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Import 3D Points From Excel Print

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Tip# ALSP403 By Tony Hotchkiss On 01-Apr-2003

Downloaded : 4984
Categories : 3D Operations, Import
Software type : AutoCAD
Rename File To : IMPORT-3D-POLY.LSP

import-3D-poly.lsp imports x,y,z coordinates from Excel spreadsheet and draws polyline.

Two readers want to import Excel spreadsheet data into AutoCAD. David Rodrigues wants to bring a DOS text file saved from an
Excel spreadsheet into AutoCAD. John Kuenzle of Waukesha, Wisconsin, needs to create 3D polylines from x,y,z coordinates
stored in an Excel spreadsheet. IMPORT-3D-POLY.LSP takes a set of x,y,z coordinates from a comma-delimited text file and
creates a 3D polyline. A comma-delimited text file is a file type you can save directly from an Excel spreadsheet. Figure 1 shows
a sample Excel spreadsheet, and figure 2 shows the corresponding comma-delimited text file. The result of running IMPORT-3D-
POLY.LSP appears in figure 3. More than a thousand 3D points went into creating this 3D polyline in the form of a helical coil.

HOW TO USE IMPORT-3D-POLY.LSP

Download the file from the Get the Code section and save it in the AutoCAD support directory. From the AutoCAD tools menu,
choose Load Applications, or enter Appload at the AutoCAD Command prompt. In the Load/Unload Applications dialog box,
select the IMPORT-3D-POLY.LSP file from the support directory where you installed it, then click Close. After you load the
program, AutoCAD prompts you to enter PL3 to start.

IMPORT-3D-POLY.LSP displays the 3D Points File dialog box shown in figure 4, where you can locate the text file that contains
the required points. No further user interaction is required. The 3D polyline is drawn on the current layer.

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