Change Plot Style Table Search Path for whole company

[NEIPower]

Is there any way to change the Plot Style Table Search Path for multiple machines using windows command line or registry changes or settings file? We are moving to a new file server and changing our Drive letters. So all 160 computers need to change their Plot Style Table Search path from R: to H:, is there an easy way to IT to automate this instead of having to direct all users to do it individually in the options menu? I do know how to change this for new installs in our installer package.

[ronjonp]

If you have custom tools that run at startup ( *.MNL, etc.. ) you could implement something as simple as this:

(if (setq d (cond ((findfile "H:\\Plot Styles"))
		  ((findfile "R:\\Plot Styles"))
	    )
    )
  (setenv "PrinterStyleSheetDir" d)
  (print "Plot style directory could not be found!!")
)

[Anonymous]

Most profile dependent settings, such as plot style folders, are kept in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER and separated by AutoCAD version and profile.  Go exploring on one of their computers to get a feel for how it's laid out.

If your users have multiple profiles you'll have to hit all of them.  Ideally they're all using the same standard profile names so you can hit up the registry easily.  If it's a free-for-all, with them using whatever profile names they feel like, you might be a wee bit hosed for IT-level automated procedures.  You'd have to put together some LISP that they can run themselves, presuming you don't already have the capability of them automatically running LISP files under your control.  This can be done a couple of ways through LISP, both making direct changes to the registry entry (as noted in the other post), and using VLISP to access the AutoCAD application object and changing the settings via the profile data.

[pbejse]

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@NEIPower wrote:

 So all 160 computers need to change their Plot Style Table Search path from R: to H:, is there an easy way to IT to automate this instead of having to direct all users to do it individually in the options menu? I do know how to change this for new installs in our installer package.

---

Surely there is a loading tool already in place for those 160 computers?  or even a program that is located on the server that one time or another is being accessed by the individual workstation?  You can just piggy back on one of them to trigger the update simialr to what @ronjonp suggested.

Now if you already have a new installer package, IT can run a push installation software to install the updates with limited or no user involvement needed.

[3wood]

You can change the search path in one computer, export the profile.

Then in all other computers, change the AutoCAD shortcut and add the new profile at the end.

"C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 20XX\acad.exe" /p "MyProfile" 

https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Start-Au...

[Sea-Haven]

When we updated to a new version just run a lisp that has all the preferences in it and set them. Yes they decided we would go from P: to L: as server. Only had like 20 max to do.

Like others have suggested if you have some form of start up lisp just check the preferences. Or else run something like this once (load "L"\\something\\printerfixup.lsp") its not that complicated for a user to copy and paste from a email.

(setq *files*  (vla-get-files  (vla-get-preferences (vlax-get-Acad-object))))

; printers config
;(vla-get-PrinterConfigPath *files*)
(vla-put-PrinterConfigPath *files* "L:\\AutoDESK\\Plotting\\Plot Styles 2011")

; printers style sheet
;(vla-get-PrinterStyleSheetPath *files*)
(vla-put-PrinterStyleSheetPath *files* "L:\\AutoDESK\\Plotting\\Plot Styles")

; printer drv's
;(vla-get-PrinterDescPath *files*)
(vla-put-PrinterDescPath *files* "L:\\AutoDESK\\Plotting\\Drv")

; print spooler
;(vla-get-PrintSpoolerPath *files*)
(vla-put-PrintSpoolerPath *files* "C:\\AcadTemp\\")

[NEIPower]

Thanks for the options. Not sure which path exactly we will chose but this is great.