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CHAPTER 1 Exploring thE AutoCAD AnD AutoCAD lt intErfACE
Note
If you look carefully at the command descriptions in the tool tip, about halfway down you’ll see an odd
word with an icon to the left. This is the keyboard command equivalent to the highlighted option in
the menu. You can type these keyboard commands to start the tool or menu item that you’re pointing
to. You don’t have to memorize these command names, but knowing them will be helpful to you later
if you want to customize AutoCAD.
3. Some of the menu items have triangular arrowheads to their left. This means the option
has additional choices. For instance, click on the Zoom option and another set of options
appears below it. This new set of options is called a cascading menu. Whenever you see a
menu item with the triangular pointer, you know that this item opens a cascading menu
offering a more detailed set of options.
4. Other menu options are followed by an ellipsis (…). This indicates that the option dis-
plays a dialog box. For instance, move the highlight cursor to the Named View option in
the Menu Browser’s View option. The View Manager dialog box appears.
5. Click Cancel to exit the dialog box.
In addition to offering most of the AutoCAD commands, the Menu Browser gives you a con-
venient way to find recently used commands and files. If you look at the bottom of the Menu
Browser, you’ll see three items: Recent Documents, Open Documents, and Recent Actions, as
shown in Figure 1.6. If you point to or click on an option, the panel to the right changes to show
you a list pertaining to it. For example, if you point to Recent Documents, the panel to the right
displays a list of files on which you have recently worked.
Figure 1.5
The View option in
the Menu Browser
showing a typical
tool tip
Tool tip name
Description
Command name
Options with
arrowheads
expand to show
more options.
Options with icons
invoke commands
and will show tool
tips when you hover
your cursor over them.
Tool tips give a
brief description
of the option as
well as the proper
command name
for the option.
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