Topic: Coverting LISP Code to Visual Lisp

[Kerry]

*bump*
How'd you go ??

[boesiii]

Can someone explain the difference between autolisp and vlisp.  I thought they were both the same.

[Keith™]

AutoLISP is the AutoCAD incarnation of the lisp language developed as an intelligence language for robotics. It has been around for as long as I can remember.. I have been using AutoCAD since R10 ...

Vlisp aka Visual Lisp, is a recent addition to the lisp language structure for AutoCAD. Visual lisp has the added advantage of being able to include the type libraries of other programs and being able to interact seamlessly with programs that have type libraries. The Vlisp commands you will find hidden in AutoCAD (since R2000) are essentially the VBA commands exposed to the lisp environment, plus a few extras for good measure. Programmers often refer to the interfaces as ActiveX or COM. The neat thing is that just about anything you can code in VBA, you can code in Vlisp and operate on the programming using concepts such as objects, properties and methods.

For programming that does not support VBA, you may still be able to interact with them by importing functions exposed in their dlls. This can be a very tricky proposition, but it works beautifully once you understand the structure of the objects, methods, and properties.

I hope this gives you a little insight into the differences and if we can help, feel free to ask.

[Kerry]

............. The Vlisp commands you will find hidden in AutoCAD (since R2000) are essentially the VBA commands exposed to the lisp environment, plus a few extras for good measure.

.. actually, not VBA commands ..

VisualLisp has access to the methods properties and events exposed from the COM model through the ActiveX Automation interface, as does VB and VBA.

[Kerry]

This picccy may help ...

[Keith™]

............. The Vlisp commands you will find hidden in AutoCAD (since R2000) are essentially the VBA commands exposed to the lisp environment, plus a few extras for good measure.

.. actually, not VBA commands ..

VisualLisp has access to the methods properties and events exposed from the COM model through the ActiveX Automation interface, as does VB and VBA.

I prefered not to obfuscate. It may be easier for the virtual noob to understand that the vlisp commands are "essentially" the same as VBA commands, except they are exposed to lisp than to tell them that some as of yet undiscovered (to them) COM interface is the same in both instances. I know that when I first started learning vlisp, I had the hardest time understanding it until I understood the correlation between VBA and VLisp (i.e. the COM interface exposed to each environment).

Just trying to be helpul ...

[Kerry]

... I prefered not to obfuscate. .... 

.. and I do ?

[Keith™]

... I prefered not to obfuscate. .... 

.. and I do ?

evidently

[Keith™]

ob·fus·cate      [ob-fuh-skeyt, ob-fuhs-keyt]
–verb (used with object), -cat·ed, -cat·ing.
1. to confuse, bewilder, or stupefy. 
2. to make obscure or unclear: to obfuscate a problem with extraneous information. 
3. to darken.

[Kerry]

Keith I understand what obfuscate means.

Your post will leave anyone who reads it with the impression that VisualLisp functions are based on VB or are VB command wrapped to make them accessable.

This is blatently incorrect, and the situation that you defend your post by assuming that the original poster is incapable of understanding the facts, and then attempting to ridicule me leaves me amazed.

[Keith™]

Keith I understand what obfuscate means.

Your post will leave anyone who reads it with the impression that VisualLisp functions are based on VB or are VB command wrapped to make them accessable.

This is blatently incorrect, and the situation that you defend your post by assuming that the original poster is incapable of understanding the facts, and then attempting to ridicule me leaves me amazed.

I fail to see where I have ridiculed you or posted blatent incorrect information. I have already stated that the information you posted was correct and that I posted the information I did, in the way I did, so as to not confuse the situation.
Yes, perhaps I did assume that the poster would not understand the COM/ActiveX Automation .. and likely they don't and it only served to create more questions than it resolved .. I didn't state they were the same thing .. I meant that they operated in basically the same way .. i.e. things you can do in VBA (modify properties and invoke methods), you can do in VLisp as well. The reader is likely to understand that a whole lot easier. It was not meant as a commentary on how the programming language is implemented.

[Kerry]

So your assertion that I was attempting to obfuscate the situation was another of your belittling jokes. ?

[Keith™]

So your assertion that I was attempting to obfuscate the situation was another of your belittling jokes. ?

Sorry .. I don't see it. Maybe your post prior to that was meant as a belittling joke .. I dunno .. Like I said .. I don't see it ..