AutoCAD automation has three routes: AutoLISP, .NET/ObjectARX and AI-assisted code. Which one fits your team size and maintenance load, in one decision table.
SolidWorks 2026 automates drawing generation and standard hardware recognition. Which minutes of the working day they give back — and which they never will.
AutoLISP is a language that runs inside AutoCAD and lets you write your own commands. What .lsp files do, its real limits, and when to move up to .NET.
What a SolidWorks macro is and how to write one: why recorded code breaks in production, how to harden it, what .swp really means, and 5 rules that hold up.
A SolidWorks macro is not an alternative to the API — it runs on it. Where the real line sits, what a macro handles well, and 8 signs you need an add-in.
What the SolidWorks API is and how it works: the SldWorks, ModelDoc2 and PartDoc hierarchy, the selection-based code trap, and a 5-step learning path.
SolidWorks add-in development in C#: the ISwAddin lifecycle, COM registration, CommandManager and TaskPane, event traps, and 8 mistakes that surface later.
Start from the problem, not the tool. A four-step method for CAD automation: measure the loss, draw the boundary, run a verifiable pilot, widen in the field.
2D to 3D conversion automation: cleanup and classification reach ~90% and ~80%, parametric wiring only ~20%. Why design intent is not in the drawing.
Vendors measure the generation step alone. Add preparation, verification and rework and the honest gain lands at 30-50% — with a payback you can calculate.
AI speeds up add-in scaffolding and API discovery, then gets COM lifetimes, version signatures and silent failures confidently wrong. Where I draw the line.
SolidWorks Python scripting with pywin32: connect to the API over COM, drive dimensions, rebuild once, export PDF or DXF — and dodge the COM traps.