By Dennis Collin
Some AutoCAD commands naturally repeat such as the Line or Polyline commands, also the copy command will assume the creation of multiple copied elements until the Escape key is pressed. Other commands like Fillet or Offset have an option to choose Multiple operations so that you can continue using the command without having to press the button again. The multiple option will either appear on the command line or context sensitive right click menu, as per figure 1.
There is another option to repeat such commands like Fillet etc. and that is to use the type in command, MULTIPLE.
Simply Type in MULTIPLE <press enter> and choose the command you wish to repeat e.g. Circle commands, as per figure 2 and 3.
The cursor will now permit the drawing of multiple circles in various sizes and locations once complete, just press the Escape key and continue as desired. The Multiple command is available in both full and the LT flavours of AutoCAD.
Because MULTIPLE repeats only the command name, any additional parameters must be specified each time of execution.
A few limitations with the MULTIPLE command are that it does not repeat commands that display dialog boxes. It is also not possible to use the MULTIPLE function as an argument within an AutoLISP routine.
There are other ways to repeat commonly used AutoCAD commands, such as macros and menu customisation. These methods will be covered in another post.