ACAD command line window not displayed

Chris:

How do you stop the autocad text screen from closing every time I click on the screen? example - on picking a contour for elevation, as soon as I pick the screen the text window is closed. I then have to reopen the text window to see the answer. There must be some way to keep the text window open.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Ron Kilmartin

Hi Chris -

Well, I did in fact have more than 3 lines spec'd; but I followed your recommendation anyway and still the same result. As soon as I click on the Autoscreen or on any object button the text window retreats to the small icon box on Windows 98 taskbar.

Ron

Dear Ron :

Note that you need to display the command line window with at least 2 to 3 lines of
text. It sounds as if you have closed the command line window.

To check, type "PREFERENCES" at the AutoCAD command line (without the
quotes). AutoCAD will display an Options dialog box. Click on the Display Tab. Make
certain that at least 3 lines of text are showing in the data field for command line
window.

If you have any additional questions or need any further information, please contact
me again.

Sincerely,

Chris E. Maeder, M.S.
Senior Technical Engineer
chris.maeder@bossintl.com

Chris -

My reading of the Acad User's manual is that there is no way to make the command line display permanent. Preferences does not do it, and the description on pp 68-69 indicate that the command window should dock when you drag it over the docking area, but it does not. How did you test this? I am currently using Acad 14. Admittedly I am not an ACAD expert.

I have 2000 on the shelv but have not installed it yet. Actually I had not installed it up to now because I did not know whether RMS was going to support 2000. Now I see that RMS2000 does support Acad2000. 2 Does this "feature" work in 2000 and not in 14 ?? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ron K.

Dear Ron Kilmartin :

The behavior you are seeing in a limitation of AutoCAD. If you want the AutoCAD
Text Window to remain displayed, you need to resize AutoCAD so that both the
AutoCAD main program and AutoCAD Text Window occupy different parts of your
desktop. I tested this here.

If you have any additional questions or need any further information, please contact
me again.

Sincerely,

Chris E. Maeder, M.S.
Senior Technical Engineer
chris.maeder@bossintl.com

Dear Ron Kilmartin :

AutoCAD 2000 allows you to dock or float the "command line" window anywhere
you want.

The AutoCAD "text window" (pressing F2) is a different window than the command
line window. The text window is really a separate application running, and will
minimize when you click in the AutoCAD drawing window.

If you have any additional questions or need any further information, please contact
me again.

Sincerely,

Chris E. Maeder, M.S.
Senior Technical Engineer
chris.maeder@bossintl.com

Chris -

Thanks for clarifying that. I thought they were the same.

I put this to the Autocad 14 user group and got the response that the command line was hiding in one of the cracks at the bottom of the screen. After careful exloration I found it. Someone also advised of an ARX program called Quikpik for $30. This anchors the command line among a bunch of other little like features for other autocad stuff like dialog boxes. So for now this problem is solved.

Ron

[jsleblanc]

Hello Mr. Chris, i have a problem using AUTOCAD 2000, someone else asked you this, right now, I have the same problem, I know that the command line window and the text window are not the same, but what can i do to recover the command line on the screen???

I read that Ron Kilmartin did found it, but I havent found it still. I would appreciate if you could reply me, thank you very much.

Kind regards.

Marvin Peralta

[Chris Maeder]

Dear Marvin :

According to Autodesk, you cannot turn off or minimize the AutoCAD command line window. However, other objects can get in front of the command line window and obscure it. Another problem that can occur when the command line window is floating is that it gets moved off screen. For example, you position the floating command line window to give more room to the AutoCAD graphic window. As a result, the command line window might be positioned off screen

However, there are three methods for resolving this problem, and each is a little more complex than the last. Work through the methods in sequence. That is, try method 1, if that does not work try method 2, and finally, use method 3.

Method #1
Look for the AutoCAD command line window behind other objects.

Move floating toolbars and verify that the command line window is not hidden behind them.

Drag the Windows taskbar to a new position and verify that the command line window is not hidden behind it.

Method #2
Change the display settings for your system.

Increase the display resolution to the maximum value. You might need to reduce the color depth to get the maximum resolution.

Reposition the command line window. The command line window should be visible in the enlarged screen area.

Restore the original display settings.

Method #3
Edit the Windows Registry. Use this method only after you have tried methods 1 and 2.

Warning! Problems caused by improperly editing the Windows registry could render your computer operating system unusable. Microsoft has provided a wealth of critical information you need to know about the registry in the Microsoft Knowledge Base at http://support.microsoft.com/support.

Use the Microsoft® Registry Editor only at your own risk and only after backing up the registry as well as the system.dat and user.dat files as outlined in ARTICLE-ID: Q132332 "How to Back Up the Registry" in the Microsoft Knowledge Base. Additional information about the registry is also contained in the Help topics in the Microsoft Registry Editor.

Ensure AutoCAD software is not running.
Start the Registry Editor and locate the key for the software you are using:
AutoCAD®. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD\R15.0\ACAD-X:X\FixedProfile\Command Line Windows
AutoCAD LT®. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Autodesk\AutoCAD LT\RX\ACAD-X:X\FixedProfile\Command Line Windows
Where X is a variable numeric value.

Enter value data of 2 (hex) for the value name DockWindow.Style.
Exit the Registry Editor.
The next time you start the software, the command line window will be docked in the application window.

Hope that this helps you out.

Sincerely,

Chris E. Maeder, M.S.
Senior Technical Engineer
chris.maeder@bossintl.com

[j7art]

I've got a somewhat similar problem with things not loading in AutoCAD.

I'm using AutoCAD 14, and while my command line window loads fine, for some reason after rebooting my computer one day, my macros no longer seem to load. (Therefore I have to type everything out by hand instead of using 'l' for line, 'ro' for rotate, etc, which is how I learned CAD to begin with.)

They were all working fine, then after a reboot, it seemed they no longer work. I've tried reinstalling AutoCAD numerous times, and even switching entire computers. (In which, it worked for a week, then I got the same problem.) Whenever I type in a macro, it says 'Unknown Command, press F1 for help' Which I have done, and still cannot figure it out in the help file.

Not having my macros is slowing me down tremendously, and my boss is hot on my tail wanting me to get this fixed. It took me 5 1/2 hours to complete a 3 hour job without the macros. Until I manage to fix this, I'm considered out of work.


Thanks,

Jon Artman