Datasheet

Before you press Esc, make sure that you don’t want to complete the current com-
mand. When you press Esc, you might lose some of the changes that you made.
Exercise 1-9: Starting and Canceling a Command
For this exercise, create a new drawing and set the AutoCAD Classic workspace cur-
rent. Then practice starting and canceling commands from a menu, toolbar, and com-
mand prompt.
1. Choose Draw➪Modeling➪Box.
2. Click a point in the drawing window.
3. At the command prompt, enter ‘pan and press Enter.
4. Click in the drawing window and drag in any direction to pan. When you’re
finished panning, press Enter to resume the BOX command.
5. Right-click and choose Cancel to end the BOX command.
The BOX command exits without adding a new object to the drawing.
6. Click the Erase icon on the Modify toolbar.
7. Press Esc to cancel the ERASE command.
8. At the command prompt, enter co and press Enter.
CO is the command alias for the COPY command, so the COPY command starts.
9. Exit the COPY command with the method of your choice.
10. Repeat the last command with the method of your choice.
Press Enter or the spacebar or use one of the options from a shortcut menu.
Dynamic input
Dynamic input allows you to get prompts near the location of the crosshairs without
having to look up and down between the Command Line window and the drawing
window. Not only does dynamic input allow you to save on some neck strain, but it
keeps your focus in the drawing window where you do most of your work inside
AutoCAD.
Based on the current settings of dynamic input when it is enabled, AutoCAD provides
feedback to you on the current location of the crosshairs when no command is active
and then provides multiple ways to specify coordinates and values when certain com-
mands are active. For example, when the LINE command is active, dynamic input
tooltips allow you to input the X and Y coordinate for the line object to start at. Then
when the first point is selected, two dynamic input dimensions are displayed: one for
the distance of the line and the second for the angle of the time. For more information
on changing the way dynamic input works, see Chapter 3.
Dialog boxes
Command line input and options are the most common forms of providing information
to AutoCAD, but in some cases, it can be a complex process. When you can benefit
from a dialog box instead of a command line, a dialog box is provided. As in many
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Chapter 1: AutoCAD and the User Interface
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