Virtually all commands in Carlson Software have three or more ways
they can be initiated. The two most common are the menu and the toolbar
, but the
command
line can many times be a very easy method of working
through
commands. Using the menu and toolbar should be second nature to Windows
users,
so this section will mainly focus on the command line usage in Carlson
Software.
Carlson Software has a command line prompt where
commands
are
“issued” and the status of a command is reported. When you select a
command
from the menu or toolbar, that command name is sent to the command line
and is
executed. Before most commands can begin, all other commands must be
terminated. The exceptions are referred to as transparent commands. The
easiest
way to see if no commands are running is to look at the command line.
If it
displays Command: no
commands are
currently in progress.
When you are required to press the Enter key in Carlson Software, you can use the Enter key on the keyboard or you can press the spacebar or click the right mouse button.
Pressing the Enter key will perform different operations depending on your location within Carlson Software. If you are in the process of running a command, the Enter key will end the command (if there are no available options) or it will select one of the options available (see below). If you are at the command line Command: prompt, pressing the Enter key will repeat the last command.
As mentioned above, the right mouse button can be used as enter. However, you can set the right mouse button to perform different functions. The control for the Right Mouse Button behavior is in the Mouse Click Settings command. When you click the right mouse button, you will get a drop down list of the options and can select the desired one. Move the cursor the desired option and click on it with the left mouse button.
For commands that provide no options, the Enter key (or spacebar or right mouse button) will end the command you are using. Also, when a command is issued in Carlson Software, this action will also automatically end the previous command. However, there are exceptions to these two rules.
To avoid any problems with using the above methods to end a command, you can press the Escape (Esc) key. For example, if the command line displays something other than Command: or if a command you want to run does not start because you are using another command, you will want to end the command and return to the command prompt. Using the Escape (Esc) key will accomplish this every time.
Note: Some commands have several optional levels which will require the escape key to be pressed more than once.
If you accidentally select a location on the screen and start a selection window, the command prompt will prompt for another corner. Either select another point on the screen to finish the selection (not advised) or press the Esc key to return to the Command: prompt.
When any command is issued, the command line acts as a status bar that will show the available options and “ask” for input from you.
When there are options for the command you are currently running, these options will be shown on the command line with capital letters in the option name. To use one of the options, type the capital letter(s) at the prompt. For example, if you issue the Zoom command, the command prompt will show All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/…<Realtime>: To select the Dynamic option, type D at the command line, then press the Enter key. If you do not input an option and just hit enter, you will be selecting the option that appears in the <> brackets. For the example shown, that is the Realtime Zoom option.
Several commands in Carlson Software can be run transparently. This means that they can be performed while another command is running. For example, if you are in a command and are trying to select something in the drawing but it is too small to see, you can use the zoom command transparently. Zoom to the area where the object is, then select the object without ending the initial command. The most commonly used commands are the View commands of Zoom and Pan, and the Properties commands including the Layer dialog box.
To issue a transparent command, type an ‘ (apostrophe) before the command name. For example, ‘Z would be transparent zoom. Note that many commands will automatically be assumed to be transparent if they are issued from the toolbar while another command is running.
When you are in a command that is running transparently, this will be indicated with a >> at the far left of the command line preceding any options or other text. When a transparent command is complete, you will return to the command you were previously running. If you are in a transparent command and want to end the command to get back to the command prompt, you will need to press the Esc key twice.
Note: If you select a View command while running another command, the other command will not end. You will be running the View command transparently. This is one of the exceptions to the rules for ending a command. If you do not want to run the View command transparently, you need to complete the other command or end it by pressing the Esc key.