Datasheet

Starting Commands  15
Next, try deleting the rectangle you just drew:
1. Place the cursor on top of the rectangle, but don’t do anything yet. Notice that as you
pass the cursor over the rectangle, it is highlighted. In a crowded drawing, this high-
lighting can help you determine exactly what will be selected when you click an object.
2. With the cursor on the rectangle and the rectangle highlighted, click the rectangle.
The rectangle is selected, and the Quick Properties dialog box opens. This dialog box
gives you access to the properties of the selected object.
3. Close the Quick Properties dialog box by clicking the X in its upper-right corner.
You’ll see a message box asking whether you want to “turn off the Quick Properties
panel for all future selected objects.”
4. Click the answer that says “Turn off for all future selected objects.” You can easily
restore the Quick Properties panel feature at
any time by clicking the Quick Properties Panel
tool in the status bar.
You’ll learn more about the Quick Properties panel in Chapter 4.
5. The rectangle is still selected, so press the Delete key to delete it. This removes the
rectangle from the drawing.
In step 1, AutoCAD shows you exactly what the cursor is pointing to by highlighting
objects that will be selected with the next click.
When drawing and erasing the rectangle, you were exposed to the most common pro-
cesses you need to know about to work in AutoCAD: you selected a command from the
menu bar, and then you selected points in the drawing area while following the messages in
the command line. Commands from the toolbars work in the same way, as you’ll see next.
UNDERSTANDING THE COMMANDTOOLOPTION RELATIONSHIP
One of AutoCAD’s greatest assets is its ability to adjust to your way of performing tasks. If you prefer using toolbars,
you can switch to the AutoCAD Classic workspace, which shows the older style toolbars and menu bar. If you stay with
the 2D Drafting & Annotation workspace, the Ribbon offers the most commonly used functions in AutoCAD. Experi-
enced users know how to use the command line and know nearly all the commands by heart.
The AutoCAD commands are really at the heart of its operations. Menu bar options, the Ribbon, and the toolbar
buttons are just different ways to invoke AutoCAD commands. When you click a Ribbon tool or a menu option, you
are really initiating a command through AutoCAD’s menu system, sometimes with predetermined options already
selected. In fact, if you watch the command line as you click an Application menu option or Ribbon button, you’ll see
that the messages in the command line are the same regardless of where you invoked the command.
For this reason, I’ll often intermix the terms tool, option, and command, because at a practical level they are all the
same. Just be aware that the Application menu options and Ribbon buttons invoke commands.
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