawing File Compatibility ..........................................................35DWG 2011 Compatibility ...............................................................................36

How Entities Are Tested ....................................................................................................................36Problem Entities ..................................................................................................................................37

DWG Object Support ....................................................................................392D Entities Supported ........................................................................................................................39

Basic Properties for Entities ...................................................................................................................... 41Text Entities Supported .....................................................................................................................42

Text Styles ...................................................................................................................................................... 43MText Styles .................................................................................................................................................. 44Table Styles .................................................................................................................................................... 44Tolerance Editing ......................................................................................................................................... 45

Dimension Entities Supported .........................................................................................................45Dimension Styles ......................................................................................................................................... 47Leader Styles ................................................................................................................................................. 47

Complex 2D Entities Supported ......................................................................................................48Multiline Styles ............................................................................................................................................. 51

3D Entities Supported ........................................................................................................................52

Table of Contents 5

4 Customizing and Programming Bricscad ......................................57Cui vs Customize ..........................................................................................58

Areas of Customization .......................................................................................................................................................... 58

Menus .........................................................................................................60Importing AutoCAD Menus ................................................................................................................................................... 60

A Few Menu Tips ......................................................................................................................................... 63Creating New Menu Items................................................................................................................64About Copying Files ............................................................................................................................................................... 65

Macro Metacharacters.......................................................................................................................66Menu Design Conventions ........................................................................................................................ 66Diesel .............................................................................................................................................................. 66

Context Menus ....................................................................................................................................67Toolbars ................................................................................................................................................68Keyboard Shortcuts ..........................................................................................................................70Tablet Buttons and Menus ...............................................................................................................70Aliases and Shell Commands ...........................................................................................................71

Shell Commands .......................................................................................................................................... 72

Other Customizations ...................................................................................73Fonts .....................................................................................................................................................73

Font Mapping ............................................................................................................................................... 73Linetypes and Hatch Patterns ..........................................................................................................73Plot Styles ..............................................................................................................................................75

Plotter Manager ........................................................................................................................................... 76

Options vs Settings .......................................................................................77File Paths ...............................................................................................................................................77User Profiles .........................................................................................................................................78

Roaming Profiles .......................................................................................................................................... 79Accessing Hidden Folders ......................................................................................................................... 80

Supported Files ............................................................................................80Programming Considerations ........................................................................83

Porting AutoLISP to LISP ...................................................................................................................83Porting DCL to Bricscad ............................................................................................................................. 84Porting Diesel to Bricscad ......................................................................................................................... 84

Porting VBA to Bricscad ....................................................................................................................84Porting ADS to SDS ............................................................................................................................84Porting ARX to BRX ............................................................................................................................84

Porting ARX to DRX .................................................................................................................................... 84


Porting COM to Bricscad ..................................................................................................................85Units ................................................................................................................................................................ 85

Loading Applications into Bricscad ................................................................................................85Third-party Developer Support ......................................................................................................86Bricscad Object Model ......................................................................................................................87

Appendices

A Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad Command Names ............89X-Commands ......................................................................................................................................108

B Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad System Variables ..........111

C Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad Command Aliases ...........137

D Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad Keystrokes and Buttons ..149Keyboard Shortcuts: Drawing Area .............................................................150

Function Keys .....................................................................................................................................150Ctrl Keys ..............................................................................................................................................151Shift Keys ............................................................................................................................................153Other Keys ..........................................................................................................................................154

Keyboard Shortcuts: Text Window & Command Bar ...................................154Mouse and Tablet Buttons ..........................................................................155

Mouse Buttons ..................................................................................................................................155Tablet Buttons ....................................................................................................................................156

Chapter 1: Bricscad for AutoCAD Users 7

chapter 1

Bricscad for AutoCAD Users

THIS BOOK IS designed to help you transition from AutoCAD® to Bricscad. In it, you will learn about the benefits of using Bricscad in place of AutoCAD. You’ll read about the advantages of switching to another yet similar CAD package, as well as some of the transitional issues to watch out for.

The chapters in this book provide you with information on useful topics, such as file compatibility with AutoCAD, the Bricscad user interface, and customizing the CAD program. This book includes appendices that exhaustively cross-reference command names between the two CAD systems, as well as system variable names, command aliases, and keystrokes and mouse button actions.

Bricscad for AutoCAD Users is meant for you, if you are...

• an AutoCAD user considering the switch to Bricscad

• a firm adding licenses of Bricscad to complement their AutoCAD shop

• a company working with clients who use the other CAD package

Or perhaps you are simply wondering about the differences between the market leader, AutoCAD, and the aggressive up-and-comer, Bricscad. This book is meant for you. Welcome!

8 Bricscad 11 for AutoCAD Users

The Entire Bricscad Product Line

Executives at Autodesk have grown the company into a 1.5-billion-dollar-a-year enterprise, becoming the larg-est CAD software firm in the history of the world. But with this enormous size comes some risk.

Risky Business

Autodesk offers over a hundred software packages and bundles (at time of writing). AutoCAD itself comes in more than twenty variations, such as the LT and vertical versions; it is also available in complex combinations with Autodesk’s other software, such as the AutoCAD Revit Architecture Visualization Suite and AutoCAD Inventor Routed Systems Suite. It can be tough to determine which one to choose.

Given the large number of programs available from one CAD software company, making purchasing decisions can be risky, because Autodesk fine-tunes its offerings to maximize profits. The software you buy today may not be available tomorrow. In past years, Autodesk abandoned its facilities management software FMdesktop, halted further development of its construction management software, Constructware, and orphaned users of Actrix Technical, Impressions, Mechanical Desktop, StudioDesk, Generic CADD, and other software packages.

Once customers decide on which version of AutoCAD to license, they are then pressured into also purchasing annual subscriptions; for many products, subscription payment is mandatory. Targeting customers who forego making annual subscription payments, Autodesk tripled the upgrade free to as much as 50% of the product’s list price — $2,000 in the case of AutoCAD.

Autodesk tends to price its products high. Its foundational drafting package, AutoCAD, has a list price of US$4,000 — some 4x to 8x more costly than most other office productivity software. The high price of Au-toCAD is just the start: one of its previous CEOs famously boasted to financial analysts that the company can make up to ten times more money from customers who move up from AutoCAD to its 3D modeling software. The current CEO has reiterated his plan to get more income from customers through an increased number of bundles, which command a higher price tag in exchange for a lowered cost of individual software components.

Upon installing the software, customers must agree to onerous terms in a software license that cannot be negotiated. Users agree to allow Autodesk to send agents into private homes and businesses to search for unauthorized copies. Users are prevented from using Autodesk software in other countries, making it illegal for them to take part in today’s world of globalized business.

In recent years, Autodesk became one of the most litigious of all CAD vendors, launching law suits against competitors for reasons as trivial as using the color orange for a rectangle on product packaging, or for using the generic DWG file extension in product naming.

Bricsys Business

In contrast to Autodesk, Bricsys makes the choice easy by offering just these products at reasonable prices:

• Bricscad Classic — budget-priced CAD

• Bricscad Pro — adds 3D solids modeling and all APIs

• Bricscad Platimum — adds 3D history-based parametric modeling

• Vondle — browser-based project management

Bricsys doesn’t charge customers high prices, doesn’t impose mandatory subscriptions, and doesn’t sue its competitors. The terms in its license allow you to use the software in any country, and Bricsys does not threaten to send agents into your home.


Bricscad Platinum is the full-featured version of Bricscad: it has everything. The Pro version is almost identical, leaving out the parametric-based 3D modeling. The Classic version costs the least because it leaves out features for which Bricsys has to pay royalties to other software companies. This means that the Classic version excludes ACIS modeling and editing, and VBA and BRX programming.

Feature Bricscad Classic Bricscad Pro Bricscad Platinum

ACIS solids modeling Viewing only Viewing, modeling, and editing Viewing, modeling, and editing History-based modeling Viewing only Viewing only Viewing, modeling, and editing Programming DRX only DRX, BRX, VBA, and DVB projects DRX, BRX, VBA, and DVB projects

To read and write DWG and DXF files, Bricscad uses the highly compatible Teigha libraries from Open Design Alliance.

Bricscad Platinum

Bricscad V11 Platinum is the newest edition, adding 3D parametric solid modeling to Bricscad through X-solids. It captures the history of solids as you create them, so that you can edit them parametrically.

Platinum includes X-Tools for forming complex composite solid shapes; QuickDraw for creating and aligning 2D geometry automatically in up to ten 2D and isometric views; and X-Hardware library of 3D parametric parts, such as nuts, bolts, screws, and pins.

Vondle Project Management

Bricsys offers everyone Vondle, its professional browser-based communication, collaboration, and project management system. It does not require Bricscad, because it operates in your Web browser. It is integrated into Bricscad and is available as Vondle Live through IBM LotusLive.

Unlimited access is available to an unlimited number of participants through a yearly flat fee based on industry type and company size. Vondle project management offers you the following benefits:

• Speed. You can view multi-megabyte-large drawings in seconds, zooming in on a detail, and examine annota-tions with fly-over text that lists time stamp and author.

• Compliance management. You can follow a continuous audit trail of the entire project process. Vondle auto-matically maintains a log file of project activities and participants.

• Single access point. You have a repository of all actions, documents, meetings, and participants in a single location.


• No software to install. You work with an ASP (application service provider) system. The software runs on cen-tral servers with guaranteed access 24/7; you only need an Internet connection and a supported Web browser.

For more information on Vondle, see www.bricsys.com/en_INTL/vondle.

The Advantages of Bricscad

Bricscad doesn’t just lack the negative aspects of AutoCAD; it has its own advantages. These include a similar user interface, extra commands and system variables, support for operating systems other than Windows, a no-charge developer network, and lower pricing.

Near-identical User Interface

When you launch Bricscad for the first time, you will notice that it looks very much like AutoCAD 2008 — complete with command prompt and palettes. See figure below. If you do not care for the Microsoft-designed ribbon interface that Autodesk added to AutoCAD 2009, then you will love Bricscad for sticking to toolbars and menus.

As amply illustrated by the appendices at the back of this book, Bricscad uses the same names for many Au-toCAD commands, system variables, and aliases, and even has the same keystroke shortcuts. Those that are missing are probably AutoCAD commands you weren’t using, such as those for database linkages and sheet set management.

The user interface of Bricscad is available in English and 12 other languages. Chapter 2 describes the user interface in greater detail.


Additional Commands and System Variables

While Bricscad lacks some of AutoCAD’s more than 1,300 commands and system variables, Bricscad has a number of useful ones that AutoCAD does not provide. For example, all object snaps have their own command names, such as Intersection and Midpoint. Bricscad has a larger number of ways of selecting objects, such as using circular and external selection sets. It has commands for manipulating extended entity data, something available in AutoCAD only through programming.

AutoCAD unfortunately stores a number of user settings in locations that can be difficult to access; some are unavailable even through system variables. In contrast, all of Bricscad system variables and options are sum-marized in a single dialog box through the Settings command.

Bricsys has added system variables to access and change settings, such as BkgColor for specifying the background color of the drawing area, and CmdLineFontName for setting the name of the font used by the command bar.

Support for Multiple Operating Systems

Bricsys has been rewriting the Bricscad code to make it independent of the operating system. The company offers versions of Bricscad that run natively on Windows and Linux, and has plans for the Mac OS X operating system. (Currently, you can run the Windows version on Mac computers through Bootcamp or Parallels.) The company speculates that in the future Bricscad might even be able to run on operating systems meant for cell phones (mobile phones or “handys”) and Web browsers, like Android or ChromeOS.

For breaking news on Bricscad, sign up for the Bricsys Web site’s RSS feed at www.bricsys.com/rss/rss.jsp ?channel=bcad.


No-charge Developer Network

Bricsys does not charge third-party developers — unlike most other CAD vendors. You do not pay a fee to join; you do not pay an annual membership; you do not pay for support; you do not pay royalties on shipping products.

There is a simple reason why this support network is free. Bricscad decided that to become a successful CAD company they would encourage the development of many, many add-on applications. The company feels so strongly about third-party development that it has halted development of its own add-ons. Bricsys now con-centrates on two things only:

• Improving Bricscad

• Improving APIs

End users also benefit from APIs. When a third-party developer requests an addition to the API, the new code becomes a new feature in Bricscad that end-users can employ.

APIs

Bricsys is making it easier for third-party developers to adapt their AutoCAD add-ons to Bricscad — just as Bricsys is working to make it easy for AutoCAD users to learn Bricscad. For programmers, this is done through APIs, short for “application programming interfaces,” and Bricscad supports almost the same list of APIs as does AutoCAD. (The application programming interface is the software link between CAD software and pro-gramming languages/compilers.)

AutoCAD API Equivalent in Bricscad Notes

ADS SDS ADS code requires only a recompile using BRX headers. ARX BRX ARX code requires only a recompile using new BRX headers. DRX ARX code must be entirely rewritten when used with DRX.AutoLISP LISP AutoLISP code runs as-is in Bricscad, no changes needed. COM COM AutoCAD COM code runs as-is in Bricscad, no changes needed. Diesel Diesel Diesel code runs as-is in Bricscad, no changes needed. DCL DCL DCL code runs as-is in Bricscad, no changes needed. .Net (managed wrapper classes) DWGdirect.NET AutoCAD .Net code will be supported by in the near future. * VBA Current AutoCAD VBA code runs as-is in Bricscad. *) VBA is being removed from AutoCAD.VSTA * *) VSTA is unavailable in Bricscad.

Generally, Bricscad provides a nearly identical subset of equivalent function names. In the case of non-compiled code, such as LISP and DCL, you just drop it into the Bricscad environment. For compiled code, you recompile using headers provided by Bricsys to registered developers.

Examples of Add-ons

Independent programmers have written dozens of add-ons that tailor Bricscad for specific applications in the areas of AEC, civil, data exchange, electrical, GIS, survey and mapping, general tools, HVAC, mechanical, packaging, rendering, and structural design.

Here are a few examples:

• ADACXcreates and edits ADAC-standard civil infrastructure drawings for Australian Councils.

• 3DM Export exports Bricscad drawings in Rhinoceros 3DM format.


• CivilCAD2010 provides surveying, road construction and design tools, water engineering features, land vol-umes calculations and realtime 3D simulation.

• CADprofiElectricaldesigns lighting systems, low-tension, power plant, aerial, alarm and other electrical instal-lations.

• GeoBL creates topographic plans and includes a library with topographic symbols.

• StrucPLUS is a complete set of tools for preparing structural engineering drawings.

Left to right: CivilCAD2010 and ARKIplan

For the complete list of applications available for Bricscad, visit the Applications eStore at www.bricsys.com/common/applications/applicationlist.jsp.

Lower Purchase and Maintenance Pricing

The most dramatic difference between Bricscad and AutoCAD is that Bricscad Pro is six times cheaper than AutoCAD, even with annual maintenance. To put it another way, you can outfit seven workstations with Bricscad Pro for the price of just one with AutoCAD. The list prices at time of writing are as follows:

Item AutoCAD1 AutoCAD LT1 Bricscad Platinum2 Bricscad Pro2 Bricscad Classic2

License3 $3,995 $1,195 $675 $505 $395 Maintenance $395 $195 $160 $160 $160

1 USA pricing only; usually higher in other countries. 2 International pricing (one price for all countries). 3 Single-use license; lower pricing available for multi-seat purchases, networked versions, upgrades; axes not included.

See https://www.bricsys.com/estore/estore.jsp for full details on pricing of Bricscad products.

It Makes More than Cents

You could ask, “Are AutoCAD’s additional commands worth the $3,650 difference in price?” For some users, it makes sense to pay for the ability to manage sheet sets, generate database links, and perform 3D mesh modeling.

But other users might think: “I can get more mature 3D mesh modeling with Rhino at $1,000, and then get the Rhino-Bricscad file converter for $95 — and still be two and a half thousand dollars ahead.” For example, you would model a boat hull in Rhino, and then draw 2D details with annotations in Bricscad. (Rhino is avail-able from Robert McNeel & Associates at www.rhino3d.com/download.htm; the 3DM converter is sold at the Bricsys eStore.)


Bricscad is Not IntelliCAD

Some readers may be familiar with the heritage of Bricscad, and know that it was based on IntelliCAD. “Was” is the operative word here.

The earliest versions of Bricscad were simply rebranded versions of IntelliCAD, an AutoCAD workalike pro-grammed by the IntelliCAD Technical Consortium. Belgium-based Bricsys sold the software primarily in northern Europe.

(A little history: In 1998, the ITC was created by Visio, now part of Microsoft, after deciding it no longer wanted to be in the CAD market. Visio had originally purchased something named “Project Phoenix” from SoftDesk, the largest AutoCAD third-party developer in the world in the mid-1990s. SoftDesk had begun coding Phoenix after executives worried that Autodesk might cut them off, as the software giant had done to another major third-party developer. When Autodesk purchased SoftDesk, the US Federal Trade Commission required it to spin off Phoenix. That was when Visio made the purchase and renamed it IntelliCAD, but then a few years later it was again spun off, this time to the ITC. Today, the ITC continues to update IntelliCAD while consortium members rebrand the software with additional features for resale in their regions.)

For several years, Bricsys wrote original code for Bricscad, and then contributed its code to the ITC. This helped speed up improvements to IntelliCAD. But Bricsys found that it was writing the new code faster than the ITC could integrate it for its members. Bricsys had to decide between “forking” the code (creating two versions, their own and an IntelliCAD-compatible one) or going their own way. For version 8 of Bricscad, they chose the latter.

With Bricscad V8 and V9, the company began replacing ITC’s code with its own. As of Bricscad V10, the software is 100% Bricsys, and the About dialog box no longer mentions IntelliCAD or Visio.

Code replacement is a huge undertaking, which explains why V8 and V9 didn’t seem to sport very many new earth-shaking features — most of the work was going on under the hood. With versions 10 and 11, the number of features in Bricscad grew.

What’s Missing from Bricscad

Bricscad doesn’t have every feature found in AutoCAD. I’ve put together a list of the things I found missing from Bricscad. As I update this ebook over the years, I have found that this list has become shorter:

Aerial view Animations (walk and fly) Annotation scaling AutoPublish

CAD standards Database links Dimensional constraints Dynamic blocks

Geometric constraints Markups Mesh modeling Multiline attributes

Multilines Multline leaders Quick properties Quick view thumbnails

Point clouds Sections Sheet sets Surface modeling

Tools palettes


Some entities, such as dynamic blocks and tables, are displayed; however, they are uneditable by Bricscad. Parametric 3D modeling is in Bricscad Platinum.

At first glance, a few other AutoCAD features also appear to be missing, but at second glance you will find that they have near-equivalents in Bricscad:

AutoCAD Feature Bricscad Equivalent Command(s) in Bricscad

Action Recorder Script recorder RecScript, StopScript DesignCenter Drawing Explorer Explorer Dimensional Constraints To be added to Bricscad ... eTransmit Email drawings Mail Geometric Constraints To be added to Bricscad ... QLeader Leaders DimLeader Ribbon Toolbars and menus Toolbar, Customize VSTA VBA VBA Workspaces Userprofilemanager ProfileManager

System Requirements

A further advantage to Bricscad is that it has milder hardware and operating system requirements than does AutoCAD. This is significant for two reasons:

• Bricscad runs on older computers; it is necessary neither to employ high-end hardware nor to install the spe-cial display drivers as for AutoCAD.

• Bricscad can access more RAM and CPU speed headroom on newer computers than does AutoCAD.

Operating Systems

Bricsys supports Bricscad running on several dialects of Linux as well as new and older releases of the Windows operating system. While Autodesk has a version of AutoCAD for the Mac, it is missing approximately 1/3 of the commands and most APIs. Autodesk has not announced a Linux version.

AutoCAD Bricscad

... Windows NT

... Windows 2000 Windows XP SP2 Windows XP Windows Vista SP1 Windows Vista Windows 7 Windows 7 Mac OS X Mac (Due to ship soon)

... Ubuntu Linux

... Fedora Linux

... OpenSuse Linux Linux other

AutoCAD requires Internet Explorer 7 or later; Bricscad does not.


Recommended Hardware

Autodesk and Bricsys recommend that your computer meet the following specifications. Note that AutoCAD 2011 will not run on older CPUs lacking SSE2*.

Hardware AutoCAD Bricscad

CPU: 1.6GHz with SSE2* (XP) 1GHz Pentium III-compatible CPU 2.0GHz dual-core SSE2 (3D modeling) 3.0GHz with SSE2 (Vista and 7)Minimum RAM: 2GB 256MB, plus RAM required by OS Recommended: More 1GB or moreHardDiskSpace: 3.5GBforprogramfiles 100MBforprogramfiles Minimum Display: 1024x768 with true color (minimum) 1024x768 with true color (minimum) Graphics Board: 1280x1024, 32-bit, Direct3D Any graphics board 128MB (minimum) workstation-class; DirectX 9.0C or greater supportedbrandsspecifiedat www.autodesk.com/autocad-graphicscard Pointing Device Mouse Mouse *) SSE2 is short for “streaming SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) extension 2. It allows CPUs to assist with certain math functions and vector transformations of the sort used by CAD applications.

Netbook Support

Both CAD programs also operate on low-cost netbook computers. According to my informal testing, both programs need some tweaks to handle Registry entries that don’t register. Illustrated below is Bricscad running successfully with Linux Mint on the small screen of a netbook computer.


Bricscad does not suffer from the installation problem exhibited by AutoCAD, in which the netbook requires a higher-resolution external monitor. (Autodesk’s installation screens are too large for the standard 1024x600-resolution screen found on netbooks.)

AutoCAD-Bricscad Dictionary

Bricscad’s terms closely follow AutoCAD’s jargon, but there are a few differences.

AutoCAD Term Bricscad Equivalent

ADS SDS (Software development system) ARX BRX (Bricscad runtime extension) DRX (Design runtime extension) AutoLISP LISP DesignCenter Explorer Implied Intersection 3dIntersection Intersection 2dIntersection Object Entity Options Settings Osnap Esnap (entity snap) VisualStyle ShadeMode Workspace Userprofilemanage Xdata EED (extended entity data)

—

IN SUMMARY, Bricscad operates a lot like AutoCAD — yet is much more economical. In the following chap-ters, we delve deeper into the themes sketched out by this chapter.

Just as you can try out AutoCAD free for 30 days, you can install and run the Linux and Windows versions of Bricscad for 30 days at no charge from http://www.bricsys.com. Only Microsoft’s VBA is disabled in the trial version. The size of the Bricscad download file is 160MB, some 9x smaller than AutoCAD’s 1.5GB download file.

Chapter 2: Comparing User Interfaces 19

chapter 2

Comparing User Interfaces

BRICSCAD LOOKS LIKE AutoCAD 2008, as well as more recent releases when the workspace is set to “Auto-CAD Classic,” as illustrated on the next page. In this chapter, you learn about the similarities and differences between the user interfaces of the two CAD systems.

As in AutoCAD, Bricscad defines aspects of its user interface through the content of CUI files and the settings of system and other variables. In general, AutoCAD has more capability in CUI, while Bricscad provides more control through variables.


Comparison of User Interfaces

At right: Bricscad V11 in Windows

Below: AutoCAD 2011 with Classic workspace

Title bar Menu bar Toolbar

Prompt menu

UCS icon

Crosshair cursor

Drawing area

Layout tabs

Command prompt

Status barText anddimension stylesCoordinates

Properties bar


Title bar Menu bar Toolbar

Prompt menu

UCS icon

Crosshair cursor

Drawing area

Layout tabs

Command prompt

Status barText anddimension stylesCoordinates

Properties bar


Summary of User Interface Elements

Bricscad and AutoCAD have similar user interface elements, although some are unique to each package. This

table indicates the UI elements present in each CAD package

AutoCAD Bricscad

Customizable user inteface Customizable user inteface

Menu bar (turned off in default workspace) Menu bar

Toolbars (turned off in default workspace) Toolbars

Scroll bars (turned off by default) Scroll bars

Command bar Command bar

Tooltips Tooltips

Layout tabs Layout tabs

Status bar Status bar

Workspaces UserProfileManager

Ribbon ...

Rollover tooltips ...

QuickView layouts and drawings ...

On the Drawing Screen

Tri-color cursor Tri-color cursor

UCS icon UCS icon

Aperture & pickbox cursors Aperture & pickbox cursors

Grips Grips

Selection highlighting & previews Selection highlighting & previews

AutoSnap markers & Autotrack vectors AutoSnap markers & Autotrack vectors

Steering wheels ...

Navigation cube ...

Aerial View window ...

Command Bar and Mouse

Keyboard input Keyboard input

Dynamic input Dynamic input

Keyboard shortcuts Keyboard shortcuts

Double-click actions Double-click actions

Mouse buttons Mouse buttons

Shortcut menus Shortcut menus

... Prompt (options) menus

Information Centers

DesignCenter Explorer

Properties palette Properties palette

Tool palettes ... InfoCenter ... Quick Access toolbar ... Quick Properties palettes ... ... Prompts on status bar


DesignCenter vs Drawing Explorer

Bricscad’s Drawing Explorer is comparable to AutoCAD’s DesignCenter, but provides somewhat more informa-tion and far greater control. Indeed, Explorer centralizes what in AutoCAD are many separate dialog boxes, such as Layer Manager, UCD Manager, and External References. (Recent releases of AutoCAD have begun to amalgamate commands that perform similar functions, such as Attach.)

You can access Bricscad’s Drawing Explorer through the Explorer command or from the menu: Tools | Draw-ing Explorer.

Left: AutoCAD’s Design Center.

Right: Bricscad’s Drawing Explorer.

TIP Bricscad has a number of commands that access Drawing Explorer. These commands open it, and then highlight the related node. For example, the Layer command opens Explorer at the Layers node. These commands are: DimStyle, eTransmit (aka Dependencies), ExplBlocks, ExpUcs, Image, Layer, Layer-State, LightList, Linetype, Materials, Pdf (a.k.a. PDF Underlays), Rename, Style, View, and Xref.

Bricscad includes settings for modifying these named entities, something lacking in AutoCAD’s DesignCenter. For example, the Linetypes node lets you load additional linetypes:

Drawing Explorer loading linetypes.


... and the Dimension Styles node lets you modify the styles:

Drawing Explorer adjusting dimension styles.

Drawing Explorer handles the named entities listed in the table below:

AutoCAD’s Bricscad’s DesignCenter Node Drawing Explorer Node Notes

Blocks Blocks AutoCAD inserts blocks with the Insert command ... Coordinate Systems (UCS) AutoCAD lists UCS names with the UcsMan command ... Dependencies AutoCAD checks dependencies with the eTransmit command. Dimstyles Dimension Styles AutoCAD controls dimension styles with the DimStyles command Xrefs External References AutoCAD controls xrefs with the ExternalReferences command ... Images AutoCAD lists images with the ExternalReferences command Layers Layers AutoCAD controls layers with the Layers command ... Layer States AutoCAD controls layer states with the LayerStates command Layouts ... Bricscad does not list layout names Linetypes Linetypes AutoCAD controls linetypes with the Linetypes command Multileaders ... Bricscad does not create multileaders Tablestyles ... Bricscad does not create tables ... Text Styles AutoCAD lists text style names with the Style command ... Views AutoCAD lists view names with the View command ... PDF Underlays [11] AutoCAD controls PDF underlays with the PDFAttach command ... Lights [11] AutoCAD controls lights with the LightList palette ... Materials [11] AutoCAD controls materials with the Materials palette

In summary, Drawing Explorer is more than a DesignCenter because it centrally gathers commands for insert-ing and controlling named entities. By my count, the unified interface of Bricscad’s Drawing Explorer replaces the equivalent of 13 AutoCAD’s palettes and dialog boxes.


Options vs Settings

Bricscad’s Settings dialog box is a greatly expanded version of AutoCAD’s Options dialog box. In AutoCAD, the dialog box provides access to the values of many system variables, but not all of them. With Settings, Bricscad took the concept to its logical conclusion — access to all system variables. (See Appendix B for the complete list.)

Providing access to some six hundreds system variables is a difficult problem: how does a programmer design a user interface that allows users to access any one of them easily? In Autodesk’s case, they decided to segregate AutoCAD’s Options dialog box into 10 tabs, which hold an additional 16 droplists and 30 auxiliary dialog boxes!

AutoCAD’s Options dialog box featuring ten tabs.

In contrast, Bricsys placed all system variables in a single dialog box, and then allowed users to segregate them by two methods: sorting them by logical categories and by alphabetical order. In addition, a search box lets users find any system variable by its name and its description.

The two modes of the Settings dialog box are illustrated below.

Left: Bricscad’s Settings dialog box in Categorized mode...

Right: ...and in Alphabetic mode.


Brief Tour of Settings Dialog Box

Because this dialog box is designed differently from Autodesk’s, I’d like to give you a brief tour of its features.

You can access the Settings dialog box through the Settings command, the Options alias, or from the menu: Settings | Settings. In addition, there are many command names that open this dialog box directly at the related node. Here are some examples:

Command Settings Node

DdEModes Drawing | Drafting | Entity Creation DdGrips Drawing | Drafting | Grips DdPType Drawing | Drafting | Points DdSelect Drawing | Drafting | Entity Selection DdSTrack Drawing | Drafting | Snap Tracking LWeight Drawing | Drafting | Display/Viewing | Lineweights PdfOptions Program Options | Files | PDF Export

When you enter the name of a system variable, Bricscad operates like AutoCAD: it prompts you for the new value at the command prompt, like this:

Command: setvar Variable name or ?: pdmode New current value for PDMODE <4>: (Enter a number, and then press Enter.)

When it first opens up, the Settings dialog box looks like this:

Toolbar

Node

Variable name

Search field

Uneditable value

Editable values

Help text

The toolbar in the Settings dialog box is designed to provide you with quick access to Bricscad’s 500+ variables.

Sort by categoriesor in alphabetical order

Export variables andvalues to CSV file

Go to Drawing, Dimensioningor Program Options

Enter name to search


Opening and Closing Nodes

To access values, use the search field described later, or else click the + boxes to open individual sections. Click the - box to close sections. (AutoCAD’s CUI uses a similar node system.)

Click + to open nodeClick - to close node

Accessing and Changing Values

The Settings dialog box segregates the settings into three primary categories:

• Drawing

• Dimension

• Program Options

You can use the Settings dialog box to change the values of almost all settings. (Some are read-only, meaning that you cannot alter them. These are shown in gray text.)

The preview area at the bottom of the Settings dialog box uses fonts to indicate the type of variable:

• System variable names are shown UPPERCASE.

• User preferences are shown in Mixed Case.

• Settings unique to Bricscad sport an icon.

Name in uppercase(indicates system variable)

No icon(indicates sysvar available in

other CAD systems)

Above: Documenting a non-unique system variable. Below: Documenting a unique user preference.

Name in mixed case(indicates user preference)

Icon(indicates item unique

to Bricscad)

To access values, use the Find field, or else click the + boxes to open sections. Depending on the format of the value, you either check a box, select an option from a droplist, or type in a new value. When a value is changed, it turns to boldface — a handy way of alerting you that a change has taken place.

Boldface indicates value is changedRegular face indicates value is unchanged

Changes are made immediately, which is why there is no Apply or OK button. To exit the dialog box, click the x in the upper right corner.


Realtime Search

The realtime search field lets you directly access system variables by name. As you enter the first few letters, Bricscad immediately jumps to the first name that matches them. You can then click the left and right arrows to move back and forward through matching candidates.

Notice that the color of the search field changes, reporting the status of the search term you entered:

Snow — two or more names match the search phrase.

Lime — only one (or the last) name matches the search phrase.

Tangerine — no names match the search phrase.

Click the Find button to narrow the search, although I find it’s best to leave all Find Where options turned on.

Exporting Settings

Click the Export button to save the variable names and their values in CSV (comma separated values) format, which can be imported into OpenOffice Calc or another spreadsheet program.


User Interface Variations

AutoCAD and Bricscad sport user interfaces that look similar to each other. They both have toolbars, a menu bar, dynamic input, palettes, shortcut menus, and so on. There are, however, some subtle differences sur-rounding the prompt menu, command prompt, and some of the command options, which I’ll describe here.

Prompt Menu

One user interface element is unique to Bricscad: the prompt menu. This is a floating menu that appears whenever a command contains options. It lets you use Bricscad with the command prompt area turned off.

For example, the figure below shows the prompt menu for the Circle command, with the command line at the right. As the command progresses, the prompts change, and so does the content of this menu.

Left: The prompt menu in Bricscad...

Right: ...and the command bar displaying equivalent options.

You can use the mouse to choose options from the prompt menu, or type options in the command bar. To cancel the command, click Cancel or press Esc.

The prompt menu does not appear in certain cases: when Bricscad prompts you to select objects, when com-mands display dialog boxes, or when the prompt menu is turned off.

Controlling the Prompt Menu

You can specify whether the prompt menu appears, as well as choose its location on the screen. In the Settings dialog box, enter “prompt menu” in the search field.

Notice that the Don’t Display... and Display... options toggle the display of the prompt menu. The corner-related options display the prompt menu in one of the four corners of the drawing area.

Or you can just drag the menu to any convenient location, such as to a second monitor.

The Prompt Menu Flags option toggles the display of hidden options.


: vs Command:

Bricscad uses ‘:’ as the command prompt, to indicate it is ready for you to enter a command. (AutoCAD uses ‘Command:’).

If you prefer the AutoCAD prompt wording, you can change it through the Settings dialog box. Search for ‘prompt prefix’.

Enter any text you like, even something silly.

More Command Options

When I showed you the prompt menu, you may have noticed that Bricscad’s Circle command contained more prompts than does AutoCAD’s equivalent. This is not uncommon in Bricscad, where many commands contain additional useful options not found in AutoCAD.

The following table compares the wording of the Circle command’s prompts for both programs:

AutoCAD Circle Options Bricscad Circle Options Notes

Specify center point Center of circle Default option 2P 2Point 3P 3Point Ttr TanTanRad ... Arc Converts arcs into circles ... Multiple Draws multiple circles


Properties Palette vs Properties Bar

When AutoCAD’s user interface was organized around toolbars, users could glance at the “dashboard” of property settings, as illustrated below. In an instant, they could monitor the settings of the workspace, layer, text styles, and so on — ten properties in all.

AutoCAD’s “Classic” interface reports the settings of nine properties.

With the redesign of AutoCAD’s user interface around the ribbon, seeing properties at a glance has become more difficult. For example, the Home tab of the 3D Modeling ribbon reports no object properties. Some properties are “hidden” in droplists and other tabs, which is not very user friendly.

AutoCAD’s “3D Modeling” interface reports no properties on the Home tab.

In contrast, Bricscad maintains the dashboard-like experience of a Properties toolbar in its default configuration.

In addition, the status bar of Bricscad reports properties and allows you to modify them.

Both CAD packages share a similar Properties palette, but Bricscad calls it the “Property bar.”

Properties Bar

The Bricscad Properties Bar operates just like the equivalent Properties Palette in AutoCAD. That is, it presents properties in three states:

• No entities selected reports the current state of global properties; default properties can be changed.

• One entity selected reports the state of the entity’s properties; properties can be changed.

• Two or more entities selected reports the state of properties common to the selected entities; properties can be changed.


Left: Properties palette in AutoCAD.

Right: Properties bar in Bricscad.

In Bricscad, the Properties bar is often employed when AutoCAD might instead use dialog boxes. AutoCAD’s HatchEdit command, for example, opens the Hatch Edit dialog box; the same command in Bricscad reports hatch settings in the Properties bar.

You can access the Properties bar through the Properties command, or from the menu: Modify| Properties. It appears automatically when you double-click specific entities in drawings.

TIP These Bricscad commands also access the Properties bar: HatchEdit, MtEdit, MtProp, and SplinEdit.

Status Bar

The status bar in Bricscad reports the status of the drawing, but it also reports the current setting of text and dimension styles:

To change a text, dimension style, or coordinate display, right-click the current name, and then choose a dif-ferent one from the shortcut menu.

The status bar does double duty: when the command bar is turned off, prompts appear on the status bar.


Mouse Buttons

Buttons on the mouse operate the same way in Bricscad as they do in AutoCAD:

Left — pick

Right — context-sensitive shortcut menu

Shift+Right — Entity snap shortcut menu

Center — realtime pan

Rollerwheel — realtime zoom in and out

Holding down the Ctrl key together with a mouse button lets you change the view in real time, as follows:

Ctrl + Left — rotates the viewpoint (2D rotation)

Ctrl + Right — orbits the viewpoint (3D rotation)

Let go of the mouse button to stop the realtime rotation.

Mouse buttons cannot, unfortunately, be customized by Bricscad. Bricscad does support an AutoCAD-like menu overlay system and customizable buttons for digitizing tablets.

Selection Sets

Just as in AutoCAD, you can use Bricscad to assemble complex selection sets through entity locations (pick, Window, Crossing, and so on) and properties (color, linetype, and so on). Many options are the same, such as pressing Ctrl+A to select all objects in drawings.

The prompt menu illustrated below lists the names of all of the Select command’s options. (Recall that Auto-CAD’s Select command displays no options at all.)


Bricscad has additional selection modes missing from AutoCAD:

• Outside window — selects all entities fully outside of a rectangular window.

• Outside polygon — selects all entities fully outside of an irregular polygon.

• Window circle — selects all entities fully within a circle.

• Crossing circle — selects all entities within and crossing a circle.

• Outside circle — selects all entities fully outside of a circle; see figure below.

THIS CHAPTER HIGHLIGHTED the (few) differences between the user interfaces of Bricscad and AutoCAD. The next chapter examines how both programs display and edit entities in drawing files.

Chapter 3: Drawing File Compatibility 35

chapter 3

Drawing File Compatibility

BRICSCAD READS AND writes drawing files compatible with the DWG and DXF files created by AutoCAD 2011 and earlier.

Whereas AutoCAD reads and writes drawing files in DWG format back to Release 14, Bricscad go can further back to Release 12. Using DXF, AutoCAD can export back to Release 12 format, while Bricscad can go all the way back to Release 9. (DWG 2011 is the same format as 2010.)

This chapter summarizes how well Bricscad reads entities created by AutoCAD 2010. Most entities, as we will see, are correctly read, created, edited, and written by Bricscad.


DWG 2011 Compatibility

Bricscad displays all entities in drawings created by AutoCAD 2011.

How Entities Are Tested

To test Bricscad’s compatibility with AutoCAD entities, I employed the following procedure:

1. I drew each entity in AutoCAD 2011, and then saved as a DWG file.

2. I opened the DWG files in Bricscad V11.

3. I examined each entity for the following characteristics:

Translation — did the entity appear in Bricscad?

Visual accuracy — did the entity look the same in Bricscad as in AutoCAD?

Editability — could Bricscad edit the entity?

Constructability — does Bricscad have a command for creating the entity?

4. I made screen grabs of each entity.

5. Finally, I recorded the limitations I found, if any.

The results of the testing are presented on the following pages. Entities are segregated into the following categories:

2D

• 2D entities

• Entity properties

Text

• Text entities

• Text styles

• Table styles

Dimension

• Dimension entities

• Dimension styles

• Leader styles

• Mleader styles

Complex 2D

• Complex 2D entities

• Multiline styles

3D

• 3D entities

In this chapter, I show how Bricscad supports AutoCAD entities through the following legend:Entity Name read / create / edit

Read — Bricscad reads the entity and displays it correctly.

Create — Bricscad can create the entity.

Edit — Bricscad can edit the entity.

Any entity that Bricscad can read, create, and/or edit, it can also write.


Problem Entities

There are a few AutoCAD entities that Bricscad does not handle 100% correctly. For example, Bricscad can read and edit multilines, but cannot create them. For this reason, this chapter tags multilines with this version of the read-edit legend:

Multlines AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / edit

*) A footnote details limitations, if any.

Here is a summary of the entities with which Bricscad has problems:

Broken Dimensions

Bricscad displays broken dimensions, but cannot create or edit them.

Dimensional Constraints

Bricscad cannot display or create dimensional constraints; Bricsys plans to support them in a future release.

Dynamic Blocks

Bricscad can display dynamic blocks, but cannot create or edit them. It changes the look of dynamic blocks through fields in the Properties palette; it cannot change them using custom grips.

Geographic Location

Bricscad can specify geographic locations, but does not display, create, or edit location markers.

Helix

Bricscad displays helixes, but cannot create them; helixes cannot be edited, except for moving, erasing, and modifying basic properties (color, linetype, and so on).

Inspection Dimensions

Bricscad displays inspection dimensions, but cannot edit or create them.

Jogged Dimensions

Bricscad displays and edits jogged dimensions, but cannot create them.

Live Sections

Bricscad displays section planes, but objects are not sectioned; section planes cannot be edited, except for moving, erasing, and modifying basic properties (color, linetype, and so on).

Multilines

Bricscad cannot create multilines, but can edit them with the Properties bar.

Multiline Leaders

Bricscad can neither create nor edit mleaders, but can edit their basic properties, such as color and layer; text and arrowheads cannot be edited. Bricscad does not support multiline leader styles.

Proxies

Bricscad displays proxy objects, but cannot edit them, except for their basic properties (color, linetype, and so on). Bricscad does not support object enablers.


Surfaces

Bricscad recognizes surface objects created by AutoCAD, but cannot create surfaces. The surface objects can-not be edited, except for their basic properties (color, linetype, and so on). Bricscad’s Extrude and Revolve commands work only with closed objects, and so cannot create surfaces; Bricscad does not have the Loft and Sweep commands.

Tables

Bricscad cannot create tables, but can edit some aspects of them with the Properties bar; text cannot be edited.

Underlays

Bricscad does not load or display DGN and DWF underlays.

Viewports

Bricscad can create rectangular and polygonal viewports, but cannot invert clipped ones.

Since the last edition of this ebook, Bricscad has added support for the following entities:

• Arc length dimensions

• Modification of dynamic blocks

• Fields

• Geographic locations

• Lights

• PDF underlays

• Subdivision surfaces


DWG Object Support

To read, view, edit, and write DWG files, Bricscad uses the DWGdirect library from Open Design Alliance. As the ODA adds support for entities, Bricsys is able to add them to Bricscad.

2D Entities Supported

Bricscad accurately displays the following 2D entities created in AutoCAD 2011:

Arcs AutoCAD Bricscad

Arc

Circles AutoCAD Bricscad

Circle

Ellipses AutoCAD Bricscad

Ellipse

Elliptical arc

Hatches AutoCAD Bricscad

Patterned

Solidfilled

Gradientfilled

Islands

Text detection


Lines AutoCAD Bricscad

Line

Points AutoCAD Bricscad

PdMode 0 PdMode 98

Polylines AutoCAD Bricscad

Segments

Arcs

Variable width

Fit-curved

Splined

Rays AutoCAD Bricscad

Rays


Solids (2D) AutoCAD Bricscad

3-sided

4-sided

Splines AutoCAD Bricscad

Closed

Open

Traces AutoCAD Bricscad

Tracewid 50

Xlines AutoCAD Bricscad

Xlines

Basic Properties for Entities

Bricscad and AutoCAD support the same basic set of entity properties: color, layer, linetype, linetype scale, and lineweight; Bricscad does not, however, support transparency.

Left: AutoCAD’s Properties palette. Right: Bricscad’s Properties bar.


Bricscad supports ACI colors and True Colors, but not color books.

Bricscad supports all of AutoCAD linetypes and lineweights.

Bricscad does not support materials, transparency, or shadows per entity.

Text Entities Supported

Bricscad accurately displays the following text entities created in AutoCAD 2011:

Attribute Defs AutoCAD Bricscad

Text

Attribute Refs AutoCAD Bricscad

Attribute Refs

Multiline text

MText AutoCAD Bricscad

Mtext

Tables AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / partial edit

Tables

*) Bricscad cannot create tables, but can edit some aspects of them with the Properties bar; text in table cells cannot be edited.

Text AutoCAD Bricscad

Text

Fields


Tolerance AutoCAD * Bricscad

Tolerance

*) AutoCAD does not fully edit tolerance objects.

Text Styles

Bricscad supports all text style options with the exception of annotative scaling.

Above: AutoCAD’s Style dialog box. Below: Bricscad’s Explorer for text styles.


MText Styles

Bricscad supports some of AutoCAD’s mtext style options, and looks not as overwhelming:

Above: AutoCAD’s mtext editor. Below: Bricscad’s mtext editor.

Table Styles

Bricscad supports the display and selection of styles for tables found in drawing files created in AutoCAD, but cannot create or edit table styles. For instance, if the drawing has multiple table styles, you can change a table from one style to another. The Properties bar illustrated below lists the limited properties of tables that Bricscad can edit (white fields).

Left: AutoCAD’s table properties edited through the ribbon. Right: Bricscad’s table properties edited through the Properties bar.


Tolerance Editing

Bricscad supports all tolerance options. When it comes time to edit, both display the Properties palette for limited editing.

Dimension Entities Supported

Bricscad supports all of AutoCAD’s dimension entities, except for the dimensional constraint.

Aligned AutoCAD Bricscad

Aligned

Angular AutoCAD Bricscad

Angular

Arc Length AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / —

Arc length

*) Bricscad displays arc lengths, but cannot edit or create them.

Diameter AutoCAD Bricscad

Diameter

DimBreak AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / —

Break

*) Bricscad displays broken dimensions, but cannot edit or create them.

DimConstraint AutoCAD 2010 Bricscad * — / — / —

Constraint not supported

*) Bricscad cannot display or create dimensional constraints at this time.


DimInspect AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / —

Inspect

*) Bricscad displays inspection dimensions, but cannot edit or create them.

DimJogged AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / edit

Jogged

*) Bricscad displays and edits jogged dimensions, but cannot create them.

Ordinate AutoCAD Bricscad

X ordinate

Y ordinate

Radial AutoCAD Bricscad

Radial

Leaders AutoCAD Bricscad

Leader

Multileaders AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / —

MLeaders

*) Bricscad can neither create nor edit mleaders, but can edit their basic properties bar (palette), such as color and layer; text and arrowheads cannot be edited. Bricscad does not support multiline leader styles.


Dimension Styles

Bricscad supports all of AutoCAD’s dimension styles and variables, with the exception of annotative scaling and text direction.

Left: AutoCAD’s DimStyle dialog box. Right: Bricscad’s Drawing Explorer for dimensions.

Leader Styles

Bricscad’s support for leader styles is not as extensive as AutoCAD’s.

Left: AutoCAD’s QLeader command’s Settings dialog box. Right: Bricscad’s Leader command’s options.

Bricscad cannot create multiline leaders, but can display them and edit them minimally through the Proper-ties bar.


Complex 2D Entities Supported

Block Refs AutoCAD Bricscad

Insert

Dynamic

MInsert

Mirrored

Unequal Scale

Geographic AutoCAD Bricscad * read / create / —

Location not displayed

*) Bricscad creates geographic positions, but does not display or edit geographic location markers.


Images AutoCAD Bricscad

Images

Clipped

Wipeouts

Lights AutoCAD Bricscad

Light

MLines AutoCAD Bricscad* read / — / edit

Mlines

*) Bricscad cannot create multilines, but can edit them with the Properties bar.

OleFrames AutoCAD Bricscad

OleFrame


Regions AutoCAD Bricscad

Region

Shapes AutoCAD Bricscad

Shape

Underlays AutoCAD Bricscad *

DGN

DWF

PDF

*) BricscaddoesnotdisplayDGNorDWFunderlays;itdoesnotsupportmulti-pagePDFfiles. DGN courtesy Axiom Conversion Services; DWF courtesy Residential Drafting Services.


Viewports AutoCAD Bricscad *

Viewport

Clipped

*) Bricscad does not support inverting clipped viewports.

Multiline Styles

Bricscad supports the display and selection of styles for multilines in drawings created in AutoCAD, but cannot create or edit multiline styles. You can change a multiline from one style to another, if the drawing has more than one multline style.


3D Entities Supported

Bricscad accurately displays the following 3D entities created in AutoCAD 2011:

3D Faces AutoCAD Bricscad

3D face

Invisible edge

Helixes AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / —

Helix

*) Bricscad displays helixes, but cannot create them; helixes cannot be edited by Bricsys, except for moving, erasing, and modifying basic properties (color, linetype, and so on).

3D Polylines AutoCAD Bricscad

3D polyline

Polyface Meshes AutoCAD Bricscad

Mesh


Proxy Objects AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / —

Proxy

*) Bricscad displays proxy objects, but cannot edit them, except for their basic properties (color, linetype, and so on). Bricscad does not support object enablers.

Sections AutoCAD Bricscad * read / — / —

Live Section

*) Bricscad displays section planes, but objects are not sectioned; section planes cannot be edited, except for moving, erasing, and modifying basic properties (color, linetype, and so on).

3D Solids AutoCAD Bricscad

Body

Sweep


Box

Cone

Cylinder

Pyramid

Sphere

Torus

Wedge


Subdivisions AutoCAD 2010 Bricscad

3D meshes

Surfaces AutoCAD Bricscad read / — / —

Extrude

Loft*

Revolve

Sweep *

*) Bricscad recognizes surface objects created by AutoCAD, but cannot create surfaces. The surface objects cannot be edited, except for their basic properties (color, linetype, and so on). Bricscad’s Extrude and Revolve commands work only with closed objects, and so cannot create surfaces; Bricscad does not have the Loft and Sweep commands.

Chapter 4: Customizing and Programming Bricscad 57

chapter 4

Customizing and Programming Bricscad

WHEREAS MOST OF AutoCAD’s customization takes place with the Cui and Options commands, in Bricscad the activity takes place in the equivalent Customize and Settings commands.

This chapter provides an overview of customizing and programming Bricscad; see the Customizing Bricscad ebook for complete details on the topic (www.bricscad.com/estore).

For detailed information on programming Bricscad, refer to the online developer reference, available free at www.bricsys.com/bricscad/help/en_US/V11/DevRef.


Areas of Customization

Autodesk and Bricsys provide you with a variety of ways of customizing the look and operation of their CAD

programs. This table list the command name that facilitates each area of customization:

Area of Customization AutoCAD Command Bricscad Command

Aliases ...1 Customize Command bar Options Settings Crosshair cursor Options Settings Double-click actions Cui ...2 Dynamic input Options Settings File paths Options Settings Grips Options Settings Hatch Patterns ...1 ...1 Keyboard shortcuts Cui Customize Linetypes ...1 Explorer Menu bar Cui Customize Mouse buttons Cui ... 3 Plot styles PlotStyle PlotStyle Quick Access toolbar Cui ...3 Quick Properties palettes Cui ...3 Ribbon Cui ...3 Rollover tooltips Cui ...3 Selection previews Options ...3 Shell commands ...1 Customize Shortcut/Context menus Cui Customize Status bar Right-click, Diesel Right-click, Diesel Tablet Cui Customize Tool palettes Customize ...3 Toolbars Cui Customize UCS icon Options Settings Workspaces Cui ...3 Notes: 1 Edit using Notepad.

2 Double-clicking entities opens the Properties palette (bar) in Bricscad. 3 Not available in Bricscad.

Cui vs Customize

The Bricscad equivalent to AutoCAD’s Cui command is named Customize. It displays a dialog box that central-izes customization of the following user interface elements:

• Menus

• Context menus (shortcut menus)

• Toolbars

• Keyboard shortcuts

• Tablet overlay menus and buttons

• Command Aliases

• Shell Commands

The process for customizing most of these elements is identical. Learn the system for one element, such as menus, and you can then handle any other, such as context menus, toolbars, shortcut keystrokes, and tablets.


The Bricscad method differs from that of AutoCAD, so I will show you below how to customize Bricscad using menus as the example.

You can access the Customize dialog box through the Customize command, the Cui alias, or from the menu: Tools | Customize. Alternatively, right-click any toolbar and then select Customize. Notice the dialog box:

A couple of items to note:

Container(File menu)

Menu item(Open… displays a dialog box)

Separator(------ dashed line)

Red dots prefix some menu items. The dots indicate “container” items, menu items that contain other items. For example, the File menu contains file-related items. Here are some more examples of containers:

• BRICSCAD container holds the names of the menu groups. The groups include Main menus (those menu items seen on the menu bar) and Context menus (also known as “shortcut menus,” which appear when you right-click entities).

• Main Menus container holds the names of items appearing on the menu bar, such as File and Edit.

• File container is the name of the first menu appearing along the menu bar.

• Edit container is the name of the second menu on the menu bar.

When you see a row of dashes that look like “-----,” this indicates the position of separator bars, the gray lines that separate groups of menu items.


Menus

You customize menus in the Customize dialog box’s Menu tab. Here, you add, edit, and remove items to and from menus. To do so, you right-click an existing menu item, and then choose an option from the shortcut menu that appears. The shortcut menu creates new menus, adds commands and sub-menus to existing menus, and adds separator bars.

In this tutorial, you add the CloseAll command to the File menu, locating it just after the Close item. (The CloseAll command closes all open drawings.) To change the menu, follow these steps:

1. To open the Customize dialog box, enter the Customize command.

2. When the dialog box appears, click the Menus tab.

Notice that the Main Menus node defines the structure of the currently-loaded menu. The names in the dia-log box, like File, Edit, and so on, match the names on Bricscad’s menu bar, illustrated below.

Importing AutoCAD Menus

The Customize dialog box has a File menu that imports several kinds of menu files through the Choose a

Customize File dialog box’s Files of Type droplist:

CUI — standard menu files used by AutoCAD (since release 2007) and by Bricscad since version 8.

MNU or MNS — legacy menu files used by AutoCAD and by AutoCAD LT prior to release 2008.

ICM — IntelliCAD menu files used by Bricscad prior to version 8, and by IntelliCAD-based systems.

Careful: Although Bricscad imports AutoCAD menu files effortlessly, menu picks sometimes do not work, be-

cause AutoCAD macros can contain macro code and metacharacters not supported by Bricscad.


3. You open containers by clicking buttons. Click the next to the File container. This action reveals the items in the File dropdown menu; both are illustrated below.

Left: File menu container displayed by Customize dialog box. Right: Menu items under the File dropdown menu.

4. Move the cursor over the ----- (separator) item that’s located below Close, and then right-click. Notice the shortcut menu.

c. Choose Insert itemfrom shortcut menu

a. Open File container(Click the +)

b. Right-click separator(------)

5. From the shortcut menu, choose Insert Item. This action adds a new menu item above the currently-selected one, the separator line ------.


6. Notice that Bricscad opens the Add Menu Item dialog box, which lists all commands available in Bricscad. From this list, you can select an existing command — or create a new one.

b. Choose Close All

a.Choose SelectAvailable Tool option

Bricscad fills incommand parametersautomatically

c. Click OK.

a. In the Add Menu Item dialog box, choose the Select Available Tool option. This allows you to select one of Bricscad’s built-in commands. (The other option, Create New Tool, is for creating new com-mand macros.)

b. Under the list of Available Tools, open the File item, and then choose Close All. Notice that most of the parameters are filled in for you, such as Title, Help, and so on.

c. Click OK.

Notice that the Close All command is added to the list under Close.

7. To ensure the new command is in place and actually works, follow these steps:

a. Close the Customize dialog box by clicking OK.

b. Choose the File menu. Notice that the Close All item has been added.

c. Click Close All. Does it work correctly? (It should prompt you to save all open drawings that have changed since being loaded.)


A Few Menu Tips

Not sure which commands can be added to menus? Peruse the list found under Available Tools in the Custom-ize dialog box. It lists all the commands found in Bricscad, sorted by menu order.

Want to create new commands? Use the Create New Tool option to add your own commands, which are constructed from other commands, LISP routines, macros, and Diesel instructions.

Screwed up the menu customization? Click the Revert to Defaults button found at the bottom of the Custom-ize dialog box. Careful, though, because it removes all prior customizations.

What’s the difference between Insert and Append? If you were to right-click the File container, you would have seen the “Append Item” on the shortcut menu. The names “Append” and “Insert” seem similar; here’s how they differ:

• Append Item adds the new item at the end of the menu container.

• Insert Item adds the new item before the currently selected item.

For the case of the CloseAll tutorial, using Append Item would have added the command to the end of the File menu, which leads to the extra step of moving CloseAll into position under Close.


Creating New Menu Items

You add new “commands” through macros, which Bricscad calls “tools.” In this tutorial, you see how to create a tool consisting of a macro that saves the current drawing and then starts the Plot command. The macro is named “Save’n Print,” and looks like this:

^C^C_qsave;_plot

1. Open the Customize dialog box with the Customize command. (Alternatively, you can enter its alias, Cui.)

2. In the Menus tab’s File item, right-click Print, and then choose Insert Item from the shortcut menu.

3. Notice the Add New Item dialog box. Choose the Create New Tool option.

a.Choose SelectAvailable Tool option

c. Fill in commandparameters

d. Click OK.

b. Choose File toolbox

4. Fill in the command parameters.


Use the table below as a guide.

Parameter Name Your Entry Notes

Toolbox File Add the new command to the File category of available tools. Title Save’n Print Specify the name that appears in the File menu. Help Saves the drawing, and then Specify the help text that appears on the status bar. starts the Plot command.Command ^C^C_qsave;_plot Specify the macro that cancels the current command, saves the drawing, and then starts the Plot command.Image (leave blank) Specify the icon, although none is required for menus.

5. Click OK to exit the Add Menu Item dialog box.

Notice that the new tool is added to the File menu (in the left pane of the Customize dialog box), as well as to the list of Available Tools (in the right pane).

About Copying Files

Autodesk permits the copying of support files, since the corporation understands that drawings are effectively

disabled when DWG files are sent to clients without crucial support files. Support files that are coded in ASCII

contain the following notice from Autodesk:

Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any purpose and without fee is

hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appears in all copies and that both that

copyright notice and the limited warranty and restricted rights notice below appear in all supporting

documentation.

By copying files in whole, you include the notices that Autodesk asks you to preserve.

TrueType Fonts

There is one exception. Some TrueType fonts (.ttf files) are commercial products, and cannot be copied without

payment to the copyright holder. The good news, however, is that all TrueType fonts provided with Windows

and AutoCAD maybe copied freely. If a drawing contains copyrighted TrueType fonts, you can often find ones

that look similar but cost nothing.


In addition, its parameters are shown in the Menu Item pane at the bottom of the dialog box. (You can edit the parameters here, just as with regular commands.)

6. Click OK to exit the Customize dialog box.

7. Test the new item by selecting Save’n Print from the File menu.

Macro Metacharacters

Menu items execute macros, which can contain metacharacters. Bricscad and AutoCAD use many of the same metacharacters. I’ll list some of the most popular ones here:

Metacharacter Meaning

^C Cancels the current command. ’ Executes the command transparently. _ Internationalizes the command. ; Executes Enter. \ Pauses the macro.

Menu Design Conventions

Bricscad and AutoCAD use many of the same conventions for designing menus, as summarized below:

& (ampersand) designates shortcut keystrokes for accessing menu items with the Alt key.

... (ellipsis) indicates the menu item will display a dialog box.

Diesel

AutoCAD and Bricscad can employ same Diesel expressions in menu macros and LISP routines.


Context Menus

Bricscad calls shortcut menus “context menus” because they change their content depending on the context. Context menus are found in the Menus tab, just past the Main Menus section. The screen grab (below) lists the context menus provided by default in Bricscad.

Left: Context menus provided by default with Bricscad.

Right: Shortcut (or “cursor”) menus provided by default with AutoCAD.

As with menus, the list of items in each context container matches that of the shortcut menu.

Left: Defining the Edit menu in the Customize dialog box.

Right: Bricscad’s Edit context menu.

When you are in a drawing and right-click a selected entity, Bricscad displays the default context menu, which is Edit.


Customizing a toolbar button has the same options as with menus:

Left: Customizing toolbar buttons. Right: Adding elements to toolbars.

Toolbars

Toolbars are customized in the Toolbar tab of the Customize dialog box. The screen grab (below) lists the names of toolbars provided by default in both CAD systems. (AutoCAD has its toolbars turned off, by default.)

Left: Toolbar provided by default with Bricscad.

Right: Toolbars provided by default with AutoCAD, although they are turned normally turned off.


Customizing toolbars is identical to customizing menus, with two exceptions: submenus are named “fly outs,” and toolbars can contain controls, another name for droplists.

Left: Customizing toolbar buttons. Right: Adding elements to toolbars.

The figure below shows how the Standard tree matches the Standard toolbar.

Left: Content of the Standard tree in Bricscad.

Right: Icons of the Standard toolbar.

As in AutoCAD, you can specify the initial location of toolbars:


Keyboard Shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are customized in the Keyboard tab, as illustrated by the screen grab below. Bricscad has many of the same shortcuts as does AutoCAD.

Appendix D contains a useful cross-reference of shortcuts for both programs.

Tablet Buttons and Menus

Tablet overlay menus and digitizer buttons are customized in the Tablet tab, as illustrated below.

As of V11, Bricscad does not include default settings for digitizer buttons and tablet menus.


Aliases and Shell Commands

Command aliases are customized in the Aliases tab, as illustrated below. Bricscad has many of the same aliases as does AutoCAD.

Appendix C contains a useful cross-reference of aliases for both programs. Bricscad and AutoCAD use the .pgp file for storing command aliases and shell commands. If you have customized your acad.pgp file, you can load it into Bricscad. Just keep in mind that Bricscad calls it “default.pgp,” so you need to rename AutoCAD’s.

Program Parameter File — allows you to load the acad.pgp file provided with AutoCAD (found in C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2011\R18.1\enu\Support).

Use this field toimport PGP filesfrom AutoCADand IntelliCAD

Click to addaliases


CAD Program Default PGP File Default Path

AutoCAD acad.pgp C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2011\R18.1\enu\Support Bricscad default.pgp C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Roaming\Bricsys\Bricscad\V11\en_US\Support

Add — adds a new alias through the Add Alias dialog box.

Edit — edits the selected command.

Delete — erases the selected command.

Bricscad uses the same formats as AutoCAD for defining aliases and shell commands.

Shell Commands

Shell commands are customized in the Shell Commands tab, as illustrated below.

Add — adds a new shell command; Bricscad uses the same format AutoCAD.


Other Customizations

Fonts

AutoCAD and Bricscad use the same types of font files: TrueType (.ttf) and compiled shapes (.shx). AutoCAD also supports the rarely-used PostScript (.pfb) fonts indirectly through the Compile command, which converts PostScript fonts to SHX format; Bricscad does not work with PostScript fonts.

This means Bricscad can use any font that you’ve employed in your AutoCAD drawings. Since Windows controls TrueType fonts, there is no need to copy .ttf files to Bricscad; they are all stored in the \windows\fonts folder for use by all Windows programs.

AutoCAD keeps its SHX fonts in the C:\program files\autodesk\autocad 2011\fonts folder. To use them with Bricscad, you can copy the files between folders.

Font Mapping

Bricscad and AutoCAD support font mapping, handy when fonts are missing from your drawing. Both use the same two system variables:

FontAlt — specifies the name of the font to use when the correct one cannot be found. Both CAD systems use simplex.shx as the default replacement font.

FontMap — specifies the file name of the file to map alternative font names:

CAD System FontMap Default Folder

AutoCAD acad.fmp C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2010\R18.0\enu\Support Bricscad default.fmp C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Roaming\Bricsys\Bricscad\V11\en_US\Support

Both CAD systems use the same format of font mapping file, but the content is different. You can copy the one from AutoCAD, and rename it with that name used by Bricsys, default.fmp. Here are the first five entries of the Bricscad version of the file:

ic-comp;complex.shx ic-complex;complex.shx ic-gdt;gdt.shx ic-ital;italic.shx ic-italc;italicc.shx

Linetypes and Hatch Patterns

Bricscad and AutoCAD use the same definitions for linetypes and hatch patterns. Both simple and complex linetypes are defined by .lin files, while hatch patterns are defined by .pat files. This means that in Bricscad you can use linetypes and hatch patterns customized for AutoCAD. Copy the files from AutoCAD’s support folder:

C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2011\R18.1\enu\Support

to the Bricscad support folder:C:\Users\rhg\AppData\Roaming\Bricsys\Bricscad\V11\en_US\Support


Remember to rename the linetype and pattern files, as follows:

File Type AutoCAD Default Names Bricscad Default Names Notes

Linetypes acad.lin default.lin acadiso.lin iso.lin ISO-standard linetypes Hatch patterns acad.pat default.pat acadiso.pat iso.pat ISO-standard hatch patterns

Alternatively, you can import AutoCAD linetype files into Bricscad like this:

1. Use the Linetype command to open the Explorer window at the Linetypes node.

2. Click the New button to display the Load Linetypes dialog box.

3. Click File to access another .lin file, such as acad.lin.

4. Use the Look In droplist to navigate to C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2011\R18.1\enu\Support. Replace <login> with your Windows login name.

5. Choose the .lin file you wish to open,and then click Open.

The linetypes from AutoCAD are added to the current drawing.


Plot Styles

Bricscad and AutoCAD support both color-based and style-based plot styles, which allows entities to look dif-ferent when plotted. Here’s the difference between the two styles:

Plot Style File Notes

STB Style-based plot style table (newer style) CTB Color-based plot style table (older style)

To create and edit plot styles in Bricscad, choose Plotstyle Manager from the File menu, or enter the PlotStyle command. The figures below show that style-based plot style tables of both CAD programs are almost identical:

Left: AutoCAD’s STB table. Right: Bricscad’s STB table.

This means Bricscad can use STB and CTB files created by AutoCAD — after you rename them. The sole dif-ference is the name of default style table file. AutoCAD’s default name is acad.stb, while Bricscad’s default is default.stb.


Plotter Manager

Bricscad and AutoCAD both support PC3 plotter manager files, which allow users to customize plotter options. Thus, Bricscad can use PC3 files created in AutoCAD.

To create and edit plotters in Bricscad, choose Plotter Manager from the File menu, or enter the Plotter-Manager command. The figures below show that the plotter configuration editors of both CAD programs are similar: one significant improvement is that Bricsys lets you choose the system printer in the Information tab.

Left: AutoCAD’s plotter editor. Right: Bricscad’s plotter editor.


Options vs Settings

Bricscad and AutoCAD provide extensive options for controlling your CAD drafting environment, from modify-ing the look of the user interface to specifying the names of project folders. These settings are stored mostly in system variables; some are also stored in data files, environment variables, or the Windows registry.

AutoCAD’s primary interface for changing settings is the dialog box displayed by the Options command, which provides users with access to many — but not all — system variables. The equivalent dialog box in Bricscad is called up by the Settings command; in contrast to AutoCAD, Settings provides you with access to all system variables. See Chapter 2 for details on using the Settings dialog box.

Both CAD programs also employ the command-line-oriented SetVar command for direct access to system variables.

File Paths

Bricscad and AutoCAD require drawings to use many support files, which are stored in a number of folders. Both CAD programs let you specify the paths to these folders. In AutoCAD, paths are specified in the Files tab of the Options dialog box. In Bricscad, paths are specified in the Program Options section of the Settings dialog box.

Left: AutoCAD’s Files tab.

Right: Bricscad’s Files nodes.

In older, simpler times, support files were simply stored in a folder named \Support. But as Microsoft made Windows more complex, support files became scattered throughout folders on the hard drives of computers — and sometimes not even on the computer you are using.

The complexity stems from networking. Different support files are stored in different folders:

Localfiles— stored on the computer you use; these files are specific to each user and each CAD program, such as DWG drawing files and local customization files.

LocalLow — like Local, but with lower integrity level; used by Web browsers when Windows protected mode is on.

Commonfiles — stored on the computer you use; these files are common to many programs, such as fonts and printer drivers.

Temporaryfiles— stored “anywhere,” locally or on the network; these files are created by CAD programs for the duration of the editing session, such as automatic backup files.


Roamingfiles — stored on any computer; these files are specific to you, and that can be accessed from any networked computer, such as linetypes and hatch patterns. See Roamable Profiles later in this chapter.

Networkfiles— stored on the network and accessible to everyone; these files are meant to be shared by everyone, such as blocks and templates.

If you wish, you can point Bricscad’s support paths to some of AutoCAD’s folders.

User Profiles

Bricscad and AutoCAD both support user profiles, which store your customization settings for each CAD pro-gram. After changing settings with the Options (in AutoCAD) or Settings (in Bricscad) commands, you can save them to .arg user profile files. Profiles allow you to create multiple profiles for different users and projects.

You can launch Bricscad with a user profile by adding the /P switch to its desktop shortcut. (Right-click the shortcut icon on the desktop, and then choose Properties from the shortcut menu.) Edit the Target text like this:

“C:\Program Files\Bricsys\Bricscad V11\bricscad.exe” /P <UserProfileName>

In AutoCAD, user profiles are created and accessed through the Profiles tab of the Options dialog box. In Bricscad, user profiles are generated through a separate application, UserProfileManager.exe., which is accessed through the ProfileManger command.

Left: AutoCAD’s user profiles facility.

Right: Bricscad’s user profiles application.

Because both programs use the same .arg file format, you can import AutoCAD-generated profiles into Bric-scad by following these steps.

In AutoCAD:

1. In AutoCAD, enter the Options command, and then click on the Profilestab. See figure above.2. Choose a profile from the list, and then click Export. 3. Select a folder in which to save the profile file, and change the file name, if you wish. Click Save.4. Click OK to exit the dialog box.


In Bricscad:

1. In Bricscad, from the Tools menu, choose UserProfileManager. See figure above.2. In the User Profile Manager, click Import.3. Choose the .arg file exported from AutoCAD, and then click Open.4. To apply the profile, click Set Current. 5. Click OK to exit the program.

Roaming Profiles

Bricscad and AutoCAD support roaming profiles, which let you “roam” about the office and use the CAD software (customized with your settings) on any computer connected to the office network. Your settings are identified automatically by your login name, which you enter when you access a computer.

Not all CAD-related files are roamable; some remain local, such as DWG drawings and CUI. Roamable and nonroamable files are kept in different folders, whose names vary depending on the variant of Windows run-ning on your computer.

For Windows Vista and 7, files are stored in the following folders:

AutoCAD 2011’s roamable files:C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Roaming\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2011\R18.1\enu

• Data links

• Language packs

• Migration

• Plot styles (CTB, STB), plotter parameters (PMP), and plotter configurations (PC3)

• Support files (CUIX, FMP, LIN, MLN, MNL, PAT, PGP, PSF, UNT, and so on).

AutoCAD’s nonroamable files:C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2011\R18.1\enu

• Template files (DWT, DST, DGN)

• Web Services

Bricscad V11’s roamable files:C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Roaming\Bricsys\Bricscad\V11\en_US

• Plot styles (CTB, STB), and plotter configurations (PC3)

• Support files (CUI, FMP, LIN, PAT, PGP, PSF, UNT, and TXT)

Bricscad’s nonroamable files:C:\Users\<login>\AppData\Local\Bricsys\Bricscad\V11\en_US

• Template files (DWT)

TIP You can change the path to the local and roamable folders with the related system variables LocalRootPrefix and RoamableRootPrefix.


Accessing Hidden Folders

The local and roaming folders can be difficult to find, because they are typically hidden by Windows, unfor-tunately. Here are some ways to access hidden folders:

• Make all hidden folders visible through Start | Control Panel | Folder Options | View tab | Show Hidden Files and Folders. (You can also access the dialog box through the Tools menu, if menus are turned on for Explorer.)

• Or, copy (Ctrl+C) the folder path from this book, and then paste it (Ctrl+V) into the address bar of Explorer.

• Or, create shortcuts on your computer’s desktop to the hidden folders: hold down Ctrl+Alt while dragging the folder name from Explorer onto the desktop.

Supported Files

In addition to DWG drawing files, Bricscad and AutoCAD employ many additional files. The following tables cross-reference by extension supported files between the two CAD packages.

AutoCAD File Bricscad File Notes

Drawing Files .adt .adt Auditlogfiles .bak .bak Backupdrawingfiles.dwf .dwf DesignWebformatfiles.dwfx ... XPScompatibleversionofDWFfiles.dwg .dwg Drawingfiles.dws ... CADstandardsfiles.dwt .dwt Drawingtemplatefiles.dxb ... BinarydrawinginterchangefilesforCAD/camera.dxf .dxf Drawinginterchangefiles,ASCIIandbinary.sv$ .sv$ Autosaveddrawingfiles.xlg .xlg Xreflogfiles.$$$ ... Emergencybackupfiles.$ac ... TemporaryfilescreatedbyAutoCAD.$a ... Temporaryfiles

Support Files .acb ... AutoCADcolorbookfiles.acl ... Autocorrectlistfiles.arg .arg Userprofilefiles.atc ... AutoCADtoolcatalogfiles.aws ... AutoCADworkspacefiles.blk ... Blocktemplatefiles.cfg .cfg Configurationfiles.chm chm CompiledHTMLformathelpfiles.chx ... Standardscheckfiles.css ... Cascadingstylesheetfiles.cui .cui CustomizeUserInterfacefiles.cuix ... Customizationcontainerfiles.cus .cus Customdictionaryfiles.dbq ... Databasequeryfiles.dbt ... Databasetemplatefiles.dbx ... Databaseextensionfiles.dct .dic Dictionaryfiles.dsd ... Drawingsetdescriptionfiles.dst ... Sheetsetdatafiles.err ... Errorlogfiles


.fdc ... Fieldcatalogfiles

.fmp .fmp Fontmappingfiles

.hdi ... Heidideviceinterfacefiles

.hlp .hlp Windows-formathelpfiles

.htm,.html .htm,.html Hypertextmarkuplanguagefiles

... .icm IntelliCADmenufiles

.ies ... Illuminationdistributiondatafiles

.ini ... Configuration(initialization)files

.lin .lin Linetypedefinitionfiles

.log .log LogfilescreatedbytheLogFileOncommand

... .lwi Basematerialfiles

.mli ... Materiallibraryfilesforrendering

.mln ... Multilinestylefiles

.mnc ... Compiledmenufiles(deprecatedasofAutoCAD2006)

.mnd ... Uncompiledmenufilescontainingmacros(deprecated)

.mnl ... AutoLISP routines used by AutoCAD menus (deprecated)

.mnr ... Menuresourcefiles

.mns .mns AutoCAD-generatedmenusourcefiles(deprecated)

.mnu .mnu Menusourcefiles(deprecatedasofAutoCAD2006)

.nfl ... Filterlistfiles

.pat .pat Hatchpatterndefinitionfiles

.ptw ... PublishtoWebsettingsfiles

.pwt ... PublishtoWebtemplatefiles

.rml ... Redlinemarkupfiles(obsolete)

.shp ... Shapeandfontdefinitionfiles

.shx .shx CompiledshapeandAutoCADfontfiles

.slg ... Statuslogfiles

.ttf .ttf Microsoftfontfiles

.txt .txt Textmessagefiles

.udl ... Microsoftdatalinkfiles

.xml ... Extendedmarkuplanguagefiles

.xmx ... Externalmessagefiles

.xpg ... XML-formattoolpalettegroupfiles

Plotting Support Files .ctb .ctb Color-tablebasedplotparameterfiles.pc2 ... PlotconfigurationparametersfilesforAutoCAD2000(deprecated).pc3 .pc3 PlotconfigurationparametersfilessinceAutoCAD2000i.pcp ... PlotconfigurationparametersfilesforAutoCADR14(deprecated).plt .plt Plotfiles.pmp .pmp Plottermodelconfigurationfiles.pss ... Plotstampsettingsfiles.stb .stb Style-tablebasedplotparameterfilesImport-Export Files .3ds ... 3DStudiofiles.bmp .bmp Windowsrasterfiles(device-independentbitmap).cdf .cdf Commadelimitedfiles.dgn ... MicroStationV8andV7designfiles.dxe ... DataextractionfilescreatedbyDataExtractioncommand.dxx ... DXFfilescreatedbyAttExtcommand... .emf Enhancedmetaformatfiles.eps ... EncapsulatedPostScriptfiles.fax ... Faxrasterplotfiles.fit ... FITrasterplotfiles.gif .gif CompuServeimagefiles.jpg,.jpeg .jpg,.jpeg Jointphotographicexpertgroupfiles... .jp2 JPEG2000files



.kml ... GoogleEarthfiles(keyholemarkuplanguage)

.kmx ... CompressedKMLfiles

.pcx .pcx Rasterformatfiles

.pdf .pdf Portabledocumentformatfiles

.png .png PortableNetworkGraphicsrasterfiles

.sat .sat ACISsolidobjectfiles(shortfor“SaveAsText”)files

.sdf .sdf Space-delimitedfiles

.slb .slb Slidelibraryfiles

.sld .sld Slidefiles

.stl ... Solidobjectstereo-lithographyfiles

.tga .tga Rasterformat(Targa)files

.tif .tif Rasterformat(Taggedimagefileformat)files

.txt .txt Spacedelimitedfiles

.wmf .wmf Windowsmetaformatfiles

.xls ... Excelspreadsheetfiles

API and Programming Files .actm ... Activemacrosourcecodefiles.arx ... AutoCADruntimeextensionfiles... .brx Bricsysruntimeextensionfiles.cpp .cpp ObjectARXsourcecodefiles.dce .dce Dialogerrorlogfiles.dcl .dcl Dialog control language descriptions of dialog boxes ... .drx Designruntimeextensionfiles.dll .dll Dynamic link libraries .dvb .dvb VisualBasicforApplicationsprogramfiles.fas ... AutoLISPfastloadprogramsfiles.h .h ADS/SDSandARX/BRX/DRXfunctiondefinitionfiles.lib .lib ARXBRX/DRXfunctionlibraryfiles.lsp .lsp AutoLISP/LISPprogramfiles ... .mcr Macrofiles.pgp .pgp Programparametersfiles(externalcommandsandaliases).rx ... Lists of ARX applications that load automatically .scr .scr Scriptfiles.unt unt Unitdefinitionfiles... .vbi VBAprojectfilespriortoBricscadV8.vlx ... CompiledVisualLISPfiles



Programming Considerations

Bricsys makes it easy for you to transfer your AutoCAD add-ons to Bricscad by supporting almost the same list of programming languages and APIs as does AutoCAD:

• Bricscad Classic for Windows works with LISP, DCL, Diesel, DRX, and SDS.

• Bricscad Pro for Windows adds COM, VBA, and BRX. You can program with C/C++, VB, VBA, and VB.NET.

• Bricscad Classic for Linux works with LISP, DCL, Diesel, DRX, and SDS. Bricsys plans to add additional APIs in a future release of Bricscad for Linux.

When it comes to using programs written for AutoCAD, you can resuse .lsp AutoLISP routines, .dvb projects (VBA macro), and .dcl dialog control language files with no modification.

For writing C and C++ applications, Bricscad offers its BRX interface, which is code-compatible with AutoCAD’s ARX interface. Bricscad supports SDS, which is compatible with AutoCAD’s ADS interface, but as in AutoCAD SDS is deprecated.

AutoCAD API Equivalent in Bricscad Notes

ADS SDS ADS code requires only a recompile using BRX headers. ARX BRX ARX code requires only a recompile using new BRX headers. DRX ARX code must be entirely rewritten when used with DRX.AutoLISP LISP AutoLISP code runs as-is in Bricscad, no changes needed. COM COM AutoCAD COM code runs as-is in Bricscad, no changes needed. Diesel Diesel Diesel code runs as-is in Bricscad, no changes needed. DCL DCL DCL code runs as-is in Bricscad, no changes needed. .Net (managed wrapper classes) DWGdirect.NET AutoCAD .Net code will be supported by in the near future. * VBA Current AutoCAD VBA code runs as-is in Bricscad. *) VBA is being removed from AutoCAD.VSTA * *) VSTA is unavailable in Bricscad.

Generally, Bricscad provides a nearly identical subset of equivalent function names. In the case of non-compiled code, such as LISP and DCL, you just drop it into the Bricscad environment. You recompile compiled code using headers provided by Bricsys.

API is short for “application programming interface,” the software link between Bricscad and programming languages/compilers. Detailed information is freely available from the Bricsys online developer reference at www.bricsys.com/bricscad/help/en_US/V11/DevRef.

Porting AutoLISP to LISP

Most AutoLISP routines work directly in Bricscad. Its LISP engine supports VL, VLA functions, and LISP reactors; it does not support compiling to FAS (compiled LISP) files.

You may experience the following issues:

• Bricscad’s command line input can vary slightly from AutoCAD’s. The solution is to verify the content of all (command) functions. Or avoid the use of (command) altogether.

• Bricscad does not implement a few AutoLISP functions. The solution is to rewrite the code, or adapt external libraries.

DOSLib works with Bricscad Pro. It is a free library of LISP-callable functions not found in regular LISP. See en.wiki.mcneel.com/default.aspx/McNeel/DOSLib.html.


Porting DCL to Bricscad

Most DCL routines work directly in Bricscad. OpenDCL support is in alpha testing (at time of writing).

Porting Diesel to Bricscad

Most Diesel routines work directly in Bricscad.

Porting VBA to Bricscad

AutoCAD and Bricscad both use DVB files for VBA projects. Releases of Bricscad prior to V8 use VBI files, which can be converted to VBA for V8 and later. Refer to the VBA conversion tool at www.bricsys.com/common/vbaconversion.

Porting ADS to SDS

ADS code requires only a recompile using the BRX headers. For backwards compatibility, Bricsys supports the old SDS interface; to run an old IntelliCAD-style SDS module on Bricscad, the code must be adapted, as described at www.bricsys.com/bricscad/help/en_US/V11/DevRef/source/SDS_01.htm.

Since ADS/SDS were developed nearly 20 years ago, Bricsys considers SDS deprecated, meaning developers should no longer use it. ”

Porting ARX to BRX

The BRX SDK (Bricscad runtime extension software development kit) is code-compatible with ARX (AutoCAD runtime extension), so there is no need to convert your code. Your application must be compiled with Visual Studio 2005 SP1, or any higher version compatible with version 8.0 of Microsoft’s CRT and MFC libraries.

Porting ARX to DRX

Bricsys recommends that you use its own BRX SDK, rather than the DRX SDK (DwgDirect runtime extension) from the Open Design Alliance, because

• BRX does not require any code conversion.

• BRX supports advanced topics, such as custom objects and entities.

DRX has the following differences from ARX:

DRX enforces the use of smart pointers in client code.

DRX’s method of constructing and destructing objects is different from that of ARX.

DRX’s control flow of error handling is different from that of ARX applications.

DRX SDK contains a subset of ARX functionality; editor-related ARX interfaces are missing.

DRX has minor differences in the class hierarchy of objects.

DRX is available to members of the OpenDesign Alliance at www.opendesign.com.


Porting COM to Bricscad

COM (Common Object Model) is available in Pro versions of Bricscad, and is accessed through programming languages like VB, VBA, VB.NET, C, and C++.

Though Bricscad object model is quite similar to AutoCAD’s, it is not identical. Nevertheless, most VBx code written for AutoCAD should work directly under Bricscad. When you find a required element missing from the object model, the Bricscad developer support team is open to creating a priority build that adds the func-tions you require.

Bricscad does not support VSTA (Visual Studio Tools for Applications).

Units

Bricscad and AutoCAD share the same units conversion file, which is used by functions in LISP, SDS, and so on. Bricscad calls its file default.unt, while AutoCAD’s file name is acad.unt.

Loading Applications into Bricscad

Bricscad and AutoCAD both use the AppLoad command to load applications.

Left: AutoCAD’s application loader. Right: Bricscad’s application loader.

TIP The RecScript command (script recorder) in Bricscad produces .scr filesthatcanbeedited,whichmakesitmoreuseful than the Action Recorder in AutoCAD.


Third-party Developer Support

Bricsys notes that “There is day to day support for application developers who need assistance porting applica-tions to Bricscad, or simply require technical information about the porting process and the possibilities. The Bricsys development team has an extended section with dedicated developers for the different development environments (LISP, COM, ADS, ARX).”

Bricsys does not charge third-party developers, unlike CAD vendors. There is no fee to join, no annual member-ship, no charge for support, and no royalties on shipping products. Visit www.bricscad.com/en_INTL/home/developers.jsp for more information.

When third-party developers request an addition to the API, it also becomes a new feature in Bricscad that end-users can employ.


Bricscad Object Model

Appendix A: Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad Command Names 89

appendix a

Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad Command Names

THISAPPENDIXLISTSthe commands found in AutoCAD and Bricscad. The list is sorted alphabetically by com-mand name. Not included are undocumented commands, hard wired aliases, or deprecated commands.

Command names new to Bricscad V11 are shown in blue. Commands specific to the new X-related functions in Bricscad Platinum are listed separately at the end of this appendix.

10 indicates the command name is new to AutoCAD 2010

11 indicates the command name is new to AutoCAD 2011


AutoCAD Command Bricscad Command Notes on Differences

A

About About AcisIn AcisInAcisOut AcisOut10 ActBasepoint ...10 ActManager ... ActRecord ... In Bricscad: RecScript ActStop ... In Bricscad: RecScript ActUserInput ... ActUserMessage ... AdCenter ... In Bricscad: Explorer AdcClose ... AdcNavigate ... AddInMan Bricscad’s VBA COM Add-In Manager11 AddSelected ...10 Adjust ... In Bricscad: ImageAdjust Ai_Box Ai_Box Ai_Cone Ai_Cone Ai_Dish Ai_Dish Ai_Dome Ai_Dome... Ai_EdgeSurf In AutoCAD: EdgeSurf Ai_Mesh ... In Bricscad: Mesh Ai_Pyramid Ai_Pyramid... Ai_RevSurf In AutoCAD: RevSurf... Ai_RuleSurf In AutoCAD: RuleSurf Ai_Sphere Ai_Sphere... Ai_TabSurf In AutoCAD: TabSurf Ai_Torus Ai_Torus Ai_Wedge Ai_Wedge Align Align AllPlay ... AmeConvert ...11 AnalysisCurvature ...11 AnalysisDraft ...11 AnalysisOptions ...11 AnalysisZebra ... AniPath ... AnnoReset ... AnnoUpdate ... Aperture Aperture... Apparent In AutoCAD: -Osnap Apparent AppLoad AppLoad Arc Arc


Archive ... Area Area Array Array Arx ... In Bricscad: AppLoad10 Attach ... In Bricscad: ImageAttach, Xref, PdfAdjust AttachURL ... In Bricscad: Hyperlink AttDef AttDef AttDisp AttDisp AttEdit AttEdit AttExt AttExt AttIPedit ... AttRedef ... AttSync ... Audit Audit10 AutoConstrain ... AutoPublish ...

B

Base Base BAttMan ... BEdit ... 10 BESettings ...BHatch BHatch Blipmode Blipmode Block Block BlockIcon ... Required by AutoCAD for old drawings BmpOut BmpOut Boundary Boundary Box Box Break Break BRep ... Browser Browser

C

Cal Cal Bricscad displays Windows Calculator Camera ... ... Center In AutoCAD: -Osnap Center Chamfer Chamfer11 ChamferEdge ... Change Change CheckStandards ... ChProp ChProp ChSpace ...



Circle Circle ClassicImage ... In Bricscad: Image ClassicLayer ... In Bricscad: Layer ClassicXref ... In Bricscad: Xref CleanScreenOn ... CleanScreenOff ...10 Clip Clip Close Close CloseAll CloseAll Color Color CommandLine CommandLine CommandLineHide CommandLineHideCompile ... RequiredonlyforconvertingPostScriptfontfiles Cone Cone10 ConstraintBar ...10 ConstraintSettings ... Convert ... Required only for old AutoCAD drawings ConvertCTB ConvertCTB ConvertOldLights ... Required only for old AutoCAD drawings ConvertOldMaterials ... Required only for old AutoCAD drawings ConvertPStyles ConvertPStyles11 ConvToNurbs ... ConvToSolid ... ConvToSurface ... Copy Copy CopyBase CopyBase CopyClip CopyClip... CopyEData Copies xdata between entities CopyHist CopyHist CopyLink ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad CopyToLayer ...

CUI CUI Executes Bricscad’s Customize command CuiExport ... CuiImport ... CuiLoad CuiLoad CuiUnload CuiUnload CustomerInvolvementProgram ... Customize Customize In AutoCAD: CUI CutClip CutClip11 CvAdd ...11 CvRemove ...10 CvHide ...11 CvShow ...



11 CvRebuild ... Cylinder Cylinder

D

DataExtraction ... DataLink ... DataLinkUpdate ...11 DcAligned ...11 DcAngular ...11 DcConvert ...11 DcDiameter ...11 DcDisplay ...11 DcForm ...11 DcHorizontal ...11 DcLinear ...11 DcRadius ...11 DcVertical ... DbConnect ... DbClose ... DbList DbList... DdAttE In AutoCAD: AttEdit ... DdEdit Renamed EditText in AutoCAD 2010 ... DdEModes Settings for entity creation ... DdFilter Displays DdFilter selection menu ... DdGrips Settings for grips DdPtype DdPtype In Bricscad: Displays Settings dialog box for points ... DdSelect Settings for entity selection DSettings Displays Settings dialog box DdSetVar Displays Settings dialog box DdSTrack Settings for snap tracking DdVPoint DdVPoint DdUcs DdUcs Displays Explorer for named UCSs Delay Delay10 DelConstraint ... DelEData Erases xdata from entities DetachURL ... DgnAdjust ... DgnAttach ... DgnClip ... DgnImport ... DgnExport ... DgnLayers ... DgnMapping ...



... Dish Draws 3D solid model dishes Dist DistDistantLight DistantLight Divide Divide ... Dome Draws 3D solid model domes Donut Donut Dragmode Dragmode DrawingRecovery ... In Bricscad: Recover DrawingRecoveryHide ... DrawOrder DrawOrder ... DrawOrderByLayer Draw order controlled through layer names DSettings DSettings DsViewer ... DView DView DwfAdjust ... DwfAttach ... DwfClip ... DwfFormat ...

DwfLayers ...... DwgCodePage In AutoCAD: DwgCodePage system variable DwgProps DwgProps DxbIn ... Required only for CAD\camera support DxfIn DxfIn DxfOut DxfOut

Dimensions

Dim Dim Dim1 Dim1 DimAligned DimAligned DimAngular DimAngular DimArc DimArc DimBreak ... DimBaseline DimBaseline DimCenter DimCenter* DimConstraint ... DimContinue DimContinue DimDiameter DimDiameter DimDisassociate DimDisassociate DimEdit DimEdit DimInspect ... DimJogged ... DimJogLine ...... DimLeader In AutoCAD: Leader



DimLinear DimLinear DimOrdinate DimOrdinate DimOverride DimOverride DimRadius DimRadius DimReassociate ... DimRegen DimRegen DimRotated DimRotated DimSpace ... DimStyle DimStyle DimTEdit DimTEdit

E

EAttEdit EAttEdit Edge ... EdgeSurf EdgeSurf ... EditEData Edits xdata Elev Elev Ellipse Ellipse ... Endpoint AutoCAD equivalent: -Osnap Endpoint Erase Erase eTransmit eTransmit ExAcReload ...... ExpBlocks In AutoCAD: AdCenter Explode Explode ... Explorer In AutoCAD: AdCenter Export Export10 ExportDWF ...10 ExportDWFx ... ExportLayout ...10 ExportPDF ....10 ExportSettings ...

-ExportToAutocad ... ExpUcs In Bricscad: Explorer’s UCS section Extend Extend ... Extension In AutoCAD: -OSnap Extension ExternalReferences ... In Bricscad: Xref ExternalReferencesClose ... Extrude Extrude

F

11 FbxExport ...11 FbxImport ...



Field Field... Files Displays Windows’ File Explorer Fill Fill Fillet Fillet11 FilletEdge ... Filter ... Find Find FlatShot ... In Bricscad: Flatten ... Flatten Flattens 3D objects with thicknessFreespot ... In Bricscad: SpotLightFreeweb ... In Bricscad: WebLight

G

11 GcCoincident ...11 GcColLinear ...11 GcConcentric ...11 GcEqual ...11 GcFix ...11 GcHorizontal ...11 GcParallel ...11 GcPerpendicular ...11 GcSmooth ...11 GcSymmetric ...11 GcTangent ...11 GcVertical ... GeographicLocation GeographicLocation10 GeomConstraint ...GotoUrl ... In Bricscad: OnWebGradient Gradient11 GraphicsConfig ...GraphScr GraphScrGrid GridGroup Group

H

Handles Handles Inoperative in AutoCADHatch HatchHatchEdit ... In Bricscad: Properties; supported in a future release of Bricscad11 HatchGenerateBoundary ...11 HatchSetBoundary ...11 HatchSetOrigin ...11 HatchToBack ... In Bricscad: DrawOrderHelix ...



11 HideObjects ...Help Help Hide Hide In AutoCAD: for wireframe mode onlyHidePalettes ... Hyperlink Hyperlink HyperlinkOptions HyperlinkOptions

I

Id Id -Image Image In Bricscad: Explorer for images ImageAdjust ImageAdjust In Bricscad: Properties for images ImageAttach ImageAttach ImageClip ImageClip ... ImageFrame In AutoCAD: ImageFrame system variable ImageQuality ImageQuality Import Import Imprint ... Insert Insert... InsertAligned Inserts multiple and mirrored blocks ... Insertion In AutoCAD: -OSnap Insertion InsertObj InsertObj Interfere Interfere Intersect Intersect11 IsolateObjects ... ... Intersection In AutoCAD: -OSnap Intersection Isoplane Isoplane

J

Join Join JpgOut ... JustifyText ...

L

LayCur ... LayDel ... Layer Layer In Bricscad: Explorer for layers. LayerClose ... LayerP ...LayerPalette ... In Bricscad: Layer LayerPMode ... LayerState LayerState In Bricscad: Explorer for layer states. LayFrz LayFrz LayIso LayIso



LayLck LayLck LayMch ... LayMCur LayMCur LayMrg ... LayOff LayOff LayOn LayOn -Layout Layout LayoutWizard ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad LayThw LayThw LayTrans ... LayULk LayULk LayUnIso LayUnIso LayVpi ... LayWalk ... Leader Leader Lengthen Lengthen ... LicEnterKey Enters Bricscad license key ... LicProperties Displays license information Light Light LightList LightList In Bricscad: Explorer for lights LightListClose ... Limits Limits Line Line Linetype Linetype In Bricscad: Explorer for linetypes List List LiveSection ... Load Load Loft ... LogFileOn LogFileOn LogFileOff LogFileOff LtScale LtScale LWeight LWeight In Bricscad: Settings for lineweights

M

... Mail Attaches current drawing to new email message Markup ... MarkupClose ...MassProp MassProp11 MatBrowserClose ...11 MatBrowserOpen ...MatchCell ...MatchProp MatchProp11 MatEditorClose ...



11 MatEditorOpen ... MaterialAttach ... MaterialMap ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad Materials Materials In Bricscad: Explorer for materials MaterialsClose ... Measure Measure10 MeasureGeom ... In Bricscad: Area, Dist, MassProp Menu Menu ... MenuLoad In AutoCAD: CuiLoad ... MenuUnload In AutoCAD: CuiUnload10 Mesh Mesh Bricscad draws polyface meshes11 MeshCap ...11 MeshCollapse ...10 MeshCrease ...11 MeshExtrude ...11 MeshMerge ...10 MeshOptions ...10 MeshPrimitiveOptions ...10MeshRefine ...10 MeshSmooth ...10 MeshSmoothLess ...10 MeshSmoothMore ...11 MeshSpin ...10 MeshSplit ...10 MeshUncrease ... ... Midpoint In AutoCAD: -OSnap Midpoint11 MigrateMaterials ... Required only for old AutoCAD drawings MInsert MInsert Mirror Mirror Mirror3d Mirror3d MLeader ... MLeaderAlign ... MLeaderCollect ... MLeaderEdit ... MLeaderStyle ... MlEdit ... MLine ... MlStyle ... Model ... In Bricscad: click Model tab Move Move... MoveEData Moves xdata between entities MRedo MSlide MSlide MSpace MSpace



MtEdit ... In Bricscad: Properties MText MText MtProp ... In Bricscad: Properties Multiple Multiple MView MView MvSetup ...

N

11 NavBar ... NavSMotion ... NavSMotionClose ... NavSWheel ... NavVCube ... ... Nearest AutoCAD equivalent: -Osnap Nearest NetLoad ... New New NewSheetset ... NewShot ...NewView ... ... NewWiz Begins new drawings with wizard ... Node In AutoCAD: -OSnap Node ... None In AutoCAD: -OSnap None

O

ObjectScale ... Offset Offset OleConvert ... OleLinks OleLinks OleOpen OleOpen OleReset ... OleScale ... ... OnWeb Opens Bricsys.com home page Oops Oops Open Open OpenDwfMarkup ... OpenSheetset ... Options Options Ortho Orthogonal -OSnap OSnap

P

PageSetup PageSetup Pan Pan



... Parallel In AutoCAD: -OSnap Parallel10 Parameters ...10 ParametersClose ... PartiaLoad ... -PartialOpen ... PasteAsHyperlink ... PasteBlock PasteBlock PasteClip PasteClip PasteOrig PasteOrig PasteSpec PasteSpec PcInWizard ...10 PdfAdjust ...10 PdfAttach PdfAttach10 PdfClip PdfClip10 PdfLayers PdfLayers ... PdfOptions Settings for PDF export PEdit PEdit ... Perpendicular In AutoCAD: -OSnap Perpendicular PFace PFace Plan Plan PlaneSurf ... PLine PLine Plot Plot In Bricscad: operates like AutoCAD’s -Plot command PlotStamp ... In Bricscad: Print command’s Plot Stamp option PlotStyle PlotStyle PlotterManager PlotterManager PngOut ... Point Point11 PointCloud ...11 PointCloudAttach ...11 PointCloudIndex ...PointLight PointLight Polygon Polygon PolySolid ... PressPull ... Preview Preview ... Print In Bricscad: operates like AutoCAD’s Plot command11 ProjectGeometry ... Properties Properties PropertiesClose PropertiesClose PSetupIn ... PSpace PSpace Publish ... PublishToWeb ...



Purge Purge Pyramid Pyramid

Q

QcClose ... QDim ... QLeader ... In Bricscad: Leader QNew QNew ... QPrint Plots directly without dialog box QSave QSave QSelect ... QText QText QuickCalc ... In Bricscad: Calc ... Quadrant In AutoCAD: -OSnap Quadrant .... Quick In AutoCAD: -OSnap Quick QuickCui ... QuickProperties ... Quit Quit QvDrawing ... QvDrawingClose ... QvLayout ... QvLayoutClose ...

R

Ray Ray Recover Recover ... ReassocApp Reassociates apps with xdata RecoverAll ... In Bricscad: Recover... RecScript Beginsrecordingascriptfile Rectang RectangRedefine Redefine Redo Redo Redraw Redraw RedrawAll RedrawAll RefClose RefClose RefEdit RefEdit RefSet RefSet Regen Regen RegenAll RegenAll RegenAuto RegenAuto Region Region Reinit Reinit Rename Rename In Bricscad: displays Explorer Render Render



RenderCrop ... RenderEnvironment ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad RenderExposure ... -RenderOutputSize RenderPresets ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad RenderWin ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad ResetBlock ... Resume Resume RevCloud RevCloud10 Reverse ... Revolve Revolve RevSurf RevSurf Ribbon ... RibbonClose ... Rotate Rotate Rotate3D Rotate3D RPref ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad RPrefClose ... RScript RScript... RtPan In AutoCAD: 3dPan ... RtRot In AutoCAD: 3dOrbit ... RtRotX In AutoCAD: 3dOrbit ... RtRotY In AutoCAD: 3dOrbit ... RtRotZ In AutoCAD: 3dOrbit ... RtZoom In AutoCAD: 3dZoom RuleSurf RuleSurf

S

Save Save ... SaveAll Saves all open drawings SaveAs SaveAs ... SaveAsR12 Saves drawings in R12 DWG format SaveImg ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad; in Bricscad: Export, MSlide Scale Scale ScaleListEdit ... ScaleText ... Script Script... Scrollbar Toggles scroll bars Section Section SectionPlane ...10 SectionPlaneJog ...10 SectionPlaneSettings ...10 SectionPlaneToBlock ...... Security Determines whether VBA macros may run



SecurityOptions SecurityOptions10 Seek ... Select Select11 SelectSimilar ... SelectURL ... In Bricscad: Hyperlink ... SelGrips In AutoCAD: Ai_SelAll SequencePlay ... SetByLayer ... SetiDropHandler ...... Settings Displays Settings dialog box... SetUCS In AutoCAD: UcsMan SetVar SetVar... Shade In AutoCAD: VsCurrent -ShadeMode ShadeMode Shape Shape10 ShareWithSeek ... Sheetset ... SheetsetHide ... Shell Shell ShowPalettes ... SigValidate ...... Singleton In AutoCAD: SDI system variable Sketch Sketch Slice Slice Snap Snap SolDraw ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad Solid Solid SolidEdit SolidEdit SolProf ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad SolView ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad SpaceTrans ... Spell Spell Sphere Sphere Spline Spline SplinEdit ... In Bricscad: Properties; supported in a future release of BricscadSpotLight SpotLight Standards ...... Start Starts application ... StatBar In AutoCAD: StatBar system variable Status Status StlOut ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad... StopScript Stopsrecordingtoscriptfile Stretch Stretch Style Style In Bricscad: Explorer for styles



StylesManager StylesManager Subtract Subtract SunProperties SunProperties In Bricscad: Explorer for styles SunPropertiesClose ...11 SurfBlend ...11 SurfExtend ...11 SurfFillet ...11 SurfNetwork ...11 SurfOffset ...11 SurfSculpt ...11 SurfTrim ...11 SurfUntrim ... Sweep ... SysWindows SysWindows

T

Table ... TablEdit ... TableExport ... TableStyle ... Tablet Tablet TabSurf TabSurf... Tangent In AutoCAD: -OSnap Tangent Text Text10 TextEdit .... In Bricscad: DdEdit TextScr TextScr TextToFront ... In Bricscad: DrawOrderByLayer, DrawOrder Thicken ... TifOut ... Time Time TInsert ... ... TipOfDay Displays tips for using Bricscad Tolerance Tolerance -Toolbar Toolbar ToolPalettes ... ToolPalettesClose ... Torus Torus TpNavigate ... Trace Trace Transparency Transparency TraySettings ... TreeStat ... Trim Trim... TxtExp Explodes text



U

U U Ucs Ucs UcsIcon UcsIcon UcsMan ... In Bricscad: SetUcs10 ULayers ... In Bricscad: LayerUndefine Undefine Undo Undo Union Union11 UnisolateObjects ... Units Units UpdateField UpdateField UpdateThumbsNow ... Url In AutoCAD: Browser

V

VbaIde VbaIde AutoCAD to remove VBA in a future release VbaLoad VbaLoad AutoCAD to remove VBA in a future release VbaUnload VbaUnload AutoCAD to remove VBA in a future release VbaMan VbaMan AutoCAD to remove VBA in a future release VbaRun VbaRun AutoCAD to remove VBA in a future release VbaStmt ... AutoCAD to remove VBA in a future release View View In Bricscad: Explorer for views ViewPlay ... ViewPlotDetails ... ViewRes ViewRes VisualStyles ... In Bricscad: Shade VisualStylesClose ... VLisp ... ... VmlOut Exports drawings in VML format VpClip VpClip VpLayer VpLayer VpMax ... VpMin ... VPoint VPoint VPorts VPorts VsCurrent ... In Bricscad: ShadeMode VSlide VSlide VsSave ... VTOptions ...

W

WalkFlySettings ...



WBlock WBlock ... WCascade Cascades windows... WClose Closes the current window... WCloseAll Closes all windowsWebLight WebLight Wedge Wedge... WhTile Tiles window horizontally... WiArrange Arranges iconized windows WhoHas ... WipeOut WipeOut WmfIn ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad WmfOpts ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad WmfOut WmfOut WorkSpace ... WsSave ... WsSettings ...... WvTile Tiles windows vertically

X

XAttach XAttach XBind ... Supported in a future release of Bricscad XClip XClip XEdges ... XLine XLine XOpen ... Xplode Xplode... XRef Explorer for external references -XRef -XRef

Z

Zoom Zoom

#

... 2dIntersection In AutoCAD: -OSnap Intersection 3D 3D 3dAlign ... 3dArray 3dArray 3dClip ... 3dCOrbit ... In Bricscad: RtRot3dConfig ...... 3dConvert Converts ACIS to polyface meshes 3dDistance 3dDwf ...



11 3dEditBar ... 3dFace 3dFace 3dFly ... 3dFOrbit ... In Bricscad: RtRot ... 3dIntersection In AutoCAD: -OSnap Intersection 3dMesh 3dMesh 3dMove ... 3dOrbit ... In Bricscad: RtRot 3dOrbitCtr ...11-3dOsnap ...3dPan ... In Bricscad: RtPan3dPoly 3dPoly10 3dPrint ... 3dRotate ...10 3dScale ... 3dsIn ... 3dSwivel ... 3dWalk ... 3dZoom ... In Bricscad: RtZoom

X-Commands

The following command names are unique to Bricscad Platinum, which adds parametric 3D solids and parts librar-ies to Bricscad.

X-Tools

X-Tools are used to create and edit 3D solids parametrically.

Xarrayp creates polar arrays of solids by copying and rotating a selected solid about an axis.

Xarrayr creates arrays of solids by copying a selected solid in a rectangular pattern.

Xbox creates 3D solid boxes.

Xchamfer bevels edges of solids.

Xcone creates 3D solid cones.

Xcsolids displays a dialog box for the most-commonly used X-Solids solid creation and modification functions.

Xcucs displays a dialog box for X-Solids UCS, to pick, define or recall UCS settings.

Xcut cuts 3D solids using 2D profiles as cutting tools.

Xcview displays a dialog box for X-Solids View, to pick, define or recall View and Viewport settings.

Xcylinder creates 3D solid cylinders.

Xdia suppresses X-Solids dialog boxes, and forces command-line interpretation

Xexplode breaks down solids into faces or wireframe entities.

Xextract extracts copies of faces or edges of solids, or edges of regions, as separate entities.

Xextrude creates 3D solids by extruding 2D objects.

Xfillet rounds edges of solids.

Xintersect creates solids by intersecting two or more solids.



Xlist displays the CSG tree of selected X-Solids solids.

Xoffset creates new solids by offsetting all faces of selected solids at user-specified distances.

Xpunch punches holes in 3D solids using 2D profiles as punching tools.

Xpurge removes the editing data (history or CSG data) from selected solids.

Xquickdraw instantly creates 2D geometry from selected solids for the completion of multi-view orthographic and isometric drawings.

Xretract separates solids by undoing the most recent Boolean operation applied it.

Xretractall explodes composite solids into their component primitives.

Xrevolve creates 3D solids by revolving 2D entities.

Xsection invokes the Bricscad Section command to create 2D regions of the cross sections of solids through user-specified planes.

Xshell subtracts the interior from existing solids to create thin-walled solids.

Xslice slices solids with planes.

Xsolidedit edits all aspects of X-Solids solids, including primitives, composites, primitive components of com-posites, and solid arrays.

Xsphere creates 3D solid spheres.

Xsubtract creates solids by subtracting one or more solids from other solids.

Xsweep creates 3D solids by extruding 2D entities along paths.

Xtorus creates 3D solid tori.

Xtrim trims 3D solids using 2D profiles.

Xucs defines new UCSs or restores saved UCSs.

Xunion creates solids by joining two or more solids.

Xviews gives command-line access to the Next and Previous entries in the list of views used in the current ses-sion.

Xwedge creates 3D solid wedges.

X-Hardware

X-Hardware is used to create and edit 3D library parts parametrically.

Xbar creates bars.

Xbearing creates bearings.

Xcrossrecessscrew creates cross recess screws.

Xhardware repeats the last X-Hardware command.

Xhardwarechange edits X-Hardware solids.

Xhexcapnut creates hex cap nuts.


Xhexcastlenut creates hex castle nuts.

Xhexflangenut creates hex flange nuts.

Xhexheadscrew creates hex head screws.

Xhexnut creates hex nuts.

Xhexslottednut creates hex slotted nuts.

Xhexwashernut creates hex washer nuts.

Xkey creates keys.

Xoptions opens the X-Hardware Setup dialog box.

Xpem creates pems.

Xpin creates pins.

Xpipe creates pipes.

Xring creates rings.

Xrivet creates self-clinching PEM-brand fasteners.

Xsetscrew creates set screws.

Xshape creates profiles.

Xslotrecessscrew creates slot recess screws.

Xsocketheadscrew creates socket head screws.

Xsprocket creates sprockets.

Xsquarenut creates square nuts.

Xthread creates threads.

Xwasher creates washers.

Xwingnut creates wing nuts.

Appendix B: Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad System Variables 111

appendix b

Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad System Variables

THISAPPENDIXCOMPARESthe names and values of documented system variables found in AutoCAD and Bric-scad. The variables are sorted alphabetically.

Both CAD programs can change the values of system variables through the SetVar command at the command line and through dialog boxes accessed by these commands:

• AutoCAD— enter the SysVDlg command.

• Bricscad— enter the Settings command.

Bricscad also supports preference variables, additional settings controlled only by the Settings dialog box.

System variable and preference names new to Bricscad V11 are shown in blue.

PLAT indicates the variable is available unique to Bricscad Platinum.

PREFS indicates the variable is available in Bricscad only through the Settings dialog box.

10 indicates the system variable is new to AutoCAD 2010.

11 indicates the system variable is new to AutoCAD 2011.


A

AcadLspAsDoc 0 0 AcadLspAsDoc AcadPrefix c:\users\... C:\Users\... AcadPrefix AcadVer 18.0s (lms tech) 17.0 Bricscad AcadVer AcisOutVer 70 70 AcisOutVer ActPath ?????? ... ActRecorderState 0 ... ActRecPath c:\users\... ... ActUi 6 ... AeceipInProgress off ... AFlags 16 0 AFlags AngBase 0 0 AngBase AngDir 0 0 AngDir AnnoAllVisible 1 ... AnnoAutoScale -4 ... AnnotativeDwg 0 ... ApBox 0 0 ApBox Aperture 10 10 Aperture 10 AppFrameResources pack://application... ... 11 ApplyGlobalOpacities 0 ... Area 0 0 Area AttDia 0 0 AttDia AttIpe 0 ... AttMode 1 1 AttMode AttMulti 1 ... ... 3 AttractionDistance PREFS Specifiesgripsattractiondistance AttReq 1 1 AttReq AuditCtl 0 0 AuditCtl AUnits 0 0 AUnits AuPrec 0 0 AuPrec ... 1 AutosaveChecksOnlyFirstBitDbMod ChecksonlythefirstbitofDbModforautosave AutoDwfPublish 0 ... 10 AutomaticPub 0 ... ... 1 AutoMenuLoad AutoSnap 63 63 AutoSnap ... 171 AutoTrackingVecColor PREFS Specifiescolorofthetrackingvector 0 AxisMode Toggles axis display X=0 Y=0 Z=0 AxisUnit Specifiesaxisunits

AutoCAD AutoCAD Bricscad Bricscad Notes on System Variables System Variable Default Value Default Value System Variable Unique to Bricscad



B

BackgroundPlot 2 ... BackZ 0 0 BackZ 10 BActionBarMode 1 ... BActionColor 7 ... ... “” BaseFile Specifiespath&nameofdefaulttemplatefile 10 BConStatusMode 0 ... BDependencyHighlight 1 ... BGripObjColor 141 ... BGripObjSize 8 ... BindType 0 0 BindType ... 256 BkgColor PREFS Specifiesbackgroundcolor ... 256 BkgColorPs PREFS Specifiespaperspacebackgroundcolor BlipMode 0 0 Blipmode BlockEditLock 0 ... BlockEditor 0 ... ... C:\Users\... BlocksPath PREFS SpecifiespathtoblocksforInsertcommand 10 BlockTestWindow 0 ... BParameterColor 170 ... BParameterFont simplex.shx ... BParameterSize 12 ... 10 BpTextHorizontal 1 ... BtMarkDisplay 1 ... BvMode 0 ...

C

... 1 CacheLayout Toggles caching of layouts CalcInput 1 ... CameraDisplay 0 ... CameraHeight 0 ... CAnnoScale 01:01:00 AM ... CAnnoScaleValue 1 ... CaptureThumbnails 1 ... 10 CBarTransparency 50 ... 10 CConstraintForm 0 ... CDate 20090722.2 20090722.15 CDate CDynDisplayMode 0 ... CeColor bylayer BYLAYER CeColor CeLtscale 1 1 CeLtScale CeLtype bylayer BYLAYER CeLtype CeLweight -1 -1 CeLweight


CenterMt 0 ... 11 CeTransparency ByLayer ... ChamferA 0 0.5 ChamferA ChamferB 0 0.5 ChamferB ChamferC 0 1 ChamferC ChamferD 0 0 ChamferD ChamMode 0 0 ChamMode CipMode 0 ... CircleRad 0 0 CircleRad 11 ClassicKeys 0 ... CLayer 0 0 CLayer CleanScreenState 0 ... ... 1 CliState Reports visibility of command line 0 CloseChecksOnlyFirstBitDbMod Does not save drawing if it was only viewed CMaterial bylayer ... CmdActive 1 1 CmdActive CmdDia 1 1 CmdDia CmdEcho 1 1 CmdEcho ... : CmdLnText Specifiespromptprefix CmdInputHistoryMax 20 ... ... #f8f8f8 CmdLineEditBgColor PREFS Specifiescommandlinebackgroundcolor ... #000000 CmdLineEditBgColor PREFS Specifiescommandlineforegroundcolor ... Courier New CmdLineFontName PREFS Specifiescommandlinefontname ... 10 CmdLineFontSize PREFS Specifiescommandlinefontsize ... #ffffdd CmdLineListBgColor PREFS Specifiescommandlinelistbackgroundcolor ... #000000 CmdLineListFgColor PREFS Specifiescommandlinelistforegroundcolor ... 0 ContinuousMotion PREFS Toggles motion continues after mouse released CmdNames setvar Options CmdNames CMleaderStyle standard ... CMlJust 0 0 CmlJust CMlScale 1 1 CmlScale CMlStyle standard STANDARD CmlStyle ... 1 ColorX SpecifiesXaxiscolor ... 3 ColorY SpecifiesYaxiscolor ... 5 ColorZ SpecifiesZaxiscolor ... 0 ComAcadCompatibility PREFS Checks registry for compatibility with V8 applications Compass 0 0 Compass 10 ConstraintBarDisplay 1 ... 10 ConstraintBarMode 4095 ...



11 ConstraintInfer 0 ... 10 ConstraintNameFormat 2 ... 10 ConstraintRelax 0 ... 10 ConstraintSolveMode 1 ... Coords 1 1 Coords CopyMode 0 0 CopyMode CPlotStyle bycolor ByColor CPlotStyle CProfile <<unnamedprofile>> DEFAULT CProfile ... 1 CreateViewports Creates viewports in new layouts CrossingAreaColor 100 3 CrossingAreaColor CShadow casts and receives shadows ... CTab model Model CTab CTableStyle standard STANDARD CTableStyle ... 1 CtrlMouse Toggles meaning of mouse shortcuts 11 CullingObj 1 ... 11 CullingObjSelection 0 ... CursorSize 5 5 CursorSize CVPort 2 2 CvPort

D

DataLinkNotify 2 ... Date 2455035.85 2455035.63 Date DbcState 0 0 DbcState DblClkEdit on ... DbMod 5 0 DbMod DctCust c:\users\... “” DctCust DctMain enu en_US.dic DctMain 10 DefaultGizmo 0 ... 10 DefaultIndex 0 ... DefaultlLghting 1 ... DefaultLightingType 1 ... DeflPlStyle bycolor ByColor Deflplstyle DefPlStyle bycolor ByColor DefPstyle DelObj 1 1 DelObj DemandLoad 3 3 DemandLoad DgnFrame 0 ... DgnImportMax 10000000 ... DgnMappingPath c:\users\... ... DgnOsnap 1 ... DiaStat 1 1 DiaStat 11 Digitizer 0 ...



... 0 DisplaySnapMarkerInAllViews PREFS Toggles snap markers in all viewports ... 1 DisplayTooltips PREFS Displays snap tooltips DispSilh 0 0 DispSilh Displays silhouette curves ... 1 DispPaperBkg Toggles paper space background ... 1 DispPaperMargins Toggles paper space margins Distance 0 0 Distance 10 DivMeshBoxHeight 3 ... 10 DivMeshBoxLength 3 ... 10 DivMeshBoxWidth 3 ... 10 DivMeshConeAxis 8 ... 10 DivMeshConeBase 3 ... 10 DivMeshConeHeight 3 ... 10 DivMeshCylAxis 8 ... 10 DivMeshCylBase 3 ... 10 DivMeshCylHeight 3 ... 10 DivMeshPyrBase 3 ... 10 DivMeshPyrHeight 3 ... 10 DivMeshPyrLength 3 ... 10 DivMeshSphereAxis 12 ... 10 DivMeshSphereHeight 6 ... 10 DivMeshTorusPath 8 ... 10 DivMeshTorusSection 8 ... 10 DivMeshWedgeBase 3 ... 10 DivMeshWedgeHeight 3 ... 10 DivMeshWedgeLength 4 ... 10 DivMeshWedgeSlope 3 ... 10 DivMeshWedgeWidth 3 ... DonutId 0.5 0.5 DonutId DonutOd 1 1 DonutOd DragMode 2 2 DragMode ... 1 DragOpen Insertsoropensdraggedfiles DragP1 10 10 DragP1 DragP2 25 25 DragP2 DragVs “” ... DrawOrderCtl 3 3 DrawOrderCtl DTextEd 2 ... DwfFrame 2 ... DwfOsnap 1 ... DwgCheck 1 0 DwgCheck DwgCodepage ansi_1252 ANSI_1252 DwgCodepage DwgName drawing1.dwg Drawing1.dwg DwgName



DwgPrefix c:\users\... C:\Users\... DwgPrefix DwgTitled 0 0 DwgTitled ... C:\Users\... DrawingPath PREFS Specifies paths for drawings DxEval 12 ... 10 DynConstraintDisplay 1 ... 10 DynConstraintMode 1 ... DynDiGrip 31 31 DynDiGrip ... 142 DynDimColorHot Specifiessynamicdimensionhotcolor ... 142 DynDimColorHover Specifiesdynamicdimensionhovercolor ... 1 DynDimDistance Specifiesdynamicdimensiondistance ... 1 DynDimLineType Specifiesdynamicdimensionlinetype DynDiVis 1 1 DynDiVis DynMode -3 2 DynMode DynPiCoords 0 ... DynPiFormat 0 ... DynPiVis 1 ... DynPrompt 1 ... DynTooltips 1 ...

Dimensions

DimADec 0 0 DimADec DimAlt off 0 DimAlt DimAltD 2 2 DimAltD DimAltF 25.4 25.4 DimAltF DimAltRnd 0 0 DimAltRnd DimAltTd 2 2 DimAltTd DimAltTz 0 0 DimAltTz DimAltU 2 2 DimAltU DimAltZ 0 0 DimAltZ DimAnno 0 ... DimAPost “” “” DimAPost DimArcSym 0 0 DimArcSym DimAssoc 2 2 DimAssoc DimASz 0.18 0.18 DimASz DimAtFit 3 3 DimAtFit DimAUnit 0 0 DimAUnit DimAZin 0 0 DimAZin DimBlk “” “” DimBlk DimBlk1 “” “” DimBlk1 DimBlk2 “” “” DimBlk2 DimCen 0.09 0.09 DimCen



DimClrD 0 0 DimClrD DimClrE 0 0 DimClrE DimClrT 0 0 DimClrT 10 DimConstraintIcon 3 ... DimDec 4 4 DimDec DimDle 0 0 DimDle DimDli 0.38 0.38 DimDli DimDsep . . DimDsep DimExe 0.18 0.18 DimExe DimExo 0.06 0.06 DimExo DimFit 3 3 DimFit DimFrac 0 0 DimFrac DimFxl 1 1 DimFxl DimFxLon off 0 DimFxLon DimGap 0.09 0.09 DimGap DimJogAng 45 45 DimJogAng DimJust 0 0 DimJust DimLdrBlk “” “” DimLdrBlk DimLfac 1 1 DimLfac DimLim off 0 DimLim DimLtEx1 “” “” DimLtEx1 DimLtEx2 “” “” DimLtEx2 DimLtype “” “” DimLtype DimLUnit 2 2 DimLUnit DimLwD -2 -1 DimLwD DimLwE -2 -1 DimLwE DimPost “” “” DimPost DimRnd 0 0 DimRnd DimSah off 0 DimSah DimScale 1 1 DimScale DimSd1 off 0 DimSd1 DimSd2 off 0 DimSd2 DimSe1 off 0 DimSe1 DimSe2 off 0 DimSe2 DimSho on on DimSho DimSoxd off 0 DimSoxd ... 0 DimSs ... 2 DimSsPos DimStyle standard STANDARD DimStyle DimTad 0 0 DimTad DimTDec 4 4 DimTDec DimTFac 1 1 DimTFac DimTFill 0 0 DimTFill



DimTFillClr 0 BYBLOCK DimTFillClr DimTih on 1 DimTih DimTix off 0 DimTix DimTm 0 0 DimTm DimTMove 0 0 DimTMove DimTofl off 0 DimTofl DimToh on 1 DimToh DimTol off 0 DimTol DimTolj 1 1 DimTolj DimTp 0 0 DimTp DimTSz 0 0 DimTSz DimTVp 0 0 DimTVp DimTxSty standard STANDARD DimTxSty DimTxt 0.18 0.18 DimTxt 10 DimTxtDirection off ... DimTzin 0 0 DimTZin DimUnit 2 2 DimUnit DimUpt off 0 DimUpt DimZin 0 0 DimZin

E

EdgeMode 0 0 EdgeMode Elevation 0 0 Elevation ... 0 EnableAttraction PREFS Enables grips attraction ... 1 EnableHyperlinkMenu PREFS Toggles hyperlink menu ... 0 EnableHyperlinkTooltip PREFS Toggles hyperlink tooltips EnterpriseMenu . ... 11 ErHighlight 1 ... ErrNo 0 0 ErrNo Expert 0 0 Expert ExplMode 1 1 ExplMode 10 ExportEplotFormat 2 ... 10 ExportModelSpace 0 ... 10 ExportPageSetup 0 ... 10 ExportPaperSpace 0 ... ExtMax -1e+20,-1e+20,-1e+20-1e+20,-1e+20,-1e+20 ExtMax ExtMin 1e+20,1e+20,1e+20 1e+20,1e+20,1e+20 ExtMin ExtNames 1 1 ExtNames

F

10 FacetErDevNormal 40 ... 10 FacetErDevSurface 0 ...



10 FacetErGridRatio 0 ... 10 FacetErMaxEdgeLength 0 ... 10 FacetErMaxGrid 4096 ... 10 FacetErMeshType 0 ... 10 FacetErMinUGrid 0 ... 10 FacetErMinVGrid 0 ... 10 FacetErPrimitiveMode 1 ... 10 FacetErSmoothlev 1 ... FacetRatio 0 0 FacetRatio FacetRes 0.5 0.5 FacetRes 11 FbxImportLog 1 ... FieldDisplay 1 ... FieldEval 31 31 FieldEval FileDia 1 1 FileDia FilletRad 0 0 FilletRad 11 FilletRad3d 1.0 ... FillMode 1 1 FillMode FontAlt simplex.shx simplex.shx FontAlt FontMap c:\users... default.fmp FontMap 10 Frame 3 ... FrontZ 0 0 FrontZ FullOpen 1 1 FullOpen FullPlotPath 1 ...

G

GeoLatLongFormat 0 ... GeoMarkerVisibility 1 ... GfAng 0 ... GfClr1 rgb:000,000,255 ... GfClr2 rgb:255,255,153 ... GfClrLum 1 ... GfClrState 1 ... GfName 1 ... GfShift 0 ... 11 GlobalOpacity 0 ... ... 2 GlSwapMode Sets swap mode for GL graphics GridDisplay 2 ... GridMajor 5 ... GridMode 0 0 GridMode 11 GridStyle 0 ... GridUnit 0.5000,0.5000 0.5;0.5 GridUnit GripBlock 0 0 GripBlock



GripColor 150 160 GripColor GripDynColor 140 ... GripHot 12 240 GripHot GripHover 11 150 GripHover 11 GripMultifunctional 3 ... GripObjLimit 100 100 GripObjLimit Grips 1 1 Grips GripSize 5 5 GripSize 10 GripSubobjMode 1 ... GripTips 1 ... ... 0 GsDeviceType PREFS Specifiesgraphicsystemdevice GtAuto 1 ... GtDefault 0 ... GtLocation 1 ...

H

HaloGap 0 0 HaloGap Handles 1 1 Handles ... 25 HandSeed Sets the starting seed for handles 11 HatchBoundSet 0 ... 11 HatchType 0 ... 11 HelpPrefix “C:\Program...” ... HidePrecision 0 0 HidePrecision HideText on 1 HideText HideXrefScales 1 ... Highlight 1 1 Highlight HpAng 0 0 HpAng 11 HpAnnotative 0 ... HpAssoc 1 1 HpAssoc 11 HpBackgroundColor “.” ... HpBound 1 1 HpBound 11 HpBoundRetain 0 ... 11 HpColor “.” ... 11 HpDlgMode 2 ... HpDouble 0 0 HpDouble HpDrawOrder 3 3 HpDraworder HpGapTol 0 0 HpGapTol HpInherit 0 ... 11 HpIslandDetection 1 ... 11 HpIslandDetectionMode 1 ... 11 HpLayer “UseCurrent” ... HpMaxLines 1000000 ...



HpName ansi31 ANSI31 HpName HpObjWarning 10000 10000 HpObjWarning HpOrigin 0.0000,0.0000 0,0 HpOrigin HpOriginMode 0 ... 11 HpQuickPreview On ... HpScale 1 1 HpScale HpSeparate 0 0 HpSeparate HpSpace 1 1 HpSpace ... 0 HpStyle Determines hatching of islands 11 HpTransparency “.” ... HyperlinkBase . . HyperlinkBase

I

ImageFrame 1 ... ImageHlt 0 0 ImageHlt Impliedface 1 ... IndexCtl 0 0 IndexCtl InetLocation http://www.autodesk.com http://www.bricsys.com InetLocation InputHistoryMode 15 ... InsBase 0.0,0.0,0.0 0;0;0 InsBase InsName . . InsName InsUnits 1 1 InsUnits InsUnitsdefSource 1 1 InsUnitsDefSource InsUnitsdefTarget 1 1 InsUnitsDefTarget IntelligentUpdate 20 ... InterfereColor 1 ... InterfereObjVs realistic ... InterfereVpVs 3d wireframe ... IntersectionColor 257 257 IntersectionColor IntersectionDisplay off 0 IntersectionDisplay ISaveBak 1 1 ISaveBak ISavePercent 50 50 ISavePercent Isolines 4 4 Isolines ... 0 IsRedSdkHardwareRenderingSupported Determines if RedSdk fully supports rendering hardware

L

10 LargeObjectSupport 0 ... LastAngle 0 0 LastAngle LastPoint 5.7,13.5,0.0 0;0;0 LastPoint LastPrompt lastangle : options LastPrompt Latitude 37.8 37.7950 Latitude



LayerDlgMode 1 ... LayerEval 0 ... LayerEvalCtl 1 ... LayerFilterAlert 2 ... LayerNotify 0 ... LayLockFadeCtl 50 ... LayoutRegenCtl 2 2 LayoutRegenCtl LegacyCtrlPick 0 ... LensLength 50 50 LensLength ... 0 LicFlags Specifiesifcomponentsarelicensed ... “”(ReadOnly) LicKey Reports software license number LightGlyphDisplay 1 ... LightingUnits 2 0 LightingUnits LightsInBlocks 1 ... LimCheck 0 0 LimCheck LimMax 12.0000,9.0000 12;9 LimMax LimMin 0.0000,0.0000 0;0 LimMin LinearBrightness 0 ... LinearContrast 0 ... ... 1 LispInit Determines if LISP variables and functions are preserved between drawing sessions Locale enu enu Locale LocalRootPrefix c:\users\... c:\users\... LocalRootPrefix LockUi 0 ... LoftAng1 90 ... LoftAng2 90 ... LoftMag1 0 ... LoftMag2 0 ... LoftNormals 1 ... LoftParam 7 ... LogExpBrightness 65 ... LogExpContrast 50 ... LogExpDaylight 2 ... LogExpMidtones 1 ... LogExpPhysicalScale 1500 ... LogFileMode 0 0 LogFileMode LogFileName c:\users\... “” LogFileName LogFilePath c:\users\... c:\users\... LogFilePath LogInName <login> Bricscad user LogInName Longitude -122.39 -122.3940 Longitude LtScale 1 1 LtScale



LUnits 2 2 LUnits LuPrec 4 4 LuPrec LwDefault 211 25 LwDefault LwDisplay off 0 LwDisplay ... 0.55 LwDispScale Specifieslineweightdisplayscale LwUnits 1 1 LwUnits

M

11 MaxBrowserState 0 ... 11 MaterialsPath “” ... ... 0 MacroRec Reports that macro is being recorded MacroTrace 0.0 0.0 MacroTrace ... 1 MakeBak MaxActVp 64 64 MaxActVp MaxHatch 100000 100000 MaxHatch MaxSort 1000 1000 MaxSort 11 MaxTouches 0 ... MButtonPan 1 1 MButtonPan MeasureInit 0 1 MeasureInit Measurement 0 1 Measurement MenuBar 0 ... MenuCtl 1 1 MenuCtl MenuEcho 0 0 MenuEcho MenuName c:\users\... default MenuName 10 MeshType 1 ... 11 MirrHatch 0 ... MirrText 0 0 MirrText MLeaderScale 1 ... ModeMacro “” “” ModeMacro MsOleScale 1 1 MsOleScale MsLtScale 1 ... MTextColumn 2 ... MTextEd internal Internal MTextEd MTextFixed 2 ... MTextToolbar 2 ... MTJigString abc ... MyDocumentsPrefix c:\users\... ...

N

11 NavBarDisplay 1 ... NavsWheelMode 2 ...



NavsWheelOpacityBig 50 ... NavsWheelOpacityMini 50 ... NavsWheelSizeBig 1 ... NavsWheelSizeMini 1 ... NavvCubeDisplay 1 ... NavvCubeLocation 0 ... NavvCubeOpacity 50 ... NavvCubeOrient 1 ... NavvCubeSize 4 ... ... 4 NFileList Specifieslengthofrecentfilelist NoMutt 0 0 NoMutt NorthDirection 0 0 NorthDirection ... 1 NumVect

O

11 ObjectIsolationMode 0 ... ObscuredColor 257 257 ObscuredColor ObscuredLtype 0 0 ObscuredLtype OffsetDist -1 1 OffsetDist ... 0 OffsetErase Determines whether Offset erases source entities OffsetGapType 0 0 OffsetGapType OleFrame 2 2 OleFrame OleHide 0 0 OleHide OleQuality 3 3 OleQuality OleStartup 0 0 OleStartup OpenPartial 1 1 OpmState OrthoMode 0 0 OrthoMode OsMode 4133 4133 OsMode OsnapCoord 2 2 OsnapCoord OsnapHatch 0 ... OsnapZ 0 ... OsOptions 3 ...

P

PaletteOpaque 2 ... PaperUpdate 0 0 PaperUpdate 10 ParameterCopyMode 1 ... 10 ParameterStatus 0 ... ... 1 PdfEmbeddedTtf PREFS Embeds fonts in PDF output 10 PdfFrame 1 ... ... 1 PdfLayersSetting PREFS IncludeslayersinPDFfiles



... 0 PdfLayoutsToExport PREFS Exports current of all layouts 10 PdfOsnap 1 1 PdfOsnap ... 297 PdfPaperHeight PREFS OverridespaperheightinPDFfiles ... 0 PdfPaperSizeOverride PREFS OverridespapersizeinPDFfiles ... 210 PdfPaperWidth PREFS OverridespaperwidthinPDFfiles ... 0 PdfShxTextAsGeometry PREFS Exports SHX text as geometry ... 1 PdfSimpleGeomOptimization PREFS OptimizesgeometryinPDFfiles ... 0 PdfTtfTextAsGeometry PREFS Exports TTF text as geometry ... 1 PdfZoomToExtentsMode PREFS ZoomstoextentsmodeinPDFfiles PdMode 0 0 PdMode PdSize 0 0 PdSize PeditAccept 0 0 PeditAccept PEllipse 0 0 PEllipse Perimeter 0 0 Perimeter Perspective 0 ... PerspectiveClip 5 ... PfacevMax 4 4 PFaceVMax PickAdd 1 1 PickAdd PickAuto 1 1 PickAuto PickBox 3 3 PickBox PickDrag 0 0 PickDrag PickFirst 1 1 PickFirst PickStyle 0 1 PickStyle _PkSer “” “” _PkSer Platform varies varies Platform 10 PlineConvertMode 0 ... PlineGen 0 0 PlineGen PlineType 2 2 PlineType PlineWid 0 0 PlineWid ... c:\users\... PlotCfgPath PREFS Specifiesplotterconfigurationpath ... “” PlotId Deprecated; included for compatibility PlotOffset 0 ... ... c:\programfiles... PlotOutputPath PREFS Specifiespathtoplotoutputfolder PlotRotMode 2 2 PlotRotMode 11 PlotTransparencyMode 1 ... ... 0 Plotter ... c:\users\... PlotStylePath PREFS Specifiespathtoplotstyles PlQuiet 0 0 PlQuiet 11 PointCloudAutoUpdate 1 ... 11 PointCloudDensity 15 ... 11 PointCloudLock 0 ... 11 PointCloudRtDensity 5 ...



PolarAddAng . . PolarAddAng PolarAng 90 90 PolarAng PolarDist 0 0 PolarDist PolarMode 0 0 PolarMode PolySides 4 4 PolySides Popups 1 1 Popups PreviewEffect 2 2 PreviewEffect 11 PreviewFaceEffect 1 ... PreviewFilter 7 7 PreviewFilter PreviewType 0 ... ... 1 PreviewWndInOpenDlg PREFS Displays preview window in Open dialog ... Bricscad Product Reports the product name ... 1 ProgBar Toggles progress bar ... Bricscad Program Reports the product name ProjectName . . ProjectName ... “” ProjectSearchPaths PREFS Specifiesprojectnames&searchpaths ProjMode 1 1 ProjMode ... 3 PromptMenu Toggles prompt menu ... 0 PromptMenuFlags PREFS Toggles hidden prompts ProxyGraphics 1 1 ProxyGraphics ProxyNotice 1 1 ProxyNotice ProxyShow 1 1 ProxyShow ProxyWebSearch 0 1 ProxyWebSearch PsLtScale 1 1 PsLtScale PsolHeight 4 ... PsolWidth 0.25 ... PsProlog . “” PsProlog PsQuality 75 75 PsQuality PStyleMode 1 1 PStyleMode PStylePolicy 1 1 PStylePolicy PsVpScale 0 0 PsVpScale PublishAllSheets 1 ... PublishCollate 1 ... PublishHatch 1 ... PUcsBase . . PUcsBase

Q

QpLocation 0 ... QpMode 1 ... QaFlags 0 0 QaFlags QtextMode 0 0 QtextMode



QvDrawingPin 0 ... QvLayoutPin 0 ...

R

RasterDpi 300 ... RasterPercent 20 ... RasterPreview 1 1 RasterPreview RasterThreshold 20 ... ... 5 RealtimeSpeedup PREFS Skips messages during realtime pan 11 Rebuild2dCv 6 ... 11 Rebuild2dDegree 3 ... 11 Rebuild2dOption 1 ... 11 RebuildDegreeU 3 ... 11 RebuildDegreeV 3 ... 11 RebuildOptions 1 ... 11 RebuildU 6 ... 11 RebuildV 6 ... ... C:\Users\... RecentPath PREFS Specifiesrecentlyusedpath 11 RecoveryAuto 0 ... RecoveryMode 2 ... RefEditName “” “” RefEditName ... 0 RefEditLockNotInWorkset PREFS Locks entities not being edited by RefEdit RegenMode 1 1 RegenMode RememberFolders 1 1 RememberFolders ... 0 Re_init RenderQuality 1 ... RenderUserLights 1 ... ReportError 1 ... ... 0 RevCloudArcStyle PREFS Specifiesrevisioncloudarcstyle ... 0.38 RevCloudMaxArcLength PREFS Specifiesrevisioncloudmaxarclength ... 0.38 RevCloudMinArcLength PREFS Specifiesrevisioncloudminarclength 10 RibbonContextSelect 1 ... 10 RibbonContextSelLim 2500 ... 10 RibbonDockedHeight 0 ... 10 RibbonSelectMode 1 ... RibbonState 1 ... Roamablerootprefix c:\users\... c:\users\... RoamableRootPrefix 11 RolloverOpacity 0 ... RolloverTips 1 ... RtDisplay 1 1 RtDisplay



S

... 1 SaveChangeToLayout PREFS Saves print changes to layout SaveFidelity 1 ... SaveFile c:\users\... “” SaveFile SaveFilePath c:\users\... C:\Users\... SaveFilePath ... 1 SaveFormat PREFS SetstheDWGfileformat SaveName Drawing1.dwg Drawing1.dwg SaveName SaveTime 10 10 SaveTime ScreenBoxes 0 26 ScreenBoxes ScreenMode 3 1 ScreenMode ScreenSize 1366.0,499.0 784.0;506.0 ScreenSize ... 256 ScrlHist Specifiesnumberoflinessavedinhistory ... 0 Sdi Toggles single-document interface SelectionAnnoDisplay 1 ... SelectionArea 1 1 SelectionArea SelectionAreaOpacity 25 25 SelectionAreaOpacity 11 SelectionCycling 0 ... SelectionPreview 3 3 SelectionPreview 11 SelectSimilarMode 130 ... SetByLayerMode 127 ... ShadEdge 3 3 ShadEdge ShadeDif 70 70 ShadeDif ShadowPlaneLocation 0 ... ShortcutMenu 11 2 ShortcutMenu ... 0 ShowFullPathInTitle PREFS Displays full path in title bar ShowHist 1 ... ShowLayerUsage 0 ... ShowmotionPin 1 ... ShpName “” “” ShpName SigWarn 1 ... SketchInc 0.1 0.1 SketchInc SkPoly 0 0 SkPoly 11 SkTolerance 0.5 ... SkyStatus 0 ... ... 0 SingletonMode PREFS Toggles multiple Bricscad instances 10 SmoothMeshConvert 0 ... 10 SmoothMeshGrid 3 ... 10 SmoothMeshMaxFace 838300 ... 10 SmoothMeshMaxLev 4 ... SnapAng 0 0 SnapAng SnapBase 0.0000,0.0000 0;0 SnapBase SnapIsoPair 0 0 SnapIsoPair



... 2 SnapMarkerColor PREFS Specifiessnapmarkercolor ... 6 SnapMarkerSize PREFS Specifiessnapmarkersize ... 2 SnapMarkerThickness PREFS Specifiessnapmarkerthickness SnapMode 0 0 SnapMode SnapStyl 0 0 SnapStyl SnapType 0 0 SnapType SnapUnit 0.5000,0.5000 0.5;0.5 SnapUnit SolidCheck 1 1 SolidCheck SolidHist 1 ... SortEnts 127 96 SortEnts 11 SplDegree 3 ... SplFrame 0 0 SplFrame SplineSegs 8 8 SplineSegs SplineType 6 6 SplineType 11 SplKnots 0 ... 11 SplMethod 0 ... ... c:\users\... SrchPath Specifiessearchpathsforsupportfiles SsFound “” ... SsLocate 1 ... SsmAutoOpen 1 ... SsmPollTime 60 ... SsmSheetStatus 2 ... StandardsViolation 2 ... Startup 0 0 Startup StatusBar 1 ... StepSize 6 ... StepsPerSec 2 ... 10 SubobjSelectionMode 0 ... SunStatus 0 ... 11 SurfaceAssociativity 1 ... 11 SurfaceAssociativityDrag 1 ... 11 SurfaceAutoTrim 0 ... 11 SurfaceModelingMode 0 ... SurfTab1 6 6 Surftab1 SurfTab2 6 6 Surftab2 SurfType 6 6 SurfType SurfU 6 6 SurfU SurfV 6 6 SurfV SyscodePage ansi_1252 ANSI_1252 SysCodePage



T

TableIndicator 1 ... TableToolbar 2 ... TabMode 0 0 TabMode Target 0.0,0.0,0.0 0.0;0.0;0.0 Target TdCreate 2455034.61 2455035.58 TdCreate TdInDwg 1.24 1.16E-008 TdInDwg TduCreate 2455034.9 2455035.88 TduCreate TdUpdate 2455034.61 2455035.58 TdUpdate TdUsrTimer 1.24 1.16E-008 TdUsrTimer TduUpdate 2455034.9 2455035.88 TduUpdate ... c:\users\... TemplatePath PREFS Specifiespathtotemplatesfolder TempOverrides 1 ... TempPrefix c:\users\... “” TempPrefix ... 0 TextAngle Stores last-used angle for text 10 TextEditor 0 ... TextEval 0 0 TextEval TextFill 1 1 TextFill TextOutputFileFormat 0 ... TextQlty 50 50 TextQlty TextSize 0.2 0.2 TextSize TextStyle standard STANDARD TextStyle ... C:/program... TextureMapPath Specifiespathtotexturemapfolders Thickness 0 0 Thickness ThumbSize 1 ... TileMode 1 1 TileMode TimeZone -8000 -8000 TimeZone ToolTipMerge 0 ... Tooltips 1 1 Tooltips *_ToolPalettePath C:\Users\... ... TraceWid 0.05 0.05 TraceWid TrackPath 0 0 TrackPath 11 TransparencyDisplay 1 ... TrayIcons 1 ... TrayNotify 1 ... TrayTimeout 0 ... TreeDepth 3020 3020 TreeDepth TreeMax 10000000 10000000 TreeMax TrimMode 1 1 TrimMode TSpaceFac 1 1 TSpaceFac TSpaceType 1 1 TSpaceType



TStackAlign 1 2 TStackAlign TStackSize 70 70 TStackSize ... 1 TtfAsText

U

UcsAxisAng 90 90 UcsAxisAng UcsBase WORLD “” UcsBase UcsDetect 1 ... UcsFollow 0 0 UcsFollow UcsIcon 3 3 UcsIcon ... 0 UcsIconPos Toggles non-origin UCS icon position UcsName “” “” UcsName UcsOrg 0.0,0.0,0.0 0;0;0 UcsOrg UcsOrtho 1 ... UcsView 1 ... UcsVp 1 1 UcsVp UcsXDir 1.0,0.0,0.0 1;0;0 UcsXDir UcsYDir 0.0,1.0,0.0 0;1;0 UcsYDir UndoCtl 53 1 UndoCtl UndoMarks 0 5 UndoMarks UnitMode 0 0 UnitMode 10 UOsnap 1 ... UpdateThumbnail 15 ... ... 1 UseOutputFolder PREFS Toggle use of the output folder ... 0 UseRegistryValues PREFS Reuses previous print settings UserI1-5 0 0 UserI1-5 UserR1-5 0 0 UserR1-5 UserS1-5 “” “” UserS1-5 ... 0 UseStandardOpenFileDialog PREFS Displaysadditionalfolderinfiledialogboxes

V

... Bricsys _VendorName Reports the vendor’s name ... “11.1.11(UNICODE)” _VerNum Reports the version number ... 100.0.64 VersionCustomizableFiles PREFS ReportsversionnumberofCUIandPGPfiles ViewCtr 18.9,8.7,0.0 18.9,8.7,0.0 ViewCtr ViewDir 0.0,0.0,1.0 10.4;4.5;0.0 ViewDir ViewMode 0 0.0;0.0;1.0 ViewMode ViewSize 14.65 16 ViewSize ViewTwist 0 0 ViewTwist VisRetain 1 1 VisRetain



VpLayerOverrides 0 ... VpLayerOverridesMode 1 ... VpMaximizedState 0 ... 10 VpRotateAssoc 1 ... 11 VsCurvatureHigh 1.0 ... 11 VsCurvatureLow -1.0 ... 11 VsCurvatureType 0 ... 11 VsDraftangleHigh 3 ... 11 VsDraftangleLow -3 ... 11 VsZebraColor1 “Rgb:255,255,255” ... 11 VsZebraColor2 “Rgb:0,0,0” ... 11 VsZebraDirection 90 ... 11 VsZebraSize 45 ... 11 VsZebraType 1 ... VsBackgrounds 1 ... VsEdgeColor byentity ... VsEdgeJitter -2 ... VsEdgeOverhang -6 ... VsEdges 1 ... VsEdgeSmooth 1 ... 11 VsEdgeLEx -6 ... VsFaceColorMode 0 ... VsFaceHighlight -30 ... VsFaceOpacity -60 ... VsFaceStyle 0 ... VsHaloGap 0 ... VsHidePrecision 0 ... VsIntersectionColor “7(white)” ... VsIntersectionEdges 0 ... VsIntersectionLtype 1 ... VsIsoOnTop 0 ... VsLightingQuality 1 ... VsMaterialMode 0 ... VsMax 119.3,59.5,0.0 1E+20,1E+20,1E+20 VsMax VsMin -81.3,-42.1,0.0 -1E+20,-1E+20,-1E+20 VsMin VsMonoColor “Rgb:255,255,255” ... VsObscuredColor “ByEntity” ... VsObscuredEdges 1 ... VsObscuredLype 1 ... 11 VsOccludedColor “ByEntity” ... 11 VsOccludedEdges 1 ... 11 VsOccludedLtype 1 ...



VsShadows 0 ... VsSilhEdges 0 ... VsSilhWidth 5 ... VtDuration 750 ... VtEnable 3 ... VtFps 7 ...

W

WhipArc 0 0 WhipArc WhipThread 1 3 WhipThread WindowAreaColor 150 5 WindowAreaColor WmfBkgnd off 0 WmfBkGnd WmfForegnd off 0 WmfForeGnd ... 2 WndlMain Reports window state, maximized or other ... 0 WndlScrl PREFS Toggles scroll bars ... 1 WndlStat Toggles status bar ... 1 WndlTabs PREFS Toggles layout and model tabs ... 0 WndlText Reports text window state ... 2162.0;202.0 WndPMain Reports top left window position ... 40.0;40.0 WndPText Reports top left text window ... 1160.0;760.0 WndSMain Reports main window size ... 1120.0;720.0 WndSText Reports text window size ... 1 WorkspaceSecurity Enables macros WorldUcs 1 1 WorldUcs WorldView 1 1 Worldview WriteStat 1 ... 11 WsAutosave 0 ... WsCurrent 2D drafting & annotation ...

X

XClipFrame 2 0 XClipFrame ... 1 XDia PLAT Toggles dialog box or command line for X-Solids 10 XDwgFadeCtl 70 ... XEdit 1 1 XEdit XFadeCtl 50 50 XFadeCtl XLoadCtl 2 2 XLoadCtl XLoadPath c:\users\... C:\Users\... XLoadPath XRefCtl 0 0 XRefCtl XRefNotify 2 ... XRefType 0 ...




Z

ZoomFactor 60 60 ZoomFactor ZoomWheel 0 ...

#

3dConversionMode 1 ... 3dDwfPrec 2 ... 11 3dOsMode 11 ... 3dSelectionMode 1 ...

Appendix C: Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad Command Aliases 137

appendix c

Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad Command Aliases

THISAPPENDIXCOMPARESthe default command aliases defined by AutoCAD and Bricscad. The list is sorted alphabetically by command name.

Both CAD programs can define new aliases and modify existing ones. To customize aliases in

• AutoCAD— use the Command Aliases button on the ribbon’s Express Tool tab’s Tools panel.

• Bricscad— use the Customize command’s Keyboard Shortcuts node.

Aliases added to Bricscad V11 are shown in blue text. The X-Solids and X-Hardware command names in Bricscad Platinum have no aliases, at time of writing.

ICAD Indicates that these alias names are included by Bricscad for compatibility with IntelliCAD.


AutoCAD Command AutoCAD Alias Bricscad Alias Bricscad Command

A

ActRecord arr ... -ActStop -ars ... ActStop ars ... ActUserInput aru ... -ActUserMessage -arm ... ActUserMessage arm ... AdCenter adc, content, dc, dcenter ... Align al al AlignAllPlay aplay ...11 AnalysisCurvature curvatureanalysis ...11 AnalysisDraftAngle draftangleanalysis ...11 AnalysisZebra zebraanalysis ...... ap Aperture... planviewint ICAD ApparentAppLoad ap ... Arc a a ArcArea aa aa Area-Array -ar ... Array ar ar Array-AttDef -att -at -AttDefAttDef att, ddattdef at, ddattdef AttDef... ad AttDisp-AttEdit -ate, atte -AttEditAttEdit ate, ddatte, ddattext -ate AttEditAttExt ddattext -ax -AttExt... ax, ddattext AttExt AttIpEdit ati ...

B

... backgrounds ICAD BackgroundBAction ac ... ... ba BaseBClose bc ... BcParameter cparam ... BEdit be ... ... bm Blipmode-Block -b -b -BlockBlock b, acadblockdialog, ... bmake, bmod -Boundary -bo -bo -Boundary


Boundary bo, bpoly bo, bpoly BoundaryBParameter param ... Break br br BreakBSave bs ... BvState bvs ...

C

Camera cam ... Chamfer cha cha ChamferChange -ch -ch ChangeCheckStandards chk ... Circle c c Circle-Color -col,-colour -col, -colour -ColorColor col, colour, ddcolor, col, colour, ddcolor, Color ddcolour ddcolour, setcolor ICAD

CommandLine cli ... ConstraintBar cbar ... ConstraintSettings csettings ... Copy co, cp co, cp Copy... cl CopyLink... cui CustomizeCTableStyle ct ... 11 CvAdd insertcontrolpoint ...11 CvHide pointoff ...11 CvRebuild rebuild ...11 CvRemove removecontrolpoint ...11 CvShow pointon ...Cylinder cyl cyl Cylinder

D

DataExtraction dx ... DataLink dl ... DataLinkUpdate dlu ... DbConnect dbc ... DdEdit ed ed DdEditDdGrips gr gr DdGrips... se DdSelectDdVpoint vp vp, viewctl, DdVpoint setvpoint ICAD

DelConstraint delcon ... Dist di di DistDivide div div Divide

AutoCAD Command AutoCAD Alias BricsCAD Alias BricsCAD Command


Donut do, doughnut do, doughnut DonutDrawingRecovery drm ... DrawOrder dr dr DrawOrderDSettings ds, ddrmodes, se ddrmodes, rm DSettingsDsViewer av ... DView dv dv DView

Dimensions

... dimension DimDimAligned dal, dimali dal, dimali DimAlignedDimAngular dan, dimang dan, dimang DimAngularDimarc dar ... DimBaseline dba, dimbase dba, dimbase DimBaselineDimCenter dce dce DimcenterDimConstraint dcon ... Dimcontinue dco, dimcont dco, dimcont DimContinueDimDiameter ddi, dimdia ddi, dimdia DimDiameterDimDisassociate dda ... DimEdit ded, dimed ded, dimed DimEditDimJogged jog, djo ... DimJogline djl ... DimLinear dli, dimlin, dimhorizontal, dli, dimlin, DimLinear dimrotated, dimvertical dimhorizontal, dimrotated, dimverticalDimOrdinate dor,dimord dor, dimord DimOrdinateDimOverride dov,dimover dov, dimover DimOverrideDimRadius dra,dimrad dra, dimrad DimRadiusDimReassociate dre ... ... -dst -DimStyleDimStyle d, dst, dimsty, ddim d, ddim, dimsty, ds, DimStyle dst, expdimstyles, setdim ICAD

DimTedit dimted dimted DimTedit

E

EditShot eshot ... ... ate EAttEditEllipse el el EllipseErase e e, delete Erase... b, xb ExpBlocksExplode x x Explode-Export -qpub ...



Export exp exp, dwfout ExportExportDwf edwf ... ExportDwfx edwfx ... ExportPdf epdf ... -ExportToAutocad aectoacad ... ... uc, dducs ExpUcsExtend ex ex ExtendExternalReferences er ... Extrude ext ext Extrude

F

Fillet f f FilletFilter fi fi FilterFlatShot fshot ...

G

GeographicLocation geo, north, northdir geo GeographicLocation GeomConstraint gcon ...Gradient gd ... ... g Grid-Group -g ... Group g ...

H

-Hatch -h -h, -bh -HatchHatch h, bh h, bh HatchHatchEdit he he HatchEdit11 HatchToBack hb ...Hide hi hi HideHidePalettes poff ...

I

... idpoint ICAD Id-Image -im ... Image im im, expimages ICAD ImageImageAdjust iad iad ImageAdjustImageAttach iat iat ImageAttachImageClip icl icl ImageClipImport imp imp Import-Insert -i -i -InsertInsert i, ddinsert, inserturl i, ddinsert Insert



... insal InsertAlignedInsertObj io io InsertObjInterfere inf inf InterfereIntersect in in Intersect11 IsolateObjects isolate ...... is Isoplane

J

Join j ...

L

-Layer -la -la -LayerLayer la, ddlmodes la, ddlmodes, Layer explayers ICAD

LayerState las, lman las LayerState... setlayer ICAD LayMcur-Layout lo ... Leader lead le, lead LeaderLengthen len len, editlen ICAD Lengthen... lighting Light ll LightListLine l l, 3dline Line-Linetype -lt, -ltype -lt -LinetypeLinetype lt, ltype, ddltype lt, ddltype, Linetype expltypes ICAD

List li, ls, showmat li, ls ListLtscale lts lts LtScaleLweight lw, lineweight ...

M

Markup msm ...11 MatBrowserOpen mat, rmat ...MatchProp ma, painter ma MatchPropMaterialMap setuv setuv MaterialMapMaterials mat,rmat,finish mat,finish,rmat MaterialsMeasure me ... MeasureGeom mea ... MeshCrease crease ... MeshRefine refine ...MeshSmooth smooth ... MeshSmoothLess less ... MeshSmoothMore more ...



MeshSplit split ... MeshUncrease uncrease ... Mirror mi mi MirrorMirror3d 3dmirror 3m, 3dmirror Mirror3dMLeader mld ... MLeaderAlign mla ... MLeaderCollect mlc ... MLeaderEdit mle ... MLeaderStyle mls ... MLine ml ... Move m m Move... msnapshot ICAD MSlideMSpace ms ms MSpace-MText -t ... MText mt, t mt, t MTextMView mv mv MView

N

NavSMotion motion ... NavSMotionClose motioncls ... NavSWheel wheel ... NavVCube cube ... NewShot nshot ... NewView nview ... ... ddnew NewWiz

O

Offset o o Offset... undelete, unerase OopsOpen openurl,dxfin op OpenOptions op,preferences cfg,config,prefs, Options preferences... ortho, or Orthogonal-Osnap -os -os, esnap -OSnapOsnap os, ddosnap os, ddosnap, Osnap ddesnap, setesnap ICAD

P

-Pan -p ... Pan p p, -p Pan-Parameters -par ... Parameters par ...



-PartialOpen partialopen ... PasteSpec pa pa PasteSpecPEdit pe pe, editpline ICAD PEditPLine pl pl, polyline ICAD PlinePlot print, dwfout ... PlotStamp ddplotstamp ... Point po po Point11 PointCloud pc ...11 PointCloudAttach pcattach ...11 PointCloudIndex pcindex ...PointLight freepoint ... Polygon pol pol PolygonPolySolid psolid ... Preview pr,pre pre, ppreview ICAD PreviewProperties props, ch, mo, pr, props, ch, mo, Properties ddchprop, ddmodify ddchprop, ddmodifyPropertiesClose prclose prc PropertiesClosePSpace ps ps PSpacePublishToWeb ptw ... -Purge -pu -pu -PurgePurge pu pu PurgePyramid pyr pyr Pyramid

Q

QLeader le ... ... n QNew... qt QTextQuickCalc qc ... QuickCui qcui ... Quit exit exit QuitQvDrawing qvd ... QvDrawingClose qvdc ... QvLayout qvl ... QvLayoutClose qvlc

R

Rectang rec, rectangle rec, rect, rectangle RectangRedraw r r RedrawRedrawAll ra ra RedrawAllRegen re re RegenRegenAll rea rea RegenAllRegion reg reg Region



... ri Reinit-Rename -ren -ren -RenameRename ren ren, ddrename RenameRender rr rr RenderRenderCrop rc ... RenderEnvironment fog fog RenderEnvironmentRenderPresets rp,rfileopt roptions RenderPresetsRenderWin rw, rendscr rendscr RenderWinRevolve rev rev RevolveRibbon dashboard ... RibbonClose dashboardclose ... Rotate ro ro Rotate... 3r, 3drotate Rotate3dRPref rpr setrender RPref

S

Save saveurl sa SaveSaveAs dxfout ... Scale sc sc ScaleScript scr scr ScriptSection sec sec Section... selgrip SelGripsSectionPlane splane ... SectionPlaneJog jogsection ... SectionPlaneToBlock generatesection ... SequencePlay splay ... ... ucp, dducsp SetUcsSetVar set set SetVar... sha ShadeShadeMode sha, shade vscurrent ShadeModeSheetSet ssm ... ShowPalettes pon ... ... freehand ICAD SketchSlice sl sl SliceSnap sn sn SnapSolid so so, plane ICAD SolidSpell sp sp SpellSpline spl spl SplineSplinEdit spe spe SplinEditStandards sta ... Stretch s s Stretch



... font* -StyleStyle st, ddstyle st, ddstyle, expstyle, Style expstyles, expfonts ICAD

Subtract su su Subtract... sun SunProperties11 SurfBlend blendsrf ...11 SurfExtend extendsrf ...11SurfFillet filletsrf ...11 SurfNetwork networksrf ...11 SurfOffset offsetsrf ...11 SurfPatch patch ...11 SurfSculpt createsolid ...

T

Table tb ... TableStyle ts ... Tablet ta ta Tablet... -t -TextText dt, dtext tx TextTextEdit tedit ... Thickness th th ThicknessTileMode ti, tm ... ... ti TimeTolerance tol tol ToleranceToolbar to ... ToolPalettes tp ... Torus tor tor TorusTrim tr tr Trim

U

Ucs dducs ... UcsMan uc, dducs, dducsp ... Union uni uni UnionUnisolateObjects unhide, unisolate ...-Units -un -un -UnitsUnits un, ddunits un, ddunits Units

V

... vba VbaIde-View -v -v -View



View v, ddview v, ddview, View expviews ICAD

ViewGo vgo ... ViewPlay vplay ... -VisualStyles -vsm ... VisualStyles vs, vsm ... ... vl VpLayerVPoint -vp -vpoint, -viewpoint, VPoint viewpoint ICAD VPorts viewports vw, vport, viewports VPorts... vs, vsnapshot ICAD VSlideVsCurrent vs ...

W

-WBlock -w ... WBlock w, acadwblockdialog w WBlock... closeall WCloseAllWedge we we Wedge... wi WmfIn... wo WmfOut

X

XAttach xa xa XAttach-XBind -xb ... XBind xb -xb XBindXClip xc clip XClipXLine xl xl,inflineICAD XLine-XRef -xr -xr -XrefXRef xr xr, expxrefs ICAD Xref

Z

Zoom z z Zoom

3

3dAlign 3al ... 3dArray 3a 3a, array3d 3dArray3dFace 3f, 3f, face 3dFace... mesh 3dMesh3dMove 3m ... 3dOrbit 3do, orbit ...




3dPoly 3p 3p 3dPoly

3dPrint 3dp, 3dplot, ... rapidprototype3dRotate 3r ... 3dScale 3s ... 3dWalk 3dnavigate, 3dw ...

Appendix D: Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad Keystrokes and Buttons 149

appendix d

Cross-reference of AutoCAD-Bricscad

Keystrokes and Buttons

THISAPPENDIXCOMPARESthe default shortcut keystrokes and buttons defined by AutoCAD and Bricscad. The comparison lists are sorted into these groups:

Drawing Area

• Function keys

• Ctrl keys

• Shift keys

• Other keys

Text Window and Command Bar

• Ctrl and Other keys

Shortcuts Sorted by AutoCAD Commands

Mouse and Tablet Buttons

• Mouse buttons

• Tablet buttons

Both CAD programs can define new shortcuts and buttons, and modify existing ones. Keystroke shortcuts are customized in the following ways:

• AutoCAD— uses the Cui command’s Keyboard Shortcuts node.

• Bricscad— uses the Customize command’s Keyboard tab.

To learn how to customize Bricscad, see the Customizing Bricscad ebook available for purchase from the www.Bricsys.com Web site.


Keyboard Shortcuts: Drawing Area

Function Keys

AutoCAD Bricscad AutoCAD Action Command(s) Keystroke Command(s) Bricscad Action

Displays the Help dialog box Help F1 Help Displays the Help dialog box

Selects entire objects Shift+F1 ... ...

Toggles between text and graphics windows TextScr F2 TextScr Toggles between Text and Graphics windows GraphScr GraphScr

Selects vertex subobjects ... Shift+F2 CliState Toggles the command bar

Toggles object snap mode -Osnap F3 Osnap T Toggles object snap mode

Selects edge subobjects Shift+F3 StatBar Toggles the status bar

Toggles 3D object snap mode 3dOsnap F4 Tablet T Toggles tablet mode

Selects face subobjects ... Shift+F4 ScrollBar Toggles the scroll bars

Closes the current drawing Close Ctrl+F4 WClose Closes the current drawing; this function is provided by Windows

Closes all drawings, as well as AutoCAD Quit Alt+F4 Quit Closes all drawings, as well as Bricscad; this function is provided by Windows

Cycles through isoplanes Isoplane F5 Isoplane Cycles through isoplanes

Selects solid history Shift+F5 ... ...

Toggles dynamic UCS mode UcsDetect F6 Coordinate T Cycles through coordinate display modes

Switches to the next drawing (Windows) Ctrl+F6 (Windows) Switches to the next drawing; this function is provided by Windows

Toggles display of the grid GridMode F7 Grid T Toggles the display of the grid

Toggles orthogonal mode OrthoMode F8 Orthogonal T Toggles orthogonal mode

... ... Shift+F8 VbaMan Displays VBA Manager dialog box

Runs VBA macros VbaRun Alt+F8 VbaRun Displays Run Bricscad VBA Macro dialog box

Toggles snap mode SnapMode F9 Snap T Toggles snap mode

Toggles polar tracking SnapType F10 SnapType Toggles polar tracking

Toggles object snap tracking PolarMode F11 PolarMode Toggles object snap tracking

Opens the VBA editor, not included with 2010 VbaIde Alt+F11 VBA Opens the Visual Basic Editor

Toggles dynamic input DynMode F12 ...


Ctrl Keys


Overrides LockUI ... Ctrl ... ... Selects sub-objects

Toggles Properties palette Properties Ctrl+1 Properties Toggles Properties bar PropertiesOff PropertiesOff

Toggles DesignCenter palette AdCenter Ctrl+2 Explorer Displays Drawing Explorer AdcClose

Toggles Tool palette ToolPalettes Ctrl+3 ... ... ToolPalettesOff

Toggles Sheet Set Manager palette SheetSet Ctrl+4 ... ... SheetSetHide

Toggles dbConnect palette dbConnect Ctrl+6 ... ... dbClose

Toggles Markup Set Manager palette Markup Ctrl+7 ... ... MarkupClose

Toggles QuickCalc palette QuickCalc Ctrl+8 ... ... QcClose

Toggles Command Line palette CommandLine Ctrl+9 CommandLine Toggles command bar CommandLineHide CommandLineHide

Toggles CleanScreen mode CleanScreenOn Ctrl+0 ... CleanScreenOff

Selects all non-frozen objects (ai_SelAll) * Ctrl+A SelGrips All Selects all non-frozen objects *) AutoCAD uses an AutoLISP routine

Toggles group mode ** Ctrl+Shift+A ... ... **) AutoCAD uses an undocumented command

Toggles snap mode SnapMode Ctrl+B Snap T Toggles snap mode

Copies selected objects to Clipboard CopyClip Ctrl+C CopyClip Copies selected objects to Clipboard

Copies selected objects with base point CopyBase Ctrl+Shift+C CopyBase Copies selected objects with base point

Toggles dynamic UCS UcsDetect Ctrl+D Coordinate T Cycles through coordinate display modes

Switches to the next isoplane Isoplane Ctrl+E Isoplane Switches to next isoplane

Toggles object snap mode OsMode Ctrl+F Osnap T Toggles entity snap mode

Toggles display of the grid GridMode Ctrl+G Grid T Toggles display of the grid

Toggles pick style PickStyle Ctrl+H PickStyle T Toggles pick style

Toggles display of open palettes HidePalettes Ctrl+Shift+H ... ...

Cycles through coordinate display modes Coords Ctrl+I Coordinate T Cycles through coordinate display modes

Toggles constraint inference Ctrl+Shift+I ... ...



... ... Ctrl+J ; Repeats the last command

Displays the Hyperlink dialog box Hyperlink Ctrl+K Hyperlink Displays Hyperlink dialog box

Toggles orthographic mode OrthoMode Ctrl+L Orthogonal T Toggles orthographic mode

... Ctrl+M ; Repeats the last command

Display Select Template dialog box New Ctrl+N New Opens the New Drawing dialog box

Displays the Select File dialog box Open Ctrl+O Open Opens the Open Drawing dialog box

Displays the Plot dialog box Plot Ctrl+P Print Displays the Print dialog box

Toggles Quick Properties palette QuickProperties Ctrl+Shift+P OpmState Toggles the Properties bar

Closes drawings and AutoCAD Quit Ctrl+Q Quit Closes drawings and Bricscad

Switches to the next viewport ^V ** Ctrl+R ... ... *) AutoCAD uses an undocumented command.

Saves the current drawing Qsave Ctrl+S QSave Saves the current drawing

Displays the Save Drawing As dialog box SaveAs Ctrl+Shift+S SaveAs Displays the Save Drawing As dialog box

Toggles tablet mode Tablet Ctrl+T Tablet T Toggles tablet mode

Toggles polar tracking SnapType Ctrl+U ... ...

Pastes objects from Clipboard PasteClip Ctrl+V PasteClip Pastes entities from Clipboard

Pastes objects from Clipboard as a block PasteBlock Ctrl+Shift+V PasteBlock Pastes entities from Clipboard as a block

... ... Ctrl+Alt+V PasteSpec Displays the Paste Special dialog box

Toggles selection cycling ... Ctrl+W ... ...

Cuts selected objects to Clipboard CutCut Ctrl+X CutClip Cuts selected entities to Clipboard.

Redoes the last undo Redo Ctrl+Y Redo Redoes the last undo

Undoes the last command U Ctrl+Z U Undoes the last command

Displays layout tab to the left of the current one Layout Set Ctrl+PageUp ...

Displays layout tab to the right of the current one Layout Set Ctrl+PageDown ...

Cancels current command Esc Ctrl+[ ...

Cancels current command Esc Ctrl+\ ...


Shift Keys

Note: Shift keys are temporary overrides in AutoCAD. Shift key-combinations are not supported by Bricscad.

AutoCAD Bricscad AutoCAD Action Command Keystroke Command Bricscad Action

Toggles orthogonal mode Ortho Shift Orthographic Toggles orthogonal mode

Toggles object snap mode OsMode Shift+A ... ...

Overrides object snap: Center -OSnap Cen Shift+C ... ...

Disables all snapping and tracking -OSnap Non Shift+D ... ...

Overrides object snap: Endpoint -Osnap End Shift+E ... ...

Disables all snapping and tracking Orthomode Shift+L ... ... Osmode Snapmode Autosnap

Overrides object snap: Midpoint -OSnap Mid Shift+M ... ...

Overrides object snap: Endpoint -OSnap End Shift+P ... ...

Toggles object snap tracking mode PolarMode Shift+Q ... ...

Enables object snap enforcement OsnapOverride Shift+S ... ...

Overrides object snap: Midpoint -OSnap Mid Shift+V ... ...

Toggles navigation wheel NavSWheel Shift+W ... ...

Toggles polar mode AutoSnap Shift+X ... ...

Toggles dynamic UCS mode UcsDetect Shift+Z ... ...

Overrides object snap: Center -OSnap Cen Shift+, ... ...

Enables object snap enforcement OsnapOverride Shift+; ... ...

Toggles polar mode AutoSnap Shift+. ... ...

Toggles object snap mode -OSnap Off Shift+’ ... ...

Toggles object snap tracking mode PolarMode Shift+] ... ...

Toggles dynamic UCS mode UcsDetect Shift+/ ... ...


Other Keys

AutoCAD Keystroke Bricscad AutoCAD Action Command Command Bricscad Action

Erases selected objects Erase Del Erase Erases selected objects

... PageUp Pan PgU Pans up

... PageDown Pan PgD Pans down

... Shift+Left Pan PgL Pans left

... Shift+Right Pan PgR Pans right

... Shift+Up Pan PgU Pans up

... Shift_Down Pan PgD Pans down

Keyboard Shortcuts: Text Window & Command Bar

AutoCAD Action Keystroke Bricscad Action

Executes the command or option Enter or Spacebar Executes the command or option

Repeats the previous command Enter or Spacebar Repeats the previous command

Cancels the command or option Esc Cancels the command or option

Displays previous command Up Displays previous command

Displays next command in command history Down Displays next command in command history

Moves cursor to the left Left Moves cursor to the left

Moves cursor to the right Right Moves cursor to the right

Moves cursor to the start of the command line Home Moves cursor to the start of the command line

Moves cursor to the end of the command line End Moves cursor to the end of the command line

Toggles between insertion and overwrite mode Ins ...

Deletes characters to the right of the cursor Del ...

Backspace Deletes characters to the left of the cursor

Selects all text in Text window Ctrl+A (Right-click, and then choose Select All from shortcut menu)

Copies selected text to Clipboard Ctrl+C (Right-click selected text, and then choose Copy from the shortcut menu)

Pastes text from Clipboard to command line Ctrl+P (Right-click, and then choose Paste from the shortcut menu)

Cuts selected text to the Clipboard Ctrl+X ...


Mouse and Tablet ButtonsThe following tables compare the actions of mouse and tablet buttons in AutoCAD and Bricscad.

Mouse Buttons

AutoCAD customizes the definitions of mouse buttons in the Mouse Buttons and Double-click Actions nodes of its Customize User Interface dialog box.

Bricscad does not allow you to customize its mouse buttons.

AutoCAD Action Mouse Button Bricscad Action

Picks objects* 1 (left) Picks objects

Displays grips shortcut menu 2 (right) Displays context-sensitive shortcut menu

Displays object snap shortcut menu 3 (center) Pans in real time

Cancels the current command 4 ...

Toggles snap mode 5 ...

Toggles ortho mode 6 ...

Toggles grid display 7 ...

Changes the coordinate display 8 ...

Switches to the next isoplane 9 ...

Toggles tablet mode 10 ...

Zooms in real time * Wheel Zooms in real time

Edits selected object(s) Double-click 1 (left) Edits selected object(s)

Displays object snap shortcut menu Shift+2 (right) ...

Rotates viewpoint in 3D Shift+3 (center) ...

... Ctrl+1 (left) Rotates viewpoint in 2D

Displays object snap shortcut menu Ctrl+2 (right) Rotates viewpoint in 3D

Swivels viewpoint in 3D Ctrl+3 (middle) ...

Zooms viewpoint in 3D Ctrl+4 ...

Note: *) The actions of the pick button (#1) and wheel cannot be customized in AutoCAD.


Tablet Buttons

AutoCAD customizes the definitions of stylus and puck buttons in the Tablet Buttons node of its Customize User Interface dialog box’s Legacy section.

Bricscad customize buttons in the Digitizer Buttons node of the Customize dialog box’s Tablet tab. The action of Button 1 cannot be changed. By default, however, no tablet menu (or partial CUI) is loaded within a default profile, and so the entries under Digitizer Buttons and Tablet Menus are empty.

Left: Tablet button definitions in AutoCAD’s CUI dialog box. Right: Tablet buttons not defined in Bricscad’s Customize dialog box.

AutoCAD Action Tablet Button Bricscad Action

Picks objects 1 Picks objects

Displays grips shortcut menu 2 ...

Displays object snap shortcut menu 3 ...

Cancels the current command 4 ...

Toggles snap mode 5 ...

Toggles ortho mode 6 ...

Toggles grid display 7 ...

Changes the coordinate display 8 ...

Switches to the next isoplane 9 ...

Toggles tablet mode 10 ...

Displays object snap shortcut menu Shift+2 ...

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