Datasheet

2. If the 3D Navigation toolbar is currently docked, click the gripper bar and drag
the toolbar over the drawing window.
You can lock the position of toolbars and dockable windows by clicking the
Toolbars/Window Lock icon in the status bar tray.
3. Click the title bar of the 3D Navigation toolbar and drag the toolbar along the left
side of the application window of AutoCAD. Release the mouse button to dock
the toolbar.
When the toolbar gets close enough to be docked, the drag preview of the tool-
bar switches from a horizontal to a vertical orientation.
Hold down Ctrl when dragging a toolbar or dockable window to keep it from
docking along the edge of the application window.
4. Close the toolbar.
Menus
Menus — or pull-down menus — are located on the menu bar and allow you to access
more commands than any other user interface in AutoCAD (other than the command
prompt). You can find most of the commands that you need when working on a draw-
ing on one of the 12 menus in AutoCAD. The menus in AutoCAD contain commands
that have been organized into related groups; for instance, commands that create
objects are on the Draw menu, and ones used for dimensioning are on the Dimension
menu. The main menus that are available in AutoCAD are located along the top of the
application window. When clicked, they appear to drop down from the main menu’s
name.
AutoCAD also offers context-sensitive menus that are available when you right-click
the drawing window. Context-sensitive menus offer different options based on whether
a command is active or even whether any objects are selected in the drawing before
you right-click. Both the main and shortcut menus use submenus to organize options
that are similar. Submenus are indicated by a small black arrow that points to the
right.
Menu items use special indicators that let you know what happens when you click or
access the item without using the menu in the future:
 A series of 3 periods (. . .): A dialog box displays when you choose the menu item.
 Shortcut key combination: The keyboard command is displayed to the right of
the menu item’s caption. For example, Ctrl+N is displayed next to the New menu
item. You can press Ctrl+N to start the NEW command.
If you hold down Shift before right-clicking, you can access the Object Snap Cursor
menu, which allows you to select an object snap override.
Dockable windows
Dockable windows — or palettes — are one of the newest user interfaces in AutoCAD.
They allow you to access settings and options without the need of closing them when
you’re done. AutoCAD offers a number of dockable windows that allow you to modify
the properties of an object; calculate distances; convert values to different units of
measurement; access reusable objects (blocks, materials, and visual styles) when creat-
ing or modifying a drawing; or work with sheet sets. AutoCAD comes with 14 dockable
windows, and you can launch most of them by choosing Tools
➪Palettes.
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Chapter 1: AutoCAD and the User Interface
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