Interpreting the Cursor Modes and Understanding Prompts

Interpreting the Cursor Modes and Understanding Prompts
The key to working with AutoCAD successfully is understanding the way it interacts with you.
This section will help you become familiar with some of the ways AutoCAD prompts you for input.
Understanding the format of the messages in the Command window and recognizing other events
on the screen will help you learn the program more easily.


Understanding Cursor Modes
As the Command window aids you with messages, the cursor gives you clues about what to do.
Figure 2.8 illustrates the various modes of the cursor and gives a brief description of the role of each
mode. Take a moment to study this figure:
The Standard cursor tells you that AutoCAD is waiting for instructions. You can also edit
objects by using grips when you see this cursor. Grips are squares that appear at endpoints and
at the midpoint of objects when they’re selected. (You might know them as workpoints from
other graphics programs.)
The Point Selection cursor appears whenever AutoCAD expects point input. It can also appear
in conjunction with a rubber-banding line. You can either click a point or enter a coordinate
through the keyboar


The Object Selection cursor tells you that you must select objects—either by clicking them or
by using any of the object-selection options available.
The Osnap (object snap) marker appears along with the Point Selection cursor when you
invoke an osnap. Osnaps let you accurately select specific points on an object, such as endpoints
or midpoints.
The tracking vector appears when you use the Polar Tracking or Object Snap Tracking feature.
Polar Tracking aids you in drawing orthogonal lines, and Object Snap Tracking helps you align
a point in space relative to the geometry of existing objects. Object Snap Tracking works in conjunction
with osnaps. You’ll learn more about the tracking vector in Chapters 3 and 4.
TIP If you’re an experienced AutoCAD user, you may prefer to use the old-style crosshair cursor
that crosses the entire screen. Choose Tools  Options to open the Options dialog box, and then
click the Display tab. Set the Crosshair Size option near the bottom left of the dialog box to 100.
The cursor then appears as it did in previous versions of AutoCAD. As the option name implies,
you can set the crosshair size to any percentage of the screen you want. The default is 5 percent.