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Michael’s Corner

Michael BeallMichael'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 June 2008

Custom Button #8: M2P, ready to go

M2P w/ Endpoint

Have you ever needed to grab the middle of a rectangle (such as a conference table) and put it in the dead center of a room? The M2P feature (superceding the former 'CALMEE process) can be used to automate the effort of finding the "Midpoint" between 2 "Points" that you pick.

You are prompted for the First point of mid: then the Second point of mid:, after which AutoCAD picks the midpoint between those two points. The points can be essentially anywhere, but it would be wise to use the desired object snaps.

It's a wonderful feature, but it can be a bit tedious, especially if you are placing furniture using CAP Designer (www.2020technologies.com) and you only have Node snap on. In the following steps, you make a button that invokes the M2P feature and automatically turns on the Endpoint snap for each pick.

Instructions to Add a Toolbar Button to a Palette.

  1. Open the Tool Palette window, then you will need a blank button to work with (see Michael's Corner Odd Spot, April 2007).
  2. Right-click on the blank button, then click Properties to open the Tool Properties dialog box. Add a relevant Description such as M2P w/ Endpoint.
  3. Edit the Command String to read as shown below.

M2P;ENDP;\ENDP;

To test your button, create a rectangle, then launch the Move command. After selecting the rectangle and pressing Enter, click your M2P button and follow the prompts!

Bonus Round

So there I am, doing a training session in Dallas, and a couple of the guys thought it would be cool to carry the macro further, in case you had to find the midpoint of the room, too; essentially a repeat of the first sequence. Note the backslash (which pauses for the user response) at the end of the second Endpoint request.

M2P;ENDP;\ENDP;\M2P;ENDP;\ENDP;

Now test the button to move a rectangle into the middle of a room. Thanks to Scott & Tom down there at bkm of Texas!

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