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@wsargent wrote:....
Now I am getting the message
error: bad argument type: numberp: "30242"
What does that mean?
Without delving into all the rest, I can at least quickly answer that question. It's getting "30242" as a text string at some point where it wants a number. You probably need to apply (atoi) or (atof) to some variable that's coming from (read-line) and is therefore arriving as a text string that needs conversion [I didn't see an obvious place, but I didn't evaluate everything in great detail].
Kent Cooper, AIA 
@wsargent wrote:....
Below is the working script section that I am attempting to modify.
.... (if (<= 5 (- guy lastppNo)) ;;; Checking for PP within 5 previous points (command "_circle" pnt ds) ;;; If True circle around the point ....
.....
I want to change “(command "_circle" pnt ds)” to:
((setvar “clayer” “F99”) (command "_circle" pnt ds)
(setvar “clayer” “E-UTIL”) (command "insert" "guy" pnt ds "0" ""))
....
An (if) function can take only three arguments: some kind of test or check, a 'then' argument for if that does not return nil, and [optionally] an 'else' argument for if the test returns nil. If you want to throw more than one function into either the 'then' or 'else' argument, you need to make them into a "package deal" in one function, which you do by "wrapping" them together into a (progn) function. Your extra set of parentheses around them, without the progn in there, will be read as though the first thing inside is somehow a function name, which as you have it, it isn't.
(if (<= 5 (- guy lastppNo))
(progn ; then argument as single function
(setvar “clayer” “F99”)
(command "_circle" pnt ds)
(setvar “clayer” “E-UTIL”)
(command "insert" "guy" pnt ds "0" "")
); end progn
.... {your 'else' argument} ....
Kent Cooper, AIA
@wsargent wrote:
,,,,I have isolated the error to this line (which was missing some quotations):
(command "insert" "guy" pnt ds "" "0" "")
I type the above script into the command line,,,,
and I keep getting the last command the user entered activating, in this case UTIL, as an unknown command and then a new line with nil on it.
....
Giving it the rotation angle [which can be either "0" as a text string or 0 as a number or "" as an Enter, since 0 is always the default rotation] completes the Insert command. Stop there -- the "" you have after that is extraneous, and being an Enter, tries to recall the latest command. If that's a (defun)-defined command name and not a native AutoCAD command, it won't be recognized inside a (command) function, which is the reason for the error message. The nil is just what the (command) function always returns when it's done.
[And by the way, the word "Script" has a specific meaning in AutoCAD, and this isn't one. This particular line is a function, which in this case is part of a defined command or routine; some would call the overall thing a function, because (defun) stands for DEfine FUNction. But I think it's more common to use "function" to mean the things listed in the AutoLISP Reference that you use inside parentheses -- a (command) function, an (if) function, etc.]
Kent Cooper, AIA
@wsargent wrote:....
....
(if (<= 5 (- guy lastppNo))
(progn
(setvar “clayer” “F99”)
....When I run the command using the excel file that I know will trigger the first part of the if statment the lisp is not drawing the circle, or inserting the block. It stops inserting the blocks at the point before and gives me the same message "; error: bad argument type: (or stringp symbolp): nil"
Changing the setvar "clayer" lines to notes allows the script to run without the error. I have checked the syntax of theses lines on the command line and they appear correct. Am I not allowed to set variables in a progn?
I'm not versed in bringing things in from spreadsheet files, but....
Stupid question, but I have to ask: Is Layer F99 in the drawing?
Way up above, you have this:
(setq lastppNo (strcat column_A))
Aside from the fact that the (strcat) isn't doing anything for you if you're not conCATenating more than one STRing together, that line means the lastppNo variable will contain a text string. You can't subtract a string from a number. Try (if (<= 5 (- guy (atof lastppNo))), or incorporate the (atof) where you set the lastppNo variable further up, just as you do where you set the guy variable in this section [which also doesn't need the (strcat) wrapper].
If that doesn't fix it, and since the error message is about finding a nil value, try testing all the variables after you run it, to make sure they have been established and contain the right kind of information, by typing them at the Command: line preceded by exclamation points:
!pnt
!EPN
!EPE
!guy
!lastppNo
...etc....
The first one that returns nil or some incorrect type of information will at least be a clue as to where the problem lies.
Kent Cooper, AIA
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