Friday, May 29, 2009

Blog Chat

UPDATE: I've removed Civil Chat from the blog due to lack of use.

I've added a chat applet on the sidebar to the right. If it says DenverG is Available, then I'm logged on and can chat. If you have a quick question or just want to say hey. You can do so anonymously or you can enter a personal chat name. Hope to talk to some of you soon!

See ya,
Denver

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Autodesk Service Packs - EXE to MSP

I've wondered for a while why Autodesk posts it's service packs in only EXE format. If you've ever wanted to deploy Autodesk software with the service pack tied in, you know about this little conversion that needs to happen before the deployment will accept.

When you download a service pack from Autodesk you can save it an install it without doing anything as long as you're applying the patch to a stand-alone copy. To apply the patch to a deployment, you need a MSP file. Here's how you do it:

1. Start the Windows Command Prompt (DOS Window)
2. Navigate to the directory where the patch resides. (I'll use C:\Temp for this example)
3. Enter the patch name followed by /e and then an output path for the MSP file.

Example: (patch name is C3DSP1.exe)

C:\temp\c3dsp1.exe /e c:\temp\msp\c3dsp1.msp

The example above takes the .exe file from the temp directory and extracts the msp file into the temp/msp folder.

4. You can now move the MSP file, if needed, to a location that can be accessed by the deployment.

Good Luck with those deployments!

See ya,
Denver

Friday, May 22, 2009

Creating AutoCAD Linetypes

A friend and mentor of mine, Jerry Bartels from Autodesk has recently posted a video on his YouTube channel that describes how to create linetypes in AutoCAD. He's doing the work in Civil 3D, but using the Express Tools that ship with AutoCAD as well. It's a great video, so you might want to check it out.

That led me to think of other ways to create linetypes and as I was cleaning out my overpopulated "in/out" box in my office, I came across a piece of paper that I've had for many years describing how to open up notepad and generate a linetype file that AutoCAD will read. I thought that I would just get rid of the paper since it's old and newer, quicker ways of linetype generation are available. Then I thought, maybe I'll put it on my blog, so here we are. After I transcribe this, I'll finally be able to get rid of that paper that has been following me around for years!

If you open the ACAD.LIN file that ships with AutoCAD, you'll see all of the linetype descriptions and their definitions. This is a general linetype you will see in ACAD.LIN;

*CENTER,Center ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____ _ ____
A,1.25,-.25,.25,-.25

The top line always starts with an astrik followed by the name of the linteype. The description is next, seperated from the name with a comma. After the description, a preview of the linetype is shown.

The bottom line is the linetype definition. The definition always begins with a capitol A. Next is the length of the first dash (1.25). AutoCAD linetypes must start with a dash. There is no way around it. Next is the location of smaller dash from the left side of the longer dash (-.25). Next is the length of the smaller dash (.25). The last value is the location of the smaller dash from the right side of the longer dash (-.25). All of those different values are seperated with a comma.

That is a simple linetype definition. What if you need to add text or symbols to your linetype? Easy enough, let's take a look.

*GAS_LINE,Gas line ----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS----GAS--A,.5,-.2,["GAS",STANDARD,S=.1,R=0.0,X=-0.1,Y=-.05],-.25

There are a few more items to consider within the definition above. The top line is the same and the beginning of the bottom line is the same. First the A. Then the length of the first dash. Then the distance of the text from the left side of the first dash. Then, within the brackets, the text to be shown is listed in quotes followed by the text style ("GAS",Standard). The S= stands for Size of Text, followed by the text size value (S=.1). Then R= (Rotation) followed by the rotation value (R=0.0). Then X= (Location of text from the right side of the dash) followed by the value (X=-.05). Then Y= (Location of the text above or below the dash) followed by the value (Y=-.05). If a negative value is used, the text is moved down, below the dash. This rounds out the bracket text. The final value is the location of the text from the right side of the dash (-.25). Again, this is all seperated by commas.


I don't know that there is enough space to get a full drawing description like I've pasted below the simple linetype. You can download a PDF of these linetype instructions here.

There are a number of options for creating linetypes within AutoCAD. This is just one of them, and it's the long (old) way at that!


See ya,

Denver

Friday, May 1, 2009

2010 Civil Product Links

I thought I'd post some links for downloads on 2010 products.

For the AutoCAD Civil and Civil 3D 2009 patch that allows those two versions to use Autodesk Vault 2010, click here.

For the AutoCAD Civil and Civil 3D 2010 System Requirements, click here.
For all other updates for AutoCAD Civil and Civil 3D 2010, click here.
That should do it, all links to the Autodesk website.

See ya,
Denver