New Commands in AutoCAD 2005: Part 8
New Ways of Viewing
by Ralph Grabowski
Introduction
AutoCAD 2005 provides several additional methods of seeing the drawing
better. These include:
* Zooming to selected objects (Zoom command).
* Maximizing the current viewport (VpMax and VpMin
commands).
* Activating the previous tab (right-click layout tabs).
* Visualizing windowed named views (View command).
* Zoom and pan within the Adjust Clipping Planes window (3dClip
command).
Finding the Commands
Zoom Command
To start the Zoom command:
• From the View menu, select Zoom.
• Click the Zoom flyout on the Standard toolbar.
• At the command prompt, enter the zoom command.
• Alternatively, enter the alias z.
In all cases, AutoCAD starts the Zoom command, and then prompts you
for an option.
VpMin and VpMax Commands
To start the VpMax commands, first switch to a layout
tab:
• On the status bar, click the Maximize Viewport icon.
• At the command prompt, enter the vpmax command.
In both cases, AutoCAD maximizes the current viewport window, and switches
to MODEL space.
Activating Previous Layouts
To activate previous layouts:
• Right-click a layout tab, and from the shortcut menu select
one of the Activate options.
AutoCAD displays the previous layout.
View Command
To start the View command:
• From the View menu, select Named Views.
• At the command prompt, enter the view command.
• Alternatively, enter the alias v.
In all cases, AutoCAD displays the View dialog box.
3dClip Command
To start the 3dClip command, switch to model space:
• At the command prompt, enter the 3dclip command.
AutoCAD displays the Adjust Clipping Planes window.
Step-by-Step Tutorials
Zoom Objects
AutoCAD 2005 adds another option to the Zoom command:
Object. It zooms the viewport to the selected objects. This is not an
entirely new feature; it was available through the dbConnect window
-- weird, eh?
1. Start AutoCAD 2005 with a new or existing drawing. If a new drawing,
drawing some lines.
2. Enter the Zoom command, and then enter the Object
option:
Command: zoom
Specify corner of window, enter a scale factor (nX or nXP), or
[All/Center/Dynamic/Extents/Previous/Scale/Window/Object] <real time>:
o
Select objects: (Select one or more objects.)
1 found Select objects: (Press Enter to end object selection.)
3. Select one or more lines, and then press Enter.
Notice that the view zooms in to encompass the selected lines.
TIP: You can also perform the task in reverse: select
the object(s), and then enter the z o alias.
Maximizing the Current Viewport
AutoCAD 2005 introduces a new pair of commands: VpMax
and VpMin. The purpose of VpMax (short
for "viewport maximize") is to maximize the current viewport,
so that it becomes as large as possible within the AutoCAD window. VpMin
returns the viewport to its normal size.
TIP: The commands work only in layout tabs, not in
Model tab. As a reminder, the VpMax icon does not appear on the status
line when the Model tab is displayed.
1. In AutoCAD 2005, open a sample that contains multiple viewports,
such as Hummer Elevation.dwg.
2. Click on a layout tab, such as Mono.
Figure 1: The Maximize Viewport icon appears in layout modes only.
3. On the status line, click the Maximize Viewport icon. (You find
it to the right of the PAPER button.) Notice that the current viewport
is expanded, along with a red dashed border. The border reminds you
that you are working in a maximized viewport.
Figure 2: The maximized viewport has a dashed red border.
4. On the status line, the button has changed. It has turned into the
Minimize Viewport button so that you can return the viewport back to
normal. In addition, the button is surrounded by two other buttons:
clicking these allow you to move through the other viewports. (If the
layout contains only a single viewport, then the arrow buttons don't
work.)
Figure 3: The Minimize Viewport button is surrounded by buttons for
viewing the previous and next viewports.
5. Click the next and previous buttons to cycle through the viewports.
6. Click the Minimize Viewport button to return the view back to normal.
Activating Previous Layouts
AutoCAD 2005 adds a pair of options to the shortcut menu that gets displayed
when you right-click a viewport tab:
* Activate Previous Layout -- displays which ever layout
you viewed before this one.
* Activate Model Tab -- displays the model tab.
Figure 4: Right-click any layout tab to see the shortcut menu of options.
If one item is grayed out, it means you had not accessed a layout previous
to this point.
Previewing Windowed Views
The View command allows you to created named views,
which are useful for quickly switching between different views of drawings.
In addition, AutoCAD can be made to display an initial named view when
it starts.
There are two ways to create a named view: accept the current view,
or else pick two points that window a view. AutoCAD 2005 adds a visual
aid that lets you better see the windowed view in-context. Here's how
to access this new feature:
1. Start AutoCAD 2005 with a drawing.
2. Enter the View command. In the View dialog box,
click New.
3. In the New View dialog box, give the view a name, such as "Example."
Figure 5: The New View dialog box.
4. Click Define Window, and then pick two points that
define the window
Specify first corner: (Pick
a point.)
Specify opposite corner: (Pick another point.)
5. When the dialog box reappears, click OK. Notice that the Sample
view appears in the View dialog box's list of named views.
6. Click Edit Boundaries. The dialog box disappears,
and you see the AutoCAD drawing grayed out -- except for the rectangle
representing the named view you just created.
Figure 6: Gray areas are outside the windowed view.
7. If you wish, pick two points that represent a different windowed
view. Notice that AutoCAD changes the non-gray area; you can continue
to specify the window.
Specify first corner (or press
ENTER to accept):
8. When satisfied, press Enter to return to the View
dialog box, and then click OK to exit the command.
Zoom and Pan in 3dClip Window
The 3dClip command displays a window that lets you clip (cut off) the
front and back of 3D objects, allowing you to see inside them. New to
AutoCAD 2005 is the ability to zoom and pan with in the
1. Open AutoCAD 2005 with a 3D drawing.
2. Ensure the drawing is in Model tab.
3. Enter the 3dClip command. Notice that the toolbar
on the Adjust Clipping Planes window has two new icons:
Figure 7: The Adjust Clipping Planes window.
Pan -- to pan, click the Pan button, and then drag
the cursor around the window.
Zoom -- to zoom, click the Zoom button, and then drag
the cursor up and down.
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