1. Install RegObj (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297292)

2. Install Redemption (http://www.dimastr.com/redemption/)

3. Enable Journaling in Outlook before continuing.

4. At this point make sure you are archiving the Journal folder. If you don't set up some kind of archiving your system will come to a crawl everytime you save your drawings. Right click on the Journal folder and click on Properties. Click on the AutoArchive tab. If AutoArchive is set to "Do not archive" you need to change it. If it is set to "Archive using default settings" check the settings to be sure they are set to a reasonable time period. I recommend archiving at least once every month. You can go as low as once a week. 2 weeks is a good setting. It is up to you if you choose to archive the entries or if you wish to just delete the old journal entries.

5. Shutdown both AutoCAD and Outlook before proceeding.

6. Extract files to a folder which also appears in your AutoCAD support paths, or add the folder you extracted the files into to the AutoCAD support paths in the options. Such as "C:\Program Files\AutoCAD\Support".

7. Run the "AutoJournal.reg" file to setup the AutoCAD journal type for Outlook by double clicking the file.

8. Add
        (command "_.-vbarun" "AutoJournal.dvb!MainModule.InitializeEvents")
to the top of your "acad.lsp" file located in your AutoCAD support folder. If you do not have an "acad.lsp" file you can create one using Notepad. Add the line above and also
        (princ)
as the last line. Save this file to the autocad suppport folder (normally C:\Program Files\Autocad\Support or C:\Documents and Settings\<USER PROFILE>\Application Data\Autodesk\<PROGRAM NAME>\<PROGRAM VERSION>\enu\Support). Make sure you save this as a LSP file and not as a TXT file. When you save, select "All files (*.*)" from the Save as Type dropdown.

9. Start AutoCAD and open a file. Check Outlook to see if a new journal entry is created. It should have "0 minutes" as the duration.

10. Whenever you save the file you are working on AutoJournal will record this info in the journal's message body. Also when you save the drawing as another name it will record this in the journal of both the old and new drawing names.

11. Whenever you plot the file AutoJournal will record the date and time you plotted. It will also add "(plotted)" to the name of the journal entry so you can see at a glance which files you plotted recently.

12. When you close the drawing it will save the edit time as the duration and enter a Closed in the log.

13. You can control whether drawings are recorded in the Outlook Journal by changing the settings in Outlook.


Send bugs and comments to: jimstools@itlan.kicks-ass.org