Newbie to Autolisp

I am trying to make a shortcut for the justifytext command. The routine I have so far is:

(defun c:JT()
(print " JUSTIFY TEXT TO MIDDLE CENTER ")
(command "JUSTIFYTEXT")
(princ)
)

My question is .... "how do I get the lisp routine to pause the command so I can select the text?" I want it to continue and apply the "MC" for middle center justification.

 

Use the pause method

(defun c:JT()
(print " Justify Text To Middle Center ")
(command "JUSTIFYTEXT" pause "" "MC")
(princ)
)

 

This doesn't address your Lisp question. But the macro below.

^C^CTjust MC

Placed in a custom button achieves the same thing. Select the text to
justify then press the button.

J. Logan

so I can select the text?" I want it to continue and apply the "MC" for
middle center justification.

 

As mentioned, pause is one way to make a command wait for user input, but
(as in this case) it can be cranky and crude. In general it's better to get
input from the user first and then feed it to the command:

(defun c:JT(/ sset)
(princ "\nJUSTIFY TEXT TO MIDDLE CENTER ")
(if (setq sset (ssget '((-4 . "<or") (0 . "TEXT") (0 . "MTEXT")(-4 .
"or>"))))
(command "JUSTIFYTEXT" sset "" "MC"))
(princ))

The ssget lets you use any selection method, but filters the selection to
only text and mtext. Then the command is run if anything was selected.

 

Thanks Tom, You are a big help again! You helped me with the toolbar stuff. Your routine is a bit more complicated then mine. I would like to learn more on the "language" of the lisp commands. Is there something I could read that would be like a dictionary or something that will give me info on the terminology? Like what do the -4's represent, what is the sset and setq stuff like that.

Thanks again Tom

You are the man!!

 

when all else fails, check the help files
help | developer help | contents | lisp reference

stuff. Your routine is a bit more complicated then mine. I would like to
learn more on the "language" of the lisp commands. Is there something I
could read that would be like a dictionary or something that will give me
info on the terminology? Like what do the -4's represent, what is the sset
and setq stuff like that.

 

No problem. I just learned from the docs that come with Acad, way back when
they were printed manuals. There are some websites with good tutorials.
http://www.afralisp.com/ has a lot of good tips and sample programs.

Look in help, in the lisp reference under ssget and also look at selection
set filter lists. In this filter list, the 0 codes obviously refer to entity
types. The -4 is a special codes like "and" and "or." In this case I wanted
to only allow selection of either text or mtext.

It turns out I really didn't need to do that, since justifytext seems to
have a built-in filter, but it's not a bad habit to only allow selection of
things that your program can work with. It works just as well with no
filtering:

(defun c:JT(/ sset)
(princ "\nJUSTIFY TEXT TO MIDDLE CENTER ")
(if (setq sset (ssget))
(command "JUSTIFYTEXT" sset "" "MC"))
(princ))

stuff. Your routine is a bit more complicated then mine. I would like to
learn more on the "language" of the lisp commands. Is there something I
could read that would be like a dictionary or something that will give me
info on the terminology? Like what do the -4's represent, what is the sset
and setq stuff like that.

 

Tom that is a pretty cool website thanks. I am sure we will be chatting again. Thanks for everything!!

 

.... or, more simply,
(if (setq sset (ssget '((0 . "TEXT,MTEXT"))))
...

"or>"))))

 

... or, more simply,

Good catch, Paul. I tend to forget the extra wcmatch tests available with
strings.

 

Afralisp has been to me by far THE most useful site for LISP.