Implement Autocad Lisps into CAD Training

[Shablab]

I work as a Project Engineer with practically every one of my jobs requiring drafters to use Autocad to create drawings/plan sets. I've used Lisps for a while now and they are handy when I need to complete a task that I know I have a lisp for it helps complete the task much quicker and efficiently. The drafters I work with have 0-10 years of experience but all of which are unfamiliar with Lisp Routines. Any ideas on how to implement Lisp Routines/other useful drafting techniques into their tool-set that will help them complete plans more accurately and efficiently? 

[ReMark]

Perhaps a "Lunch & Learn" session that will introduce the concept of lisps and how they may be used to increase productivity.  Pick a handful (half a dozen) of routines, demonstrate where they could be used and why.  Encourage participants to ask questions and/or comment.  Follow up with a list of all the custom lisp routines that are eventually going to be made available to them but stress that until they are explained and fully demonstrated no one should be striking out on their own to utilize those that have not been covered.  

 

Participants should also be encouraged to suggest where a custom lisp routine might benefit their workflow.  Maybe they will come up with ideas you haven't thought of yourself.

 

How many custom lisp routines do you currently have?

[Shablab]

51 minutes ago, ReMark said:

Perhaps a "Lunch & Learn" session that will introduce the concept of lisps and how they may be used to increase productivity.  Pick a handful (half a dozen) of routines, demonstrate where they could be used and why.  Encourage participants to ask questions and/or comment.  Follow up with a list of all the custom lisp routines that are eventually going to be made available to them but stress that until they are explained and fully demonstrated no one should be striking out on their own to utilize those that have not been covered.  

 

Participants should also be encouraged to suggest where a custom lisp routine might benefit their workflow.  Maybe they will come up with ideas you haven't thought of yourself.

 

How many custom lisp routines do you currently have?

That is kind of around my train of thought as well, thank you.  I have around 30 routines in a drive that me and a couple other people use fairly often. These people I have already introduced Lisp routines to and they know their way around them now.

I think I will go ahead and select 5 or so routines that have helped us save major time on some of our projects in the past and explain them in detail like you said.

[ReMark]

After you have demonstrated the routines you might want to give each CAD tech that attends the meeting an opportunity to test drive the programs while you watch.  If they have questions you're there to provide verbal assistance.  Doing a task is better than watching a task be done.

[BIGAL]

Like Remark a good point to show what you have done. Explain the time savings.

 

Be careful if you open the code to show them, dont use the ones with 200 lines of code or you will lose them, you may want to explain the simple stuff 1st, like the gets, getpoint getreal getstring etc, ssget how it allows multiple selections and part 2 that you can add filters like a layer or an object type.

 

Important is simple stuff like Polar how to calculate other points and using it to draw objects.

 

How to entget pulling out the properties or use vla-get-xxxxxx

 

Could you provide some insight into what you have done, simple to complex don't need code, maybe a few of us can guess which to start with as learning examples.

 

I had the same problem 8 direct staff plus the other floors, trying to just get them interested was so hard I would cringe watching some things they would do just repeating over and over. 

 

I have attended many staff improvement sessions and one of the suggestions I took away was if your proposing a Lunch session, go around the table asking for one idea from each, the important thing is do not go to the next person till they give you a improvement idea. Or go back to them if its just to hard. Just try it, it may not be successful but if you go away with one idea then it has worked and look at doing that task with that person. We are here to help.

 

You can document code with a comment on basicly every line to help understand whats going on.

 

Oh yeah explain can be menu driven.

 

 

[Jim Clayton]

As someone who is a bit of a noob to Lisp and still finding things out on a daily basis I often come across Lisps that make my daily job easier (the whole point right...).  When I find these I introduce them to my fellow drafters who usually either ignore me or think it's as awesome as I do.  So, find some daily tasks that people are doing that take too many steps or are time consuming and then show them how it can be done using Lisp.  Example, drawing pressure vessels.  Everyone at my job was drawing them manually using reference sheets.  Now they use a Lisp.  Just a thought.  Good Luck.

[Jim Clayton]

Another example is numbering BOM attributes.  Manually it's a giant pain in the a**.  I came across a Lisp that does it Automatically.  Show them the benefits of it and it will sell itself.

[BIGAL]

Like you Jim I did Pt num Bubble it just does that a circle with either a number or a Alpha auto incrementing, one of the guys loved it and he will in no uncertain terms tell you what he thinks about things. he was frustrated at copying and editing the last one he made.