The AutoCAD Command System:
The first thing to understand about AutoCAD is how the command system operates.
Everything in AutoCAD is achieved by issuing a command. Generally, commands are entered by:
In some cases, a particular command can be entered in any one of those three ways depending on your personal preference. To complicate the matter further, some commands can be typed in with an abbreviated alias, which is often the quickest way to get the command started. Once a command has been issued, AutoCAD displays a prompt (or instruction) on the command line indicating your options for proceeding with that command.
To see how the command process operates, watch the command line as you click on any toolbar button. You will see the corresponding command printed at the command prompt and then, as AutoCAD responds to the command, it will display some kind of instruction or prompt (on the same line) and then wait for you to respond. Remember to press the
key if you wish to cancel the command (unless you want to carry it through to see what happens).
The Command Line Prompt always follows the same “pattern”.
AutoCAD first tells you what it expects you to do (“enter a point”, “type in a value”, etc). If there are other alternative actions you can take as part of that command sequence, then those are listed next within square brackets, each separated by a slash character. You can select any of those alternative options by typing the capitalized letters only of the option. At the end of the prompt line, if appropriate, AutoCAD displays the default answer to the prompt within angle brackets. If you simply press the Enter key, AutoCAD will use that default value.
To develop your understanding of this process further, choose any of the drawing tools, click the button while watching the command prompt, and then pick points in the drawing area in response to the prompts. You should be able to draw things with very little further explanation!