LT Unlimited

Toggle Command Line Display

This post will probably be something that you store away for future reference, rather than something you put into practice right away. It’s about turning the command line on and off.

There are two ways to turn off the command line: COMMANDLINEHIDE and Ctrl+9. The first time you use either method, you’ll get a dialog asking if you’re sure you want to do this:

Conveniently, this dialog also tells you how to get the command line back again: Press Ctrl+9 again. (You can also use COMMANDLINE.)

Please note that I’m NOT recommending that you turn off your command line. Dynamic Input is great, but it’s not a replacement for being able to see options, input, and inquiry results with a quick glance at the bottom of the screen.

But if you want to give it a try, F2 will still show you your recent command history, even if the command line itself is turned off. More likely, though, this will be a bit of information you can file away for the next time one of your colleagues comes to you in a panic because his or her command line has gone missing – and you’ll know how to fix it!

Are you using AutoCAD WS? Tell us about it!

Have you tried AutoCAD WS yet? If not, what are you waiting for? It’s free, runs on your web browser or your Apple mobile device, and it’s part of Autodesk’s Single Sign-On, so you probably don’t even need to create a new account. (If you’re a member of our discussion forums or Autodesk Labs, you’re in!)

If you have begun to incorporate AutoCAD WS into your workflow, we want to hear about it. The AutoCAD WS blog has a short form that you can fill out if you’re interested in talking with us about your experiences with the product so far.

Share your AutoCAD WS story.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Break or Split Objects

I’m heading over to the Modify panel today to talk about two related buttons there – Break and Break At Point.

The regular Break command inserts a gap between two points on an object, splitting it into two new objects.

By default, the click you use to select the object to be broken is the same as the click that defines the first point of the break.

You can either accept that first point (which may or may not be accurate enough) and click again to specify the second point, or enter F to pick a new, more precise first point and then the second point.

Break points don’t have to be actually on the object. If you click nearby instead, that point is projected onto the object. Of course, you can always use object snaps to help you be more precise.

Here’s an arc, before and after being broken:

It is also possible to simply split an object into two, without creating a gap. One way is to pick the first point as usual, then enter “@” when prompted for the second point. This reuses the coordinates of the last pick.

Or, you can use the “Break At Point” button found next to Break on the Modify panel. This command – actually a macro – does the work of setting the “first” and “@” options for you, so you only have to pick one point on the object to create the split.

Here’s the arc again, this time split with the “Break At Point” function:

(I had to show you the arc selected here, or you might not have believed me that I actually broke it!)

Drawing Donuts

Drawing donuts in AutoCAD LT might not be as fun as doing donuts in a parking lot, but it’s a lot easier. (Unless your parking lot is covered in ice as they often are in the winter…then AutoCAD donuts are just safer.) And they might not taste as good as the once you get from the corner bakery, but they won’t leave powdered sugar on your drawings either.

You’ll find the Donut command on the expanded portion of the Draw tab.

What is a donut? Just a closed polyline, usually with a non-zero width, consisting of two arcs joined end to end.

You define a donut by first entering its inside diameter, then the outside.

Once you’ve plugged in those numbers, you can click to create as many donuts as you like before exiting the command.

If you select one of your newly created donuts and check out its properties, you’ll see that the width is equal to your outside diameter minus the inside diameter divided by 2 (W = (OD-ID)/2), and the radius of the arc is equal to the half the inside diameter plus half the width (R = (ID+W)/2). That’s because polylines are defined by their centerlines, not their edges, so AutoCAD LT has to do some math behind the scenes to generate the donut.

You can use the Donut command to generate closed filled circles, too – just enter 0 for the inside diameter.

On the right are some donuts of varying sizes (although sadly, none are custard-filled).

Twitter Tip of the Day: Go to View

Ever want to switch to a different drawing view without going through the ribbon or dialog box? @LTisACAD has the solution for you:

VIEWGO command is a quick way to switch to your saved VIEW in a drawing file without going through the main dialog pop-up.

This was a new one to me – I love finding new commands! It’s not *quite* undocumented (it has an entry in the Command Reference), but it’s not in the User Guide.

System Variable for Xref Highlighting

You’re probably aware by now of the new external reference highlighting in AutoCAD LT 2011. (At least, if you’ve been reading the blog for a while, you are.)

But apparently some of you might want to turn it off. Why? Well, if you have a large or complex drawing, the highlighting might slow you down a bit. It’s related to why you might want to turn off preview highlighting for xrefs.

Fortunately, as Without a Net pointed out today, there’s a variable for that.

Set ERHIGHLIGHT to 0 turns off the highlighting of selected xrefs; to turn it back on, set it back to 1.

Autodesk Homestyler Sweepstakes

I’ve already told you that I don’t like New Year’s resolutions, but if you set some anyway, and they had something to do with renovating your house, the Autodesk Homestyler team has a contest for you.

Here’s the scoop:

• -- The sweepstakes runs from January 11 to February 7th.
• -- Each week you’ve got two chances to win one of eight $500 gift cards.
• -- Choose your preferred retailer: Crate and Barrel, CB2, Pottery Barn, Williams-Sonoma or IKEA.

To enter, visit the Sweepstakes tab at http://autode.sk/hG0Asx; you’ll need to “Like” the Homestyler Facebook page to participate.

Once you’ve registered, head over to www.homestyler.com to virtually plan and visualize your redesigned space. Then you’ll know exactly what to do with your winnings!

Note: Open to US residents only (excluding Puerto Rico). It’s a legal thing…sorry.

Save Drawings to Older Formats

In an ideal world, everybody on your projects would all be using the same version of AutoCAD LT or related AutoCAD-family products. Then you’d never have to worry about file format compatibility.

In the real world, though, you early-adopters sometimes have to help others out. That can mean saving your drawings back to an older format so their older CAD program can read it.

If you just have to do this once, change the file type in the Save As dialog:

You can choose anything from the current format (2010) all the way back to an R12 DXF. And remember, if somebody asks for a “2005 file” or a “2009 file” just use the next smallest number, okay? (2004 for “2005” and 2007 for “2009”.)

But if this is something you have to do all the time, you can make the change permanent in the Options dialog,

The drop-down contains all the formats you’d see in the Save As dialog, and below that are two more options.

“Maintain visual fidelity” is applicable to drawings using annotative scaling. If the box is checked, and you choose a file format of 2007 or earlier, then a new layer is created in the drawing for each scale, and the objects are separated out and put on those layers. (So you might end up with HATCH-48, HATCH-96, TEXT-48, TEXT-96, etc.) These layers are invisible as long as you keep opening the drawing in AutoCAD LT 2008 or higher. Checking this box does increase the file size, so if you’re worried about that and you don’t save drawings back too often, you might want to turn it off.

“Drawing size compatibility” is more about the size of individual objects in a drawing than the size of the drawing itself. Before AutoCAD LT 2007, objects were limited to an uncompressed size of 256MB. You *might* have a text or table object that would be that big, but it’s more applicable to 3D drawings with lots of meshes and surfaces. Overall drawings have a limit too, but it’s something like 4GB, so you probably won’t run into it either.

The short version is that if you’re regularly saving drawings back, you will probably want to leave these boxes checked, but if you’re always saving in the current format, unchecking them probably won’t hurt.

Reasons to join Twitter

Twitter has been growing exponentially since its launch, but if you’re like a lot of people I’ve talked to, you aren’t on it yet. I’m sure you have plenty of good reasons for staying away, but I thought I’d use today’s post to make a case for joining the conversation.

So, why should you join Twitter?

1. It’s where the news is.

Most of the 56 people I follow on Twitter are CAD-related in some way – either Autodesk colleagues or other industry leaders. (The rest are just for fun…a few authors, celebrities, and one or two actual news feeds.) They often link to articles or blog posts I haven’t seen yet, or post CAD tips in 140 characters or less. It’s a rare day when I don’t learn something from a tweet.

It’s also great for breaking news – things get posted nearly in real time, so it’s easy to keep up.

I manage my feeds with a free program called TweetDeck. It lets me display people in different lists in different columns, plus see who’s mentioned me in recent tweets.

New tweets pop up in a little window similar to an Outlook e-mail notification. They fade after a few seconds, so I can ignore them or click on a link if it’s something that catches my attention.

(You can turn these off if you don’t want them – they can be a little…distracting.)

2. It’s fun to eavesdrop.

A few of the people I follow like to use Twitter to talk to each other like they were sitting at neighboring desks. Sometimes I join in, sometimes I just laugh along at my own desk. It’s almost like being at the office, without smelling the tuna fish they brought for lunch.

3. You don’t have to say anything.

Just because you join Twitter doesn’t mean you have to post a single tweet. Lurking is perfectly acceptable. It’s easier to organize the people you like to follow if you have an account, but nothing says you have to speak up yourself.

4. When you do have something to say, it’s easy to say it.

However, chances are that some tweet will go by that you want to comment on, or you have a question for somebody you follow. If you already have an account, it’s easy to dash off your 140-character message and join the conversation.

~~~

Those are my top 4 reasons – do you have more?

Transparent Commands

This post isn’t about the new transparency for objects and layer introduced in AutoCAD LT 2011.

Instead, it’s about using commands transparently – as in, inside other commands.

Transparent commands enable you to make changes or get information without pausing the current command. To make a command transparent, simply prefix it with an apostrophe (‘) if you’re typing at the command line, or just select it from the ribbon.

If you choose a command that can’t be used transparently, one of two things will happen. If you picked it from the ribbon, your first command will be canceled and you’ll find yourself in the second command. If you typed it at the command line, you’ll get this message: ** That command may not be invoked transparently **

So, what commands can be used transparently? Here’s a list (this may not be exhaustive; if you find more let me know):

• ABOUT
• APERTURE
• ATTDISP
• CAL
• COLOR
• DIST
• ELEV
• GRAPHSCR
• GRID
• HELP
• ID
• LAYER
• LIMITS
• LINETYPE
• MATCHPROP
• OBJECTSCALE
• OSNAP
• REDRAW
• SCRIPT
• SETVAR
• SNAP
• SPELL
• STYLE
• ZOOM

And some examples for using transparent commands?

Let’s say you started to draw a line, but realized you were on the wrong layer. Before picking your second point, just go up to the ribbon and change the layer from the pulldown. OR, type –layer to open the Layer Properties Manager and make your changes there.

What if, in drawing that same line, you remembered that it was supposed to be the same length as another line…but you forgot exactly how long? Before picking your second point, type –dist and measure the first line, then enter the result for your new line.

Zoom is probably the handiest transparent command, and you probably use it transparently every day without even thinking about it, because zooming and panning with the mouse wheel is transparent by default.