AutoCAD Tip Sheet by. Customizing the Keyboard. Using the Customize Dialog. Commands

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1 Customizing the Keyboard AutoCAD functions can be assigned to keys on the keyboard using the Customize window or by manually modifying a menu file. Many shortcut keys are already assigned to AutoCAD functions. Shortcuts may be evaluated using the AutoCAD classic shortcuts or Windows shortcuts. The default setting is Windows shortcuts, but this can be changed in the Options dialog box. A list of built in shortcuts is at the end of this article. Customizing the keyboard actually modifies a menu file. A menu file is a text file that determines the actions for the pull down menus, toolbars and mouse buttons. The default menu file is acad.mnu. The acad.mnu file is considered the template menu file and is not changed, except when edited using a text editor, like Notepad. The acad.mns file is modified each time a toolbar or key is altered. AutoCAD 2005 includes a blank menu file named custom.mns. The custom.mns file is loaded in addition to the acad.mns and therefore is easy to copy to other workstations or migrate to newer versions of AutoCAD. Using the Customize Dialog This example will add a shortcut of CTRL+W to the Zoom Window command. To add a keyboard shortcut using the Customize dialog, select the menu path Tools > Customize > Keyboard. Make sure the Menu Group is set to CUSTOM. If you are working in AutoCAD 2004, see the end of this article for information on creating your own custom.mns. Commands Functions for your keyboard shortcut are selected from the Commands list. Scroll to the end of the list until you find Zoom Window.

2 Shortcut Key Click in the box labeled Press new shortcut key. Press CTRL and W to choose this key combination. Select the Assign button to complete the shortcut. Finally, click on the Close button and try out your new short cut.

3 Manually Customizing the Keyboard More involved shortcuts require you to manually edit the CUSTOM.MNS file. To manually customize the file, you will need to open the C:\Documents and Settings\use\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2005\R16.1\enu\Support\custom.mns file using Notepad or other text editor. AutoCAD menu file - C:\Documents and Settings\..\custom.mns ***TOOLBARS ***ACCELERATORS ID_ZoomWindo [CONTROL+INTERNAL+"W"] End of AutoCAD menu file - C:\Documents and Settings\..\custom.mns You should see something like the lines of text above. The area labeled ***ACCELERATORS defines the shortcut keys. ID_ZoomWindo [CONTROL+INTERNAL+"W"] was added to the file when CTRL+W was defined as a shortcut in Part 1 of this article. ID_ZoomWindo AutoCAD uses this string to identify the internal command used by the shortcut. [CONTROL+INTERNAL+"W"] This string specifies the keys that define the shortcut. The string INTERNAL indicates that the shortcut refers to an internal command. This example will add a macro to the key F12 that performs a Zoom All, RegenAll and DimRegen. AutoCAD menu file - C:\Documents and Settings\..\custom.mns ***TOOLBARS ***ACCELERATORS ID_ZoomWindo [CONTROL+INTERNAL+"W"] ["F12"]^c^czoom all regenall dimregen End of AutoCAD menu file - C:\Documents and Settings\..\custom.mns ["F12"] This string specifies the keys that define the shortcut Don t forget the quotes. ^c^c This string perform two cancels to make sure no other commands are active when the macro begins. zoom all regenall dimregen This string outlines the commands and responses (if any) to the commands.

4 Creating a CUSTOM.MNS Start by creating a new file using Notepad by selecting the Start button, then Programs, then Accessories, then Notepad. Menu Group The menugroup acts an identifier for the menu. It is used to load and unload the menu items. The name of the menugroup may or may not be the same as the name of the file. The *** indicates a menu section. On the first line of the file type: Make sure you press ENTER and the end of the line of text. Saving the File This is the tricky part. The location of several customizable files changed in AutoCAD The change is the result of AutoCAD support for Power Users and Roaming Profiles. As a result, many support files have been moved from C:\Program Files\AutoCAD 2004 to C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2004\R16.0\enu. Substitute your profile name for user in the path. Menu files are located in C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2004\R16.0\enu\Support. If you were attending a class at CCAD, the location of the menu files would be C:\Documents and Settings\Training\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2004\R16.0\enu\Support. Loading the Menu Begin AutoCAD. Type Menuload at the command line and press ENTER. Make sure the Menu Groups tab is on top. Select the Browse button to locate the menu file. You will have placed this file in the C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2004\R16.0\enu\Support folder. By default you will be loading an MNS or MNC file. After you locate the MNS or MNC file, left-click on the Load button. The Menugroup name defined in the menu file should be displayed in the list. The Menugroup name is frequently the same as the menu file name, but this is not required. Note: AutoCAD 2005 Path is C:\Documents and Settings\user\Application Data\Autodesk\AutoCAD 2005\R16.1\enu\Support

5 Built in Shortcut Keys for AutoCAD 2005 Shortcut keys(s) AutoCAD classic shortcuts Windows shortcuts ALT+F8 (No action) VBA Run ALT+F11 (No action) VBA Editor CTRL+1 (No action) Properties Palette CTRL+2 (No action) DesignCenter Palette CTRL+3 (No action) Tool Palette CTRL+4 (No action) Sheet Set Manager Palette CTRL+5 (No action) Info Palette CTRL+6 (No action) DBConnect Manager CTRL+7 (No action) Markup Set Manager Palette CTRL+A Toggles group selection on/off Selects objects in drawing CTRL+B Toggles Snap Toggles Snap CTRL+C Cancels current command Copies objects to Clipboard CTRL+SHIFT+C (No action) Copies objects to Clipboard with Base Point CTRL+D Toggles coordinate display Toggles coordinate display CTRL+E Cycles through isometric planes Cycles through isometric planes CTRL+F Toggles running object snaps Toggles running object snaps CTRL+G Toggles Grid Toggles Grid CTRL+H (No action) Toggles PICKSTYLE on/off CTRL+J Executes last command Executes last command CTRL+K Hyperlink Hyperlink CTRL+L (No action) Toggles Ortho mode CTRL+M Repeats last command (No action) CTRL+N (No action) Creates a new drawing CTRL+O Toggles Ortho mode Opens existing drawing CTRL+P (No action) Prints current drawing CTRL+Q (No action) Exit CTRL+R (No action) Cycles layout viewports CTRL+S (No action) Saves current drawing CTRL+SHIFT+S (No action) Saveas CTRL+T Toggles Tablet mode Toggles Tablet mode CTRL+V Cycles layout viewports Pastes data from Clipboard CTRL+SHIFT+V (No action) Pastes data from Clipboard as Block CTRL+X Cancels current input Cuts objects to Clipboard CTRL+Y (No action) Repeats last action CTRL+Z (No action) Reverses last action CTRL+[ Cancels current command Cancels current command CTRL+\ Cancels current command Cancels current command F1 Displays Help Displays Help F2 Toggles text window on/off Toggles text window on/off F3 AutoCAD Toggles OSNAP Tip Sheet Toggles by OSNAP F4 Toggles TABMODE Toggles TABMODE F5 Toggles ISOPLANE Toggles ISOPLANE F6 Toggles COORDS Toggles COORDS F7 Toggles GRIDMODE Toggles GRIDMODE F8 Toggles ORTHOMODE Toggles ORTHOMODE F9 Toggles SNAPMODE Toggles SNAPMODE F10 Toggles POLAR Toggles POLAR F11 Toggles OTRACK Toggles OTRACK