I write Lisps to automate features. You cant write these without knowing the commands. I assure you everything you can do in a button or ribbon is available in a command.
The features you are using a are just pre-written automation features. Which is the problem, you don't know what commands you are really doing because you click a button and it runs.
I can also assure you the programs that are 3rd party or that are custom created for your company are being used to try to make the CAD department more efficient and to allow for non cad user to do the same work with an approved level of error by the company. Most of the times these are features like adding in a block and editing text in that block when inserted or auto numbering something, running an etransmit, plotting features, cable labling, putting lines on certain layers etc... all of which is easily completed with out customized lisps if you know what these programs are actually accomplishing on the back end.
Yes "every" command is a bit of a stretch seeing as there are probably over 10,000 commands with variables and such but I do know most of them and the ones i don't know I know where and how to go get them and how to fix problems that a lot of customized lisps will cause because they like to set setting and screw up when running a lot of times like turning off dialogue boxes. Where most people would just throw their arms in the air and restart autocad and they think that it fixes the problem but it doesn't when starting cad your rerunning a file that sets variables back to a setting. Once you run that 3rd party program you get the same problem eventually. instead of restarting you could just change the variable CMDDA or FILEDIA back to 1
I have never ran into a function i can not do in CAD that is only available in a button or ribbon. Think about that...when you click a button it runs a command...so why or how would that feature only be available in a button. Now maybe that button is setting some variables or running a script but all of that is available. I agree these scripts or lisps do make daily tasks more efficient but you can make them a command too they dont have to be a button. DEFUN C:*COMMAND* no need for a button.
No i would not ask for my money back, because those are the people that know what they are doing and you can learn a ton from them. Anyone can open AutoCAD and think they are a pro at it now, just find the button you need. I have trained many engineers out of college coming into the real world that sell themselves as knowing AutoCAD and they dont know how to draw a line with out clicking a button or what i am talking about when i say "xref" or "publish" and what the differences are between what an external reference does and what an insert does or between a publish and plot... in the real world you need to be fast. If i can get a drawings completed in 30min and someone else it takes them 2 hours...something is wrong, and when you watch them its because they are searching for buttons and running into problems and not knowing how to fix them. Just because you take a class is AutoCAD doesn't make you a good draftsman knowing your tools does.
