The H-Factor

Almost daily I get calls from customers saying that when they type in Open they don't get a dialog box but a command line asking for a file name, or their pipe sizes come in with the word -LENGTH- instead fo the actual length. AutoCAD variables are usually at fault.

Here are the most common offenders and their correct settings for this and similar problems.

The following list is taken from our Frequently Asked Questions page in the Updates and Support area of our website.

Variable:          Recommended Setting:     Problem:

     FILEDIA               1                             Dialogs do not appear when New, Open or Save is done

     ATTDIA                0                            Shows dialog every time block inserted

     ATTREQ              1                             Does not use attribute value you picked

     PICKADD              1                            Cannot pick more than one item

     ATTDISP           Normal                       Cannot see attributes, or can see all of them

     DRAGMODE        Auto                         Cannot see dragged objects

     PDMODE               1                            Points show up as X’s or other shape

     INSUNITS              0                            Blocks/Xrefs come in at the wrong scale

     INSUNITSDEFSOURCE   0                      Blocks/Xrefs come in at the wrong scale

     INSUNITSDEFTARGET   0                      Blocks/Xrefs come in at the wrong scale