Michael’s Corner

Michael Beall Michael's Corner is a monthly publication written by Michael E. Beall, Autodesk Authorized Author and peripatetic AutoCAD trainer. Michael travels all over the USA, bringing his fantastic experience and great understanding of AutoCAD to his clients. Michael's Corner brings together many of the tips, tricks and methods developed during these training sessions for the benefit of all users.

Michael's Corner provides something for every AutoCAD user. Every month, a number of articles cover a wide range of topics, suitable for users at all levels, including "The Basics" for those just starting out. Essentially, the aim of Michael's Corner is to help all AutoCAD users work smarter and faster.

This month…

October - One-derful!!!

It's a God-thing.

I had no idea that 14 years ago I would be given the opportunity to make an impact on the professional lives of so many. Only God knew what was ahead, and hopefully, the contributions I have made through Michael's Corner have equipped many of you to be more productive and a bit more savvy using AutoCAD. And apart from all the AutoCAD bashing that is going on, I'm sure it has a long life ahead.

So, in an effort to keep the AutoCAD fires burning, here's what I have for my final installment…

…A reminder on how to customize your hot keys
…Three Power Tools — one for Zoom, one for editing, and one for Layers
…Two Odd Spots — one for Layers and one for Hatching
…Buried text treasure
…And how to Search 14 years of the Archives

As for what's ahead for me, I will continue to present a variety of AutoCAD sessions — Fundamentals, Intermediate, Customizing, Updates, and 2D & 3D. I will also keep training CAP Designer, 20-20 Worksheet, Visual Impression (those three from 20-20 Technologies, Inc.), and some Revit Fundamentals. Next year I'm looking forward to being very involved in training CET (from Configura, Inc.) when Herman Miller joins the growing number of manufacturers embracing this software that is being touted as the ‘Future of Space Planning’. Personally, I'm looking forward to spending a bit more time with Donna, my lovely bride of 30 years. When this posts, we'll probably be within days of going on our 30th Anniversary vacation to the Tanque Verde Ranch in Tucson; Ee-Hah! We had such a good time when we went for our 20th, we figured we'd do it again!

Ah, and I'm hoping to have The AutoCAD Workbench, Final Edition out before snow flies.

And with that, Mike drop! …so to speak.

The LORD bless you and keep you;
The LORD make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26

This month's articles

Change F1 to ESC

Smoother Zoom

Stretch with Extension

Lock Layers with a Crossing Window

Layer Columns & Hatch Background Color

Text Frame on Mtext

From the Vault

Originally published September 2011

Add a Custom Button to the Quick Access Toolbar

How about we combine the power of personalizing a button with the power of the Quick Access Toolbar!? It's actually just the logical progression of implementing some of the tools we have seen before.

Many of my customers set their Osnap to be Node snap only. However, they may turn on additional object snaps during the course of the day. In this exercise you'll assign the variable for Node snap only to a custom button.

Note: Before beginning this exercise, set your Osnap to Node only. Now run the variable OSMODE and note that the value is 8. Turn on the Osnap for Endpoint and take a look at the OSMODE value: 9. Are you seeing a pattern here? The OSMODE variable holds a value that reflects the current settings of your Osnaps.

How to Add a Custom Button to the QAT

Open the CUI.
Just above the Command list, click Create a New Command. You will see Command1 added to the list.
Under Customizations in All Files, expand Quick Access Toolbars, then expand Quick Access Toolbars 1 to display your current QAT content.
Now drag your Command1 command up into the list of your QAT content.

Note: Rather than dragging Command1 straight up across the ‘county line’ – which may cause the Quick Access Toolbar content to scroll away from you – drag it over to the middle section (I call it the ‘frontage road’), then drag it up to be parallel to the QAT content, then drag it into where you want to place it in the QAT list.
When you click on your newly positioned Command1, the Properties for the command are displayed on the right side of the CUI.
Enter the text Node Snap Only for the Name, Command Name, and Tooltip Title.
For the Macro, enter 'OSMODE;8
Breaking it down…
' An apostrophe preceding the command will launch the variable as a nested process, without canceling the command that may be running.
; The semi-colon is used to press [Enter]. However, a semi-colon is not necessary after the last character entry of the string.
At the bottom of the Properties, click in the field for the Small Image.
Up in the collection of Button images, click the dot representing Node snap, to assign that image to your new command.
Click OK to complete the customization and close the CUI.
To test this, set the OSMODE variable to the year you were born (seriously), then take a look at the current selections by right-clicking on the Osnap button on the status bar.
Now click your new 'Node Snap Only' button on the QAT, then check the Osnap settings again.