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What is AI Autocad commands?

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Message 1 of 9
Patchy
3242 Views, 8 Replies

What is AI Autocad commands?

I searched for awhile but can't find what is ai****  command (example ai_molc) stands for, would anyone have a list of these hidden secrete commands?

Thank you.

8 REPLIES 8
Message 2 of 9
alanjt_
in reply to: Patchy

MakeObjectLayerCurrent

Message 3 of 9
Patchy
in reply to: Patchy

That was an example for make layer current

There are aiobjectscaleadd, ai.....meaning ?

Message 4 of 9
gjrcmb
in reply to: Patchy

Ah, very interesting.  I don't beleive that I have ever used the "AI" commands before.

I found a list of the "AI" commands at the following two links.  The two lists are not identical, so I included both.  The first list only gives the version of when the command was included with AutoCAD.  The second link gives more useful information in relation to the commands and their configuration in the Customize User Interface (CUI).  This seems to be a very useful reference at first glance, if you are going to customize the AutoCAD workspace.

AutoCAD Commands starting with 'A'

Command-CUI Cross Reference

I also found the following quote at Take Me to Your Multileaders on Page 6:

"Commands beginning with the letters "AI" are AutoCAD commands that are meant to be called through a menu interface. So you're not likely to use AIMLEADEREDITADD except in a menu or lisp program."

So maybe by now you are coming around to my guess on what "AI" stands for, as I could not find a direct reference.  I think it stands for "AutoCAD Interface", since these AutoCAD commands are meant to be used in a menu interface.

Message 5 of 9
Patchy
in reply to: gjrcmb

Thank you very much Gavin.

Message 6 of 9
gjrcmb
in reply to: Patchy

You're welcome.  Thanks for bringing up the topic.  A couple more observations.

You can see that the lists of "AI" commands I referenced are not all inclusive.  Like the command you noted "aiobjectscaleadd" is not in either of the two lists, although it does come up on the command line when you type it.  Also if you go into the CUI, and look at the "Add Current Scale" you will see the macro listed as ^C^C_AIOBJECTSCALEADD.

Apparently some of the commands have been deprecated (no longer exist) or no longer work.  For instance, if I type in AI_BOX at the command line in Civil 3D 2012, the system indicates "unknown command".  If I go into the CUI and look at one of the Box commands, I still see ^C^C_ai_box listed though.  However, if I copy the Box command from the CUI onto a tool palette and try to use it, the system still indicates "unknown command".  I tried using the REDEFINE command to see if I could restore the AI_BOX command, but could not.

It is interesting that these commands are not well documented.  Also not sure what the significance of why you would have a specialized command for use in say a toolbar, while having a different command that essentially does the same thing at the command line.

Anyway, the mysteries of AutoCAD go on and on.

Message 7 of 9
Jeff_M
in reply to: gjrcmb


@gjrcmb wrote:

It is interesting that these commands are not well documented.  Also not sure what the significance of why you would have a specialized command for use in say a toolbar, while having a different command that essentially does the same thing at the command line.

Anyway, the mysteries of AutoCAD go on and on.


I'll give my take on this to help unravel the mystery.

 

Most, if not all, of the "ai_*" commands started life as Lisp, and some of these were meant for internal use by Express Tools (therefor not documented well, if at all). Many of these have been absorbed into the Core product. The original example of "ai_molc" is s good one. If you happen to have the VLIDE open with the right configuration, you will get an error when opening a drawing about "overwiting a protected symbol" (or something close to that). This is because Autocad now includes ai_molc, but the same function is also still defined in the acad.mnl file  (well, in C3D it is still in the civil.mnl, I think acad is the same). I 'think' these remain in order to maintain backward compatability with older lisp routines.

 

We may never know the real answers to these mysteries, but some of them at least make a bit of sense.

Jeff_M, also a frequent Swamper
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Message 8 of 9
pbejse
in reply to: gjrcmb

Interesting discussion

 

Thank you for the info guys

Message 9 of 9
scot-65
in reply to: Jeff_M

Jeff, I think, has the closest answer.

 

The AI functions were a library, similar to .NET, back in the R12-R14 days (when "Bonus Menu" was around).

These functions were never incorporated into the core AutoCAD due to some poor writing in some of those

functions (in my opinion). It was interesting to see them migrate in different file types throughout the versions,

however they never did fully disappear (become incorporated).

 

I had developed some tools back in the day which used a AI tool or two, but since rewritten my programs

knowing someday I would not find them anymore. Plus, I can better understand what I have written as

some of the AI programs I reviewed were spaghetti programs.

 

???


Scot-65
A gift of extraordinary Common Sense does not require an Acronym Suffix to be added to my given name.


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