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Background Mask Extender
April 24, 2004, the Background Mask Extender was launched as a Beta on the internet. What started off as a weekend project to dig into the backend of AutoCAD 2005 turned out to be an adventure. Out of this adventure can what is now the Background Mask Extender. Originally this program was never meant to be released and was built to explorer some of the new features of Mtext and Dimensions and that is why Beta 1 seems a little rough around the edges.

Click here to download the Background Mask Extender

Beta 1:
The application was built and test to ensure that it would function correctly in its current state. Although not a polished application it allowed for the new Background Mask feature in AutoCAD to be applied or removed much easier from Mtext and Dimensions.

The commands there were introduced in the first Beta were as follows:
-DIMSTYLEMASK
-DIMMASK
-MTEXTMASK
DIMMASK
MTEXTMASK

Beta 2:
Beta 2 was built in quick response to what seemed to be a tool that took off out of no where in my eyes. So what Beta 2 addressed is useability while adding some additional features. The Beta 2 release was built to reflect how most standard commands in AutoCAD work. Pickfirst is supported, but there is still an issue with things not remaining highlighted, so it isn't quite the same as a command like Copy in this area yet. Prompts that are normally echoed to the command line are suppressed when used in AutoLISP.

The commands there were in Beta2 are as follows:
-DIMSTYLEMASK
-DIMMASK
-MTEXTMASK
DIMMASK
MTEXTMASK
MASKHELP

-DIMSTYLEMASK
The -DIMSTYLEMASK command is used to assign a Fill Color to a Dimension Style.

Specify Dimension Style Name: standard
Choose Mask Color [None/Background/Select] <Background>:

The Choose Mask Color prompt is as follows:

None	Removes the Fill Color.
Background	The Fill Color will take on the current layout color.
Select	Allows you to specify a color from one of the three color models that AutoCAD supports. The three color models are ACI (AutoCAD Color Index), True or Color Book.

DIMMASK/-DIMMASK
The DIMMASK command is used to assign a Fill Color to a Dimension resulting in an override of the Fill Color assigned to the Dimension Style.

Note: Use the -DIMMASK command when working from the command line or using AutoLISP.

Select Dimensions to Apply Mask to:
Specify Dimension Style Name: standard
Choose Mask Color [Remove/None/Background/Select] <Background>:

The Choose Mask Color prompt is as follows:

Remove	Removes the current Fill Color assigned to the Dimension. If the Dimension Style has a Fill Color assigned to it you may not see a change after running the command.
None	Assigns the Dimension to not use a Fill Color even if the Dimension Style is assigned one.
Background	The Fill Color will take on the current layout color.
Select	Allows you to specify a color from one of the three color models that AutoCAD supports.  The three color models are ACI (AutoCAD Color Index), True or Color Book.

MTEXTMASK/-MTEXTMASK
The MTEXTMASK command is used to assign a Fill Color and a Border Offset to a Mtext object.

Note: Use the -MTEXTMASK command when working from the command line or using AutoLISP.

Select Mtext object(s) to apply mask to:
Color: Background     Border Offset Factor 1.5000
Change Mask Option [Border offset factor/Color]:

Enter Border Offset Factor [1.5000]:

The Border Offset Factor must be in a range of 1 to 5.


Choose Mask Color [None/Background/Select] :

The Choose Mask Color prompt is as follows:

None	Removes the Fill Color
Background	The Fill Color will take on the current layout color.
Select	Allows you to specify a color from one of the three color models that AutoCAD supports.  The three color models are ACI (AutoCAD Color Index), True or Color Book.

MASKHELP
The MASKHELP command gets you to the this help page where you can check for updates, known defects or other information on the commands in this tool set.


Additional Download Links
Previous version download for Background Mask Extender