Spatial Manager™ for AutoCAD - FAQs: How to Start?

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A powerful AutoCAD plug-in but, how to Start it?

First of all you need to install Spatial Manager™ for AutoCAD by executing the setup program. The name of the file to run will be different for each release of the application. It will appear as follows: SpatialManagerforAutoCAD-X.exe, where "X" is the release number of the application

32-bit and 64-bit versions: there are 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Spatial Manager™ for AutoCAD but you do not need to worry about what platform is selected because the setup program automatically chooses the same version as the AutoCAD installed


Next, you will see the Spatial Manager™ for AutoCAD icon placed on the Windows Desktop, which will let you return to this Wiki page anytime you want to


SpatialManagerforAutoCAD-Icon.png


Finally, when you install Spatial Manager™ for AutoCAD, the setup application also adds the Interface components to AutoCAD and a Sample data set including some spatial files to your system. Watch this short video and follow the next steps to learn how to start using the application and to check that everything works fine


  • Start AutoCAD and create a new drawing or open an existing drawing
  • Select the new "Spatial Manager" tab which you will find in the AutoCAD Ribbon


File:SpatialManagerforAutoCAD-Ribbon3.png


  • Click on the "Palette" button to open the SPATIALMANAGER palette, which includes the main functions of Spatial Manager™ for AutoCAD
    • If you cannot or you do not want to access to the Ribbon, key in "SPM" in the Command line to open the palette
    • Problems with the AutoCAD Ribbon? See the Notes below
  • Expand the "Sample data" Shortcut to access the sample Shapefiles (SHP)
  • Right-click over any Shapefile (SHP) to import the spatial information as BricsCAD Objects into the current drawing or into a new drawing
  • Use default parameters in all Wizard steps
  • Check the imported AutoCAD Objects
    • Note for the Trial version: during the testing period you will not be able to import more than 100 Objects from a file
  • Try to import more Shapefiles into the same drawing or into new drawings selecting different import parameters
  • Try to import another kind of spatial files such as Google Earth KML, GPS/GPX, SQLite or XYZ point files


Notes about the AutoCAD Ribbon issues:

  • If you have no AutoCAD Ribbon, you can open it using the "_RIBBON" command in AutoCAD
  • Cannot see the "Spatial Manager" tab in the Ribbon? Try to run AutoCAD applying a clean profile
  • Other AutoCAD Ribbon issues


So what now?

Now you can try to import your own spatial data and create your own Shortcuts and User Data Sources. We recommend you take a look to these Wiki pages to learn more about:

And some useful links to other pages of Spatial Manager™ for AutoCAD:

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