Datasheet

For the most part, you don’t need to worry about entering an apostrophe (‘) in front of
the command’s name when using a menu or toolbar to start a command because it’s
part of the macro for the user interface element.
Command alias
AutoCAD uses command aliases as an option to starting commands. A command alias is
an abbreviation that is assigned to a command. It’s used to access a command from the
command prompt without having to enter its full name. Command aliases are typically
one to three characters in length, but some aliases are longer. Examples of some aliases
are L for the LINE command and 3DO for 3DORBIT. Command aliases are stored in a file
named
acad.pgp and are loaded automatically when you start AutoCAD.
Although AutoCAD ships with a number of command aliases, you can add your own
command aliases. They’re stored in the
acad.pgp file. To open it, choose Tools➪
Customize➪Edit Program Parameters (acad.pgp). For additional information on creat-
ing and modifying command aliases, see the Define Custom Commands topic in the
Online Help system of AutoCAD. After modifying the
acad.pgp file, you have to either
close and restart AutoCAD for the changes to take effect or use the REINIT command
to reload all the aliases in the acad.pgp file without restarting AutoCAD.
If you don’t remember the full name of a command but know the first few letters of it,
you can enter those at the command prompt and then press Tab until you find the
command you are looking for. After the command’s name is displayed at the command
prompt, press Enter to use it.
Repeating a command
When you’re working in a drawing, you sometimes want to use the same command
multiple times in a row. AutoCAD allows you to repeat the previous command without
having to select it from a user interface element again, making it much more efficient
to continue using the command.
You can use these methods to repeat a previously used command:
 Press Enter when no command is active.
 Press the spacebar when no command is active.
 Press the Up arrow key when no command is active and press Enter. You can
step back to retrieve previously used commands within the current session and
not just the most recently used command.
 Right-click the drawing window and choose Repeat Command Name.
 Right-click the drawing window and choose Recent Input➪command_name.
 Right-click the Command Line window and choose Recent
Commands
➪command_name.
Canceling the current command
Sometimes you might find yourself using a command, and all of a sudden you want to
stop using it and switch to a different one. If you don’t want to complete the current
command, press Esc or right-click and choose Cancel from the contextual menu.
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Part I: Introducing AutoCAD
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