Robert Geiger, an architectural designer, has sent us a half-dozen LISP routines he developed to help him in his daily work in AutoCAD.

"I have included several AutoCAD productivity tips in this file; these tips will work for any current version of AutoCAD.

• 0 — Sets layer 0 current.
• 11 — My most common object snap mode settings; can be modified as needed for the user's settings.
• AC — Will change selected text to all capitals; works with both text and dtext.
• AZ — Runs the Layer Walk routine. Express tools must be loaded.
• F1 — Ensures that when you want a closed fillet, it sets the radius to 0, then back to the previous setting.
• ZZ — Zoom Extents followed by a zoom 90%, to give you a little space around your drawing."
   

Notes from Cadalyst Tip Patrol: These routines are simple macros, but they can help users to reduce keystrokes. The first routine, "0," will make layer zero the current layer. Routine "11" sets certain running osnaps on (Endpoint, Midpoint, Center, Intersection, and Insertion). This can be customized to meet your osnap needs; just change the number 103 to the OSMode setting you want. The OSMode system variable treats each osnap setting as a bit number. Each osnap has its own number value (see the Help file for the values). Figure out which osnaps you want and add their values. This is the OSMode setting you want. "AC" will change a selected text object to all caps, but only one selection at a time. "AZ" starts the LayerWalk command. "F1" (not the F1 key, but the letter F followed by the number 1) starts the Fillet command, stores the current radius value, and changes it to zero. When you are finished with the command it restores the fillet radius to its previous settings. In recent versions of AutoCAD, users have the ability to hold the Shift key while using the Fillet command to temporarily set the fillet radius to zero.