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Page i
AutoCAD VBA Programming
Tools and Techniques
John Gibb and Bill Kramer
Disclaimer:
This netLibrary eBook does not include the ancillary media that was packaged with
the original printed version of the book.
Published by Miller Freeman Books
55 Hawthorne, Suite 600, San Francisco, CA 94105
Copyright © 1999 by John Gibb and Bill Kramer. All rights reserved. No part of this
book covered by copyrights hereon may be reproduced or copied in any manner
whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations
embodied in articles and reviews. For information contact the publishers.
Distributed to the book trade in the U.S. and Canada by
Publishers Group West, 1700 Fourth Street, Berkeley, CA 94710
Cover Art: Robert Ward
Cover Design: The Visual Group
Interior Design and Composition: Brad Greene
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Gibb, John W.
AutoCAD VBA programming: tools and techniques / by John Gibb and Bill Kramer.
p. cm
ISBN 0-87930-574-6 (alk.paper)
1. Computer graphics. 2. AutoCAD. 3. Microsoft Visual Basic for applications.
I. Kramer, Bill, 1958. II. Title
T385.G5217 1999
620'.0042'02855369dc21 99-43360
CIP
Printed in the United States of America
99 00 01 02 03 04 5 4 3 2 1
Page iii
Dedication
My Dad always taught me to look at things in a different way. That has
helped me all through my programming career and as a consequence, I'd
like to dedicate this work to his memory. I will always feel his presence.
Bill Kramer
I wish to dedicate this book to the memory of my friend John Keith and
my cousin Christopher Etheridge. Thanks to John for his humor and cre-
ative talent and Christopher for his youthful enthusiasm. Both left us
much too soon.
John Gibb
Page iv
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my girlfriend Margaret, her sons Brian and Bob
and my mother for their unwavering support despite my frequent
lapses of memory during the writing of the book. Sometimes focus is
good for writing but hard on the ones you love. Thanks for your
patience.
I would also like to thank Application Developers, Andy Baron and
Mike Gunderloy for the use of their command line material as the
basis for the command line workaround material. A special thanks to
Bob Verdun and my colleagues at CFI for their patience during the
time it took to write this book.
JOHN GIBB
My heartfelt thanks go to my family and friends for continuing to put
up with my eccentric hobbies and interests. Without their support I
would not be able to do many of the things I enjoy doing including the
writing of books and articles about computer programming. I'd also
like to thank the readers of books like this since it is because of them I
must learn more and am ever challenged to come up with new ideas.
You all have no idea how much energy and contagious enthusiasm
that provides!
BILL KRAMER
Page v
Preface
Search though you may, you won't find two more qualified people to
co-author a book on VBA and AutoCAD than Bill Kramer and John
Gibb. Both have written several books plumbing the depths of
programming as a science and an art. Both have explored AutoCAD
and AutoLISP since their inception and both are much sought-after
programmer-consultants by a wide range of science and engineering
firms.
When issue No. 1 of CADENCE was published in 1986, Bill Kramer
launched a column titled ''AutoLISP Concepts," that over the years
has transformed into his current "Programmer's Toolbox" and that
stands as the longest running column in CADENCE's 14-year history.
With the advent of VBA capabilities in AutoCAD Release 14, Kramer
expanded his "how to" programming tutorials to include frequent
explorations of the intricacies of Visual Basic for Applications. John
Gibb, too, has been a frequent contributor to CADENCE and both
have helped countless programmers boost their knowledge of
AutoCAD, AutoLISP and VBA through courses at Autodesk
University, among other venues.
A graduate of Ohio State University's College of Engineering where
he studied computer science and astronomy, Kramer first "got into"
computers with a DEC PDP-8 in 1975 teaching himself assembler
code. He programmed his first microcomputer, a Z-80-based system
with 32K RAM and two 160K disk drives, using BASIC and
assembler languages. In 1985
Page vi
he launched Kramer Consulting and began developing applications for
general CAD systems and AutoCAD in particular, including an NC
programming system called NC-AUTO-CODE that he has supported
ever since its first customer ship in 1986. Kramer has taught
AutoCAD as an adjunct professor at Franklin University for several
years and frequently offers sold-out classes in programming through
Autodesk University.
As an Autodesk certified instructor, John Gibb has himself spent a fair
amount of time sharing his vast programming knowledge with
students at the Moraine Valley Autodesk Training Center. With a
background in topology and utility mapping, space planning and
facilities management systems, he has devoted 12 of his 15 years as a
programmer to AutoCAD-related applications. An author of three
books and numerous journal articles related to AutoCAD, Gibb is
currently a senior applications developer with Computerized Facility
Integration.
Gibb and Kramer share a keen ability to comprehend the black art of
programming science and render it palatable. Both are noted for their
sense of humor. But you can tell them apart in a crowd. Bill is the tall
onea former basketball player and current eclipse chaser who almost
doesn't need a telescope to practice his craft. John's the one with the
pony tail.
As a team, Gibb and Kramer bring unparalleled programming
knowledge and experience to customizing AutoCAD with VBA.
Updated to include capabilities introduced with AutoCAD 2000, this
book is destined to become a de facto standard for AutoCAD
programmers. Although aimed at those with advanced-intermediate
and expert-level ability, there is much here as well for others who are
new to programming science who would like to use VBA to maximize
their AutoCAD productivity.
As authors, lecturers and consultants, Gibb and Kramer are best of
class. They are also decent human beings. Read this bookyou won't be
sorry you did. And when you attend the next Autodesk University,
take a class with them, or just stop them in the hallway to chat. They'll
love it and likely keep you just a bit longer than you may have
planned. But when you're done, you'll be all the richer for it.
ARNIE WILLIAMS,
EDITOR IN CHIEF,
CADENCE MAGAZINE
