Sleep It Over
By Jos van Doorn
That's my motto. Sleep it over. I'm an AutoCAD
specialist and an AutoLISP programmer. People want
something from me.
Very often I've got an answer to their questions. But
sometimes I don't have an answer. And I need to think
about the answer first.
Or I'm working on an AutoLISP application. I want to do
something. And then I cannot find how to do it. No
problem. No sweat.
I sleep it over. There is a problem and I sleep the
problem over. I just step away from the problem and do
something completely different.
That always works. I step away from the problem. Maybe
the next day. Maybe two days later. And then I've found
the solution to the problem.
That is how it works with me. I step away from the
problem. But the problem is not out of my mind. I keep
on working on the problem.
This time I'm working on the problem in an unconscious
way. I'm not really thinking actively about the
problem. It's in my unconscious mind.
When I'm doing that all of a sudden there is the
solution. Let's say it is a brain wave. All of a sudden
I know what to do.
Let me give you an example of a problem I had. It is a
real stupid example. But that's how all examples of a
problem are if you look back at them.
I was creating my own hatch pattern. I was in a text
editor. I was in Notepad. And then I saved the changes
to the PAT file.
I started AutoCAD. And I tried to find the hatch
pattern I just had created. But it didn't show up. I
couldn't find it.
How is that possible? What the hell is the matter? I
had created a hatch pattern. I was absolutely sure. And
now I couldn't find it.
Only for a short while I thought the problem over. I
went to the Help files of AutoCAD. But they didn't give
me an answer.
But that is AutoCAD. AutoCAD works with very bad Help
files. And very often wrong information or incomplete
information is given by AutoCAD.
I don't understand this. AutoCAD is a leading program
in the world of CAD. But Autodesk doesn
