Transparent -osnap?

I am looking to do a transparent osnap in a menu macro. I don't want just a
temporary osnap override, but rather a change in running osnaps that can be
done mid command.

Thus far I have found no mention of specifically making a menu macro
transparent. I know ^C^C will kill a command, so I of course have ditched
that, but [End, mid, int]-osnap End,Mid,Int isn't doing it. I am thinking
that doing this via the -osnap command is a problem, but I am not sure of
another approach.

Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance,
Gordon

 

I'm not that familar with menu macros, but in lisp if you know the number value you want, you do

(setvar "osmode" <number here>)

Tim

 

Could you do a 'osnap to make it transparent? Works when typed at the command line.

Tim

 

I think thats it. I just couldn't find the reference under menu macros,
because the reference was under the command line in the help. Got a show to
do, so I will try that tomorrow. Thanks!

Gordon

 

Gordon, without testing I think Tim's right, but then you're going to have
to reset osmode at the end of the macro too, I'd assume. Personally I'm
probably make it a lisp function, put it in an mnl, and call the lisp from
the menu. When you get into these kinds of things -- setting a var, doing
things, then resetting the var -- it begins to be more than I want to put in
an inline menu macro.

 

Here is how the menu macro should look for what you're trying to accomplish:

Code:

^C^C^C(setq oldsnaps (getvar "osmode"));(setvar "osmode"  163);THE REST OF YOUR MACRO HERE;(setvar "osmode" olsnaps);

 

Except it won't be transparent that way. If it should be, leave out the
^C^C^C. [And put the d back into oldsnaps near the end.]

 

[End, mid, int]-osnap End,Mid,Int isn't doing it ...

Gordon, on re-reading, apparently I misunderstood, sorry.

Judging by your label, if the purpose of the macro is simply to change
running osnaps and no more, then you can do that transparently by

'_osnap;end,mid,int;

You can also do the same thing with

(setvar "osmode" 35);

The lisp expressioon is transparent without an apostrophe.

 

Here is how the menu macro should look for what you're trying to
accomplish:

YOUR MACRO HERE;(setvar "osmode" olsnaps);

On a second reading, I don't think that's what he's after. Note that he
labeled the macro [End, mid, int] so apparently there isn't anything else to
be done.

But as I noted earlier, if there were other things to be done, this is more
lisp than I would put in a menu macro. I'd put the whole business in a defun
in the mnl and just call that function. For the usual reasons -- it's a lot
easier to debug a lisp, with VLIDE or whatever, than it is to
unload/reload/test/edit a menu in order to get the thing working. It's also
easier to maintain, for the same reasons, and it keeps your menus short and
sweet when you don't have all that inline code. I'd much rather see

^c^c(mycoolmacro);

where that function is defined in the mnl.

Other considerations ... this will leave oldsnaps as a dangling global
variable unless you add yet more code to null it out at the end of the
macro. Maybe not a big deal in itself, but if you get in the practice of
leaving variables dangling, sooner or later you'll find things are getting
mysteriously buggy all over the place. Also, since your example seems
intended to have the user make a selection, note that it will leave osmode
changed if the user cancels, and he/she will have plenty of time to do that
at the selection prompt. So to reset osmode on cancel, you'd have to add
even more code, an error handler, but whoops! you're not gonna be able to
make the error handler local in the macro because you're not defining a
function. One thing leads to another. IMHO lisp is best done in a lisp file
and just called from a menu macro.

 

Tom, et. al.,
thanks for the info. Indeed the apostrophe was the missing element. As you
surmised, my goal is simply to reset the running osnaps, either before a
command or in one. I have some routines that set osnap and then restore it,
used for specific block inserts and such, and I have harped on perhaps
getting osnap settings per Tool in ToolPalettes as a nice upgrade, but in
this case I have simply added three 'standard' running osnap settings to my
pop0 menu. This way, when for a few commands I just need endpoints, and then
want to go back to my idea of ideal general use running snaps, it is a
single pick each time, rather than going to the dialog, turning all off and
endpoints on, then going back again later and multipicking to get back to my
general use settings. I have been doing this for a while, but not
transparently, and I have noticed that I sometimes realize mid command that
I need a different running osnap environment. Canceling the command,
changing the osnap environment, then starting the command again just seemed
like something that could be avoided. Thus...

ID_aCOsnapsSTD [Standard Osnaps]^P'-osnap End,Mid,Cen,Node,Quad,Int,Ins
ID_aCOsnaps_1 [End, mid, int]^P'-osnap End,Mid,Int
ID_aCOsnaps_2 [End only]^P'-osnap End

Seems to work like a charm.

Best,
Gordon

 

I have simply added three 'standard' running osnap settings to my pop0
menu

Sounds handy, thanks for posting back. At one point we had one-letter
keyboard macros to do the same thing. They faded from popularity, though,
probably because it's such an area of personal preference and drafting
approach.

The guy who had designed them had three favorite osmode settings, and
claimed you'd never need any other. But actually most other people had their
own faves. Then F3 came along, and everybody was happy. Turned out that the
majority of osmode changes consisted of toggling the user's main favorite
setting off & on. A few people have a secondary favorite which they've put
on a toolbar button, similar to your macros.