The most direct way to adapt AutoCAD to your way of working is to customize the Ribbon. AutoCAD offers new users an easy route to customization through the Customize User Interface dialog box. With this dialog box, you can create new Ribbon panels and toolbars, customize tools, and even create new icons. You can also create keyboard shortcuts.

To get your feet wet, try adding a tool to the Draw panel:

You've just added a command to the Draw panel. You can follow the previous steps to add any command to any Ribbon panel, toolbar, or menu bar menu. Now, suppose you change your mind and you decide to remove Dimension, Linear from the Draw panel. Here's how it's done:

Dimension, Linear has been removed from the Draw panel. As you've just seen, adding tools to a panel is a matter of clicking and dragging the appropriate item from one list to another. To remove tools, right-click the tool and select Remove.

Before you go too much further, you may want to know a little more about the Customize User Interface dialog box and how it works. You saw briefly how each group displayed different elements of AutoCAD's interface, from a listing of panel tools to an individual tool's icon. Let's look at each group independently to see how it's organized.

In the previous exercise, where you placed the Dimension, Linear command in the Draw panel, you saw an arrowhead appear when you hovered over an option. The arrowhead indicates the location where the command will be placed when you release the mouse button. If the arrowhead points to a command, the new command will be placed after the item indicated by the arrowhead. If the item is a folder icon, then the new command will be placed inside that folder.

You may see items called Sub-Panel options. These allow you to mix single tools and rows like the Line tool and the three rows you see to the right of the Line tool at the top of the Draw panel. Finally, the <SLIDEOUT> item you see in the list indicates the division between the main part of the panel and the expanded panel. Figure 28.9 shows how the list in the Customizations In All Files group relates to the Ribbon panel components.

Figure 28.9. The Customizations In All Files list compared to the Ribbon panel

Notice that the Line tool straddles the top three rows in the Draw panel. This is done by placing the Line command at the same level as the Sub-Panel option. The Sub-Panel option is further divided into rows. Figure 28.10 shows how the rows appear when they are expanded. Flyouts on the Ribbon panel appear as "Drop-Down" options in the Customizations In All Files group.

Figure 28.10. The Sub-Panel1 option contains the rows that in turn contain flyouts labeled as "Drop-Down" options.

If you expand a "Drop-Down" option, you'll see the tools that appear in the flyouts of the tool in the panel (Figure 28.11).

Figure 28.11. The tools in the Customizations panel's "Drop-Down" list appear in the appropriate flyout.

You can add new panels, rows, sub-panels, and drop-downs (flyouts) by right-clicking an item in the list and selecting the appropriate option from the shortcut menu (Figure 28.12).

Figure 28.12. Create new containers via the shortcut menu.

If you understand the structure of these lists, you'll find that it is quite easy to customize the Ribbon panels to your liking.

When you first opened the Customize User Interface dialog box by right-clicking the Ribbon, you saw a listing of the AutoCAD interface elements in the Customizations In All Files group. Just as you saw with the Ribbon panels, each of the other interface elements in the list can be expanded to get to its individual commands. If you expand the Toolbar list, for example, all the AutoCAD toolbars are available. Expand a toolbar and the commands contained in the toolbar are displayed. As you saw earlier, you can expand the Ribbon Panels list to gain access to the Ribbon panels. Table 28.l lists all the interface elements in the Customizations In All Files group with a brief explanation of their contents.

You can customize any of the interface elements. For example, if you want to create new keyboard shortcuts, you can expand the Keyboard Shortcuts listing and add new shortcuts or edit existing ones. Right-click any item to add or delete options. If you click an item, its properties appear in the Properties group, where you can modify the item's function. Just as you added the Dimension, Linear dimension command to the Draw panel, you can click and drag a command into one of the menus under the Menus listing to add a command there.

You also see some options in the Customizations In All Files title bar. These options give you control over what is displayed in this group. You can also load and save CUI files from here.

You'll learn more about these options later in this chapter.

You've already seen how the Command List group contains all the commands in AutoCAD. You also saw that you can click and drag these items into options in the Customizations In All Files group. This list also contains predefined macros, icons used for tools, and Control Elements (called combo boxes in the Ribbon panels), which are the drop-down lists you see in panels and toolbars. The Layer drop-down list in the Layers panel is an example of a Control Element. The drop-down lists in the Home tab's Properties panel are also examples of Control Elements. When you select an item in the Command List group, you see either its properties in the Properties group or its icon in the Button Image group or both. The exception to this is the Control Elements, which have no editable features.

You've already seen how you can get a preview of a Ribbon panel by selecting the panel from the Customizations In All Files group. If you click a Ribbon panel from the list, you'll see the Panel Preview group, which shows you how the selected panel will appear. Previews aren't editable and are there for your reference.

If you click a tool listing, or element as it's called in AutoCAD nomenclature, in the Customizations In All Files group, you see the Button Image group. You can open this group by clicking the double-arrow head to the right of the Button Image group title bar. This group lets you select an icon for that tool by clicking a list of icons (see Figure 28.13), or you can edit an existing icon or create an entirely new icon. You'll get a chance to see this firsthand later in this chapter.

Figure 28.13. The Button Image group

The Keyboard Shortcuts area in the Customizations In All Files group shows the Shortcuts group, which lists the existing keyboard shortcuts.

Finally, when you're ready to do some serious customizing, you'll work with the Properties group. You see the Properties group in the lower half of the right side of the Customize User Interface dialog box when you select a command from the left side of the dialog box.

The Properties group is set up just like the Properties palette, and it works the same way. On the left side, you see a listing of options, and to the right of each option is a description or a text input box where you can make changes (see Figure 28.14).

If you go to the Customizations In All Files group and select the Line tool under the Home 2D – Draw option that you worked on earlier (Ribbon

Figure 28.14. The Properties group showing the properties for the Line tool

In the Command category, you see the Line tool's name in the Command Name listing. You also see the description that is displayed in the tool tip for the Line tool. You can change this description here in the Properties group and the description will change in the status bar.

In the Macro listing, you see the command as it would be entered through the keyboard. The ^C^C that precedes the actual line command input is equivalent to pressing the Esc key twice. If you scroll down, you'll see the Advanced category which offers information regarding the ID of this particular tool. Finally, the Images category lists the name of the image files used for the Line tool icon. Two icons are listed: one for the large icon version and one for the small icon version of the tool.

You'll get a chance to work with the Properties group later in this chapter. Next, you'll try your hand at creating your own custom toolbar.

Earlier, I mentioned that you can collect your most frequently used tools into a custom Ribbon panel or toolbar. Now that you've had a chance to become familiar with the Customize User Interface dialog box, you can try the following exercise to create your own Ribbon panel:

You now have a custom Ribbon panel. You'll want to start to populate your panel with some commands. You've already seen how this works, but for review, try adding a few commands:

You can add several more rows to your panel, but after the first row, additional rows will be placed below the <SLIDEOUT>, thereby placed in the expanded portion of the panel.

Let's move on to more serious customization. Suppose you want to create an entirely new button with its own functions. For example, you might want to create a set of buttons that insert your favorite symbols. Or you might want to create a Ribbon panel containing a set of tools that open some of the other toolbars that are normally put away.

Creating a Custom Tool

Follow these steps to create a custom tool:

1. Open the Customize User Interface dialog box, expand the Ribbon Panels list, and then expand the My Panel list.

2. 
   

   Figure 28.17. Click the Create A New Command tool and a new command appears in the list.

3. Right-click the Command1 item, select Rename from the shortcut menu, and change the name to Door.

4. In the Properties group to the right, change Description to Insert a 36″ door.

5. Change the Macro option to the following:

   ^C^Cinsert door;36;;

6. Click and drag the Door element from the command list into your My Panel item in the Customizations In All Files group. If you look at the Panel Preview group, you see that the Door tool you just added appears as a blank tool. This happens when no icon has been assigned to the tool.

The series of keystrokes you entered for the macro in step 5 are the same as those you would use to insert the door, with the addition of a few special characters. The semicolons are equivalent to a

Figure 28.18. The Properties group for your new custom tool that inserts a door block

You've created your panel, but it will not appear anywhere in the AutoCAD interface until you add it to a Ribbon Tab group. Here's how this is done:

1. Under your My Panel listing in the Customizations In All Files group, click the My Panel panel option you just created, and then right-click and select Copy.

2. In the Customizations In All Files group, scroll up to top of the list and expand the Tabs option.

3. Right-click Home – 2D just below Ribbon Tabs, and then select Paste from the shortcut menu. Your My Panel panel appears at the bottom of the Home – 2D list and you see it appear in the Home tab of the Ribbon.

4. Click OK in the Customize User Interface dialog box to close it.

Next, try the custom tool to make sure it works:

1. Point to the Door tool in your My Panel panel in the Home tab. You see the Door tool tip.

   

2. Click the Door tool. The door appears in the drawing area at the cursor. It may appear very small because initially, it's being inserted at its default size of 1 unit.

3. Click a location to place the door, and then click a point to set the door rotation. The door appears in the drawing.

In this example, you created a custom tool that inserts the door block. Later in this chapter, you'll learn more about creating macros for menus and tools. Next, you'll learn how to add a custom icon to your custom tool.

You can use Diesel at the AutoCAD command line by using a command called Modemacro. The Modemacro command sends information to the status bar. Diesel can be used with Modemacro to perform simple tasks.

Try the following exercise to experiment with Diesel:

The equation you entered in step 2 is referred to as an expression. The structure of Diesel expressions is similar to that of AutoLISP expressions. The dollar sign tells AutoCAD that the information that follows is a Diesel expression.

A Diesel expression must include an operator of some sort, followed by the items to be operated on. An operator is an instruction to take a specific action, such as adding two numbers or dividing one number by another. Examples of mathematical operators include the plus sign (+) for addition and the forward slash (/) for division.

The operator is often referred to as a function and the items to be operated on as the arguments to the function, or simply the arguments. In the expression (/,25,2), the / is the function and 25 and 2 are the arguments. All Diesel expressions, no matter what size, follow this structure and are enclosed by parentheses.

Parentheses are important elements of an expression. All parentheses must be balanced; for each left parenthesis, there must be a right parenthesis.

You can do other things with Diesel besides performing calculations. The Getvar function is an AutoLISP function that you can use to obtain the drawing prefix and name. Try the following to see how Diesel uses Getvar:

In this example, the Getvar function extracts the drawing prefix and name and displays it in the status bar. You can use Getvar to extract any system variable you want. If you've been working through the tutorials in this book, you've seen that virtually all AutoCAD settings are also controlled through system variables. (The AutoCAD Help window contains a list of all the system variables.) This can be a great tool when you're creating custom menus because with Getvar, you can poll AutoCAD to determine its state. For example, you can find out what command is currently being used. Try the following exercise to see how this works:

Diesel can be useful in a menu when you want an option to perform a specific task depending on which command is currently active.

So far, you've been experimenting with Diesel through the Modemacro command. Using Diesel in a menu macro requires a slightly different format. You still use the same Diesel format of a dollar sign followed by the expression, but you don't use the Modemacro command to access Diesel. Instead, you use $M=. You can think of $M= as an abbreviation for Modemacro.

Here's a Diesel expression that you can use in a menu macro:

^C^C_Blipmode;$M=$(-,1,$(getvar,Blipmode))

This menu option turns Blipmode on or off depending on Blipmode's current state. As you may recall, Blipmode is a feature that displays point selections in the drawing area as tiny crosses. These tiny crosses, or blips, don't print and can be cleared from the screen with a redraw. They can be helpful when you need to track your point selections.

In this example, the Blipmode command is invoked, and then the $M= tells AutoCAD that a Diesel expression follows. The expression

$(-,1,$(getvar,Blipmode))

returns either 1 or a 0, which is applied to the Blipmode command to turn it either on or off. This expression shows that you can nest expressions. The most deeply nested expression is evaluated first, so AutoCAD begins by evaluating

$(getvar,Blipmode)

This returns either 1 or a 0, depending on whether Blipmode is on or off. Next, AutoCAD evaluates the next level in the expression

$(-,1,getvar_result)

in which getvar_result is either 1 or a 0. If getvar_result is 1, the expression looks like

$(-,1,1)

which returns 0. If getvar_result is 0, the expression looks like

$(-,1,0)

which returns 1. In either case, the end result is that the Blipmode command is assigned a value that is opposite of the current Blipmode setting.

In the previous example, you saw how to use Diesel in a menu macro to read the status of a command and then return a numeric value to alter that status. You can also use Diesel as part of the menu bar option name so the text it displays depends on certain conditions. The following expression shows how to write a menu option name to display the current setting for Blipmode. It includes Diesel code as the menu option label:

$(eval,Blipmode = $(getvar,blipmode))

Normally, you would just have a menu name, but here you see some Diesel instructions. These instructions tell AutoCAD to display the message Blipmode = 1 or Blipmode = 0 in the menu, depending on the current Blipmode setting. You would place this code in the Properties group for the Blipmode custom command in the Customize User Interface dialog box. It goes in the Display/Name input box.

Here's how it works. You see the familiar $(getvar,blipmode) expression, this time embedded in a different expression. You know that $(getvar,blipmode) returns either 1 or a 0, depending on whether Blipmode is on or off. The outer expression

$(eval,Blipmode = getvar_result)

displays Blipmode = and then combines this with getvar_result, which, as you've learned, will be either 1 or 0. The eval function evaluates any text that follows it and returns its contents. The end result is the appearance of Blipmode = 1 or Blipmode = 0 in the menu, depending on the status of Blipmode. Here's how the properties looks as a menu bar option under the Tools list of the Menus option in the Customizations in All Files panel.

You can get even fancier and set up the menu option label to read Blipmode On or Blipmode Off by using the if Diesel function. Here's that same menu listing with additional Diesel code to accomplish this:

$(eval,Blipmode = $(if,$(getvar,blipmode),Off,On))

In this example, the simple $(getvar,blipmode) expression is expanded to include the if function. The if function reads the result of $(getvar,blipmode) and then returns the Off or On value depending on whether $(getvar,blipmode) returns 0 or a 1. Here's a simpler look at the expression:

$(if, getvar_result, Off, On)

If getvar_result returns 1, the if function returns the first of the two options listed after getvar_result, which is Off. If getvar_result returns 0, the if function returns On. The second of the two options is optional. Here's how the fancier Blipmode option appears in a menu.

You've just skimmed the surface of what Diesel can do. To get a more detailed description of how Diesel works, press the F1 function key to open the AutoCAD 2010 Help dialog box. Click the Contents tab, expand the Customization Guide listing, and click the DIESEL listing that appears.

Table 28.2 shows some of the commonly used Diesel functions. Check the AutoCAD Help dialog box for a more detailed list.

Using Diesel expressions in the status bar or in a menu can be helpful to gather information or to create a more interactive interface, but what if you want the results of a Diesel expression to become part of the drawing? You can employ field objects to do just that.

For example, suppose you want to create a note that shows the scale of a drawing based on the dimension scale. Further, you want the scale in the note to be updated automatically whenever the dimension scale changes. You can add a field object and associate it with a Diesel expression that displays the dimension scale as it relates to the drawing scale. Try the following steps to see how it's done:

The resulting text may not make sense until you change the dimension scale to a value that represents a scale other than 1-to-1. Here's how to do that:

In this example, several Diesel operations were used. The beginning of the expression uses the eval operation to tell AutoCAD to display a string of text:

$(eval Dimension Scale: 1/)

The next part tells AutoCAD to get the current value of the Dimscale system variable and divide it by 12:

$(/,$(getvar, dimscale),12)

Notice that this is a nested expression: $(getvar,dimscale) obtains the value of the Dimscale system variable, which is then divided by 12. The end of the expression adds the final part to the text:

$(eval, inch = 1 foot)

When it's all put together, you get the text that shows the dimension scale as an architectural scale. Because it's an AutoCAD text object, this text is part of the drawing.

Although AutoCAD provides the linetypes most commonly used in drafting (see Figure 28.23), the dashes and dots may not be spaced the way you would like, or you may want an entirely new linetype.

Figure 28.23. The lines in this list of standard linetypes were generated with the underscore key (_) and the period (.) and are only rough representations of the actual lines.

To create a custom linetype, use the Linetype command. Let's see how this handy command works by first listing the available linetypes:

Next, let's try creating a new linetype:

Remember, after you've created a linetype, you must load it in order to use it, as discussed in Chapter 5.

In step 6 of the previous exercise, you entered a series of numbers separated by commas. This is the linetype code, representing the lengths of the components that make up the linetype. The separate elements of the linetype code are as follows:

This series of numbers represents the one segment that is repeated to form the line (see Figure 28.24). You can also create a complex linetype that looks like a random broken line, as in Figure 28.25.

Figure 28.24. Linetype description with plotted line

Figure 28.25. Random broken line

You may be wondering what purpose the A serves at the beginning of the linetype code. A linetype is composed of a series of line segments and points. The A, which is supplied by AutoCAD automatically, is a code that forces the linetype to start and end on a line segment rather than on a blank space in the series of lines. At times, AutoCAD stretches the last line segment to force this condition, as shown in Figure 28.26.

Figure 28.26. AutoCAD stretches the beginning and the end of the line as necessary.

As mentioned earlier, you can also create linetypes outside AutoCAD by using a word processor or text editor such as Windows Notepad. The standard Acad.lin file looks like Figure 28.23 with the addition of the code used by AutoCAD to determine the line-segment lengths.

Normally, to use a linetype you've created, you have to load it through either the Layer or the Linetype dialog box (choose Other from the Linetype drop-down list in the Home tab's Properties panel). If you use one of your own linetypes frequently, you may want to create a button macro so it will be available as an option on a menu.

A complex linetype is one that incorporates text or special graphics. For example, if you want to show an underground gas line in a site plan, you normally show a line with the intermittent word GAS, as in Figure 28.27. Fences are often shown with an intermittent circle, square, or X.

For the graphics needed to compose complex linetypes, use any of the symbols in the AutoCAD font files discussed in Chapter 10. Create a text style by using these symbol fonts, and then specify the appropriate symbol by using its corresponding letter in the linetype description.

Figure 28.27. Samples of complex linetypes

To create a linetype that includes text, use the same linetype code described earlier, with the addition of the necessary font file information in brackets. For example, say you want to create the linetype for the underground gas line mentioned previously by using just the letter G. You add the following to your Acad.lin file:

*Gas_line, -G-G-G-
A,1.0,-0.25,["G",STANDARD,S=.2,R=0,X=-.1,Y=-.1],-0.25

The first line serves as a description for anyone looking at this linetype code. The next line is the code itself. Note that the code should not contain spaces—spaces are used here for clarity.

The information in the square brackets describes the characteristics of the text. The actual text that you want to appear in the line is surrounded by quotation marks. Next are the text style, scale, rotation angle, X displacement, and Y displacement.

You can substitute A for the rotation angle (the R value), as in the following example:

A,1.0,-0.25,["G",standard,S=.2,A=0,X=-.1,Y=-.1],-0.25

This has the effect of keeping the text at the same angle regardless of the line's direction. Notice that in this sample, the X and Y values are -.1; this will center the Gs on the line. The scale value of .2 will cause the text to be 0.2 units high, so -.1 is half the height.

In addition to fonts, you can specify shapes for linetype definitions. Instead of letters, shapes display symbols. Shapes are stored not as drawings but as definition files, similar to text font files. Shape files have the same .shx filename extension as font files and are also defined similarly. Figure 28.28 shows some symbols from sample shape files. The names of the files are shown at the top of each column.

To use a shape in a linetype code, you use the same format as shown previously for text. However, instead of using a letter and style name, you use the shape name and the shape filename, as in the following example:

*Capline, ====
a,1.0,-0.25,[CAP,ES.SHX,S=.5,R=0,X=-.1,Y=-.1],-0.25

Figure 28.28. Samples of shapes

This example uses the CAP symbol from the Es.shx shape file. The symbol is scaled to 0.5 units with 0 rotation and an X and Y displacement of −0.1.

Here is another example that uses the arrow shape:

*Arrowline, -|-|-|-
a,1.0,-0.25,[ARROW,ES.SHX,S=.5,R=90,X=-.1,Y=-.1],-0.25

Just as with the Capline example, the ARROW symbol in this example is scaled to 0.5 units with 0 rotation and an X and Y displacement of −0.1. Figure 28.29 shows what the Arrowline linetype looks like when used with a spline.

Figure 28.29. The Arrowline linetype used with a spline

In this example, the Ltype generation option is turned on for the polyline. Note that the arrow from the Es.shx sample shape file is used for the arrow in this linetype.