When you insert blocks from a tool palette, change the rotation angle and/or the scale of the block before you insert it. Right-click the block icon on the tool palette. Select Properties from the shortcut menu that appears. In the Properties dialog box, change the rotation or scale.

Caption: Set the block rotation angle before dragging it from the tool palette.

AutoCAD’s default justification for mtext is top left. If you want to switch to an alternate justification, you can modify your existing mtext toolbar button or create a new one. Use this AutoLISP expression for the toolbar button—as written, it sets the justification in the mtext editor to Middle Left.

(initdia)(command "mtext" pause "justify" "ML" pause)

You can substitute any of the following settings for ML in the line above:
TC = top center
TR = top right
MC = middle center
MR = middle right
BL = bottom left
BC = bottom center
BR = bottom right

If you aren’t a fan of the mtext editor, drop (initdia) from the expression above.

Caption: Create a new toolbar button to launch the mtext editor set to the justification of your choice.

Alternatively, you can assign the following macro to a toolbar button (this option also works in AutoCAD LT):
^C^Cmultiline text \J ML

Again, substitute your desired justification for ML in the macro. This option doesn’t launch the mtext editor.

Caption: Toolbar button launches mtext editor with your preferred justification.

AutoCAD’s Visual LISP Editor allows you to protect LISP files by converting them to FAS files. The first step is to add your AutoLISP file to a project. Start the VisualLISP editor and select New Project from the Project menu. Name and save your project file. In the Project Properties dialog box, select the files to add to your project. That will most likely be your LSP file and any related icons or dialog box files. Note that files inside the directory where you save the project file will automatically appear in the left window. Just select the ones you want and transfer them to the right window.

Caption: Create a new project and add the AutoLISP files you want to include.

Once you select OK to create your project, the Project Explorer will appear. Select your code and press the Build Project FAS button (second from right at the top).

Caption: The Build Project button is the second from the right.

The Build Option window in the Visual LISP Editor explains what happens to your file. The end result is a FAS file that loads and runs like a LISP file, but can’t be opened and read.

AutoCAD’s Join command, as you might guess from its name, joins things together: lines, polylines, arcs, elliptical arcs, and splines. AutoCAD will prompt you to select the source object, which is the first object you want to join. The next prompt depends on the object you select. When the source object is a line, you are prompted to select one or more lines. They must be collinear with the source line, but there can be gaps between them. When the source is a polyline, you can select lines, polylines, and/or arcs, but they must all lie on the same plane parallel to the UCS x,y plane and they cannot have gaps between them. When the source object is an arc or elliptical arc, you are prompted to select other arcs or elliptical arcs. They must lie on the same imaginary circle, but can have gaps between them. Note that when you join two or more arcs or elliptical arcs, they are joined counterclockwise starting with the source object. The Close option converts the source arc into a circle or complete ellipse. This is particularly handy because when you try to turn an arc into a circle by changing its number of degress to 360, all you get is a 360 degree arc.

Autodesk released AutoCAD Mechanical 2009 Service Pack 2, available for download at http://www.autodesk.com/autocadmech-updates. It includes the AutoCAD 2009 Update 2 as well as fixes for these and other AutoCAD Mechanical issues:

• Fatal error occurs when certain drawings are opened.
• BOM rows won’t expand.
• The layer pull-down list in the Layer toolbar doesn’t let you change layers.
• Text Formatting dialog box doesn’t appear when you edit text in a table.
• Text disappears during copy and paste.

There’s also an update for Mechanical Desktop 2009 that fixes the same problems for that program. Download a copy at http://www.autodesk.com/mechdesktop-updates.