Toggle your Cursor Size in AutoCAD

I hope this post finds everyone safe and healthy. Autodesk University 2021 was digital again last year and I was able to present Professional Tips and Techniques on Sheet Sets in AutoCAD. With over 700 people on the question and answer session I found it fun and exciting, and yes I went very fast. Many questions were answered by the people on the call in the chat window along with myself and my moderator David Cohn (Thanks David!). One of my goals this year will be to provide updated screencasts providing you all of the answers to the use and functionality of Sheet Sets. Yes, including using within BIM360 as there were several questions surrounding that topic. We do not know what 2022 will bring at this time but it would be great to see everyone in person and present a class consolidating all of the material and notes I have gathered while teaching sheet sets at Autodesk University.

System variables are always a topic of discussion. For this tip I want to talk about the CURSORSIZE system variable in AutoCAD. For many years I have been using an Autolisp routine to switch the cursor size from 3 to 100, flipping back and forth. I find this helpful when working on design projects especially in tight areas where there is a lot of geometry. The ability to flip back and forth to get a better view can be helpful. For this I created a simple lisp routine named cx.lsp. To use the code copy and paste into notepad and save to a name cx.lsp (or your preferred name).

;;; Lisp Routine to toggle cursor size between 100 and 3.
;;; Simple lisp routine to flip the cursor size quickly in AutoCAD
;;;
(defun c:cx ()
(if ( = 100 (getvar “CURSORSIZE”))
(if (not PREV_CURSORSIZE)
(setvar “CURSORSIZE” 3) ; then
(setvar “CURSORSIZE” PREV_CURSORSIZE) ;else
) ;end if
;;;

This same concept can also be applied by creating a macro and placing it on a tool palette as shown below. The first macro will set the cursor size to 100 and the one below will change back to a 3. The images below show how this simple macro can change that system variable quickly and one additional image using diesel code to create a cursor toggle.  Copy and paste the code into your button properties on the tool palette.

Macros to change the cursor from 100 to 3

1. ^C^C_CURSORSIZE;100
2. ^C^C_CURSORSIZE;3

Macro to toggle cursor size using Diesel:

3. ^C^C$M=$(if,$(=,$(getvar,cursorsize),100),cursorsize;3;;,cursorsize;100;;)

At Autodesk University in the past I presented a lab and lecture on macros in AutoCAD. Many macros and exercises are provided with the handout and you can find a link to the classes here:

Mighty Macros: Powerful commands to pump up productivity.

Pumping up Productivity in the LAB with Macros, One Character at a Time

In some of my future posts I am going to start shifting over to Map 3D and Civil 3D. Although I love writing about AutoCAD, I primarily use Civil 3D in my workflow and have some fun topics to share in the future

Stay healthy and safe wherever in the World you may be – until next month – Sam