Datasheet

3. Choose Draw➪Line, or type line at the command prompt and press Enter.
4. Pick a point in the drawing window to start drawing a line.
5. On the status bar, click DYN until the button appears popped out. When a button
is popped out, the drafting setting is turned off, and in this case you toggled
Dynamic Input off.
Move the crosshairs in the drawing window; no dynamic input tooltips are dis-
played trailing the crosshairs. The dynamic input tooltip is an extension of the
Command Line window that displays the current command prompt and input
boxes that allow you to specify coordinate values, distances, or angles among
other values for the current command. For more information on dynamic input,
see the “Dynamic input” section later in this chapter.
6. Turn on Dynamic Input.
Move the crosshairs in the drawing window; the dynamic input tooltips display
trailing the crosshairs. With the LINE command active yet, you should see the
command prompt
Specify next point and a down arrow that allows you to
access the available command options. After the command prompt, you see two
input boxes that allow you to specify the X- and Y-coordinate values for the end
point for the line.
7. Turn on ortho mode.
Move the crosshairs in the drawing window; you can draw a straight line only in
90-degree increments starting with 0 because ortho mode constrains the coordi-
nate value horizontal or vertical from the previous point specified.
8. Turn off ortho mode.
You can now create a line at any angle that you want to.
9. Press Esc to exit the LINE command.
Exercise 1-5: Controlling the Display of Controls on the Status Bar
For this exercise, open a drawing (a new one or one from a previous exercise). Practice
controlling the display of controls on the status bar.
1. On the right side of the status bar area, click the Status Bar Menu button
(located to the left of the Clean Screen icon).
2. Select the controls that you want to display or hide on the status bar.
The items selected are displayed, and the ones that aren’t selected are currently
hidden. It’s a good idea to display only the controls that you frequently use.
Status bar tray
On the right side of the status bar is an area called the status bar tray. The status bar
tray provides access, via an icon, to features that you’re currently using in the active
drawing or AutoCAD. When the icon for a feature is displayed, you can click or right-
click the icon to access settings and other options for the feature. As you work in a
drawing, certain situations cause a notification balloon to be displayed. The notifica-
tion balloon lets you know when you’ve done something that affects your drawing,
such as adding a new layer that doesn’t match the current set of CAD standards or
completing a background plot. You can control the display of many of the icons or
toggle on and off the display of the status bar tray.
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Part I: Introducing AutoCAD
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