Express tools in 2014

[Anonymous]

I am currently running Building Design Suite Standard 2014. I have always used several of the tools on the express menu. Convert to mtext, arc aligned text, are 2 of the tools that are not working for me at this point. Can anyone help me to correct this issue. I have already tried reinstalling the express tools menu, no luck. Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[pendean]

Did it used to work and now it doesn't?
Or did it never work in 2014?
Do you get an error message?
Do you have ET listings on your screen?
When you install Express Tools it identifies all the apps and all the profiles as part of the process: are you using one of these profiles?

[Anonymous]

Just recently installed 2014. It has not worked at all. I get the "unknown command" messege. No error messege. I'm sorry, don't know what ET listings are. I believe that the profile is correct......??????????

Seems like its only some commands that don't work.

[pendean]

Which ones work and which ones do not?
If you type EXPRESSTOOLS at the command line, do they all work?
What about EXPRESSMENU command, what happens after that?

And by any chance did you opt in on the 'migration' process when you first started R2014?

[David_W_Koch]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Just recently installed 2014. It has not worked at all. I get the "unknown command" messege. No error messege. I'm sorry, don't know what ET listings are. I believe that the profile is correct......??????????

Seems like its only some commands that don't work.

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Did you install Express Tools when you installed ACA 2014?  It does not install Express Tools by default - you have to choose to customize the installation and add Express Tools.  You can modify the current installation and add Express Tools now, if you did not install them.

[Anonymous]

Gentlemen express tools was installed initially. Commands that do not function - arc aligned text, text to mtext, move copy rotate, none of the dimension tools, and system variables. Just went thru and these seem to be the only ones that don't work.

[pendean]

What about my questions #2, #3 and #4?

ET works fine in your bundle, so there is something else going on.

[Anonymous]

Getting a messege on the command line  "no canvas exists. please click new canvas"

Running out to a meeting. Be back in a couple of hours. 

Thanks again for help.

[pendean]

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-Architecture/Architecture-2014-No-Canvas-Selected/m-p/3910725/...

[Anonymous]

How do I unload AcadDoc.lsp?

[pendean]

At the commandline, in AutoCAD, type the following:
(findfile "acad.lsp")
It will report where the file is located. Move it from that folder to a temp folder somewhere else. Restart AutOCAd, repeat until AutoCAD reports none are found. Now it's unloaded.

[Anonymous]

Command line came back with "nil"

[pendean]

Then you do not have one.

[Anonymous]

I'm experiencing the same issue.

[Victoria.Studley]

Hi Ian,

Are you still having trouble getting Express Tools to load and work properly for you in AutoCAD Architecture 2014? If so, I have a couple of suggestions you could try.

Sometimes, when the Express Tools don't load properly via the Uninstall/Change utility, you can reset them by unloading and reloading the Express Tools feature, as follows:

-Run the Uninstall/Change utility

-Select only the content packs you want/need (Imperial and any others you use)

-Uncheck "Express Tools" to unload them

-Click Update

-Run the Uninstall/Change utility again

-Check "Express Tools" to reload them

-Click Update

-Open the program

-Type EXPRESSTOOLS at the command line to load the tools

If the Express Tools don't load properly from the command line, you can load them manually through the CUI Editor.

-Use the CUI command to open the CUI Editor

-Under the Customize Tab, right click on "Partial Customization Files"

-Open the "acetmain.cuix" file (see attached image for location)

-Verify EXPRESS shows up under the Partial Customization Files

-Click Apply, then Okay

-Check the functionality of Express Tools in the program

If this doesn't work, you might try resetting the program to defaults. To do this:

-Click the START menu (lower left)

-Select All Programs

-Select Autodesk

-Select AutoCAD Architecture 2014

-Select Reset Settings To Default (You will be prompted backup any custom settings at this point.)

Once you've done this, try loading Express Tools via the command line, and then via the CUI Editor if that doesn't work.

If they still won't load at this point, you may need to repair or reinstall the program.

Please let me know if these suggestions help you recover your Express Tools functionality, and feel free to reply with any questions you have regarding the issue.

[Victoria.Studley]

Also, here is another helpful post regarding the "No canvas exists..." message, and how to resolve it. I'm not sure if it is related to the issue you're experiencing with Express Tools, however. It seems to be related to Sketchbook Designer: http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-2010-2011-2012-DWG/No-canvas-exists/td-p/3029954

[Anonymous]

Will try these steps next week. Thanks for the assistance!

[GeorgeRobinson4759]

I had the same problem whereby some of the Express Tools were not operating; specifically the TXT2MTXT function.  I was getting the unknown command error.

Basically, TXT2MTXT is part of the "leaderex.arx" file in the "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2014\Express" directory.  You may have a different path for your Express Tools.

I don't know why that file did not load.  I'm not that curious.

I added the path "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2014\Express" to the Support File Search Path under the Options, File tab, just to be sure the path was locatable.

I used the command APPLOAD to bring up the Load/Unload Applications Menu.  Under the section "Startup Suite" "Contents"  I added "leaderex.arx".  Now this gets loaded at startup and the TXT2MTXT command is available.

There may be some other commands missing.  If and when I encounter them, I will look them up in the Help file.  The Help file entry will have a listing towards the bottom titled "File".  This will show the leaderex.arx file name, or whatever it happens to be for that command.  Then you can examine the commands loaded to see if it is there.  If not, find out where it is, add that path to the search path's directory and add the loading of the file to the 'Startup Suite".

[Anonymous]

Thank you for the simple and straightforward solution, it works well for me for 2013 & 2014. It's too bad Autodesk isn't able to make it work (for everyone, I know it does work for some without any drama) out of the box!

Ron Searcy

Architect