Programming options for 2022

[thatcadguy]

Hi all,

In the past I've done a ton with Lisp/OpenDCL, and some VBA/COM.

It's been years and I need to write something new to do some very basic things, like set custom properties, set block attributes, line drawing, etc. in a drawing template.

What is currently the "best" choice for customizing AutoCAD via programming? .NET?

Best, Jake

[hak_vz]

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@thatcadguy wrote:

 I need to write something new to do some very basic things .....

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You can continue to use what you already know. If you know how to use .Net, you can use it too,

but personally I think that for basic stuff lisp works perfectly.

[diagodose2009]

You install the kit of jc_aro20, you click bellow the link@

Remix Lisp to C+,C# 

[Sea-Haven]

If Autodesk stopped the support for lisp the cry would be heard around the world, VBA has been on the hit list for a while, pretty sure was some official notification of will not be supported in future that may be like 5 years old now. Still supported, Maybe Bill had a chat with Autodesk, think Word and excel.

[thatcadguy]

Thanks all for your responses. Did a little poking around today and found this:

While there is no established release in which VBA will no longer be supported in AutoCAD, we recommend that you begin migrating your existing VBA projects to ensure that you are ready when VBA support is dropped. We recommend that you develop any new applications with Microsoft Visual Studio and the AutoCAD .NET API, AutoLISP, or C++ and ObjectARX.

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Ref: http://docs.autodesk.com/ACD/2010/ENU/AutoCAD%20.NET%20Developer%27s%20Guide/index.html

[pbejse]

.NET C# and Python gets my vote.

[Sea.haven]

VBA is available for 2022 not gone yet.

[thatcadguy]

@pbejse are you referring to using IronPython (.NET) or pure Python? If the latter, was not aware that you could do that.

[pbejse]

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@thatcadguy wrote:

@pbejse are you referring to using IronPython (.NET) or pure Python? If the latter, was not aware that you could do that.

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Its either pyautocad library with the AutoCAD COM API or IronPython with the AutoCAD .NET API (and also the COM API).

Both are implementation of Python in Autocad API

I'm focusing now on Revit API, still a long way to go for me. 🙂

[madsenstorm5]

Hmm, there are no practical options for you right now. But I can indeed suggest you working on what you know already. Or you could go for the other languages like HTML or Java. Nowadays IT had evolved a lot, starting with 2000 when computers began to get more popular. You can check this article and see if your skills are still in their place. If you don't find it too challenging, you can start working with IT stuff or even better. Good luck with your comeback!