Datasheet

Exercise 1-2: Customizing a Desktop Shortcut with Command Line Switches
In this exercise, you customize a desktop shortcut (see Exercise 1-1) to specify a tem-
plate for the default drawing and which workspace should be set current when
AutoCAD is first launched.
1. Access the Properties dialog box for your AutoCAD shortcut.
2. In the Properties dialog box, click the Shortcut tab.
3. On the Shortcut tab, position the cursor at the end of the path to the acad.exe
file in the Target text box and click.
4. Press the spacebar once to add a space after the executable file’s path. Then
enter this text:
/t acad3d.dwt /w “3D Modeling”
The /t command line switch uses the drawing template acad3d.dwt that ships
with AutoCAD to create the default drawing, and the
/w command line switch
sets the 3D modeling workspace current. After you add the text in the Target text
box, the text looks like the following:
“C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 2008\acad.exe” /t acad3d.dwt /w “3D
Modeling”
5. Click the General tab and change the name of the shortcut in the Name text box
near the top to
My AutoCAD.
6. Click OK to save the changes.
7. Double-click the shortcut to test the changes made.
AutoCAD launches with the default drawing based on the
acad3d.dwt file and
the 3D Modeling workspace is set current.
If the name of the drawing template, profile, or workspace contains a space, you must
wrap the name with double quotation marks in order for AutoCAD to interpret the
command line switches properly.
For additional information on other command line switches that are available for use
with an AutoCAD shortcut, see the Customize Startup topic in the AutoCAD Online
Help system.
Navigating the User Interface
The AutoCAD user interface — or UI as it’s often referred to — can be very overwhelm-
ing, but it doesn’t have to be. All you need is some understanding of how things are
laid out and what the various UI elements are. AutoCAD, like other Windows-based
applications, has pull-down menus, toolbars, a document area, and a status bar area,
but AutoCAD also has some unique user interface elements that aren’t found in a lot
of other applications. Some of the unique interface elements are a Command Line
window, dynamic input tooltips, and dockable windows. Figure 1-2 shows many of the
different user interface elements that are found in AutoCAD.
9
Chapter 1: AutoCAD and the User Interface
2. In Exercise 1-2, you create a command line switch for AutoCAD. To access the shortcut proper-
ties in order to add a command line switch, right-click and choose _______________.
05_097632 ch01.qxp 6/26/07 6:00 PM Page 9