FINKELSTEIN
If AutoCAD 2002 can do it, you can do it too . . .
Packed with practical, real-world examples and authoritative advice, the AutoCAD 2002 Bible is your complete
guide to the best AutoCAD yet. Expert author Ellen Finkelstein shows you how to master every aspect of this
powerful design software, from 2D drawing and plotting fundamentals to database interactions, VBA and
AutoLISP programming, Internet collaboration, and more.
Inside, you’ll find complete
coverage of AutoCAD 2002
• Discover the latest techniques for creating high-quality drawings
• Master precision tools for creating 2D and 3D drawings and
renderings
• Learn to use new features for manipulating blocks (symbols) and
their attributes (properties)
• Explore updated methods for getting your drawings on the Web
and collaborating via the Internet
• Control your drawings with new CAD Standards features
• Harness the advanced database access and data-sharing features
of AutoCAD
• Customize AutoCAD to fit the way you work for maximum
productivity
Shelving Category:
Graphics/CAD/AutoCAD
Reader Level:
Beginning to Advanced
System Requirements:
Pentium 450 Mhz or better, Windows 98, Me, or
Win NT w/SP5 or later, 128MB RAM, 200MB free hard
drive space, VGA display with 1024x768 resolution
or better, and CD-ROM drive. See “About the CD-ROM”
appendix for more.
ISBN 0-7645-3611-7

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Trial version of
AutoCAD 2002
on CD-ROM!
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• AutoCAD 2002 trial version
• 160+ sample drawings files
www.hungryminds.com
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COMPREHENSIVE
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Loaded CD-ROM includes:
• AutoCAD 2002 15-day trial version
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• 40+ shareware/freeware software programs
A
utoCAD 2002
Bible
*85555-AIHEDj
®
Learn how to prepare
presentation-quality drawings
Use real-world
drawings to
practice what

prior written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2001092890
ISBN: 0-7645-3611-7
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CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES WHICH
EXTEND BEYOND THE DESCRIPTIONS CONTAINED IN THIS PARAGRAPH. NO WARRANTY MAY BE
CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES REPRESENTATIVES OR WRITTEN SALES MATERIALS. THE
ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN AND THE OPINIONS
STATED HEREIN ARE NOT GUARANTEED OR WARRANTED TO PRODUCE ANY PARTICULAR RESULTS,
AND THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY
INDIVIDUAL. NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR
ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES.
Trademarks: All other trademarks are property of their respective owners. Hungry Minds, Inc., is not
associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.
is a trademark of
Hungry Minds, Inc.
013611-7 FM.F 9/11/01 9:50 AM Page ii
About the Author
Ellen Finkelstein learned AutoCAD in Israel, where she always got to pore over the
manual because she was the only one who could read it in English. After returning
to the United States, she started consulting and teaching AutoCAD as well as other
computer programs, including Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Ellen has
written books on Word, PowerPoint, and Flash (Flash 5 For Dummies, published by
Hungry Minds, Inc.). Her first book was AutoCAD For Dummies Quick Reference. She
was a contributing author to AutoCAD 13 Secrets, also published by Hungry Minds,
Inc. Previous editions of this book were AutoCAD 14 Bible, appearing in 1997, and
AutoCAD 2000 Bible, which was published in 1999.
To MMY for teaching me that there’s more to life than meets the eye.
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Acquisitions Editor
Tom Heine
Project Editor

013611-7 FM.F 9/11/01 9:50 AM Page iv
Foreword
W
e at Autodesk understand better each day that while we are obviously a
software developer and publisher, we are really in the “Customer
Performance Improvement” business. This is the value proposition that you, our
customer, ultimately seek. Don’t we all? Delivering on this proposition requires that
we provide two key deliverables to you:
1. Great software technology with the right features.
2. The support you need so you can use Autodesk software effectively in your
job with improved performance and productivity.
Our product designs have always been user-centric and driven by what you need to
continuously improve productivity. AutoCAD 2002 sets a new standard for user pro-
ductivity. This is the AutoCAD that users and managers alike asked for — and more.
Most of the new features and enhancements came from the ultimate source, cus-
tomer requests, and for the ultimate purpose: improving the performance and pro-
ductivity of you and your team.
But creating great software based solely on your feedback is not enough.
Autodesk’s commitment to increasing productivity requires that we go beyond
what our customers ask. We’re always searching for new performance-enhancing
innovations — even if they fall outside the scope of current software features, and
even if you haven’t thought to ask for them. Our focus, like yours, is on results. If it
works, if it enables you to be more successful and achieve better results, we’ll go
there. So in addition to specific software enhancements, we are focusing more on
supporting the entire process of collaborative design. We are “digitizing the design
process” and enabling more effective use of the Web in order to simplify the com-
plexities of collaborative design.
Yet, introducing these innovations also poses new challenges, namely learning how
to use and effectively apply these enhancements. We have done much to address
these challenges both within AutoCAD 2002 and with new offerings such as

drawing task you can give it. This book is designed to be your comprehensive guide
to the entire AutoCAD program.
AutoCAD 2002 is the fastest, smoothest AutoCAD yet. Certain features have been
added that are not even mentioned in this book because you never see them — you
just notice that fewer regenerations occur, drawings load faster, and you spend less
time waiting while drawing and editing. In addition to these refinements, of course,
are the many new features covered in this book that will make your drawing easier
and faster. The new features include both those introduced with 2000i, an interim
release, and 2002.
This book covers every major AutoCAD feature. If you’re a beginning AutoCAD user,
you’ll find everything you need to start out; if you’re already using AutoCAD regu-
larly, the book covers advanced material as well. It provides a solid reference base
to come back to again and again, as well as short tutorials to get you drawing.
Sidebar profiles show how companies out in the real world use AutoCAD. Finally,
the CD-ROM is chock full of drawings, a trial version of AutoCAD 2002, and AutoLISP
programs. This book should be all you need to make full use of that expensive pro-
gram called AutoCAD.
Is This Book for You?
The AutoCAD 2002 Bible covers all the essential features of AutoCAD and includes
clear, real-life examples and tutorials that you can adapt to your needs.
Although I fully cover AutoCAD basics, I have also included material on the many
advanced features, such as external database connectivity, AutoLISP, Visual Basic
for Applications (VBA), 3D modeling, rendering, and customization. The following
categories should help you decide if this book is for you.
If you are a new AutoCAD user
If you are new to AutoCAD, the AutoCAD 2002 Bible guides you through all you need
to know to start drawing effectively, whatever your field.
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AutoCAD 2002 Bible

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Preface
Part VI: Customizing AutoCAD
Part VI introduces the tools you need to customize commands, toolbars, linetypes,
hatch patterns, shapes, fonts, and menus. You’ll also find a chapter on script files,
which you can use to create macros.
Part VII: Programming AutoCAD
Part VII introduces you to programming AutoCAD. It includes three chapters on
AutoLISP and Visual LISP and one chapter on Visual Basic for Applications.
Appendixes
Appendix A gives instructions for installing and configuring AutoCAD. Appendix B
covers all the ways to get help on AutoCAD, and Appendix C explains what you’ll
find on the CD-ROM.
The CD-ROM contains a complete copy of this book in PDF format. The book in
that format includes two bonus appendixes. Appendix D displays all the menus
and submenus as well as the toolbars and their flyouts. Appendix E lists new,
changed, and discontinued commands and system variables as well as a list of
system variables often used on the command line.
How to Use This Book
You can use this book in two ways: as a reference or as a learning tool or tutorial.
As a reference
The AutoCAD 2002 Bible is organized as a reference that you can refer to whenever
you get stuck or when you try to do something for the first time. Each chapter cov-
ers a topic completely, making it easy to find what you’re looking for. Each Step-by-
Step exercise (with a few exceptions) can be done on its own without doing the
other exercises in the chapter. You can easily look up a topic and complete a
related exercise without having to go through the entire chapter. A complete index
at the back of the book can also help you look up features and topics.
As a tutorial

have serious consequences, such as customizing the menu, for safety. For example,
when customizing the menu, you will be instructed to copy the menu template file
under a new name, and you will then work with the new menu file, not the original
one. Nevertheless, if you are working on a network or sharing AutoCAD with some-
one else, it is proper computer etiquette to consult with others who may be
affected by the changes you make.
If you do the exercises, I recommend that you do them from the beginning.
Important instructions are given during earlier exercises that may affect your sys-
tem later. For example, one of the first exercises is to create a new folder to hold
your drawings from the exercises. This folder keeps your exercise drawings sepa-
rate from other drawings created in your office. However, each exercise stands on
its own so you can go back and do only the exercise you need.
You can create your own AutoCAD configuration that helps ensure that changes
you make will not affect others. Instructions for doing this appear in Appendix A
under the heading “Creating Multiple Configurations.”
The exercises in the AutoCAD 2002 Bible have been carefully checked by a technical
editor to ensure accuracy. However, we cannot anticipate all situations, either due
Cross-
Reference
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Preface
to varying hardware/software configurations or customization within AutoCAD. If
you have a problem with an exercise, contact me at the e-mail address listed at the
end of this Preface so I can correct the problem in the book’s next edition.
Conventions Used in This Book
Given all the ways in which you can execute a command in AutoCAD, you’ll find it
useful to read through this section, which describes this book’s typographical con-
ventions. You will find this section helpful for doing the Step-by-Step exercises as
well.

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AutoCAD 2002 Bible
1. With your left mouse button (also called the pick button), choose Line from
the Draw toolbar. Notice that the command name is repeated on the com-
mand line.
Command: _line Specify first point: 0,0 ↵ (This arrow means
to press Enter)
Specify next point or [Undo]: 10,0 ↵
Specify next point or [Undo]: 10,7 ↵
Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: 0,7 ↵
Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: 0,0 ↵
Specify next point or [Close/Undo]: ↵
Often I make references to specific elements in a drawing. References to these ele-
ments appear in the text as numbers in circles, such as 1, 2, 3, and so on. You’ll
find the corresponding number in the figure to which the text refers.
Mouse and keyboard terms
You can draw in AutoCAD using a mouse or a puck. The mouse is familiar to all
users. A puck (or sometimes a stylus) is used with a digitizing tablet. Because most
AutoCAD users do not have a digitizing tablet, I do not directly refer to it in this
book. If you have one, follow the instructions for using the mouse in the same way,
using your puck.
A mouse can have two or more buttons. Many AutoCAD users like using a mouse
with at least three buttons because you can customize the buttons to suit your
needs. However, because many mice have only two buttons, I assume only two. The
left mouse button is used to choose commands and toolbar buttons and to pick
points in your drawing. For this reason, it is sometimes called the pick button. The
right button usually opens a shortcut menu.
If I say one of the following
✦ Choose Tools ➪ Options
✦ Click Line on the Draw toolbar

margin that call your attention to noteworthy points.
The New Feature icon means that a feature is new to AutoCAD 2000i or 2002, or
features that existed in Release 2000 but have been significantly changed.
A Note icon alerts you to some important point that requires special attention or
additional information that may be helpful.
Note
New
Feature
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AutoCAD 2002 Bible
A Tip shows you a way to accomplish a task more efficiently or quickly. You’ll find
plenty of practical advice here.
Cross-References refer you to a related topic elsewhere in the book. Because you
may not read this book straight through from cover to cover, use cross-references
to quickly find just the information you need.
The On the CD-ROM icon highlights references to related material on the
CD-ROM.
The Caution icon means you should pay special attention to the information or
instructions because a possibility exists that you could cause a problem otherwise.
About the CD-ROM
The CD-ROM contains all the drawings you need to do the exercises in this book.
These drawings save you time as you learn AutoCAD’s features. In addition, the
CD-ROM includes the drawings that result once you finish an exercise or tutorial. In
this way, you can check what you have done if you wish.
The CD-ROM is also chock-full of resource material that I hope you will find useful
for many years to come. Appendix C lists the contents of the CD-ROM. I am espe-
cially pleased to include a 15-day trial version of AutoCAD 2002 on the CD-ROM as
well as the entire book in PDF format.
Other Information

I would be happy to hear any comments you have about this book. The best way to
contact me is by e-mail at

. You can also use the United
States postal service (aka snail mail) and write to me in care of Hungry Minds.
Please note that I can’t provide AutoCAD technical support for my readers.
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