42
AutoCAD and Its Applications—Basics
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
NOTE NOTE
Toggle dynamic input on and off by picking the
Dynamic Input
button
on the status bar or pressing [F12]. By default, you must check the
Dynamic Input
option in the status bar
Customization
fl yout to add
the
Dynamic Input
button to the status bar. You can issue commands
without dynamic input or the command line on.
Command Line
The command line, shown in Figure 1-18, provides the same function as dynamic
input but uses a more traditional command input format. The command line also
allows you to display extensive command history and search for information about
commands. Depending on your working preference, disable dynamic input to use
only the command line, use the command line with dynamic input, or disable the
command line to use only dynamic input.
NOTE NOTE
The command line offers an alternative method to activate and use
layers, text styles, dimension styles, visual styles, blocks, and hatch
patterns, as explained later in this textbook.
The command line is a palette that can fl oat, dock, or be resized. If dynamic input
is on, and you want to type a command at the command line, pick the command line
input area to display a text cursor. If dynamic input is off, typing a command auto-
matically takes place at the command line.
COMMANDLINE
Ribbon
View
Palettes
Command Line
Type
COMMANDLINE
[Ctrl]+[9]
Figure 1-20.
Dynamic input
fields change while
a command is in
use. In this example,
the coordinates
of the crosshairs
appear first. Once
you select the first
endpoint, AutoCAD
displays the distance
and angle of the
crosshairs relative to
the first endpoint.
Crosshairs
Selecting Next Point
Current X location
of crosshairs
Current Y location
of crosshairs
Prompt
Selecting First Point
First point
of line
Current
distance
from first
point
Current angle
from 0°
A
B