Customize Startup (Concept)

AutoCAD 2008 User's Guide > The User Interface > Customize the Drawing Environment >

Customize Startup

Concept

Procedure

Quick Reference

Command line switches can specify a separate startup routine for each project.

You can use command line switches to specify several options when you start the program. For example, you can run a script, start with a specified drawing template, and display a specified view when a drawing is opened. With command line switches, you can also set up several program icons, each with different start-up options.

Command line switches are parameters you can add to the acad.exe command line associated with a Microsoft^. Windows^. shortcut icon or the Windows Run dialog box. You can include several switches within a single command line. Valid switches are listed in the following table.

/b	Script name	Designates a script to run after you start the program (b stands for batch process). Scripts can be used to set up drawing parameters in a new drawing file. An SCR file type is assumed.
/t	Template file name	Creates a new drawing based on a template or prototype drawing. A DWT file type is assumed.
/c	Configuration folder	Specifies the path for the hardware configuration file that you want to use. You can specify a directory or a particular file. A CFG file type is assumed. If you don't set the /c switch, the executable directory is searched and the ACADCFGW or ACADCFG environment variable is used as a way to define the configuration file and directory location.
/v	View name	Designates a particular view of the drawing for display at startup.
/ld	ARX or DBX application	Loads a specified ARX or DBX application. Use the following format: <path>\<filename>.ARX If the path or file name contains spaces, then the path or file name should be wrapped in double quotes. If no path information is included, the program search path is used.
/s	Support folders	Designates support folders other than the current folder. Drawing support files include text fonts, menus, AutoLISP files, linetypes, and hatch patterns. The maximum number of folders you can specify in the path is 15. Each folder name is delimited by semicolons.
/r	Default system pointing device	Restores the default system pointing device. It creates a new configuration file (acad2008.cfg) and renames the previous acad2008.cfg file to acad.bak.
/nologo	No AutoCAD logo screen	Starts the program without first displaying the logo screen.
/p	User-defined registry profile for starting the program	Specifies a user-defined registry profile for starting the program. The selected profile is in effect only for the current session of the program, unless you make another profile current in the Options dialog box during that session. You create or import profiles on the Profiles tab in the Options dialog box. With the /p switch, you can specify only those profiles that are listed in the Options dialog box. If the profile does not exist, the current profile is used.
/nohardware	Disables hardware acceleration	Disables hardware acceleration on startup.
/nossm	No Sheet Set Manager window	Suppresses the display of the Sheet Set Manager window on startup.
/set	Sheet set	Loads the named sheet set on startup. Use the following format: <path>\<sheet set data file>.DST
/w	Default workspace	Designates which workspace in the loaded CUI files should be restored on startup.
/pl	Background plotting/publishing	Publishes a drawing set descriptions (DSD) file in the background. Use the following format: <path>\<drawing set descriptions file>.DSD

The syntax for using command line switches is

"drive:pathname\acad.exe" ["drawingname"] [/switch "name"]

When using a switch option, you must follow the switch with a space and then the name of a file, path, or view within quotation marks. For example, the following entry starts the program from a folder named AutoCAD 2008 with the drawing template arch1.dwt, restores a named view PLAN1, and executes a script file startup.scr.

"d:\ AutoCAD 2008\acad.exe”/t "d:\AutoCAD 2008\template\arch1" /v "plan1" /b "startup"

The environment settings are resolved in the following way:

If you use a command line switch to specify an environment setting, the command line switch overrides the settings specified in either the Options dialog box or the environment variable.
If a command line switch is not set, the corresponding value set in the Options dialog box is used.
If neither a command line switch nor an Options value is set, the environment variable value is used.

NoteCommand line switches and environment variables override values set in the Options dialog box for the current session only. They do not alter the system registry.