Startup options
When starting up BricsCAD, it is possible to add arguments or switches. For example:
- The Command line "BricsCAD.exe drawing1.dwg drawing2.dwg drawing3.dwg” starts BricsCAD and loads the specified drawings.
- The Command line "bricscad.exe /P MyProfile" starts BricsCAD using the MyProfile user profile.
"/P MyProfile" is called a Command line switch. Both a slash or a hyphen are accepted to precede the switch, e.g. "-P MyProfile" will works. The space is optional, e.g. "/PMyProfile" would also work, and the switch character is case insensitive, e.g. "-p MyProfile" is also fine.
| Switch | Description |
|---|---|
| /P [userProfileName] |
Starting without the /P option, BricsCAD uses the current profile (= the most recently used profile) which is not necessarily the Default profile. If the user profile specified with the /P option doesn't exist at startup, then a new empty user profile will be created with that name. If the /P argument is an .arg file the arg file is used to initialize the profile settings on the first run (See Starting BricsCAD with a specific profile). |
| /B [scriptFileName.scr] |
Runs a script (*.scr) or lisp (*.lsp) at startup. Opens all the file types that can be dragged and dropped on the application main frame window. If you pass filenames without a parameter, they are opened as if they had been passed with /B. Therefore, bricscad.exe mylisp.lsp is exactly the same as bricscad.exe /B mylisp.lsp, and bricscad.exe my.dwg is identical to bricscad.exe /B my.dwg. |
| /L | Suppresses the startup splash screen. |
| /LD [application.arx/brx/drx/lsp] | Loads an application on startup and on every new or opened drawing depending on the file extension. If the file extension is .lsp/.des/.mnl, it is treated as a lisp file and loaded in every drawing. Other file types are loaded only once at startup. |
| /Safemode |
Prevents all third party plug-in code, enablers and user lisp files from loading in the current session. Starting in a clean environment can prevent potential crash causes. See Launching BricsCAD in safe mode. |
| /S [path] | Redefines the SRCHPATH system variable. e.g. BricsCAD.exe /S C:\BricsCAD\ |
| /T [TemplateFileName] | Creates a new drawing based on the template drawing specified. |
| regserver unregserver |
To register/unregister BricsCAD COM. Please note these arguments are to be used without a preceding "/". |
- Switch arguments containing spaces should be enclosed by double quotes, e.g. /P "My user profile".
- Switches can be combined, for example /P MyProfile /L /S C:\BricsCAD\ starts BricsCAD using the MyProfile user profile without the splash screen and sets the SRCHPATH system variable to C:\BricsCAD\ .
- Switches /B and /LD enable all sorts of files to be loaded, some maybe not expected. For example, .cui, .dsd, .txt, .pdf types are also processed.
- If GETSTARTED = ON when you launch BricsCAD, the BricsCAD Launcher dialog box appears, which lets you choose the workspace.
Besides these switches, BricsCAD supports file names as Command line arguments.
Supported file types are:
- DWG - to load a drawing
- DXF - to load a drawing
- SCR - to load a script
- LSP - to load a LISP program
- DLL - to load an ADS/SDS or DRX/ARX program
- SLD - to load a slide file
- MNU - to load a menu file
- CUI - to load a menu file