By Martin Phelps
Over the last few releases of AutoCAD, the “Command Line” functionality has changed from being a basic method to input values and short key-ins to access commands, to a multi-functional helper.
The AutoCAD “Command Line” by default is located at the bottom of the application window, just above the “Status Bar”, it is not “Docked” so it is classed as a “Floating Window”.
The “Command Line” displays commands, sub commands and prompts the user for inputs.
It can be repositioned by selecting the group of “Dots” as shown in Figure 1.
Holding down the left button of the mouse over this icon will give the user the ability to reposition the “Command line” to any suitable location, either inside or outside of the “AutoCAD” application”, or even on a separate screen if preferred.
The “Command Line” can also be “Docked” to either the top or bottom edges of the drawing window, this will also fix the number of text lines being displayed, as shown in Figure 2.
The number of text lines can be increased or decreased by selecting the top edge of the “Command Line” and dragging the window boundary vertically.
The visibility of the “Command Line” can be controlled by pressing the key combination of “CRTL+9”, however a dialogue box will be displayed, asking the user to confirm this action, as shown in Figure 3.
Although the “Command Line” can be turned off, personally I would always leave it displayed, since it can be a very helpful item to aid drawing production, as it will prompt the user for information and show optional functions within the active command.