It might help if you attached a copy of the lisp routine to your next post so anyone interested in helping you doesn't have to go searching for it.  If I recall correctly that routine was developed back around 2000 or 2001.


Edited by John Connor - 22.Feb.2017 at 12:41

Did you recently change the version of AutoCAD being used?

Update.

So like you I am running AutoCAD 2017.  I downloaded the GETPAT.lsp routine, opened a drawing that utilized a custom hatch pattern and proceeded to run GETPAT.  It successfully created a .PAT file for the hatch pattern.  There was no "bad argument" error message.  It worked as advertised.  Don't know why you had an error.  What kinds of troubleshooting steps did you take?  Such as....

Did you try the routine on more than one hatch pattern?

Did you test it against one of the standard AutoCAD hatch patterns (ex. - Stars)?

Did you try downloading the lisp routine again?  Maybe your version became corrupted somehow.


Edited by John Connor - 22.Feb.2017 at 18:39

If you used GETPAT on every hatch you brought with you from another office then shouldn't you have copies of all those .PAT files on your hard drive?

What do you mean it doesn't work on standard hatches?  Name a standard hatch it does not work on.

I don't see why reinstalling AutoCAD would have any negative affect on the operation of the GETPAT lisp routine.

GETPAT does work, maybe not on your system but it does on every CAD workstation in our company.

The fact that you did not back up the individual custom hatch patterns created for you previously by GETPAT is no one's fault but your own.  Numerous sources warn us to be careful about mixing custom files in with the AutoCAD installation files and suggest that if we are going to do so to always keep a backup of the custom files in a separate folder.  You failed to do this.  Consider it a hard lesson learned.

I tested GETPAT on ANSI32 yesterday and it worked so I suspect that it would work on ANY standard hatch pattern but you are right, that's not what you need GETPAT for however your statement to the contrary was wildly incorrect.

If GETPAT worked up until a few days ago then perhaps the problem is somehow related to a Windows update although that seems pretty farfetched.  None-the-less, it would be easy enough to troubleshoot.  Find a Windows restore point that predates the day you first encountered the problem and roll your system back...then test.

Re: another lisp routine that does the same thing.  I think I came across one some time back but I would have to search my library of custom lisp routines to see if I retained a copy.  Sometimes even though I don't use certain routines in my day-to-day job a particularly unique routine will catch my interest and I'll download a copy just in case the day comes that someone else is looking for something similar.  When I get back to my CAD computer I'll see what I may have saved.  If I find anything of use to you I will upload it.


Edited by John Connor - 23.Feb.2017 at 11:41

smid: Did you ever find a solution to your problem?  Did you fix GetPat or did you use the PatOut lisp routine I mentioned above?