Editing the acad.pgp file

[Spenner]

A work colleague of mine has asked me if i have ever changed the acad.pgp file within AutoCAD and if so have i had any problems with it in AutoCAD 2006.
Personally i wouldn't change it myself but he has changed some of the shortcut keys. He has changed the DIMSTYLE from 'D' to 'DI' and the DIST from 'DI' to 'D' (see screen print attached) but it has not changed within AutoCAD its self, so when he type D it still come up with DIMSTYLE not DIST what he wants it to do. He told me has could do this in previous version ok.
The only thing i can think of is that something maybe conflicting with it.

Does anyone have any ideas why this could be happening and what we would need to do to get it to work?

Many thanks

Gareth

[jaberwok]

Tell him to type REINIT, check the "pgp file" box and click "okay".

Or, close and re-open acad.

[Opie]

A work colleague of mine has asked me if i have ever changed the acad.pgp file within AutoCAD and if so have i had any problems with it in AutoCAD 2006.
Personally i wouldn't change it myself but he has changed some of the shortcut keys. He has changed the DIMSTYLE from 'D' to 'DI' and the DIST from 'DI' to 'D' (see screen print attached) but it has not changed within AutoCAD its self, so when he type D it still come up with DIMSTYLE not DIST what he wants it to do. He told me has could do this in previous version ok.
The only thing i can think of is that something maybe conflicting with it.

Does anyone have any ideas why this could be happening and what we would need to do to get it to work?

Many thanks

Gareth

Instead of changing the original text of the pgp file, add your short-cuts to the end of the file. The last short-cut found in the file will override any of the same short-cut earlier in the file.

Do that and what jaberwok says.

[scott.wilcox]

Also type at the commandline (findfile "acad.pgp")

AutoCAD will list where the pgp file is in the support path. Make sure that is the file you are editing, since AutoCAD will load the first instance it finds in the support path.

[Baghera]

If you have the Express Tools try using the ALIAS EDITOR

[ccowgill]

I dont recommend the express tools way of editing the pgp file, it creates a completely brand new version of the acad.pgp, this makes it real hard, when you upgrade, to transfer your custom commands. I recommend what Opie suggested, by doing this, you can just copy and paste your commands from version to version very easily.

[scott.wilcox]

I dont recommend the express tools way of editing the pgp file, it creates a completely brand new version of the acad.pgp, this makes it real hard, when you upgrade, to transfer your custom commands. I recommend what Opie suggested, by doing this, you can just copy and paste your commands from version to version very easily.

I have migrated my custom pgp without incident the past 5 years (2000-2000i-2002-2004-2005-2006)

What do you mean by "completely brand new version of the acad.pgp"? I have never heard of this.

[ccowgill]

here is the header from the express acad.pgp

; This PGP file was created with the AutoCAD Alias Editor.
; Last modified 4/6/2006 6:00:34 PM
; Use the Alias Editor (EDITALIAS command) to edit this file.
; [Operating System Commands]

Here is the standard autocad one

;
;
; Program Parameters File For AutoCAD 2005
; External Command and Command Alias Definitions
; Copyright (C) 1997-2004 by Autodesk, Inc.
; Each time you open a new or existing drawing, AutoCAD searches
; the support path and reads the first acad.pgp file that it finds.
; -- External Commands --
; While AutoCAD is running, you can invoke other programs or utilities
; such Windows system commands, utilities, and applications.
; You define external commands by specifying a command name to be used
; from the AutoCAD command prompt and an executable command string
; that is passed to the operating system.
; -- Command Aliases --
; The Command Aliases section of this file provides default settings for
; AutoCAD command shortcuts. Note: It is not recommended that you directly
; modify this section of the PGP file., as any changes you make to this section of the
; file will not migrate successfully if you upgrade your AutoCAD to a
; newer version. Instead, make changes to the new
; User Defined Command Aliases
; section towards the end of this file.
; -- User Defined Command Aliases --
; You can abbreviate frequently used AutoCAD commands by defining
; aliases for them in the User Defined Command Aliases section of acad.pgp.
; You can create a command alias for any AutoCAD command,
; device driver command, or external command.
; Recommendation: back up this file before editing it. To ensure that
; any changes you make to PGP settings can successfully be migrated
; when you upgrade to the next version of AutoCAD, it is suggested that
; you make any changes to the default settings in the User Defined Command
; Aliases section at the end of this file.
; External command format:
; <Command name>,[<Shell request>],<Bit flag>,[*]<Prompt>,
; The bits of the bit flag have the following meanings:
; Bit 1: if set, don't wait for the application to finish
; Bit 2: if set, run the application minimized
; Bit 4: if set, run the application "hidden"
; Bit 8: if set, put the argument string in quotes
;
; Fill the "bit flag" field with the sum of the desired bits.
; Bits 2 and 4 are mutually exclusive; if both are specified, only
; the 2 bit is used. The most useful values are likely to be 0
; (start the application and wait for it to finish), 1 (start the
; application and don't wait), 3 (minimize and don't wait), and 5
; (hide and don't wait). Values of 2 and 4 should normally be avoided,
; as they make AutoCAD unavailable until the application has completed.
;
; Bit 8 allows commands like DEL to work properly with filenames that
; have spaces such as "long filename.dwg". Note that this will interfere
; with passing space delimited lists of file names to these same commands.
; If you prefer multiplefile support to using long file names, turn off
; the "8" bit in those commands.
; Examples of external commands for command windows
CATALOG, DIR /W, 8,File specification: ,
DEL, DEL, 8,File to delete: ,
DIR, DIR, 8,File specification: ,
EDIT, START EDIT, 9,File to edit: ,
SH, , 1,*OS Command: ,
SHELL, , 1,*OS Command: ,
START, START, 1,*Application to start: ,
TYPE, TYPE, 8,File to list: ,
; Examples of external commands for Windows
; See also the (STARTAPP) AutoLISP function for an alternative method.
EXPLORER, START EXPLORER, 1,,
NOTEPAD, START NOTEPAD, 1,*File to edit: ,
PBRUSH, START PBRUSH, 1,,

; Command alias format:
; <Alias>,*<Full command name>
; The following are guidelines for creating new command aliases.
; 1. An alias should reduce a command by at least two characters.
; Commands with a control key equivalent, status bar button,
; or function key do not require a command alias.
; Examples: Control N, O, P, and S for New, Open, Print, Save.
; 2. Try the first character of the command, then try the first two,
; then the first three.
; 3. Once an alias is defined, add suffixes for related aliases:
; Examples: R for Redraw, RA for Redrawall, L for Line, LT for
; Linetype.
; 4. Use a hyphen to differentiate between command line and dialog
; box commands.
; Example: B for Block, -B for -Block.
;
; Exceptions to the rules include AA for Area, T for Mtext, X for Explode.
; -- Sample aliases for AutoCAD commands --
; These examples include most frequently used commands. NOTE: It is recommended
; that you not make any changes to this section of the PGP file to ensure the
; proper migration of your customizations when you upgrade to the next version of
; AutoCAD. The aliases listed in this section are repeated in the User Custom
; Settings section at the end of this file, which can safely be edited while
; ensuring your changes will successfully migrate.

Obviously they are completely different

[scott.wilcox]

It doesn't change how the pgp file works; the newer version simply removed a lot of remarks out of the file. Since ALIASEDIT, noone saw that text, anyway.

Opie makes a good suggestion, but migration is AFAIK not an acad.pgp issue. You can always undefine commands and redefine them in lisp as well.

My other suggestion here is to try and avoid redefining existing shortcut keys. I perform cad support at my office and several staff have redefined shortcut keys; I saw the photocopy of the shortcut keys in an office, dated 1987 (or thereabouts).

L is layer, C is copy, T is trim

You get the idea; it makes working at other stations very cumbersome. There are lots of unused key combos out there.

[Baghera]

It doesn't change how the pgp file works; the newer version simply removed a lot of remarks out of the file. Since ALIASEDIT, noone saw that text, anyway.

Opie makes a good suggestion, but migration is AFAIK not an acad.pgp issue. You can always undefine commands and redefine them in lisp as well.

My other suggestion here is to try and avoid redefining existing shortcut keys. I perform cad support at my office and several staff have redefined shortcut keys; I saw the photocopy of the shortcut keys in an office, dated 1987 (or thereabouts).

L is layer, C is copy, T is trim

You get the idea; it makes working at other stations very cumbersome. There are lots of unused key combos out there.

I HAVE TO AGREE WHOLE HEARTEDLY!!!
Leave the "out of the box" shortcuts alone unless it's decided by the whole office that something should change. (I must admit we're guilty of changing "C" from circle to copy)