Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Here are a few other tips and tricks for effective keyboarding:
Use the Esc key to bail out of the current operation.
Sometimes you might get
confused about what you're doing in AutoCAD and/or what you're seeing in the
command window or the Dynamic Input tooltip. If you need to bail out of the cur-
rent operation, just press Esc one or more times until you see a blank command
line —
Command:
at the bottom of the command window, with nothing after it. As
in most other Windows programs, Esc is the cancel key. Unlike many other Win-
dows programs, AutoCAD keeps you well informed of whether an operation is in
progress. The blank command line indicates that AutoCAD is resting, waiting for
your next command.
Press Enter to accept the default action.
Some command prompts include a de-
fault action in angled brackets. For example, the first prompt of the POLYGON
command is
Enter number of sides <4>:
The default here is four sides, and you can accept it simply by pressing Enter.
(That is, you don't have to type
4
first.)
AutoCAD uses two kinds of brackets when it prompts.
•
Command options
appear in regular square brackets:
[Close/Undo]
.
To activate a command option, type the letter(s) that appear in uppercase and
then press Enter. The Dynamic Input tooltip doesn't display options in brack-
ets; instead, you press the down-arrow key to display additional command
options in rows next to the crosshairs.
• A
default value or option
appears in angled brackets:
<4>
.
To choose the default value or option, simply press Enter. Default values in
angled brackets appear in both the Dynamic Input tooltip and the command-
line prompts.
You don't always have to press Enter to forward your input to AutoCAD.
Depending on what you're doing, you can often right-click and choose Enter from
the top of the right-click menu. And most efficient of all, even for the most inept
typists, you can use the spacebar as an Enter key — as long as you're not entering
text.
