Visual LISP

Short answer

An extended LISP environment in AutoCAD that adds an IDE, debugger, COM access, and the ability to compile to FAS or VLX.

Visual LISP (VLISP) extends AutoLISP with an integrated development environment, a debugger, ActiveX/COM bindings, and compilation to .fas or .vlx files. The IDE is launched with the VLIDE (or VLISP) command. Visual LISP functions are prefixed with vl-, vla-, or vlax- — for example vl-load-com to enable ActiveX. Most modern AutoCAD plugins written in LISP are technically Visual LISP because they use vla- functions to talk to objects and reactors.

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AutoCAD LISP Routines

Hundreds of verified AutoLISP and Visual LISP routines for AutoCAD: .lsp source, compiled .fas, and bundled .vlx applications. Loaded with APPLOAD, version-friendly, malware-scanned.

Related terms

AutoLISP

Autodesk's dialect of LISP, built into AutoCAD since 1986, used to write custom commands and automate drawings.

FAS

A compiled, single-file binary of an AutoLISP/Visual LISP routine. Faster to load and obscures the source code.

VLX

A compiled Visual LISP application that bundles multiple .lsp/.fas files, DCL dialogs, and resources into one file.