Have you ever tried to create a fillet or chamfer, or maybe trim or extend a line and not have AutoCAD complete the action? Only to find out the radius was too small or the object you tried to extend couldn’t be extended.
Do you know that you can preview and evaluate the potential changes of many editing commands? Watching the visual cues in AutoCAD reduces the number of extra clicks and the need to undo unexpected results.
In this Have You Tried, we'll cover what command preview is, how to use it, and troubleshoot when the command preview is working differently than you expect.
Command preview is a productivity tool that provides real-time feedback for the active editing command. A preview of the possible outcome of the command is displayed, allowing you to make changes or correct errors before completing the command.
By default, command preview is turned on. Let's make sure it's on.
Type ex (EXTEND command) in the command window or dynamic input box and press Enter.
You'll see a preview of the line extension. The extension of the line is temporary until you select the line.
If you've ended the EXTEND command, enter trim at the Command prompt.
A preview of the resulting trim is shown. A cursor badge next to pickbox is also displayed to indicate the trim operation.
Let's say that the command preview is already on, but you still can't see the interactive preview while editing.
Command preview supports most 2D objects. However, command preview may not work when the editing action you’re trying to perform can’t be applied to the object. Also, the preview may not show when the current command does not support command preview at all.
AutoCAD displays error messages or notifications about why you can’t perform certain actions, usually in the command window. Command preview, with cursor badges and dynamic input on, can inform you whether the current operation can be performed and what the outcome might be without first needing to finish the command or expected action.
When dynamic input is on, prompts are displayed in a tooltip near the cursor. As you make changes to your drawing, you can easily see the supported objects, actions, or error messages without shifting your focus between the cursor location and command line.
Cursor badges are the little icons that appear near the crosshairs or pickbox cursor. They're dynamic and help identify the editing operation you’re about to perform.
When you hover over an object on a locked layer, a lock badge () is displayed. Unlock the layer to select the object that you want.
The stop cursor badge () is very handy as this indicates whether an object or action is allowed. This badge makes it easier to know that you're trying to do something that isn't supported; you might be using too large of a radius when creating a fillet or selecting an invalid boundary to trim. There's also no preview shown until you select a supported object or allowed action for the active command.
By default, cursor badges are on. The CURSORBADGE system variable controls the display of certain cursor badges in the drawing area.
Visual cues like dynamic input and cursor badges remove some of the guesswork out of what happened in the operation without frequent switching to the command window by helping to avoid some common problems.
Command preview makes it very easy to see the results of your actions before you click and complete the command. As you make changes to the design, you can preview the outcomes and adjust your input for a command to avoid errors and get to the desired results.
Command | Description |
---|---|
DSETTINGS | Sets grid and snap, polar and object snap tracking, object snap modes, Dynamic Input, and Quick Properties. |
System Variable | Description | Default Value | Saved In |
---|---|---|---|
COMMANDPREVIEW | Controls whether a preview of the possible outcome of certain commands is displayed. | 1 | Registry |
CURSORBADGE | Determines whether certain cursor badges are displayed in the drawing area. | 2 | Registry |
HPQUICKPREVIEW | Controls whether a hatch preview is displayed when specifying a hatch area. | 1 | User-settings |
MVIEWPREVIEW | Controls the preview behavior when inserting a named or new layout viewport. | 0 | Registry |
PROPERTYPREVIEW | Controls whether you can preview the changes to currently selected objects when you roll over drop-down lists and galleries that control properties. | 1 | Registry |