Prevent user from canceling LISP execution

[David_Robison]

Is there any way to lock AutoCAD to prevent the user from canceling the execution of a Lisp function? I have a long running Lisp function that I don't want the user to accidentally cancel (typically by running another command).

Right now, I have accomplished this by using a DCL dialog box. I use (new_dcl) to open the dialog, but don't call (start_dialog). When the function is finished, I call (term_dialog) to close it.

It works well, but the dialog flashing on the screen is annoying to some of my users and I was wondering if there was another way to accomplish this.

[owenwengerd · Accepted solution]

Preventing users from cancelling a long operation is generally frowned upon, but you have to disable the main window to prevent user interaction from occurreing. Better would be to either hide the AutoCAD window while the operation is running, or start a new hidden instance of AutoCAD and perform your operation in the hidden instance.

[David_Robison]

Thanks for the suggestion--disabling the AutoCAD window itself appears to be working pretty well.

I know allowing them to cancel the operation would be best, but in this case, properly canceling would take longer than finishing.