Datasheet

3. I used QSELECT to select all text containing a front slash (all the dates) and put them
on their own layer. This required using the * wildcard match operator (nice to know
some DOS). By placing */* in the Value window, you get all text containing a front
slash anywhere in the string.
Create Tool Palettes to Enforce Standards
Using AutoCAD DesignCenter (ADC), you can create a tool palette that contains all the
blocks from a symbol-library drawing with a single selection. Locate the drawing in the
browser window of ADC, right-click it, and select Create Tool Palette, as shown in Figure 1.4.
Once you’ve created a tool palette, you can use it to enforce standards by setting the
properties of any object on the palette, including the layer it’s on (all tools), the scale
(blocks and hatch patterns), and rotation angle (blocks and hatch patterns). To add a
hatch pattern, use ADC to locate the file ACAD.pat or ACADISO.pat, and drag and drop a
pattern to the palette.
Feature Review (All Releases)
One of the difficulties with an application as complex as AutoCAD is that everything
seems to change with each release. It can get a little discouraging. Why learn the nuances
of anything, when that knowledge may be worthless in 12 months? And if you do dig into
a release and learn to use it productively, can you keep doing those things after the next
release?
The fact is, many things about AutoCAD haven’t changed over the years, including
fundamentals like the underlying Cartesian coordinate system, the basic command struc-
ture, the way menus and toolbars work, the methods for creating and modifying most
objects, and how files are saved. This section reviews the functionality that has been fairly
constant in AutoCAD across many releases and is likely to stay that way. No matter how
much things change, you’ll still be able to save a specific screen display using the VIEW
command; in fact, that command gets more and more
useful with the development of sheet sets. There can be
a big difference in drawing efficiency between one user
and another that has nothing to do with new features.
Earlier in this chapter, I discussed some rules and
standards for using a CAD system. Here I’ll point out
general AutoCAD features, big and small, that a lot of
users have missed. They aren’t secrets; they just seem
that way if you don’t know about them. And because
they aren’t new features, they don’t show up in the New
Features Workshop as spiffy and new. I think of these
elements as spiffy and old. I don’t care what release of
AutoCAD you use, there’s something here for you.
12 ■ chapter 1: AutoCAD Productivity
Figure 1.4
Creating a tool
palette from a
symbol drawing
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