User`s guide

14 ■ Chapter 1: Taking the AutoCAD Tour
About Shortcut Menus
The shortcut menu is context-sensitive. When you right-click in the graphics window, you can use the
options presented on the shortcut menu to perform a variety of tasks. Context-sensitive means that
the menu will change depending on what you are currently doing in the software. For example, if you
are at the Command prompt your shortcut menu will have different options available than if you are
in the Pline command.
Definition of Shortcut Menu
Shortcut menu options are organized into different areas. The options that are made available to you
are based on the current context of your work and will change when you activate the shortcut menu.
The following image shows the shortcut menu as it appears when you are creating a polyline.
The top area of the menu offers
Enter, Cancel, and Recent Input
options.
The middle area of the menu offers
options specific to the current
command. Notice how the options
on the menu match the options
on the command line. To use an
option for a command, select the
option on the shortcut menu. This
has the same effect as typing the
capital letter(s) of the option on
the command line.
The lower area of the menu offers
Pan and Zoom functions and access
to the QuickCalc command.
Key Points
■ The shortcut menu is context-sensitive, so its options differ depending on the current context of
the software, for example, whether you are drawing or editing.
■ You can use the shortcut menu as an alternative to entering command options on the command
line. This speeds up the design process and is the preferred method for working with sub-options
of the active command.