Function Entry: ENTGET

← Prev | ↑ Chapter | Next → | Index | Symbols

Function Entry: ENTGET

Name

entget

Class

Host Function

Syntax

(entget ename [applist])

Arguments and Values

  • ename: entity name
  • applist: optional list of registered application names

Description

Returns the definition data of an entity as an association list of dotted pairs.

Return Values

Association list representing the entity definition.

If applist is supplied, Autodesk documents that entget also retrieves extended data for the specified registered applications.

Side Effects

None.

Affected By

  • validity of the entity name
  • the optional application filter list

Exceptional Situations

Erroneous if the entity name is invalid or unacceptable to the host.

Examples

  • (entget ename) => ((-1 . <ename>) (0 . "LINE") …)

Compatibility

This is one of the central functions of the AutoLISP host database model.

Notes

entget strongly reinforces the importance of alists and dotted pairs in the language specification.

Autodesk explicitly notes that AutoLISP DXF group codes differ slightly from those in DXF files.

clautolisp

The returned list begins with the (-1 . <ename>) pair and carries the (5 . "<handle>") pair, then the entity's group codes. Without the applist argument, extended data (xdata) is suppressed; supply a list of registered application names — or the wildcard "*" — to append the matching applications' xdata as a trailing (-3 …) group, per the vendor contract. clautolisp stamps the well-known (100 . "AcDb…") subclass markers and a (8 . "0") layer default at entmake~/~entmakex time, so an entget right after a create surfaces more group codes than were supplied; the exact default-code set and marker ordering are being verified against AutoCAD/BricsCAD through the portable entity probes and are not normative.

XData round-trips losslessly through entget~/~entmod. The full group-code set is preserved verbatim — 1000 string, 1001 appname, 1002 control string {~/}~ (nested), 1003 layer, 1004 binary, 1005 handle, 1010/1011/1012/1013 points, 1040 real, 1041/1042 dist/scale, 1070 int16, 1071 int32 — with order and multiplicity within each application preserved (the host never normalizes xdata). entmod edits xdata per application: an application present in the supplied (-3 …) cell replaces that application's group; an application with an empty group is removed; applications absent from the cell are left untouched.

Availability

  • AutoCAD 2026: documented (per Autodesk reference page).
  • BricsCAD V26: presumed compatible (no contradicting page found).
  • Status: AutoCAD documented; BricsCAD presumed-both pending Phase 4 verification.