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I was checking out the Autodesk Store, last evening which contains all the learning materials related to Autodesk products like .,

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I found a book on AutoCAD 201o and Autodesk  Inventor 2010 which helps you from transitioning from 2009 product platform., a great book to purchase and increase your productivity

Autodesk Inventor 2010

Table of Content Sample Chapter

AutoCAD 2010

Table of Content Sample Chapter

In this post we shall review the ways Hatch Pattern can be created in AutoCAD 2007 – 2010.

Before we jump ahead in creating the Hatch Pattern, the same procedure follows as we created Line Types using TWO methods

1) Text Editor
2) By directly saving the file in the acad.pat file from command prompt in AutoCAD

We shall use the 2nd Method
Method 02
Open the Acad.pat file from
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD
20XX\R17.0\enu\Support\acad.pat
Now for simplicity sake we shall take up Problem No. 1

* Dash Dot90, Dash and Dot lines at 90 Degree

90, 0, 0, 0.15, 0.15, 0.255, -0.255, 0, -0.255
Let’s replace the Name_Pattern from Dash Dot90 to ATP171
* ATP171, Dash and Dot lines at 90 Degree
90, 0, 0, 0.15, 0.15, 0.255, -0.255, 0, -0.255
Now save this Info at the end of Acad.pat file as shown below

Once you have added the Hatch patter in the Acad.pat file, we can apply the patter in the drawing by the
following steps

Create a Rectangle of sides 100mm X 60mm

Now to apply the hatch pattern, select Hatch option from Draw tool bar or type Hatch in the command
prompt.

Make sure you have selected Predefined under Type

Now under the Pattern select ATP171, which you have already saved in the acad.pat file at the last

You will immediately see a preview at the Swatch area

Alternatively you can also select the Browse Button besides the Patter Option

Note: You can change the angle of Hatch either from the codes or from the Hatch option.
Default procedure

To create a hatch pattern with dash and dot lines

1. Open the acad.pat or acadiso.pat file in a text editor that saves in ASCII format (for example,
Notepad).
2. Create a header line that includes an asterisk and a pattern name. The name of the hatch pattern
is limited to 31 characters.
3. (Optional) To include a description in the header line, follow the pattern name with a comma and
description text.
4. Create a descriptor line that includes
o An angle at which the line is drawn
o An X,Y origin point
o A delta-x of any value if you want to offset alternating lines in the line family
o A delta-y of any value
o A value for a dash length
o A value for a dot length
o An optional second value for a different dash length
o An optional second value for a different dot length

EXERCISE – B
Appx Time – 30 Minutes
1) Create hatch patters as shown below and give your own name
45,0,0,0.5,0.5,0.125,-0.125,0,-0.125,0,-0.125
90,1,1,0.25,0,0.25,-0.5,0,-0.5

Challenge Question

Create a hatch patter with the letter A.
[A for AUGI / Autodesk / AutoCAD] Oops it’s Just a Joke

I hope you might have enjoyed the Part II of AutoCAD 2010 Customization, I’ve tested these tutorials for AutoCAD 2010 and works fine.

Well, After line type next in the series is AutoCAD HATCH PATTER

By default, HATCH defines the boundary by analyzing all closed objects in the drawing

Let’s create a simple square and hatch it with the linetype ATP171 as shown below

Now hatch the above square of sides 10mm

Note:

Have you noticed that the Hatch line is also ATP171 linetype.
In today’s class we shall see how to customize AutoCAD Hatch Patters
Before this we should know where the hatch patters are stored in AutoCAD 2007 and with what
extension
Generally AutoCAD has their hatch pattern stored in

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD
20XX\R17.0\enu\Support\acad.pat

The extension for the pattern file is *.pat

Make sure, the acad.pat file is safe and a backup is created before you try to play with the file

*************
portion of ACAD.pat file (end)

*ZIGZAG, Staircase effect
0, 0,0, .125,.125, .125,-.125
90, .125,0, .125,.125, .125,-.125
;;
;; User Defined Hatch Patterns
;; Add any hatch patterns that you define to this section of
;; the file to ensure that they migrate properly when
;; upgrading to a future AutoCAD version. If duplicate hatch
;; patterns are found in this file, items in the User Defined
;; Hatch Patterns section take precedence over patterns that
;; appear earlier in the file.
;;
************************************************************************
NOTE:
Again you might have noticed that in the Hatch Patter file few details were intentionally
made bold with RED color. This is to help you understand that any new hatch pattern type
created in AutoCAD can be saved in acad.pat file rather than saving them in a new file. Thereby
ensuring easy migration of the new hatch types to the next release of AutoCAD.

Now before we start creating the hatch patterns let’s review some basic information

Hatch patterns are defined in one or more Hatch pattern definition files that have a .pat file
extension
When you create a pattern file, you must load the file before you can use it.
The pattern files included in AutoCAD are acad.pat and acadiso.pat
You can display or print these text files to better understand how to construct patterns
PAT files must always be saved in ASCII format and use an .pat file extension

Hatch Pattern Definition [THEORY]
Each hatch pattern definition occupies two lines in the acad.pat file. The first line generally helps
us in knowing the name of the hatch pattern and a short description. While the second line gives details
about the coding and format. We shall take a simple hatch pattern from acad.pat and see how it goes.

*ANSI31, ANSI Iron, Brick, Stone masonry
45, 0,0, 0,.125

Based on the above line we can develop a simple generalized structure
as shown below

* Pattern_Name, Pattern Description
Codes to define the Pattern
Further w.r.t to codes the detailed format is given below. Every Hatch Pattern should include all or some
of them to define a final pattern
Codes – Angle, X – Origin, Y – Origin, Delta x, Delta y, Dash -1, Dash -2

Therefore general structure is given below

* Pattern_Name, Pattern Description
Angle, X – Origin, Y – Origin, Delta x, Delta y, Dash -1, Dash -2

——————————————————————————————–
*ANSI31, ANSI Iron, Brick, Stone masonry
45, 0,0, 0,.125
The pattern name on the first line, *ANSI31, is followed by a description: ANSI Iron, Brick, Stone
masonry. This simple pattern definition specifies a line drawn at an angle of 45 degrees, that the first
line of the family of hatch lines is to pass through the drawing origin (0,0), and that the spacing between
hatch lines of the family is to be 0.125 drawing units.

Hatch pattern definitions follow these rules:

• Each line in a pattern definition can contain up to 80 characters. You can include letters,
numbers, and the special characters
• You must begin a pattern definition with a letter or number, not a special character.
• AutoCAD ignores both blank lines and text to the right of a semicolon.
• Each pattern line is considered to be the first member of a line family, created by applying the
delta offsets in both directions to generate an infinite family of parallel lines.
• The delta-x value indicates the displacement between members of the family in the direction of
the line. It is used only for dashed lines.
• The delta-y value indicates the spacing between members of the family; that is, it is measured
perpendicular to the lines.
• A line is considered to be of infinite length. A dash pattern is superimposed on the line.

Let’s take a simple example and see how it works
* Pattern_Name, Pattern Description
Angle, X – Origin, Y – Origin, Delta x, Delta y, Dash -1, Dash -2

Problem 01
* Dash Dot90, Dash and Dot lines at 90 Degree
90, 0, 0, 0.15, 0.15, 0.255, -0.255, 0, -0.255

Explanation
• * – This represents the Asterisk
• Dash Dot90 – This represents the Name of Hatch Pattern
• Dash and Dot lines at 90 Degree – This represents the Hatch Description
• 90, 0, 0, 0.15, 0.15, 0.255, -0.255, 0, -0.255
• 90 – This represents the Angle of Hatch Line
• 0 – X – Origin
• 0 – Y – Origin
• 0.15 – Delta X
• 0.15 – Delta Y
• 0.255, -0.255, 0, -0.255 – This represents the line type definition

Let’s see in the next class how to create them using NotePad and directly embed in AutoCAD.,

I hope you enjoyed the third part of AutoCAD Customization.

**********

Well, pls do comment your experience level after learning these tutorials, your comments (positive / critic) will serve the CAD Community in a better way.

Well, you might have enjoyed the first part of the Line Type customization in AutoCAD 2007 – 2010. I hope you might have been checking the different line types available in AutoCAD.

Now its time to learn even more related to AutoCAD Line Type, get back to studies

As I mentioned in my last post on AutoCAD Line Type, there are two ways to create a line types in AutoCAD,

1) By Text Editor
2) By directly saving the file in the acad.lin file from command prompt

Method 01
By Text Editor – (notepad)
Open Notepad either from command prompt in AutoCAD 2007-2010 or from
Start > Run > Notepad

Now type the codes in the text file and save it as; give a name say [ATP171.lin]

Save the file in -
C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD
20XX\R17.0\enu\Support\ATP171.lin

Now open the ATP171 line file from Support folder
- Type linetype in command prompt,

Now in the linetype manager, click on DASHDOTDOT, make it current and click on OK

Now draw a line of any length and you will see the line type same as you expected

Good! You’re done with it!

Method – II

Let’s use the same name ATP171 (a arbitrary file name) or you can create a file name of your choice

Here we shall see how to create the same line by using AutoCAD,
Type –linetype in the command prompt without the Quotes

- Linetype
- Enter an Option [ ? / Create / Load / Set]
o Type Create
- Enter name of Linetype to create
o Enter ATP171
- Now click on save with the file name as ATP171
- Now enter the descriptive text – “ DASHDOTDOT “
- Enter the codes and linetype patter (Next Line)
o 0.2,-0.15,0,-0.15,0,-0.15
o _ . .

You’re done!
In this way you can create plenty of line types
Note: It is advisable to save all the new linetypes created into acad.lin since future migration will
result in safe transfer of custom linetypes also.
When you save the linetype in acad.lin the codes get embedded into the custom location as shown below

GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR LINETYPE CREATION

o All linetypes must begin with a dash.
o Enter zeros for dots.
o Enter negative real numbers for spaces. The value defines the length of the space in
drawing units.
o Enter positive real numbers for dashes. The value defines the length of the dash in
drawing units.
o Separate each dot, dash, or space value from the next with a comma.
o Use a space between a dot and a dash

Exercise A
Approx Time: 30 Minutes
Now create a linetype with the following code, give your own name for each exercise
a) 0.2, -0.315, 0, -0.315, 0, -0.315
b) 1, -0.5, 0, -0.5, 0, -0.5, 0, -0.5
c) 0.5, -0.25, 0, -0.25, 0, -0.25

Well time is really ticking away & yet to receive my copy of AutoCAD Inventor Professional 2010 from the ADN portal.,

Before that, I feel you can enjoy my AutoCAD 2007 – 2010 Customization tutorial series,

AutoCAD LINETYPE,

Before we start with the creation of custom line types lets see the various line types
available in AutoCAD

Enter the following command at the command prompt [linetype]

Once you do so you should be able to see the following window

Now select the Load option to see a new window, where you can see variety of line types

All the linetypes are stored in a file called [acad.lin], which is stored in the directory

C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD
2007\R17.0\enu\Support\acad.lin

Now open the acad.lin file to see the contents

Alternatively you can also open this file acad.lin, in a notepad to see all the contents.
Make sure you don’t select always open with when opening with notepad for the first time

**********

*/ A copy of the file acad.lin is given below for your reference and for those who don’t have
AutoCAD 2007 installed /*
************************************************************************
;;
;; AutoCAD Linetype Definition file
;; Version 3.0
;; Copyright (C) 1991-2006 by Autodesk, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
;;
;; Note: in order to ease migration of this file when upgrading
;; to a future version of AutoCAD, it is recommended that you add
;; your customizations to the User Defined Linetypes section at the
;; end of this file.
;;
*BORDER,Border __ __ . __ __ . __ __ . __ __ . __ __ .
A,.5,-.25,.5,-.25,0,-.25
*BORDER2,Border (.5x) __.__.__.__.__.__.__.__.__.__.__.
A,.25,-.125,.25,-.125,0,-.125
*BORDERX2,Border (2x) ____ ____ . ____ ____ . ___
A,1.0,-.5,1.0,-.5,0,-.5

XXXXXX

A,.0001,-.2,[ZIG,ltypeshp.shx,x=-.2,s=.2],-.4,[ZIG,ltypeshp.shx,r=180,x=.2,s=.2],-.2
;; User Defined Linetypes
;;
;; Add any linetypes that you define to this section of
;; the file to ensure that they migrate properly when
;; upgrading to a future AutoCAD version. If duplicate
;; linetype definitions are found in this file, items
;; in the User Defined Linetypes section take precedence
;; over definitions that appear earlier in the file.
;;

NOTE:
You might have noticed that in the linetype file few details were intentionally made bold
with RED color. This is to help you understand that any new line type created in AutoCAD can
be saved in acad.lin file rather than saving them in a new file. Thereby ensuring easy migration of
the new line types to the next release of AutoCAD.

Now before we start creating the linetypes let’s review some basic information

Linetypes are defined in one or more linetype definition files that have a .lin file extension
When you create a linetype, you must load the linetype before you can use it.
The LIN files included in AutoCAD are acad.lin and acadiso.lin. You can display or print these
text files to better understand how to construct linetypes
LIN files must always be saved in ASCII format and use an .lin file extension

Line Type Definition [THEORY]

Each line type definition occupies two lines in the acad.lin file. The first line generally helps us
in knowing the name of the line and a short description. While the second line gives details about the
coding and format. We shall take a simple line type from acad.lin and see how it goes.
Example A1
*BORDER, Border __ __ . __ __ . __ __ . __ __ . __ __ .
A,.5,-.25,.5,-.25,0,-.25
Based on the above line type we can develop a standard format as shown below
*Linetype Name, A short description
A, Linetype values / Codes / Format
We shall now see the explanation for the above.

1) * – This is Asterisk sign which can be input using SHIFT + 8 on Keyboard
2) Linetype Name – This helps in selecting the corresponding Linetype for creation. Based on
the above linetype the name is BORDER
3) , – This is a comma symbol to separate between Linetype Name and description
4) A short description – This helps in defining the description of the linetype
5) A – This signifies Alignment Field much about this will be dealt separately.
6) Linetype values or codes – These are numbers which shall also be dealt later.
a) Codes with Positive value – will create a line of specified units(codes)
b) Codes with Negative value – will create a gap of specified units(codes)
c) Codes with Zero value (0) – will create a dot “.”

Now Lets consider another linetype to understand better
*DASHDOT,Dash dot __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __ . __
A,.5,-.25,0,-.25
In the above example the name of the linetype is – DASHDOT
Description is given as Dash dot with the corresponding linetype
A – The alignment field specifies the action for pattern alignment at the ends of individual lines, circles,
and arcs. Currently, AutoCAD supports only A-type alignment, which guarantees that the endpoints of
lines and arcs start and stop with a dash
0.5 – Length of Dash
-0.25 – Length of Space
0 – dot (zero length)
Creating New Linetype [Problem 1]
Now let’s create a new linetype as shown below
Name of Linetype – Dash Dot Dot
_ . .
Note: The values selected is arbitrary only (Example)
Values for the above line are
Length of first Dash is: 0.2 units -
Length of gap is: (- 0.15) units GAP
Length of dot is: 0 units .
Length of gap is: (-0.15) units GAP
Length of dot is: 0 units .
Length of gap is: (-0.15) units GAP
Now the actual linetype patter is given below
*DashDotDot,Dash Dot Dot __ . .
A,0.2,-0.15,0,-0.15,0,-0.15

Based on these values the linetype can be created in two ways, but wait let’s see these in the next post

Autodesk Technical Evangelist, Lynn Allen presents the AutoCAD 2010 Tips and Tricks

Check it out for more information on

User Interface Improvements

Geometric Constraints

Dimensional Constraints

Dynamic Block Improvements

3D Free Form Design

3D Printing

New Measure Tools

Block Tables

PDF Out

Attaching PDF Files

Every Day Productivity Tools

I downloaded and installed the AutoCAD 2010 software last evening and found a great deal of enhancements and improvements in the new release.

I would like to share one such tip on Keytips in the new release of AutoCAD 2010.,

Using Keyboard you can now access the Application menu, Quick Access toolbar, and ribbon tool bar., let’s see how

Once you are in the Main Application window as shown below, click on Alt key from keyboard you can now click on respective keytip to display more keytips for that particular tool

A Handy tool for Express AutoCAD Users