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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 February 2012

More Powerful Purge Command

PurgeIt was great to see my friends from Autodesk at AU last December. I was particularly pleased to be able to chat with Lee Ambrosius, a guy who I have immense respect for, primarily because his customizing skills are so far above and beyond my own.

As many of you know, the PURGE command gives you the opportunity to 'clean out' any unreferenced Blocks, Layers, Dimension Styles, etc. from your drawing. The potential is that it will make your file size smaller; always a good thing.

Not sure how the conversation came around to this, but Lee was saying that there's also a Command line version of the Purge command. When you type -PURGE (keeping in mind the hyphen is the golden key here), you see the following list of options:

Enter type of unused objects to purge[Blocks/Dimstyles/ Groups/LAyers/LTypes/MAterials/MUltileaderstyles/Plotstyles/SHapes/textSTyles/Mlinestyles/Tablestyles/ Visualstyles/Regapps/Zero-length geometry/Empty text objects/All]:

Of particular importance is the option for Regapps (Registered Applications). For a more complete review of the implication of registered applications, see this review regarding performance issues with excess unreferenced regapp IDs from the Autodesk Services & Support site.

Bottom Line: If your system is running slower than normal, try this:

Command: -PURGE
Enter type of unused objects to purge[Blocks… ] R
Enter name(s) to purge <*>: [Enter]
Verify each name to be purged? [Yes/No] <Y>: N

No guarantee, but that may just help your drawing move along a bit quicker.

Thanks, Lee!

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