Editor's Note: This tip was most recently updated on October 5, 2011.

Frequent contributor Kent Cooper has expanded on Cadalyst CAD Tips No. 986 and No. 1654, both of which construct star shapes in AutoCAD, and created a routine that does even more. This routine can draw a star with any number of points, either in "chain" mode or with the outer and inner point radii specified, or with the inner point diameter defined as a percentage of the outer point diameter.

Start by loading the LISP file, then type in the command Star. Pick the center location, the number of points, and the outside point radius. Answer the prompts for defining the inside point radius (by distance, by percentage of outside radius, or in chain fashion — and if chaining, by what increment).



The end result of this routine is a single closed polyline created on the current layer. The LISP code contains plenty of comments and even more detail about other ways to use this routine. Thanks, Kent.