TABLE OF CONTENTS AutoCAD offers a wealth of features that you can use to improve your productivity. But even with these aids to efficiency, you can always use further automation in certain situations. In this chapter, I'll introduce you to some ways that you can enhance AutoCAD with add-on utilities. You'll also learn how to adapt AutoCAD to fit your particular needs by customizing its menus and toolbars.
First, you'll learn how to load and run the AutoCAD Express Tools utilities that are supplied on the AutoCAD distribution CD.
By doing so, you'll be prepared to take advantage of the many utilities available from user groups and online services. You'll also see how third-party tools can enhance AutoCAD's role in your workplace. Then you'll learn how you can create keyboard macros and incorporate them into custom menus and toolbars. And, finally, you'll learn how to create custom line types and hatch patterns.
If you've followed the tutorial in this book, you've already used a few add-on programs that come with AutoCAD, perhaps without even being aware that they were not part of the core AutoCAD program. In this section, I'll introduce you to the AutoCAD Express tools: a set of AutoLISP, ARX, and VBA tools that showcase these powerful customization environments. The best part about...
