Autocad 2D - Align Objects Lisp?

[besomdave]

A month or so ago i enquired on here about a lisp for aligning text to an object (

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=195691).

I received a reply informing about the RRT lisp. It works perfectly.

Now after using it Ive been wondering if there is a similar lisp available to align one entity (line, block, Polyline etc) with another. simple example: aligning a square (polyline) with a line drawn at an angle.

I know there is the the AutoCAD 'align' command but using two source points and two destination points to get the desired affect seems over the top when the RRT lisp mentioed above can do it for text in a couple of clicks.

Does anyone know if a simple to use lisp like this is available? Any comments would be appreciated

 

[fixo]

Can you upload the LISP rrt

 

[CarlB]

I don't sees how you can make it simpler than picking 2 points for each object, as the "align" command does. Even if you select a line as 1 object, there are 2 possible directions to align it.

 

[besomdave]

Well CarlB, Its all about making life easier and more productive! One click and a return key stroke would be quicker than using AutoCAD standard 2-point align command especially if you have to align an object to a multitude of differing lines. And there's me thinking this was a help forum!

More 'useful' comments would be appreciated.

Seriously, if anyone has come across a lisp for this I would appreciate some info.

Thanks

 

[besomdave]

slightly off topic but...
For 'fixo'(and anyone else) heres a link to the RRT (rotate text) lisp I mentioned in my original post.

http://www.eng-tips.com/viewthread.cfm?qid=195691&page=1

 

[CarlB]

Actually Dave, I've helped quite a few people on this forum with lisps such as this over the years. I'm all for saving keystrokes. My comment was more prompting you to explain further how it might work, and to consider that most objects don't have a single "alignment" as does a text object. Even a simple line has 2 alignments; the routine you describe would have to assume 1 of the 2 directions, and half the time you'd get an undesired result.

So I'm all ears if you could provide a 'useful' detailed description of how & for what object types you would be using this.

Carl

 

[besomdave]

OK Carl. It was not my intension to upset anyone, but your initial reply to my post, on first reading, did appear a bit flippant. Anyway, applogies for my curt responce.

Now on to the request: We find that these days there is hardly any building that goes through our structural design office that has square walls (Architects love curves and varing angles). Recently we hade had a large building that was curved (albeit in facets) in plan & section (like a mushroom).
Adding objets like, for instance, gutter support bracket blocks around the plan perimiter became a real pain. We had to either, insert the block,align the bracket to the facet line then rotate 90 deg., then move the block to the correct location, OR keep changing the UCS to suit the varying facet lines then inserting the block rotating (if reqd) and then moving to the required location.Different strokes for different folks.

Anyway, when using the aforementioned RRT align text lisp, I wondered if if a 'similar' lisp was avaiible for 'objects'.

One could then insert the block local to, or on the required point, use the proposed 'align ojects' lisp to 'rotate' the block to the required angle, and then move the block (if required). I just think that by using a lsip to align one object with another it could save time by removing the 'double point and click' method as used by the standard align command.

Im aware that there would have to be increased rotation options within the lisp (eg 0, 90, 180, 270) as opposed to the text lisp's (0, 180) options. But i think a few exra keystrokes to select the required angle would be easier/quicker than the bacic double point and click.

I dont know if the RRT text lisp could be adapted to accomadate objets. But thats a bit above me.

Any feed back would be welcome.