Migrating custom files

About

BricsCAD uses a variety of files to assist you in creating your drawings.

  • The path of the BricsCAD's installation folder is: C:\Program Files\Bricsys\BricsCAD V25 en_US.
  • The default files are located in the BricsCAD's Support folder: C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Roaming\Bricsys\BricsCAD\V25x64\en_US\Support.
  • User files are stored in specific folders (see the BricsCAD user files article).

Use the SETTINGS command to configure how BricsCAD looks and operates. In the Settings dialog box, you can set all the various path locations for support files, Xref paths, plotter locations, etc.

In the Customize dialog box, you can change the actions of user interface elements, such as menus, ribbons, and mouse buttons.

The following custom files can be migrated to BricsCAD from AutoCAD® or previous BricsCAD releases:
  • Partial customization files: CUI or CUIX files
  • Linetypes
  • Hatch patterns
  • Drawing templates
  • Plot files
  • Tool palettes
  • Command aliases
  • Shape files
  • LISP file

Migrating partial customization files

CUI or CUIX files can load and save full or partial custom workspaces.

Important: Only the partial customization files can be migrated, not the main CUI or CUIX files.
Note:
  • CUIX file is a zipped package that contains all the files needed by the user interface.
  • See the Loading and unloading CUI files article to find out how to load your customization files.

Migrating custom linetypes

LIN files are the reading locations of the linetypes. Both AutoCAD® and BricsCAD store the LIN files in their Support folders. There are two default LIN files: one for imperial linetypes and another for ISO linetypes, but custom linetypes can also be stored in an alternative LIN file.

Migrate imperial custom linetypes
From AutoCAD®'s Support folder: open the acad.lin file with a text editor and scroll down to the User Defined Linetype section. Select the definition of the custom linetype and copy it.

To BricsCAD's Support folder: open the default.lin file with a text editor, paste the definition of the custom linetype at the end, save the file, and exit.

Migrate metric custom linetypes

From AutoCAD®'s Support folder: open the autocadiso.lin with a text editor and scroll down until you find the User Defined Linetype section. Select the definition of the custom linetype and copy it.

To BricsCAD's Support folder: open the iso.lin file with a text editor, paste the definition of the custom linetype at the end, save the file, and exit.

If your custom linetypes are stored in a separate LIN file other than the acad.lin or acadiso.lin files, copy the file to BricsCAD's Support folder. From here, you can load it in BricsCAD using the Load Linetypes dialog box.

For complex linetypes, the location of the shape files must be set in the Support path, so the SHX or SHP files must be copied to BricsCAD's Support folder.

Note: Launch the LINETYPE command to check if the linetypes were migrated successfully.

Migrating custom hatch patterns

PAT files are the defining and reading locations of the hatch patterns. These files are usually found in the default location for hatch patterns, which is the Support folder for both AutoCAD® and BricsCAD. There are two default files: one for imperial units and another for metric ones, but custom hatch patterns can also be stored in an alternative PAT file.

Migrating the imperial custom hatch patterns

From AutoCAD®'s Support folder: open the acad.pat file with a text editor and scroll down to the User Defined Hatch Patterns section. Select the definition for the custom hatch pattern and copy it.

To BricsCAD's Support folder: open the default.pat file with a text editor, paste the definition for the custom hatch pattern at the end, save the file, and exit.

Migrating the metric custom hatch patterns

From AutoCAD®'s Support folder: open the acadiso.pat file with a text editor and scroll down to the User Defined Hatch Patterns section. Select the definition for the custom hatch pattern and copy it.

To BricsCAD's Support folder: open the iso.pat file with a text editor, paste the definition for the custom hatch pattern, save the file, and exit.

Migrating the custom hatch pattern definitions stored in other files
You can choose one of the following:
  • Place those files in BricsCAD's Support folder.
  • Add the location of your PAT files to the Support file search path section in the Settings dialog box (SRCHPATH system variable).
Note: Launch the HATCH command and choose Predefined or Custom in the Type field to check if the hatch patterns were migrated successfully (see the Hatch and Gradient dialog box article for more information). For imperial or metric hatch patterns, choose the drawing templates accordingly.

Migrating custom drawing templates

A template drawing is a file with the file extension DWT (see the Template drawings article). First, localize the drawing templates, then copy and paste to migrate them.

In AutoCAD®, launch the OPTIONS command, click the Files tab, then go to the Template Settings section to find the location of the drawing template file.

In BricsCAD, launch the TEMPLATEFOLDER command to locate the file path.

Note: To test if the DWT file was migrated successfully, on the Start page click the More… button.

Migrating custom plot files

Migrating Named Plot Style Table (STB) or Color-Dependent Plot Style Table (CTB)

From AutoCAD®: launch the STYLESMANAGER command to open the Plot Styles folder and copy the files.

To BricsCAD: launch the STYLESMANAGER command to open the PlotStyles folder and paste the files.

Note: Launch the PLOT command to test if the file was migrated. When the Print dialog box is displayed, click the Plot style table drop-down list to see the migrated file. A drawing can use either CTB or STB plot styles, so the plot style table is displayed based on the current drawing plot style mode (see the CONVERTPSTYLES command article).
Migrating Plotter Configuration File (PC3)

From AutoCAD®: launch the PLOTTERMANAGER command to open the Plotters folder and copy the files.

To BricsCAD: launch the PLOTTERMANAGER command to open the PlotConfig folder and paste the files.

Note: To test if the file was migrated, launch the PLOT command. When the Print dialog box is displayed, click the drop-down button in the Printer/Plotter configuration field to see the migrated file.

Migrating custom tool palettes

To a tool palette you can add blocks, hatches and commands in a tabbed window (see the Working with Tool palettes article). Besides XTP file formats, BricsCAD also allows you to import ATC and BTC palette files. The ATC file contains palette information and is created automatically when a new tool palette is customized. For BricsCAD, the equivalent of the ATC file is the BTC file.

From AutoCAD®: launch the TOOLPALETTES command to open the Tool Palettes panel. Right-click the panel and choose Customize Palettes... to display the Customize dialog box. Then, right-click the custom palette you want and select the Export... option to open the Export Palette dialog box. Save the file as an XTP file.

To BricsCAD: launch the TOOLPALETTES command to open the Tool Palettes panel. Right-click the panel and choose Customize Palettes... to display the Customize dialog box. Then, right-click the palette you want and select the Import option to open the Import Palette dialog box. Choose the XTP file containing the custom palette you want to import.

Note:
  • If you right-click a tool from the palette and choose Properties..., you can see that its properties were also migrated successfully.
  • It is recommended to create a separate folder for custom tool palettes in BricsCAD's Support folder and save the XTP file there.

Migrating custom command aliases

Command aliases are alternative names for BricsCAD commands, and they are saved in a PGP file (see the Command aliases article).

From AutoCAD®'s Support folder: open the acad.pgp file with a text editor and scroll down to the User Defined Command Aliases section. Select the definition of the custom command aliases and copy it.

To BricsCAD's Support folder: open the default.pgp file with a text editor, paste the definition of the custom command aliases at the end, save the file, and exit.

Migrating custom shape files

Shape files are usually stored in the Support folder for both AutoCAD® and BricsCAD. Copy the shape files from AutoCAD®'s Support folder and paste them into BricsCAD's Support folder.

Note: Make sure you copy both SHP and SHX files.

Migrating LISP files

BricsCAD is compatible with AutoCAD® AutoLISP, so it can load and run LSP files. However, the VLX and FAS file formats are AutoCAD® specific encrypted LISP files, and BricsCAD cannot load such files (see the Lisp article).

For both AutoCAD® and BricsCAD, you can find the LISP files in the Support folder within the installation folder. For BricsCAD, the path of this folder is: C:\Program Files\Bricsys\BricsCAD V25 en_US\Support.

Two LISP files are automatically loaded in AutoCAD®'s Support folder: acad.lsp and acaddoc.lsp. In BricsCAD's Support folder, the equivalent of these two LSP files are on_start_default.lsp and on_doc_load_default.lsp.

Important: It is not recommended to edit on_start_default.lsp and on_doc_load_default.lsp. Instead, you should create two new files named on_start.lsp and on_doc_load.lsp.
Migrating ACAD.LSP into ON_START.LSP
From AutoCAD®'s Support folder: open the acad.lsp file with a text editor and copy the custom content to the clipboard.

To BricsCAD's Support folder: create a new text editor file named on_start.lsp, paste the custom content from the clipboard and save it.

Migrating ACADDOC.LSP into ON_DOC_LOAD.LSP
From AutoCAD®'s Support folder: open the acaddoc.lsp file with a text editor and copy the custom content to the clipboard.

To BricsCAD's Support folder: create a new text editor file named on_doc_load.lsp, paste the custom content from the clipboard and save it.

Note:
  • Just like in AutoCAD®, the on_start.lsp and on_doc_load.lsp file is loaded per session by default, but it can also be loaded for each drawing if the ACADLSPASDOC system variable is set to 1.
  • Another way to load your LISP routines is with the APPLOAD command. After you run the command, the Load Application Files dialog box is displayed to select the application files you want to run inside BricsCAD. The AutoLoad option specifies whether a file is loaded automatically or not in the next BricsCAD session (see the Load Application Files dialog box article for more information).
Migrating encrypted VLX files, FAS files, VLX projects (PRV) and FAS projects (PRJ)
BricsCAD allows you to access files or projects using DEScoder.exe, a tool for encrypting LISP files into DES file format.

The path of the DES Encoder is: C:\Program Files\Bricsys\BricsCAD V25 en_US.

  1. Open the encoder.
  2. Select the LISP file in the Source field.
  3. Click the Convert selected source Lisp file into DES encrypted file button next to the Target field.
  4. After the DES file is converted, copy it to BricsCAD's Support folder: C:\Program Files\Bricsys\BricsCAD V25 en_US\Support.
Note: To check if the files are loaded successfully, open BricsCAD and type (vl-list-loaded-lisp) in the Command line.

Migrating from BricsCAD previous release

Automatic migration

The first time you launch BricsCAD after an update, the content of the UserDataCache subfolder of the BricsCAD's installation folder is compared with the content of the user file folders. If you have custom files in these folders and one or more of the corresponding files in the UserDataCache folder are more recent, the BricsCAD user file manager dialog box appears. You can choose to keep or overwrite the files with the latest version.

Manual configuration

To manually import any custom file from a BricsCAD previous release, follow the migration guide explained above for each file type.

Note: In this case, the files are located and migrated from BricsCAD previous release to the new BricsCAD release.