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Inside, you’ll find complete coverage of AutoCAD 2002 • Discover the latest techniques for creating high-quality drawings • Master precision tools for creating 2D and 3D drawings and re

powerful design software, from 2D drawing and plotting fundamentals to database interactions, VBA and

AutoLISP programming, Internet collaboration, and more.

Inside, you’ll find complete

coverage of AutoCAD 2002

• Discover the latest techniques for creating high-quality drawings

• Master precision tools for creating 2D and 3D drawings and

renderings

• Learn to use new features for manipulating blocks (symbols) and

their attributes (properties)

• Explore updated methods for getting your drawings on the Web

and collaborating via the Internet

• Control your drawings with new CAD Standards features

• Harness the advanced database access and data-sharing features

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modeling, AutoLISP programming, and other advanced techniques Harness the new Web publishing and collaboration features

Ellen Finkelstein

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Learn about AutoCAD’s new dimensions

AutoCAD ®

2002 Bible

Ellen Finkelstein

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New York, NY ✦ Cleveland, OH ✦ Indianapolis, IN

AutoCAD ® 2002 Bible

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LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR HAVE USED THEIR BEST EFFORTS IN PREPARING THIS BOOK THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES WHICH EXTEND BEYOND THE DESCRIPTIONS CONTAINED IN THIS PARAGRAPH NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES REPRESENTATIVES OR WRITTEN SALES MATERIALS THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN AND THE OPINIONS STATED HEREIN ARE NOT GUARANTEED OR WARRANTED TO PRODUCE ANY PARTICULAR RESULTS, AND THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES.

Trademarks: All other trademarks are property of their respective owners Hungry Minds, Inc., is not

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is a trademark of Hungry Minds, Inc.

About the Author

Ellen Finkelstein learned AutoCAD in Israel, where she always got to pore over the

manual because she was the only one who could read it in English After returning

to the United States, she started consulting and teaching AutoCAD as well as othercomputer programs, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint Ellen has

written books on Word, PowerPoint, and Flash (Flash 5 For Dummies, published by Hungry Minds, Inc.) Her first book was AutoCAD For Dummies Quick Reference She was a contributing author to AutoCAD 13 Secrets, also published by Hungry Minds, Inc Previous editions of this book were AutoCAD 14 Bible, appearing in 1997, and

AutoCAD 2000 Bible, which was published in 1999.

To MMY for teaching me that there’s more to life than meets the eye.

Quality Control Technicians

David FaustSusan Moritz

Proofreading and Indexing

TECHBOOKS Production Services

Cover Image

Kate Shaw

Credits

We at Autodesk understand better each day that while we are obviously a

software developer and publisher, we are really in the “CustomerPerformance Improvement” business This is the value proposition that you, ourcustomer, ultimately seek Don’t we all? Delivering on this proposition requires that

we provide two key deliverables to you:

1 Great software technology with the right features

2 The support you need so you can use Autodesk software effectively in your

job with improved performance and productivity

Our product designs have always been user-centric and driven by what you need tocontinuously improve productivity AutoCAD 2002 sets a new standard for user pro-ductivity This is the AutoCAD that users and managers alike asked for — and more.Most of the new features and enhancements came from the ultimate source, cus-tomer requests, and for the ultimate purpose: improving the performance and pro-ductivity of you and your team

But creating great software based solely on your feedback is not enough

Autodesk’s commitment to increasing productivity requires that we go beyondwhat our customers ask We’re always searching for new performance-enhancinginnovations — even if they fall outside the scope of current software features, andeven if you haven’t thought to ask for them Our focus, like yours, is on results If itworks, if it enables you to be more successful and achieve better results, we’ll gothere So in addition to specific software enhancements, we are focusing more onsupporting the entire process of collaborative design We are “digitizing the designprocess” and enabling more effective use of the Web in order to simplify the com-plexities of collaborative design

Yet, introducing these innovations also poses new challenges, namely learning how

to use and effectively apply these enhancements We have done much to addressthese challenges both within AutoCAD 2002 and with new offerings such asAutoCAD Today and Autodesk Point A Web resources However, the real solutionmust be more than what Autodesk alone can provide, hence the critical role of theAutodesk virtual community We are therefore particularly grateful to EllenFinkelstein for having written such a comprehensive and reliable guide to AutoCAD

2002, and to the good people at Hungry Minds for making this so widely available

Following the great success of the AutoCAD 2000 Bible, this new book draws upon

lessons learned through constructive feedback from readers

At Autodesk we prefer to think of more than just software, but rather the whole

environment of an AutoCAD 2002 user The AutoCAD 2002 Bible should be part of

every user’s immediate environment Work with it Refer to it each time you have aquestion Use it to augment the digital learning resources that come with AutoCAD2002: AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD Today, the Help system, and theonline resources of Autodesk Point A, which is seamlessly integrated into AutoCAD

2002 Keep the AutoCAD 2002 Bible handy and browse through it whenever you

need a break or have some spare time You’ll discover myriad capabilities toAutoCAD 2002 you probably weren’t aware even existed You’ll learn new and betterways to accomplish tasks, and continuously improve your overall performanceusing AutoCAD 2002

Wayne Hodgins

Strategic FuturistDirector, Worldwide Learning StrategiesAutodesk, Inc

Welcome to the AutoCAD 2002 Bible AutoCAD 2002 is the most powerful

CAD software product available for PCs today It can perform nearly anydrawing task you can give it This book is designed to be your comprehensive guide

to the entire AutoCAD program

AutoCAD 2002 is the fastest, smoothest AutoCAD yet Certain features have beenadded that are not even mentioned in this book because you never see them — youjust notice that fewer regenerations occur, drawings load faster, and you spend lesstime waiting while drawing and editing In addition to these refinements, of course,are the many new features covered in this book that will make your drawing easierand faster The new features include both those introduced with 2000i, an interimrelease, and 2002

This book covers every major AutoCAD feature If you’re a beginning AutoCAD user,you’ll find everything you need to start out; if you’re already using AutoCAD regu-larly, the book covers advanced material as well It provides a solid reference base

to come back to again and again, as well as short tutorials to get you drawing.Sidebar profiles show how companies out in the real world use AutoCAD Finally,the CD-ROM is chock full of drawings, a trial version of AutoCAD 2002, and AutoLISPprograms This book should be all you need to make full use of that expensive pro-gram called AutoCAD

Is This Book for You?

The AutoCAD 2002 Bible covers all the essential features of AutoCAD and includes

clear, real-life examples and tutorials that you can adapt to your needs

Although I fully cover AutoCAD basics, I have also included material on the manyadvanced features, such as external database connectivity, AutoLISP, Visual Basicfor Applications (VBA), 3D modeling, rendering, and customization The followingcategories should help you decide if this book is for you

If you are a new AutoCAD user

If you are new to AutoCAD, the AutoCAD 2002 Bible guides you through all you need

to know to start drawing effectively, whatever your field

If you are upgrading to AutoCAD 2002

This book highlights all the new features of AutoCAD 2002 and helps you make theupgrade transition as seamless as possible

If you are switching from another CAD program

You already know what CAD is all about This book clearly explains the AutoCADway of drawing the models you have already been drawing In addition, you’ll find agreat deal of essential information about transferring information from other for-mats

How This Book Is Organized

This book is divided into seven parts and five appendixes

Part I: AutoCAD Basics

Part I provides the background information you need to start drawing It starts with

a “quick tour” that gets you drawing right away, and then covers how to start adrawing, use commands, specify coordinates, and set up a drawing

Part II: Drawing in Two Dimensions

Part II covers all the commands and procedures for drawing and editing in twodimensions In addition, I discuss how to control the drawing process with layers,zooming, and panning Also included in this part is information about dimensioning,plotting, and printing

Part III: Working with Data

Part III covers the many ways to organize and share data, including blocks,attributes, external references, and external databases

Part IV: Drawing in Three Dimensions

Part IV explains everything you need to know to draw in three dimensions It alsodiscusses how to present 3D drawings using hiding, shading, and rendering tech-niques

Part V: Organizing and Managing Drawings

Part V helps you incorporate AutoCAD into your work world by explaining how toset standards, manage drawings, and work with other applications It concludeswith a chapter on AutoCAD and the Internet

Part VI: Customizing AutoCAD

Part VI introduces the tools you need to customize commands, toolbars, linetypes,hatch patterns, shapes, fonts, and menus You’ll also find a chapter on script files,which you can use to create macros

Part VII: Programming AutoCAD

Part VII introduces you to programming AutoCAD It includes three chapters onAutoLISP and Visual LISP and one chapter on Visual Basic for Applications

Appendixes

Appendix A gives instructions for installing and configuring AutoCAD Appendix Bcovers all the ways to get help on AutoCAD, and Appendix C explains what you’llfind on the CD-ROM

The CD-ROM contains a complete copy of this book in PDF format The book inthat format includes two bonus appendixes Appendix D displays all the menusand submenus as well as the toolbars and their flyouts Appendix E lists new,changed, and discontinued commands and system variables as well as a list ofsystem variables often used on the command line

How to Use This Book

You can use this book in two ways: as a reference or as a learning tool or tutorial

As a reference

The AutoCAD 2002 Bible is organized as a reference that you can refer to whenever

you get stuck or when you try to do something for the first time Each chapter ers a topic completely, making it easy to find what you’re looking for Each Step-by-Step exercise (with a few exceptions) can be done on its own without doing theother exercises in the chapter You can easily look up a topic and complete arelated exercise without having to go through the entire chapter A complete index

cov-at the back of the book can also help you look up fecov-atures and topics

As a tutorial

The overall organization of the book goes from simple to complex, and each ter has several Step-by-Step sections This enables you to use the book as atutorial — from beginning to end You can then go back and redo any exercise whenyou need to refresh your memory on a particular feature

chap-

Cross-Reference

For newcomers to AutoCAD, Parts I and II are essential After that, you can refer tochapters that interest you Parts III and V are also useful for beginners Intermediateusers will probably be familiar with most of the material in Part I and will be morelikely to skip around looking for the specific topics they need However, don’t forgetthat many of the new features for AutoCAD 2002 are introduced in Part I Enoughmaterial appears in this book to bring intermediate users up to a fairly advancedlevel.

I have designed this book to be comprehensive and to include every significant ture of AutoCAD Therefore, do not be concerned if some of the material seems tooadvanced It will be there when you are ready for it

fea-Doing the Exercises

AutoCAD is a very customizable program This book assumes that you are workingwith the default setup However, a number of changes may have been made to yoursystem that could result in menus, toolbars, and drawings appearing differentlyfrom those shown in this book If you installed AutoCAD yourself and made someadjustments, you know what changes you made However, if you are using a com-puter that was set up by someone else, it may help to talk to that person first, tosee what changes were made

In addition, as you work through some of the exercises in this book, you will makecertain changes in AutoCAD’s setup Most of these are minor changes that any userwould make while drawing Cautions and Tips accompany all changes that couldhave serious consequences, such as customizing the menu, for safety For example,when customizing the menu, you will be instructed to copy the menu template fileunder a new name, and you will then work with the new menu file, not the originalone Nevertheless, if you are working on a network or sharing AutoCAD with some-one else, it is proper computer etiquette to consult with others who may beaffected by the changes you make

If you do the exercises, I recommend that you do them from the beginning

Important instructions are given during earlier exercises that may affect your tem later For example, one of the first exercises is to create a new folder to holdyour drawings from the exercises This folder keeps your exercise drawings sepa-rate from other drawings created in your office However, each exercise stands onits own so you can go back and do only the exercise you need

sys-You can create your own AutoCAD configuration that helps ensure that changesyou make will not affect others Instructions for doing this appear in Appendix Aunder the heading “Creating Multiple Configurations.”

The exercises in the AutoCAD 2002 Bible have been carefully checked by a technical

editor to ensure accuracy However, we cannot anticipate all situations, either due

Cross-Reference

to varying hardware/software configurations or customization within AutoCAD Ifyou have a problem with an exercise, contact me at the e-mail address listed at theend of this Preface so I can correct the problem in the book’s next edition.

Conventions Used in This Book

Given all the ways in which you can execute a command in AutoCAD, you’ll find ituseful to read through this section, which describes this book’s typographical con-ventions You will find this section helpful for doing the Step-by-Step exercises aswell

AutoCAD commands

AutoCAD uses standard Windows conventions for menus and toolbars To indicatethat you should choose a command from the menu, for example, I say, “ChooseView➪ Viewports,” which means that you should click the View menu with yourmouse or puck/stylus and then click the Viewports menu item Some of AutoCAD’stoolbar buttons have flyouts, which are equivalent to submenus They are calledflyouts because they fly out when you click and hold the button on the main tool-bar, displaying even more buttons Therefore, to indicate which button to choose, Imay need to tell you to choose (or click) Zoom Extents from the Zoom flyout of theStandard toolbar Although I haven’t found a good alternative, this is not completelysatisfactory for two reasons First, it’s a mouthful! Second, the flyout names do notappear, making it hard to know which is the Zoom flyout However, you can checkAppendix D, which is on the CD-ROM It shows each toolbar and flyout along withits name Also, in most cases it will be obvious which flyout I’m talking about

AutoCAD is unique in that every command also has a command name that you cantype on the command line, which appears at the bottom of your screen Commandnames are shown in capital letters, as in CIRCLE AutoLISP functions are shown insmall capital letters, as in COMMAND

AutoCAD prompts, your input, and instructions

In the Step-by-Step exercises, most instructions are presented in the same font andstyle you are reading now However, when I reproduce the AutoCAD command line,AutoCAD’s prompts appear in a nonproportional font and the input you should type

in appears in bold Other instructions (such as “Type in the first coordinate”) areshown in italic

Here’s a sample Step-by-Step section In this exercise, you click the proper toolbarbutton, type in the X,Y coordinates shown in bold, and press Enter where indicated

by the bent arrow (↵) symbol

1 With your left mouse button (also called the pick button), choose Line from

the Draw toolbar Notice that the command name is repeated on the mand line

com-Command: _line Specify first point: 0,0 ↵ (This arrow means

to press Enter)

Specify next point or [Undo]: 10,0 ↵Specify next point or [Undo]: 10,7 ↵Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: 0,7 ↵Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: 0,0 ↵Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: ↵

Often I make references to specific elements in a drawing References to these ments appear in the text as numbers in circles, such as 1, 2, 3, and so on You’llfind the corresponding number in the figure to which the text refers

ele-Mouse and keyboard terms

You can draw in AutoCAD using a mouse or a puck The mouse is familiar to allusers A puck (or sometimes a stylus) is used with a digitizing tablet Because mostAutoCAD users do not have a digitizing tablet, I do not directly refer to it in thisbook If you have one, follow the instructions for using the mouse in the same way,using your puck

A mouse can have two or more buttons Many AutoCAD users like using a mousewith at least three buttons because you can customize the buttons to suit yourneeds However, because many mice have only two buttons, I assume only two Theleft mouse button is used to choose commands and toolbar buttons and to pickpoints in your drawing For this reason, it is sometimes called the pick button Theright button usually opens a shortcut menu

If I say one of the following

✦ Choose Tools ➪ Options

✦ Click Line on the Draw toolbar

✦ Select the circle in your drawing

it means to use the left button of your mouse

When I say to press Enter, it means to press the key that is marked Enter, Return, or

↵ on your keyboard Often I use the bent arrow symbol (↵) to indicate that youshould press Enter

I also use the mouse terms listed in the following table

AutoCAD Mouse Terms

Cursor The shape on your screen that shows you where the mouse is pointed It

can take a number of shapes, such as crosshairs, pickbox, or arrow Also known as the mouse pointer.

Pickbox A type of cursor consisting of a small box, used to select drawing objects.

Crosshairs A type of cursor consisting of intersecting lines.

Pick Point to a drawing object and click the left mouse button.

Click Press the left mouse button once and release it.

Double-click Press the left mouse button twice in rapid succession.

Click and drag Click the left mouse button and hold it down while you move the mouse,

dragging an object on your screen with it.

Choose Click a menu item, toolbar button, or dialog box item You can sometimes

choose an item using the keyboard as well.

Right-click Press the right mouse button once and release it.

Shift and click While holding down the Shift key, press the left mouse button once and

release it.

Select Highlight an object in a drawing by picking it or using another object

selection method, or highlight text in a dialog box or text document.

What the Icons Mean

The AutoCAD 2002 Bible is liberally sprinkled with icons — small symbols in the left

margin that call your attention to noteworthy points

The New Feature icon means that a feature is new to AutoCAD 2000i or 2002, orfeatures that existed in Release 2000 but have been significantly changed

A Note icon alerts you to some important point that requires special attention oradditional information that may be helpful

Note New

Feature

A Tip shows you a way to accomplish a task more efficiently or quickly You’ll findplenty of practical advice here.

Cross-References refer you to a related topic elsewhere in the book Because youmay not read this book straight through from cover to cover, use cross-references

to quickly find just the information you need

The On the CD-ROM icon highlights references to related material on theCD-ROM

The Caution icon means you should pay special attention to the information orinstructions because a possibility exists that you could cause a problem otherwise

About the CD-ROM

The CD-ROM contains all the drawings you need to do the exercises in this book.These drawings save you time as you learn AutoCAD’s features In addition, theCD-ROM includes the drawings that result once you finish an exercise or tutorial Inthis way, you can check what you have done if you wish

The CD-ROM is also chock-full of resource material that I hope you will find usefulfor many years to come Appendix C lists the contents of the CD-ROM I am espe-cially pleased to include a 15-day trial version of AutoCAD 2002 on the CD-ROM aswell as the entire book in PDF format

Other Information

If you are an advanced AutoCAD user but need tips and secrets for getting the mostout of AutoCAD, this book will probably not add too much to your already greatstore of knowledge

If you want to learn about Windows, look for a book that focuses on Windows Thisbook assumes that you know the basics of Windows, although the instructionsyou’ll read here are usually detailed enough to get you through any task For more

information about Windows, try Windows 98 For Dummies or Microsoft Windows Me

For Dummies by Andy Rathbone; or try Alan Simpson’s Windows 98 Bible or Alan Simpson’s Microsoft Windows Me Millennium Edition Bible (all published by Hungry

Minds, Inc.) For Windows NT, try Teach Yourself Windows NT 4 VISUALLY or Teach

Yourself Windows 2000 Professional VISUALLY, both by Ruth Maran; or Windows NT 4

Caution

On the CD-ROM

Cross-Reference

Tip

For Dummies or Windows 2000 Professional For Dummies by Andy Rathbone and

Sharon Crawford (all also published by Hungry Minds, Inc.)

If you want just the basics, AutoCAD LT might serve your needs better However, if

you do have AutoCAD and want a more basic book, I recommend AutoCAD 2002 For

Dummies, by Bud Smith and Mark Middlebrook The AutoCAD 2002 Bible covers

AutoCAD 2000i and 2002 However, most of the information also applies to Release

2000 I have used AutoCAD in Windows 98, but almost everything also applies toWindows ME and NT (4 and 2000), although some of the screens may look slightlydifferent

Contacting the Author

I would be happy to hear any comments you have about this book The best way tocontact me is by e-mail at ellenfinkl@bigfoot.com You can also use the UnitedStates postal service (aka snail mail) and write to me in care of Hungry Minds

Please note that I can’t provide AutoCAD technical support for my readers

Iwould like to offer special thanks to Tom Heine, my acquisitions editor, who wasvery supportive throughout the writing of this book

Special thanks go to Melba Hopper, whose infinite organizing power kept the book

on track Melba kept up with seemingly infinite number of versions of text ments, and images, coordinating the writing editing, and production of the enirebook Also, thanks to Darren Young for his extremely knowledgeable and thoroughtechnical editing Darren’s comments improved the book throughout

docu-I also thank Roxane Marini for her precise and careful editing and all the people atHungry Minds who helped with the production of this book and its CD-ROM.Bill Plante, an AutoCAD and AutoPLANT consultant, spent many hours helping meconnect over the Internet via the MeetNow feature Leonid Nemirovsky created twoAutoLISP routines for managing single-line text (on the CD-ROM) at my request.Alan Praysman sent me an AutoLISP routine to break an object at an object snappoint (also on the CD-ROM)

Thanks to Wayne Hodgins, Autodesk’s strategic director for worldwide learning andtraining, for writing the Foreword for this book I also want to express my greatappreciation to the members of Autodesk’s beta team who were very supportivethroughout the alpha and beta period

Many people contributed drawings for this book I’d like to thank all of them Theyhave helped make this book the most comprehensive book on AutoCAD available.Finally, I would like to thank my husband, Evan, and two kids, Yeshayah and Eliyah,who helped out around the house while I was writing, writing, and writing (and whowanted to see their names in print) Without their support, I could not have com-pleted this book

Foreword v

Preface vii

Acknowledgments xvii

Part I: AutoCAD Basics 1 Chapter 1: Starting to Draw 3

Getting Acquainted with AutoCAD 3

Starting AutoCAD 4

Creating a New Drawing 5

Working with AutoCAD Today 5

Using AutoCAD Today to create a new drawing 6

Using the AutoCAD Interface 7

The drawing area 8

The menus and toolbars 9

The command line 10

The status bar 10

Creating Your First Drawing 10

Toolbars 10

Drawing a rectangle 11

Saving a Drawing 13

Closing a Drawing and Exiting from AutoCAD 16

Chapter 2: Opening a Drawing 19

Creating a New Drawing from a Template 19

Working with Templates 20

Customizing the default template 21

Creating your own templates 24

Opening a Drawing with Default Settings 24

Opening an Existing Drawing 25

Opening a drawing from AutoCAD Today 25

Opening an existing drawing within AutoCAD 26

Using dialog boxes to open drawings 27

Using an Existing Drawing as a Prototype 27

Saving a Drawing Under a New Name 28