Streamlining The PEDIT Command

Object selected is not a polyline
Do you want to turn it into one? <Y>

This is a prompt that we have all seen thousands of times. It shows up every time that you select an object with the PEDIT command that is not a polyline. Personally, I have always wondered why AutoCAD is asking me this. If I didn’t want the object to be a polyline then I wouldn’t have used the PEDIT command! Don’t get me wrong I’m all for being careful and I believe in the philosophy of “measure twice, cut once” but this is ridiculous. We are treating the conversion of an object to a polyline with redundancy similar to using two separate keys to unlock the launch sequence of a nuclear missile.

Ok, maybe I’m getting a bit carried away, but if you are trying to be more productive and save as many keystrokes as possible, then this seems like an obvious candidate to be fixed. And with the introduction of AutoCAD 2004 Autodesk has finally done just that by adding a new system variable, PEDITACCEPT. Just type PEDITACCEPT at the command line and set the value to 1. Now you will never be asked that question “Object selected is not a polyline Do you want to turn it into one? <Y>” again.

Author

Rick Ellis, president of CADapult Software Solutions, Inc, has worked with and taught Autodesk Civil 3D, along with Map 3D and other Autodesk products since the mid-90s. He is the Author of several critically acclaimed books on Autodesk Civil 3D, AutoCAD Map 3D, Land Desktop and Carlson Software; including the Practical Guide series.

Rick continues to use Autodesk Civil 3D on projects in a production environment, in addition to teaching classes to organizations both large and small around the country, helping them get the most out of their design software investment.

This practical background and approach has made him an award winning speaker at Autodesk University and a sought after instructor by organizations around the world.