Hello, AutoCAD community,
The AutoCAD team wants to hear your impressions of AutoLISP, specifically around its availability in the 2024 release of AutoCAD LT.
Which routines are you most excited to use? Let us know in the comments below!

Jonathan Hand
Industry Community Manager | AEC (Architecture & Building)
I have created replacements for the dos_msgbox and dos_msgboxex functions.
There are more doslib functions I use that need to be replaced like:
dos_cdate
dos_filedate
dos_mkdir
dos_dir
dos_subdir
dos_splitpath
dos_delete
dos_execute
dos_beep
dos_printers
dis_setprn
dos_attrib
dos_getfilem
dos_openp
dos_shellexe
dos_filep
dos_copy
dos_serialno
dos_computer
dos_dirp
dos_drivetype
dos_getprogress
dos_splash
dos_exewait
dos_filesize
dos_rendir
dos_rename
I have to look more into this but, are there replacements available for all these?
I assume dos_dir can be replaced by (vl-directory-files)
Start with say the VLA equivalent, yes some have an alternative coding like serial, mkdir, rename, shell, cdate, to mention a few. Just google.
That is my plan.
I assume most of the lisp functions that I created over the years will probably work under AutoCAD LT. I haven't tested them all. It would be a shame if cannot get my most important lisp function, which has a lot of the doslib functions mentioned above, to function under AutoCAD LT. I would like to know beforehand which of these do not have a vla equivalent.
You can use windows CMD, change to your lisp directory and can run
FINDSTR dos_mkdir *.lsp
will show you every file that contains the dos_mkdir
If you findstr dos_ *.lsp >doslib.txt will show every lisp that has Doslib inside, look at text file doslib.txt.
Google the substitute code can then copy and paste into your code a new function into multiple files.
Here is one example
; check that pdf directory exists
(setq dwgpre (strcat (getvar "dwgprefix") "\pdf"))
(if (= (vl-file-directory-p dwgpre) nil)
(vl-mkdir dwgpre)
)
I noticed ( load "Julian2.lsp") isn't loading under AutoCAD LT. Strange thing is, I cannot find the file on my workstation, but under the AutoCAD full version it loads any way.
(findfile "julian2.lsp") will tell you if found in support paths and where.
internal protected virtual unsafe Human() : mostlyHarmless
I'm just here for the Shelties
It seems that under AutoCAD LT my .mnl file isn't loaded along with the menu file. A.f.a.i.k. (With the AutoCAD full version) when loading the menu file the .mnl file will be loaded automatically along with it.
This site gives you a list of the dos_lib functions and what they do
For dos_dirp discussion:
https://forums.augi.com/showthread.php?123440-(vl-file-directory-p)-mistakes&p=1096863#post1096863
The closest thread I find for dos_drivetype is this which identifies cdrom (site is in another language):
http://www.mjtd.com/thread-79406-1-1.html?_dsign=dba06414
found another more clearer discussion on drivetype...see if you can figure out how modify the code to implement:
https://www.afralisp.net/archive/lisp/script1.htm
In Lt 2024 if Appload has a "start up suite" you may be able to add your lisps etc there to automatically load. If your doing setvars then make them a lisp.
It has been a while since I have been programming. Getting older. ; ) I'm having more difficulty to concentrate and dive into bulkes of text. I tried the first routine with "\\root\\cimv2" that resulted for me in "G:". "\\root\\cimv2" needs to be a path to our server I guess?
I did get DISKINFO working. Thanks for that! But I only need to get a return value (without dialogebox) wether it is a netwerk drive or not. Must be possible to figure this out with the code provided. Thanks again!
Got it ![]()
_$ (assoc "H" diskinfo)
("H" "H:" "H:\\" "Network drive" "NTFS" "DATA" "\\\\DATASERVER\\Projecten" "Yes" "2637144060 Kb (2514.98 Gb)" "1227919844 Kb (1171.04 Gb)" "1227919844 Kb (1171.04 Gb)")
Glad to have helped…cheers!!!
That’s an easy one. I’m sure you can figure that one out. Just search for the slashes and that includes back and forward slashes
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