Here is a tip on how to find all the variables in your lisp file. You can use this tip on existing lisp functions or on new ones you are writing.

I constantly get questions like "How to I get my custom toolbars off my old install and put them into my new AutoCAD" -or- "I had to run a repair on my AutoCAD, what happened to my custom pull-down menu?"

Sure it's easy to add a pull-down menu or toolbar, but do you know where this data lives? Do you know how to back it up? Do you know how to migrate it to your friends machine, or to a new install of the latest version?

Here are some tips of how to setup your AutoCAD customization so that it's easy to use, backup, and migrate.

Here's a quick tip for making a VBA progress bar without adding a reference to the MSComCtl.ocx control, or any other custom control.

Add a Textbox to your form
Position and size it to it's maximum size.
Make note of the width of the textbox when you are done.

Add the following code to your form Initialize event.

TextBox1.Width = 0

At some point in time you may be required to run a repair on your AutoCAD (or other Autodesk product) installation. This is generally required if you UNinstall one version of an application after installing another version. For example, if you install Land Desktop 2006 then later on UNinstall Land Desktop 2005, you must run a repair on your 2006 install.

If you have any unexplained errors that cannot be solved by other methods, such as commands that stop working, a repair may be required also.

Here's how to do it...

Did you read the README file the last time you performed an install? Probably not. The README file for many Autodesk products includes something most people overlook.

If you have multiple AutoCAD-based products on a computer, and you uninstall one or more of the products, you must repair or reinstall the remaining products.

Is your command line missing in AutoCAD 2006? Earlier versions stored the location in the registry. In 2006, it's a little different. Here are a few tricks to restore a 'missing' command line.

This has proven to be a popular page, so I thought I would repost it at the top, with one corrected URL, and a few more applications I have run across.

The FREE Viewers are:
BIT-View: HPGL/2, RTL, TIFF, JPG

If you receive a dialog box with this title while opening a drawing, you are missing a shape file that is referenced in the drawing. Shape files contain shapes that can be used by themselves, sort of like blocks. Most likely though, they are part of a complex linetype definition.

If you are using the IMAGE command to insert a TIFF file, and you run into an error, check out the following two KB docs found at http://support.autodesk.com

Error inserting TIFF files: Invalid File Format

It's easy to find what drawings are xref'ed into your drawing, but how do you find what drawings your drawing is xref'ed in to?

Ellen Finkelstein has posted a great tip on www.ellenfinkelstein.com regarding how to do this.

Note that you can also use Design Center to search a whole directory, drive, or even a network for drawings containing certain named objects such as layers, blocks, layouts, and dimstyles.