| |
CAD Masters, Inc. (CMI) has created CMI Tools for AutoCAD to enhance the capabilities of AutoCAD and fill in some of the gaps of the software. CMI Tools are included as a free benefit for customers who purchase their Autodesk Subscription for Civil 3D from CAD Masters. Or it can be purchased for $59/seat.
|
|
Contents:
|
PAVE stands for "Polyline Add Vertex". To run the command, you may type PAVE as a command or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
The PAVE command allows a user to add line and arc segments to either side of an existing polyline. It can also remove vertices from either side of an existing polyline.
- The new linework you create is automatically joined to the original, removing tracking concerns.
- Arcs, by default, are drawn tangent to the last segment of the polyline—regardless of whether that last segment was drawn previously, or during the current PAVE function.
- You can overrule the arc direction with the 2POINT subcommand.
- You can easily hop back and forth from one side of the polyline to the other.
While running PAVE, it is possible to be in Line or Arc mode. By default you are in Line Mode:
- Follow instructions—you can follow the instructions to pick the next vertex. A dashed rubber band previews on-screen between the last vertex and the position of your cursor. Click on screen, snap, or type coordinates for where the new line segment should end.
- Exit—Ends the PAVE function.
- Otherside—Switch to add or remove a vertex from the other end of the polyline.
- Remove Vertex—Removes the last vertex from the side of the polyline with the rubber band.
- Closeshape—Draws a straight segment from the last vertex to the first.
- Arc—Switch to arc mode.
If you switch to Arc Mode, the following tools are available:
- Follow instructions—you can follow the instructions to pick where the tangent arc ends. A dashed rubber band previews on-screen between the last vertex and the position of your cursor. Click on screen, snap, or type coordinates for where the new line segment should end.
- Exit—Ends the PAVE function.
- Otherside—Switch to add or remove a vertex from the other end of the polyline.
- Remove Vertex—Removes the last vertex from the side of the polyline with the rubber band.
- 2pt—This method of drawing an arc gives the user the flexibility to change the start direction.
- Line—Switch to line mode.
L2P stands for "Line to Polyline". L2P converts any number of selected lines—even just one--into polyline(s) in a single click. PEDIT is the built-in method that edits polylines (and can convert lines over), but it requires confirmation, takes one object at a time, and brings up a superfluous battery of editing tools. L2P is the faster, more streamlined option for the purpose of converting lines to polylines. To run: you may type L2P as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
go to the top
ERG stands for “Elevation Range Gadget". The ERG command allows a user to select a group of polylines and analyze their elevations, calculating the average, median, and standard deviation (Circles may also be selected.) To run: you may type ERG as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
X2P stands for “Xplode to Polyline”. X2P lets you explode polylines into polyline components instead of lines and arcs. This can be useful if you need to access the pieces individually, but you would like these pieces to maintain polyline properties such as width, thickness, or constant elevation. When grip editing regular lines, they snap to elevations of objects or to the drawing default elevation, potentially resulting in different elevations at different ends of the line. Thus, if we want to explode, grip edit, and snap, while maintaining a constant elevation, X2P is the answer.
To run: you may type X2P as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
IMIN stands for “IMAGe INsert”. IMIN lets you insert an image, choosing the preferred insertion layer from a list or creating a new one as you insert the image. It also allows you to scale the image.
The regular attach command restricts users to placing images on the current layer. This tool allows for more flexibility to categorize our image as we bring it into AutoCAD.
To run: you may type IMAGIN as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
CLEAN is named for the tool’s ability to remove clutter from the drawing. CLEAN audits the drawing, then purges regapps, materials, and shapes. These unused or corrupted items can cause slowness or increase the chance of a crash, so having this all-in-one tool to clean the drawing can be a great way to improve performance. Consider using in conjunction with the PURGE command to remove extra styles and definitions.
To run: you may type CLEAN as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow above.
CIAO stands for “Close Invoke All Others”. This tool accesses a built-in tool that had no icon. If drawing file tabs are open, there is a right-click option for “close all others” that has the same function as the CIAO command. Some users find this difficult to track down. CIAO closes all open drawings besides the active one. If they contain unsaved changes, users are prompted to save those changes.
To run: you may type CIAO as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow above.
The VERSION CHECKER is named for its ability to report AutoCAD .dwg version information. The VERSION command opens a window that lets you browse for an AutoCAD drawing, then reports back important information about the drawing’s origins and save history.
- Users can browse to a drawing, even if it is not open in CAD, to peruse information including: The file format the drawing was last saved to, such as 2018, 2013, or 2010. The last AutoCAD version that performed the save function on the drawing.
- Users can refer to this information to make sure they are not upgrading someone else’s work to a format that is unsuitable for them. This information can also tell you why a drawing will not open for you (if it is using object types from a version of CAD newer than yours).
- Instead of running the Version Checker through CAD, you can also just launch the CMI Version checker executable placed in the C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins folder.
To run: you may type VERSION as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
BAM stands for Block Attribute Module. The BAM command prompts the user to select a block with attributes, then opens a window that lets you inspect all blocks in the drawing with that name. Each block reference in the drawing is given a Block ID number for the duration of BAM. BAM allows for systematic changes to the blocks’ attributes. Optional Tools include: Update, Change Similar, Auto Renumber, Export Excel, and Cancel.
To run: you may type BAM as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow above.
Update Blocks
This button takes any changes you make in the pop-up window and applies them to that block.
Change Similar
This button looks at changes made in the pop-up window. All blocks that share the initial attribute settings with that block are considered similar. All similar blocks take the change(s) with one click.
Auto Renumber
This tool exits the BAM popup, and gives a battery of prompts through the command line:
- An attribute to auto-number
- A start number
- an interval
The command will then make sure that for that attribute, each block has a unique number using the criteria provided. It has a few tie-breaking rules:
- For blocks with already distinct attribute values, they will maintain their low-to-high order
- For blocks that have the same attribute value, if the block was selected for BAM,
it will be assigned a new number first
- For blocks with the same att. value, lower block ID numbers get assigned new att. values first
Export Excel
This tool allows the user to export the list of block IDs and attribute values to an excel worksheet.
BEARING is a way of describing a direction, noting a quadrant and angle. The four quadrants are 1) Northeast 2) Southeast 3) Southwest and 4) Northwest. Imagine a line drawn north-south. The bearing angle sweeps from that line into a quadrant. The BEARING command prompts the user to select a line, then labels the line’s bearing information (above the line) as well as length information (below the line).
To run: you may type BEARING as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
go to the top
APPEND is named for this tools ability to add a note before or after existing text. The APPEND command prompts users to write the note, to determine if the note is placed before or after existing text, and finally to select the text object to append to. Text objects can be run consecutively without running through the entire battery.
To run: you may type APPEND as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
go to the top
ALIBI stands for “Area Label Inside Boundary Item”. The ALIBI command prompts users to click inside a closed area, then to click again for an area label. The area label defaults to a font height of 2 and runs out 3 decimal places.
To run: you may type ALIBI as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
go to the top
MTV stands for match through viewport. The MTV command works if you are on a layout tab with viewports. If you are in the model tab, it will shunt you over to a layout tab with viewports (Or warn you that none exist). If the layout has exactly one viewport, it will become active; otherwise, you are prompted to activate a viewport (by clicking inside), then tap the enter key. At this point you click something in the model (to borrow its properties). Finally, you click something on paper (to specify the destination object for the properties).
To run: you may type MTV as a command, or find the button highlighted in yellow below.
go to the top
This button calls an existing AutoCAD function that is not located in the default AutoCAD ribbon. The “Viewtwist” command outputs the twist angle of the model (or a given viewport), which can be useful for noting the rotation from northing and different rotations amongst viewports.
go to the top
TThe “Set Crosshair Angle” button allows the user to choose an angle for the crosshairs and orthomode. This button accesses a command pre-existing in AutoCAD that lacked a button in the ribbon. The most common values choses were 0 (which twists the crosshairs to align with the coordinate system) and 360 minus the view angle, which ends up being in the horizontal direction for the current view. These represent different crosshair angles if the view has been rotated.
Since setting the crosshair angle to zero was so common, I made a button for it. This button aligns the crosshairs to the coordinate system’s x-axis. If the view is rotated, this means the crosshairs are tilted.
Setting the crosshair angle aligned with horizontal was also common, so I created one last button for this. Here, the crosshairs will be horizontal, regardless of the view/coordinate system.
|
