AutoCAD & AutoCAD LT All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies (2006)

Creating and Managing Command Aliases 583

The syntax for a command alias is as follows:

Alias, *AutoCAD Command Name

You should keep the alias to as few characters as possible because the whole idea of an alias is to save you keystrokes. Between the alias and command name, you must use a comma to separate the two arguments, and the command name must be prefixed with an * (asterisk).

AutoCAD LT doesn’t support external commands in the PGP file.

Opening the PGP file

To open the PGP file for the program, use one of the methods listed below:

Tools menu: Choose Tools Customize Edit Program Parameters (acad.PGP) or (aclt.PGP).

External: Start Notepad, browse to the location of the PGP file, and open it.

Adding a new command alias

Follow these procedures to create a new command alias:

1.Open the PGP file using one of the previously described methods.

2.Scroll to the bottom of the file to the section -- User Defined Command Aliases –.

The section -- User Defined Command Aliases — is where you should add your own command aliases. Command aliases placed below this section are automatically migrated forward when you upgrade to a new release of AutoCAD.

3.Don’t make changes to any of the command aliases that come with AutoCAD; instead, create a new command alias with the same command name and add it to the User Defined Command Aliases section. AutoCAD uses the last one it finds in the file; this way, your custom command alias is migrated to a new release automatically.

4.A command alias uses the syntax Alias,*Command. On a new line, enter the alias you want and the AutoCAD command it should execute when typed at the command line, separated by a comma.

Don’t forget to precede the AutoCAD command name with an asterisk (*).

5.The new command alias should be added to the PGP file using the syntax Alias,*Command.

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Creating and Managing Command Aliases 585

Notepad. It also provides you with a list of all the available commands and system variables that are found in the program. For more information on Express Tools, see Chapter 4 in this minibook.

To launch the AutoCAD Alias Editor dialog box, do one of the following:

Express menu: Choose Express Tools Command Alias Editor.

Keyboard input: Type ALIASEDIT at the command line and press Enter.

Express Tools are not supported for AutoCAD LT because they are a collection of custom programs written with AutoLISP, VBA, and ObjectARX, which AutoCAD LT does not support.

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Getting Familiar with the Status Bar 589

AutoCAD allows you to control many of the features that are displayed in the user interface. The status bar is no different; AutoCAD allows you to control which of the different buttons are displayed at the bottom of the application window in the status bar. So if you don’t use the Grid or Snap toggles, you can choose to turn them off. To control the display of the different buttons on the status bar, click the small black arrow that points downward in the lower-right corner of the application window (see Figure 2-1). A shortcut menu (see Figure 2-2) with options to control the different buttons on the status bar is displayed. Select the item from the shortcut menu that you want to toggle the display of. A check mark next to an item signifies that that item is currently displayed on the status bar.

Figure 2-1:

The status bar menu.

Figure 2-2:

The shortcut menu to toggle the display of buttons on the status bar.

Getting to know the Icon Tray

Tray icons, located in the lower-right corner of the status bar, allow you to quickly access certain features. A number of different icons are displayed in the tray and each one serves a specific purpose.

Table 2-2 lists the different tray icons in AutoCAD.

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Getting Familiar with the Status Bar 591

AutoCAD LT does not support CAD Standards, so the CAD Standards Notification is not present in the software. AutoCAD LT does not support the Attribute Extraction Notification either because it doesn’t support the Enhanced Attribute Extract (or EATTEXT) command. Although AutoCAD LT does support external references, the External Reference Notification is not part of AutoCAD LT.

The Icon Tray allows you to customize some options that apply to all the icons that are contained in this area of the status bar. Here is an overview of the available tray settings:

Display icons for services: Controls whether icons for services that are running in AutoCAD are displayed on the status bar.

Display notifications from services: Controls whether the services display a notification balloon when something they are monitoring changes.

Display time: Controls the maximum length of time in seconds that a notification balloon should be displayed if the user doesn’t close it before the time period expires. The time range is from 1 to 10 seconds.

Display until closed: Controls whether the notification for the service is displayed until the user dismisses it.

Follow these procedures to change the available tray settings:

1.Click the small black arrow that points downward in the lower-right corner of the application window.

A shortcut menu with options to control the different tools on the status bar is displayed.

2.On the shortcut menu, click Tray Settings.

The Tray Settings dialog box (see Figure 2-3) is displayed.

Figure 2-3:

The Tray Settings dialog box.

3.Change the options to the desired combination of settings and click OK.

The Tray Settings dialog box closes and the status bar is updated based on the selected options.

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