AutoLOADER© for Windows

AutoLOADER© is a small program designed to automatically load AutoLISP files directly into AutoCAD. In addition to loading single AutoLISP files, the program can also load arx, dvb, and vlx files. It is designed to work as a stand alone program as well as with Internet Explorer.
When AutoLOADER is installed on your machine,

1. Double-clicking on a Lisp file with .lsp suffix automatically loads it into AutoCAD. (If AutoCAD is not running, it starts AutoCAD, too.)

2. Clicking on a link to a Lisp file with .lsp suffix on a Web page automatically download the file and loads it to AutoCAD. (This requires that the Web page is on your MIT Athena account and registered to 4.207.)

Authors: Takehiko Nagakura + Haldane Liew

AutoLOADER© is not a shareware. Its use is limited to students of MIT course 4.207. Please do not copy, modify, or distribute this software.

Disclaimer: The program is offered as is and neither the author or MIT will be held liable for any consequent damage from the use of this program.

1. Your system must have AutoCAD already loaded. You also need to log in as administrator.

2. Download AutoLOADER using Internet Explorer. The new version is here. (right-click for downloading) This works with AutoCAD 2000/2004.

3. Place the executable in a folder. I would recommend something like C:/bin.

4. Double-click on AutoLOADER.exe that you downloaded. When you run it for the first time, it will prompt you to do a setup. Click on OK. The program will create a registry file named AL_setup.reg in the same directory as you installed AutoLOADER.exe. Click on YES when asked to add the necessary information to the exisiting registry. After this, you should not move AutoLOADER.exe and AL_setup.reg from the directory you installed them. If you want to re-install AutoLOADER, just erase both AutoLOADER.exe and AL_setup.reg, then download the AutoLOADER again and double click it.

5. In the desktop, open any folder's window. In Windows XP, go to Tool menu and select Folder Options item. (In other versions of Windows, it can be under Option menu.) Go to File Types tab. In the list, select LSP extension.

   a. This should now tell you that a LSP file Opens-with AutoLOADER. If not, click the Change... button and browse to the AutoLOADER you downloaded, and check Always Use the Selected Program option.

   b. Next, click Advanced button for LSP extension. And make sure Confirm Open After Download is unselected. (There may be no Advanced button but is a button that says Default of Restore instead. Then click on the Default/Restore button and it will rename to Advanced button. If By any chance at this point the Opens-with application changed to something other than AutoLOADER, click Change... button again and set AutoLOADER again as described above.)

6. For test, use the link below. That's it!

(click this to load this AutoLISP file to AutoCAD)

back to 4.207 Tutorials Page

1. Lisp files with .lsp suffix open with a program other than AutoLOADER.

   This is a very typical problem that happens after you accidentally used another program to open your AutoLISP file and set that program as default application for .lsp file type. In Windows XP, there are two ways to fix this.

   • First and quick method is to right-click on any .lsp file and select properties menu. It will tell you then that the file opens with something other than AutoLoader. You can then click the Change... button there and select AutoLOADER there. This method is easy but the problem may persist afterwards.

   • Second and more robust method takes two steps. First go back to the directory you entered AutoLOADER and double click on the AL_setup button. Then just go back to the item 5 of the installation instructions above. That is, go to the Folder Options menu. You will find that Opens-with application is set to another program there (for instance, NotePad if you used NotePad to open a .lsp file before), and the button below Change... says Restore or Default. Click this Restore/Default button and then AutoLOADER will come back as Opens-with application. If it does not, click the Change... button and manually select AutoLOADER again.

2. Can't write to the registry.

   Check with your local system administrator to see if you have the proper permissions to modify the registry.