Adding the Dialog Box Interface

AutoCAD Visual LISP

 
Adding the Dialog Box Interface
 
 
 

The next part of this lesson concerns adding a dialog box interface to the garden path application. To do this, you will be working with another language, dialog control language (DCL).

Currently, your gpath function only accepts input on the command line. You included a stubbed-out function(gp:getDialogInput) with the intention of adding a dialog box interface. Now is the time to add the interface.

There are two steps in creating a functional dialog interface:

  • Define the appearance and contents of the dialog boxes.
  • Add program code to control dialog behavior.

The description and format of a dialog box is defined in a .dcl file. In the AutoLISP Developer's Guide, DCL is described in chapter 11, “Designing Dialog Boxes” chapter 12, “Managing Dialog Boxes”, and chapter 13, “Programmable Dialog Box Reference”.

Program code that initializes default settings and responds to user interaction will be added to gp:getDialogInput.