Changes That May Affect Scripts

Changes to the following commands or system variables may affect pre-existing scripts:

• EXTEND - For the EXTEND command, if you do not select an object at the Select Objects to Extend prompt, you are now prompted to specify the opposite corner of a crossing window. This change may affect pre-existing scripts that call EXTEND and supply a pick point that selects no objects. You can fix legacy scripts by omitting points that do not select objects.
• -INSERT - If you use the Scale Uniformly option in the Block Definition dialog box, you are no longer prompted to enter separate scale factors for X,Y,Z coordinates when you insert a block using the -INSERT command.
• MENULOAD - By default, the MENULOAD command loads only CUI files in AutoCAD 2006 or later releases. To load an MNU or MNS file in AutoCAD 2006 or later release, you must explicitly include the extension in the file name, as shown in the following example:
  
  

  (command "menuload" "myMenu.mnu")

  
  However, rather than changing your code, it is strongly recommended that you open your legacy menu files in AutoCAD 2008 before running applications that use them. AutoCAD automatically converts them to CUI files, and the CUI files are loaded by existing code that uses the file name without an extension.
  
  Legacy code that specifies an MNU, MNS, or MNC extension should be changed to reference a CUI file, and AutoCAD 2007-based applications should ship with CUI files, not MNU, MNS, or MNC files.
• TRIM - For the TRIM command, if you do not select an object at the Select Objects to Trim prompt, you are now prompted to specify the opposite corner of a crossing window. This change may affect pre-existing scripts that call TRIM and supply a pick point that selects no objects. You can fix legacy scripts by omitting points that do not select objects.

Visual LISP

Notifications

• In some cases, the vlr-sysVarWillChange and vlr-sysVarChanged notifications are triggered multiple times for one system variable change.

Grips

• AutoCAD no longer supports grips on unselected objects. As a result, the gripset argument of the AutoLISP sssetfirst function is ignored, and the ssgetfirst function returns nil for the first selection set returned.

True Color

• If you have a full installation of AutoCAD, utilities for working with True Color are located in the \Sample\VisualLISP folder, in the color-util.lsp file. The utilities can be used for operations related to True Color, such as getting the components of a true color number, converting a color index or color name to a true color value, returning a DXF group code list, and working with an entity list.
  
  The following AutoLISP functions provide access to the True Color user interface:
  
  

  (acad_truecolordlg color [allowbylayer] [currentlayercolor]).
  Prompts for colors through a dialog box. The color parameter is a dotted pair describing the default color; the first element of the dotted pair must be one of the color-related DXF group codes (62, 420, or 430). If the allowbylayer parameter is present and is not nil, the ByLayer and ByBlock buttons are shown. When the operation is successful, the function returns a list of one or more dotted pairs describing the color selected. The last dotted pair in the list indicates the color selected. The function returns nil if the user cancels the dialog box.
  
  (acad_truecolorcli color [allowbylayer] [alternatePrompt]).
  Prompts for colors at the command line. The first two parameters are identical to acad_truecolordlg, and the third parameter is an optional prompt string. If this string is omitted, the default value is "New color."

The entmod and entmake Functions

• In AutoCAD 2004 and later releases, the entmod and entmake functions have new behavior in color operations. DXF group code 62 holds AutoCAD Color Index (ACI) values, but code 420 holds true color values. If the true color value and ACI value conflict, AutoCAD uses the 420 value, so the code 420 value should be removed before attempting to use the code 62 value. For more information, perform a full installation of AutoCAD and see the color-util.lsp file located in the \Sample\VisualLISP folder.

Load Errors

• If LOAD encounters an error while loading a separate-namespace VLX, some functions may have been exported to the current document namespace before the error was detected. You must be sure to fix the error, rebuild, and reload the VLX in order to ensure that the correct version of all functions is exported to the current document.
• When the CUILOAD command loads a partial menu in MDI, the MNL file for that menu loads once for every open document, with all user interaction occurring in the current document. To avoid redundant printed messages or user prompts when AutoCAD is initiated with multiple drawings, it is recommended that you do not include any user interaction in MNL LISP code. Instead, use MNL code to load any needed AutoLISP files for subsequent menu item selections. Use the acad.lsp or acaddoc.lsp files to execute AutoLISP code to be processed when a drawing is opened.

Display of the Multiple Design Environment Dialog Box

• The Multiple Design Environment dialog box allows you to change the default functionality of the initialization of the AutoLISP environment. This dialog box is displayed under the following conditions:
  • The Do Not Show value of the AcadLspAsDocDlg registry key is set to 0.
  • There are no scripts running, and there is no AutoLISP or ActiveX application running.
  • The ACADLSPASDOC system variable is set to 0.
  • An acad.lsp file exists in the AutoCAD search path.
  • An acaddoc.lsp file does not exist in the AutoCAD search path.
  • The SDI system variable is set to 0.
  If all these conditions are true, the Multiple Design Environment dialog box is displayed the first time that a second document is opened in each session.

ActiveX and VBA

Visibility of the AutoCAD Process

• VBA scripts that run at startup should check whether the AutoCAD process is visible or invisible. If the process is invisible, the script should not execute, because the process may be performing background plotting or publishing operations. To check whether the AutoCAD process is visible or invisible, you can use the Visible property of the Application object in the AutoCAD Object Model.