A dictionary is a container object, similar to symbol tables.
Dictionaries are stored in the drawing’s named object dictionary, which is the root of all non-graphical objects in a drawing, or as an extension dictionary attached to an object. Each drawing can contain different dictionaries, so a routine should not expect that a specific dictionary might exist in a drawing. The dictionaries in a drawing’s named object dictionary can be accessed using namedobjdict, which returns an entity name. Use entget to access the entity list that represents all of the dictionaries in the drawing.
The following rules apply to dictionary objects:
Dictionary entries can be queried with the dictsearch and dictnext functions. Each dictionary entry consists of a text name key plus a hard ownership handle reference to the entry object. Dictionary entries may be removed by directly passing entry object names to the entdel function. The text name key uses the same syntax and valid characters as symbol table names. A key name can be changed using the dictrename function.
The following example code lists each of the dictionaries in the drawing’s named object dictionary and their entries:
(defun c:ListDictionaries ( / ed ed1)
(prompt "\nDictionaries in current drawing: ")
(foreach ed (entget (namedobjdict))
(progn
(cond ((= (car ed) 3)
(prompt (strcat "\n" (cdr ed))))
((= (car ed) 350)
(progn
(foreach ed1 (entget (cdr ed))
(if (= (car ed1) 3)
(prompt (strcat "\n " (cdr ed1)))
)
)
))
)
)
)
(princ)
)
The following is an example of the output you might see in Text History window after c:ListDictionaries is executed.
Dictionaries in current drawing: ACAD_CIP_PREVIOUS_PRODUCT_INFO ACAD_COLOR ACAD_DETAILVIEWSTYLE Imperial24 ACAD_GROUP ACAD_LAYOUT Layout1 Layout2 Model ACAD_MATERIAL ByBlock ByLayer Global ACAD_MLEADERSTYLE Annotative Standard ACAD_MLINESTYLE Standard ACAD_PLOTSETTINGS ACAD_PLOTSTYLENAME Normal ACAD_SCALELIST A0 A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 A6 A7 A8 A9 B0 B1 B2 B3 B4 B5 B6 B7 B8 B9 C0 C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 D0 D1 D2 ACAD_SECTIONVIEWSTYLE Imperial24 ACAD_TABLESTYLE Standard ACAD_VISUALSTYLE 2dWireframe Basic Brighten ColorChange Conceptual Dim EdgeColorOff Facepattern Flat FlatWithEdges Gouraud GouraudWithEdges Hidden JitterOff Linepattern OverhangOff Realistic Shaded Shaded with edges Shades of Gray Sketchy Thicken Wireframe X-Ray AcDbVariableDictionary CANNOSCALE CMLEADERSTYLE CTABLESTYLE CVIEWDETAILSTYLE CVIEWSECTIONSTYLE DIMASSOC HIDETEXT LAYEREVAL LAYERNOTIFY