Ordinate Dimensions

[BHandleson]

I was running AutoCAD 2012 using ordinate dimensioning and was able to place my 0 start point by clicking on my location twice then continueing to dimesion with the ordinate dimensions by using this macro ^C^C_ucs;o;\dimordinate;\\ucs;w;dimcontinue; place in the tools, interface, dimension ordinate.

I'm now running 2013 AutoCAD Mechanical, and tried to use the same macro to make my dim ordinate work the way it had in 2012 but it does not do it any more.

Can any one help me on this?

Thanks in advance

Brian Handleson

[dmfrazier]

Your macro worked fine for me in "non-vertical" AutoCAD 2013, so I suspect it has something to do with your profile.

AutoCAD Mechanical has many specialized dimensioning tools (Power Dimensioning, etc.) which probably require certain "normal" dimensioning commands to be disabled/undefined/redefined.

Unless you are using AutoCAD Mechanical with a "vanilla"-based profile (IOW, none of the "Mechanical"-specific stuff loads at start-up), then you might be better served by posting this question in the Mechanical Forum.  There may be a "mechanical" version of the DimOrdinate command that you can substitute.

[BHandleson]

I have opened up Plain Jane Autocad 2013 and tried it there alson. I am still getting the same result as before, not being able to set my 0 point nor will it continue to dimension.

[dmfrazier]

What happens if you type the equivalent sequence of commands as your macro at the command line?

Please hit F2 after running the above, and after running the macro and post either screenshots or the text from the command line so we can see the prompts and messages.

[BHandleson]

I start the command using keyboard shortcut DIMORD asks to Specify feature location. Then I click where I want to start. AutoCAD the ask to specify leader end point xdatum, ydatum, mtexr, text, angle. Choosing either x or y only changes in placement of the leader line direction.

I have tried going to the menu bar, clicking the dimension tab, choosing the ordinate dimension. The ordinate dimension then works properly. I guess I have to forget the keyboard short cut.

I also can't seem to find where ordinate dimensions are in the Mechanical AutoCAD. Guess thats a question for that forum.

[dmfrazier]

"I start the command using keyboard shortcut DIMORD"

I will assume this "keyboard shortcut" is running the macro you wrote in your first post (^C^C_ucs;o;\dimordinate;\\ucs;w;dimcontinue; ).  (If not, then I think I am lost.)

This is what I get on the command line when I run that macro from a toolbar button:

Command: _ucs

Current ucs name:  *WORLD*
Specify origin of UCS or [Face/NAmed/OBject/Previous/View/World/X/Y/Z/ZAxis] <World>: o

Specify new origin point <0,0,0>: [here I pick a point]
Command: dimordinate

Specify feature location:[here I pick a point]
Specify leader endpoint or [Xdatum/Ydatum/Mtext/Text/Angle]: [here I pick a point]
Dimension text = 2 3/32
Command: ucs

Current ucs name:  *NO NAME*
Specify origin of UCS or [Face/NAmed/OBject/Previous/View/World/X/Y/Z/ZAxis] <World>: w

Command: dimcontinue
Specify feature location or [Undo/Select] <Select>: [here I pick a point]
Dimension text = 4 5/16
Specify feature location or [Undo/Select] <Select>: [here I pick a point]

Select continued dimension: [here I hit Esc]  *Cancel*

I don't see any indication in your screenshot that the UCS command is running at all.

I have a feeling your "keyboard shortcut" (which I assume you customized to run your custom macro) is not running when you click or type whatever you are clicking or typing.

How did you customize the "keyboard shortcut"?  Which part of which CUI file did you modify?

[BHandleson]

I use the acad.pgp file to set up my keyboard short cuts.

[dmfrazier]

Okay, now I think we're zero-ing in on it.

If you enter "DIMORD" on the command line, and it starts the DIMORDINATE command, then it looks like:

1. AutoCAD is not using the PGP you have edited, or...

2. You added your DIMORD alias to the right PGP file but it already has that alias defined somewhere higher up in the file.

At the command line, type (findfile "acad.pgp"), including the parentheses and quote marks, and then hit Enter.  This will tell you where AutoCAD is finding the PGP file it's actually using to look for aliases.  Is it the file you've edited?

If it is, check to see if there is an alias defined above your alias.  If so, you can disable the "out-of-the-box" alias by placing a semi-colon at the beginning of that line.

If it isn't the one you edited, then edit this one with your custom alias and be sure to disable the existing one.

Let me know how it turns out. 

[BHandleson]

Type (findfile "acad.pgp") and (find file "acadpgp") it comes up nothing. The command line cursor stops blinking for a few seconds, then restarts with nothing happening.

[dmfrazier]

The AutoLISP code (findfile "acad.pgp") tells AutoCAD to look through all of its support ("library") folders (in the order they are listed, as well as the current DWG's folder) for a file matching that name.  If it finds one, it reports back with the (first) path where it was found.  Normally, if it finds nothing, it will return "nil" on the command line.  I'm not sure how to interpret what you've described.  It may be necessary to hit the F2 key to bring up the text widow.

In message #7, you said:

"I use the acad.pgp file to set up my keyboard short cuts."

If so, how are you editing the PGP file?