A contractor I know is required to provide as builts. Not his cup of tea. He bought Autocad lite and can't figure how to get point files imported. I have absolutely no experience with the "lite" version.
Can anybody offer advice or experience so I can help this poor guy.
As far as I can tell, there is no "points", "import points" pulldown.
I think he's S.O.L..
You are correct, you can not easily import an ASCII file into AutoCAD light (or regular AutoCAD, for that matter). You need the LDD, C3D, Map, or some other Add-On to import ASCII files, I believe.
I do recall, many years ago, a poster said that he had written a LISP routine that would read a point file and make point like blocks in AutoCAD light ... I'm no help there, though. Like you said, I think he's SOL.
I do it with script files. They are pretty easy to learn - all you are really doing is emulating what you would do to manually enter the points, but automated.
As I now recall, that poster I meantioned above was Bruce Small ... and it was Script, not LISP.
Considering how much I have enjoyed your posts over the years, may I offer to help?
Does he have a PNEZD file? Doesn't matter if it is comma or space delimited, either one, or a mixture.
Does he want a 2D or a 3D drawing? In 3D the crosses will be at the actual elevation and the elevation will be annotated beside the cross. Yes, Lite will easily handle 3D.
If it is a PNEZD and you have the above answers, my address is bruce (dot) small (at) cox (dot) net
I used to use Autocad LT 98 till I started using Carlson/ACAD.
I would convert the point file to a DXF file (using my Nikon Transit Data Collector Software) and open the DXF file directly with Autocad LT.
Autocad LT & point files
Compare and choose the right AutoCAD® software product for you. See a comparison chart of AutoCAD LT® and AutoCAD, and compare AutoCAD LT 2012 with previous versions.
http://images.autodesk.com/adsk/files/autocadlt_2012_release_comparison_matrix_us.pdf
How to Make 3D Objects in Autocad LT
http://www.ehow.com/how_6655905_make-3d-objects-autocad-lt.html
I second Perry's approach using dxf files and then using "dxfin" to put the points in an ACAD drawing. They'll be inserted on layers 0,1,2 & 3 which you can rename or change the points to a different layer in the case of layer zero; which can't be renamed.
Autocad LT & point files
Or for a few bucks more he can buy Carlson Survey and have everything he needs without all of the gyrations.
