Overview

I m a teacher and trainer, and my experience with AutoCAD users tells me you should know some things about your computer system that affect how AutoCAD functions. I often find that even experienced AutoCAD users run into confusing situations when they try to use backup or Autosave files. That s why I m focusing this chapter on managing the system you use to work with AutoCAD. In this chapter, I ll take you through the Options dialog box and discuss the relationship between profiles and workspaces.

I ll also take you on a brief trip into the past, with a discussion of how knowing some old-fashioned DOS can save you a huge amount of time. (If DOS is too antique for you, call it Windows Scripting Language.) I want to encourage you to preserve knowledge that s fast fading away; fewer and fewer AutoCAD users remember (if they ever knew) how powerful these functions are.

I ll conclude this chapter with a discussion of the ACAD.PGP file: a humble little thing that still has some utility and provides the only hook to certain operating system features from the AutoLISP processor.

• Managing Files

• Managing AutoCAD

• Directories

• Why DOS Isn t Dead Yet

• External Commands

Managing Files

AutoCAD uses many different file types. Two of them are useful to you because they re backups or automatically saved versions of your current drawing. When you re in a bind because you ve lost a drawing, AutoCAD has stopped responding, the computer has crashed, or you tried to open a corrupted file,...