Total Area Autocad Lisp

How to Create a Total Area AutoCAD LISP (and Use It)

This post shows a compact, reliable AutoLISP routine to calculate the total area of selected closed polylines and closed circle/ellipse-like objects in an AutoCAD drawing, plus instructions for loading and using it.

Part 1: What is a "Total Area AutoCAD Lisp"?

AutoLISP is a dialect of the Lisp programming language built specifically for automating tasks in AutoCAD. A Total Area Lisp is a script that automates the summation of area properties.

Instead of:

  1. Click AREA > Add area > Object.
  2. Select Polyline 1 (Area: 250 sq ft).
  3. Select Polyline 2 (Area: 300 sq ft).
  4. Write down "250" on a sticky note.
  5. Add to "300" manually.
  6. Repeat for 50 objects.

The Lisp does this in one command: TOTAREA (or similar). You select 50 objects, press Enter, and it instantly tells you: Total Area = 2750.00 Sq. Ft. total area autocad lisp

Part 6: Troubleshooting Common Errors

Even the best Lisp routines can fail. Here are the top 5 errors and how to fix them.

| Error Message | Cause | Solution | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | "No valid objects selected" | You selected lines, arcs, or blocks. | Convert lines/arcs into a single Polyline (PEDIT command). Explode blocks first. | | "; error: no function definition: VLAX-GET-AREA" | The Visual LISP extension is not loaded. | Type (vl-load-com) in the command line and press Enter, then retry TOTAREA. | | Area = 0.00 | The polyline is self-intersecting or not closed. | Check the polyline property Closed = Yes. Use OVERKILL to clean up geometry. | | Command: TOTAREA Unknown | The Lisp is not loaded correctly. | Re-run APPLOAD and ensure the file path is correct. Type (C:TOTAREA) manually. | | Area is astronomically large | Your drawing units are in millimeters (1 unit = 1mm). | Divide total by 1,000,000 to get Sq. Meters. Or modify the Lisp to (/ total 1000000). |

The Code: TOTAREA.LSP

Copy the following text exactly into a blank Notepad file. Save it with the name TOTAREA.LSP (ensure the extension is .lsp, not .txt). How to Create a Total Area AutoCAD LISP

;;; TOTAREA.LSP - Calculate total area of selected objects
;;; Command: TOTAREA
;;; Supports: LWPOLYLINE, CIRCLE, ELLIPSE, SPLINE, REGION, HATCH

(defun C:TOTAREA ( / ss total area obj_name obj_list i ent)
(princ "\nSelect objects to calculate total area: ")


;; Step 1: Create a selection set
(setq ss (ssget '((0 . "LWPOLYLINE,CIRCLE,ELLIPSE,SPLINE,REGION,HATCH"))))


;; Step 2: Exit if nothing is selected
(if (null ss)
(princ "\nNo valid objects selected.")
(progn
(setq total 0.0)      ; Initialize total to zero
(setq i 0)            ; Initialize counter Click  AREA  >  Add area  >  Object


  ;; Step 3: Loop through each object in the selection set
  (repeat (sslength ss)
    (setq ent (ssname ss i))        ; Get entity name
    (setq obj_name (cdr (assoc 0 (entget ent)))) ; Get object type
;; Step 4: Calculate area based on object type
    (cond
      ;; For Polylines, Circles, Ellipses, Splines
      ((member obj_name '("LWPOLYLINE" "CIRCLE" "ELLIPSE" "SPLINE"))
       (command "_.AREA" "_Object" ent)
       (setq area (getvar "AREA"))
      )
      ;; For Regions
      ((equal obj_name "REGION")
       (setq area (vla-get-area (vlax-ename->vla-object ent)))
      )
      ;; For Hatches
      ((equal obj_name "HATCH")
       (setq area (vla-get-area (vlax-ename->vla-object ent)))
      )
    )
;; Step 5: Add area to total
    (if area
      (setq total (+ total area))
      (princ (strcat "\nWarning: Could not compute area for object " (itoa i)))
    )
    (setq i (1+ i))    ; Increment counter
    (setq area nil)    ; Reset area variable
  ) ; end repeat
;; Step 6: Display the result
  (princ "\n=========================================")
  (princ (strcat "\n>>> TOTAL AREA: " (rtos total 2 2) " square units <<<"))
  (princ "\n=========================================")
) ; end progn



) ; end if
(princ) ; Clean exit
)

The result? Less grind, more design

That small script saves me 5–10 minutes every day. Over a year? That’s nearly 40 hours of not re-clicking and re-adding.

More importantly: I never second-guess my area totals again. No manual math errors. No missing a polyline behind a hatch.

The Most Popular Free Total Area LISP: TOTAREA.LSP

The most widely circulated free LISP for this task is often called TOTAREA.LSP or ADDTOTALAREA.LSP. While many versions exist, the core functionality is consistent.