Function Entry: GETREAL

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Function Entry: GETREAL

Name

getreal

Class

Function

Syntax

(getreal [msg])

Arguments and Values

  • msg: optional prompt string

Description

Prompts the user for a real-number value.

Return Values

Real or nil.

Side Effects

  • prompts the user
  • consumes interactive input

Compatibility

This function is an important bridge between textual/numeric input and the host's numeric conventions.

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.

Notes

  • Autodesk documents that the user cannot respond with another AutoLISP expression.

clautolisp

clautolisp implementation deviation — not part of the normative specification above. AutoCAD and BricsCAD collect this real through the graphical drawing editor's command line (implicitly a GUI). clautolisp has no drawing editor — it writes the prompt to the standard output and reads the answer as one line of text from the standard input (a TUI interaction). Interactively this is the REPL's terminal; for scripted, deterministic runs it is the file attached with --mock-input. A live CAD host, when connected, restores the native GUI behavior. On the TUI the line is read as a real number; input that is not a number returns nil rather than re-prompting.