Recipes
What to ask, and what happens in the drawing
31 drafting tasks, each one sentence typed into the cadssistant palette inside AutoCAD. Every page says what cadssistant reads, asks and runs, and shows the AutoLISP or command-line equivalent for anyone who’d rather paste it.
Count and measure
How do I count all the circles in an AutoCAD drawing?
The number, read straight from the drawing, nothing changed.
> how many circles are in this drawing?
How do I count blocks by name in AutoCAD?
A name-and-count table from every block reference, ready for Excel.
> count the blocks in this drawing by name, as a table
How do I get the total length of all lines and polylines on a layer in AutoCAD?
Lines, polylines, arcs and splines summed in one pass, in drawing units.
> total length of everything on layer PIPE-CW
How do I get the area of every closed polyline in an AutoCAD drawing?
Room outlines measured in one pass, as a table with a total.
> list the area of every closed polyline on layer A-AREA, in m²
How do I list all layers in an AutoCAD drawing with the number of objects on each?
Layer, count, colour and state in one table, empty layers included.
> list every layer with how many objects are on it
How do I find all text containing a word in an AutoCAD drawing?
Wildcard search over TEXT and MTEXT, highlighted in the drawing and listed.
> find every text containing REV and highlight it
Draw and lay out
How do I fill a closed shape with a grid of circles in AutoCAD?
Reads the outline, picks a sensible grid and draws every circle in one batch.
> fill this shape with circles
How do I array a selected object in a grid in AutoCAD by typing what I want?
Rows, columns and spacing from one sentence; copies made in one batch.
> make a 4 by 6 grid of this bolt hole, 25 apart
How do I hatch a selected area with a pattern in AutoCAD from a sentence?
HATCH with the named pattern on your selection; scale and angle optional.
> hatch this area with ANSI31
How do I draw holes on a bolt circle (PCD) in AutoCAD?
Count, diameter and PCD in; the centre picked in the drawing; holes out.
> draw 8 holes of 9 mm on a 120 mm PCD, first hole at the top
How do I label every circle with its diameter in AutoCAD automatically?
One Ø text per circle, placed from the geometry it read, in one batch.
> label each circle on layer HOLES with its diameter
Can AI draw a floor plan in AutoCAD from a text description?
Walls, a desk block, a grid of inserts and labels, in layers, from a brief.
> Draw an open-plan office module, 1800 by 1420 cm. Put an outer wall rectangle around the whole module, lay out a 4-by-5 grid of identical 140x80 desks (define the desk once and place copies), and label the room 'OFFICE' near the centre. Scale: 1 unit = 1 cm.
Can AI redraw a floor plan from a screenshot or PDF in AutoCAD?
Attach a plan image; get walls, blocks, inserts and labels back in layers.
> Reproduce this office floor plan as an AutoCAD drawing at full scale (1 drawing unit = 1 cm). Draw the outer wall and the room partitions, lay out the desks in the open-plan zone, place the furniture, and add the room name and area labels exactly as they appear on the plan.
How do I renumber block tags in order automatically in AutoCAD?
Attribute values rewritten in reading order, with an old-to-new table.
> renumber the DOOR-TAG blocks left to right, top to bottom, starting at D01
How do I place a numbered array of blocks in AutoCAD (PV modules, parking bays, seats)?
Rows, columns, spacing and numbering from one sentence; attributes filled as the blocks land.
> Place the PANEL block 3 rows by 4, 1750 apart horizontally and 1150 vertically, starting at 0,0, numbered P1 to P12 row by row, STRING = S1
How do I put a bill of materials table in an AutoCAD drawing?
Block counts and attributes as a real AutoCAD table on the sheet, and in the chat.
> Put a bill of materials on this sheet: block name, count, PART_NO and DESCRIPTION, next to the title block
How do I place posts every 2.5 m along a polyline in AutoCAD?
A block at every station along the line, each turned to its segment.
> Place the POST block every 2.5 m along the selected polyline, starting at its first vertex, rotated to follow the line
Edit in bulk
How do I move all objects of one type to another layer in AutoCAD?
Filter by type and layer, change the layer in one pass, report the count.
> move all text on layer 0 to layer A-ANNO
How do I change the height of all text in an AutoCAD drawing at once?
TEXT and MTEXT heights rewritten in one pass, with the count.
> set every text on layer A-ANNO to 2.5 high
How do I replace one block with another throughout an AutoCAD drawing?
Block name rewritten on every reference; position, rotation and scale kept.
> replace every CHAIR-OLD block with CHAIR-NEW, keep position, rotation and scale
How do I delete everything on a layer and purge it in AutoCAD?
Erase by layer in one command, purge the layer, revert if needed.
> delete everything on layer TEMP and purge the layer
How do I rename many layers at once in AutoCAD?
Pattern rename over the layer table, with the list of changes.
> rename every layer starting with X- to A-, keep the rest of the name
How do I fill in the title block on every layout at once in AutoCAD?
Project, author, date and sheet numbers on every layout's title block at once.
> On every layout set the title block's PROJECT to Villa Meier, DRAWN to RK, DATE to today, and number the sheets 1 of N
How do I rotate and align the viewport on every plan sheet to its rectangle in AutoCAD?
Every plan sheet's viewport centred on its rectangle, turned to the road, fitted and locked.
> Layer SHEET-WINDOW has one rectangle per sheet, labelled SHEET 1 to SHEET 12, and layouts PLAN-01 to PLAN-12 have one viewport each. Make each layout's viewport show its rectangle: centred, long edge horizontal with the road running left to right in sheet order, zoomed to fit, then lock it
Export to Excel and PDF
How do I export block insertion points to Excel from AutoCAD?
Insertion points as a table; the Excel button saves CSV through AutoCAD's dialog.
> give me a table of every TREE block with its X, Y and rotation
How do I export all the text from an AutoCAD drawing to Excel?
Strings, layers and positions in one table, straight to clipboard or CSV.
> list every text and mtext in the drawing with its layer and contents, as a table
How do I make a bill of materials from the blocks in an AutoCAD drawing?
Block name, attributes and quantity grouped into one table.
> make a bill of materials: block name, count, and the PART_NO and DESCRIPTION attributes
How do I print all layouts to PDF at once in AutoCAD?
One PDF per layout, each through its own page setup, saved beside the DWG.
> Plot every layout to PDF
AutoLISP
Can AI write an AutoLISP routine and run it for me in AutoCAD?
Written, evaluated in your session, verified and fixed; no APPLOAD.
> write a LISP that draws a centre mark on every circle on layer HOLES, run it, and tell me how many it did
How do I turn an AI prompt into an AutoCAD command I can type?
Save a prompt as a typeable AutoCAD command, parameters included.
> count the blocks on layer A-WALL and list their insertion points
My AutoLISP routine throws an error. Can AI fix it and run it in AutoCAD?
The error read from your session, the cause fixed, the fix tested.
> this LISP fails with 'bad argument type: lselsetp: nil' - fix it and run it: (paste the routine here)
Looking for the bigger picture? The guides compare the AI tools that work with AutoCAD.