AutoCAD 2005 Support Directories

[lbragg]

My company is upgrading from AutoCAD 2004 to AutoCAD 2005. Is it ok to share the same network support directories between versions? Both versions will be used in our office until the rollout is complete. I am most worried about color tables, menu files, lisp files, etc. not being backwards compatible. Will AutoCAD 2005 overwrite any support files with incompatible versions which won't work in 2004?

If I have to make seperate support directories for 2005 then that will involve alot of repathing in our lsp,mnu, and vba files so I'd rather just share the same directories if it's possible.

Thanks in advance for your input!

[mjfarrell]

You will be much happier in the long run to NOT share
anything between 2004 and 2005.

[richard.binning]

My company is upgrading from AutoCAD 2004 to AutoCAD 2005. Is it ok to share the same network support directories between versions? Both versions will be used in our office until the rollout is complete. I am most worried about color tables, menu files, lisp files, etc. not being backwards compatible. Will AutoCAD 2005 overwrite any support files with incompatible versions which won't work in 2004?

If I have to make seperate support directories for 2005 then that will involve alot of repathing in our lsp,mnu, and vba files so I'd rather just share the same directories if it's possible.

Thanks in advance for your input!
Take the repathing chore out of updating your lisp, vba, and menu updates. Write some complimentary functions to read and write to the registry and place all your support directories in the registry. I have functions in lisp, vba, and vbscript to read and write as necessary to a custom tree in the registry. When it comes time to upgrade, I simply change the keys and values in a master text file and all routines automatically are directed to the new locations upon first launch. Here is an example of one of the functions:



;;; ====================================================================
;;; Function: RLB:NETKeyLocator
;;; Purpose : Function to return value for specified registry key name
;;; Author : R Binning
;;; Date : 12/30/2003
;;; Call : (RLB:NETKeyLocator "NET_Paths" "NETDLL")
;;; Example : (setq InstallPath (RLB:NETKeyLocator "NET_Paths" "NETSUPPORT"))
;;; Params : subKey: Name of std THC registry Master Key
;;; : keyEntry: Name of std THC registry Key
;;;
;;; Local : keyVal: Value of key sought
;;; : profileStW: RegKeyPath
;;; : retVal: Returned Value from Registry Function
;;; Returns : Path of Desired THC Standard Support Registry Key
;;; Notes : Placed in use to update lisp routines prior to loading
;;; ===========================================================================
(defun RLB:NETKeyLocator (subKey keyEntry / keyVal retVal profilesStr)
(setq keyVal nil)
(setq profilesStr (strcat "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\\Software\\HaskellCADD\\" subKey))
(setq keyVal (vl-registry-read profilesStr keyEntry))
(setq retVal keyVal) ; return value
)


P.S. If you are going to AU this year, you might want to sit in on Matt Stachoni's class which is covering this type of customization and standardization.

[abissman]

I've used the method of adding variables to the registry. Located under HKLM\Software
How do I retrieve them with VB? I can only find the method to retrieve them if they are under the "VB and VBA Program Settings" section of the registry?

Is VBA or Lisp easier better for doing this?

I am much more of a VB / VBA programmer. I keep finding myself getting tripped up with LISP.