SubscribeHad a fabulous CAD Camp on Tuesday (thank you Paramus!). A good time was definitely had by all and it's our last CAD Camp for the year (insert tear here). Yesterday was a day of presentations in Albany for Imaginit Technologies. Len Kalmer, one of their VPs was kind enough to drive me the 3.5 hours it takes to get from Paramus to NJ, even though we arrived around midnight - it was definitely appreciated (anything to avoid another flight!). What a trooper!
So here is a quick tip for your Thursday before I hop on a plane to return to San Francisco:
Three Hip Tips for Getting the Most out of your Command Line:
If you are a command line addict like myself, it's nice to know a few tricks to maximize your effectiveness with it.
Tab Key
System variables are often keyed in at the command line. Do you ever forget how to spell a system variable or a command? With AutoCAD 2006 you can simply key in the characters you know and hit the Tab key as AutoCAD cycles through the various commands and system variables that start with those characters.
For example: You key in SP at the command line. As you hit the Tab key, AutoCAD will display all of the commands/setvars that start with SP. Incidentally, this is a great way to be an extra lazy AutoCAD user which I wholly support. But seriously, this feature can actually save you quite alot of time (if you remember to use it!).
Up and Down Arrow Keys
Hopefully you've also discovered that you can page up and down through past commands by using the arrow keys. This works on just about any AutoCAD release. So if you key in a system variable and you spell it wrong simply hit the Up arrow key to bring it back and correct the spelling rather than keying it in all over again. This is also great for recalling a line of AutoLISP code that you've made an error in.
Cycling through past values
You can also use the Up and Down Arrow keys to scroll through past values (AutoCAD 2006). For example, let's say you've drawn three circles. First Circle has a radius of 1.5, second Circle has a radius of 2.5 and the last Circle has a radius of 3.5. You need to draw another circle with a radius of 1.5. When prompted for the radius, just use the Up arrow key to recall the past values until 1.5 displays at the prompt.
Try these three tips and you might want yourself zooming along a little faster than usual!
A great big thanks to Clough Harbour yesterday (especially Brian and Eileen) for their hospitality (and cheesecake!). I can't remember the last time I'd had such a great lunch (both food and company). And I almost got to see the Albany Egg and Nipper in person...maybe next time...That was a great way to end my travels...and a special hello to my new stalker Matt. : )