About Command Scripts

A script is a text file with one command on each line.

You can invoke a script at startup or run a script using the SCRIPT command.

You create script files outside the program using a text editor text editor that saves in ASCII format (for example, Notepad on Windows or TextEdit on Mac OS). The file extension must be .scr.

Each line of a script contains a command, and each blank space in a script is significant because it is like pressing Enter or the Spacebar. You must be familiar with the sequence of prompts for a command to provide an appropriate sequence of responses in a script.

Note: Keep in mind that prompts and command names might change in future releases, so you might need to revise your scripts when you upgrade to a later release of the program. For similar reasons, avoid the use of command aliases; future command aliases might create ambiguities.

A script can execute any command at the Command prompt except a command that displays a dialog box. In most cases, a command that displays a dialog box has an alternative version of the command that displays Command prompts instead of a dialog box. Most alternative versions of a command start with a hypen (-). For example, use -INSERT instead of INSERT.

Note: On Windows, when using the -PLOT command to automate multiple plot jobs, set the BACKGROUNDPLOT system variable to 0 before running the script.

Scripts can contain comments. Any line that begins with a semicolon (;) is considered a comment, and is ignored while the script is being processed. The last line of the script must be blank.

All references to long file names that contain embedded spaces must be enclosed in double quotes. For example, to open the drawing my house.dwg from a script, you must use the following syntax:

open "my house"

When command input comes from a script, it is assumed that the settings of the PICKADD and PICKAUTO system variables are 1 and 0, respectively; therefore, you do not have to change the settings of these variables.

A script is treated as a group, a unit of commands, reversible by a single U command. However, each command in the script causes an entry in the undo log, which can slow the execution of a script. Changing the Control option of the UNDO command to None will turn off undo recording, which will improve the performance of a script when executed. Remember to turn undo recording back on (UNDO Control All) when the script is finished.

If a script is currently active when the SCRIPT command is invoked, the script is stopped.