What feature was introduced when?

This matrix shows the availability of many features from version 2006 through 2009.

Find it here.

For a PDF of these commands go to this post

ALT+F8        VBA Run
ALT+F11      VBA Editor

CTRL+1        Properties Palette
CTRL+2        DesignCenter Palette
CTRL+3        Tool Palette
CTRL+4        Sheet Set Manager Palette
CTRL+5        Info Palette
CTRL+6        DBConnect Manager
CTRL+7        Markup Set Manager Palette
CTRL+A        Selects objects in drawing
CTRL+B        Toggles Snap
CTRL+C        Copies objects to Clipboard
CTRL+SHFT+C    Copies objects to Clipboard with Base Point
CTRL+D        Toggles coordinate display
CTRL+E        Cycles through isometric planes
CTRL+F        Toggles running object snaps
CTRL+G        Toggles Grid
CTRL+H        Toggles PICKSTYLE on/off
CTRL+J        Executes last command
CTRL+K        Hyperlink
CTRL+L        Toggles Ortho mode
CTRL+M        (No action)
CTRL+N        Creates a new drawing
CTRL+O        Opens existing drawing
CTRL+P        Prints current drawing
CTRL+Q        Exit
CTRL+R        Cycles layout viewports
CTRL+S        Saves current drawing
CTRL+SHFT+S    Saveas
CTRL+T        Toggles Tablet mode
CTRL+V        Pastes data from Clipboard
CTRL+SHFT+V    Pastes data from Clipboard as Block
CTRL+X        Cuts objects to Clipboard
CTRL+Y        Repeats last action
CTRL+Z        Reverses last action
CTRL+[        Cancels current command
CTRL+\        Cancels current command

F1    Displays Help
F2    Toggles text window on/off
F3    Toggles OSNAP
F4    Toggles TABMODE
F5    Toggles ISOPLANE
F6    Toggles COORDS
F7    Toggles GRIDMODE
F8    Toggles ORTHO MODE
F9    Toggles SNAP MODE
F10    Toggles POLAR
F11    Toggles OTRACK

3A      3DARRAY
3DO   3DORBIT
3DW   3DWALK
3F       3DFACE
3M      3DMOVE
3P       3DPOLY
3R       3DROTATE
A         ARC
AC      BACTION
ADC    ADCENTER
AA      AREA
AL      ALIGN
3AL    3DALIGN
AP      APPLOAD
AR      ARRAY
-AR    -ARRAY
ATI     ATTIPEDIT
ATT    ATTDEF
-ATT -ATTDEF
ATE     ATTEDIT
-ATE   -ATTEDIT
ATTE   -ATTEDIT
B          BLOCK
-B       -BLOCK
BC       BCLOSE
BE       BEDIT
BH      HATCH
BO      BOUNDARY
-BO    -BOUNDARY
BR       BREAK
BS        BSAVE
BVS      BVSTATE
C          CIRCLE
CAM    CAMERA
CH       PROPERTIES
-CH     CHANGE
CHA    CHAMFER
CHK     CHECKSTANDARDS
CLI       COMMANDLINE
COL     COLOR
CO       COPY
CP        COPY
CT        CTABLESTYLE
CYL      CYLINDER
D          DIMSTYLE
DAL      DIMALIGNED
DAN      DIMANGULAR
DAR      DIMARC
JOG       DIMJOGGED
DBA      DIMBASELINE
DBC      DBCONNECT
DC        ADCENTER
DCE      DIMCENTER
DCO     DIMCONTINUE
DDA      DIMDISASSOCIATE
DDI        DIMDIAMETER
DED       DIMEDIT
DI           DIST
DIV         DIVIDE
DJL          DIMJOGLINE
DJO         DIMJOGGED
DL           DATALINK
DLI          DIMLINEAR
DLU        DATALINKUPDATE
DO          DONUT
DOR        DIMORDINATE
DOV        DIMOVERRIDE
DR           DRAWORDER
DRA        DIMRADIUS
DRE         DIMREASSOCIATE
DRM        DRAWINGRECOVERY
DS           DSETTINGS
DST         DIMSTYLE
DT           TEXT
DV           DVIEW
DX           DATAEXTRACTION
E              ERASE
ED            DDEDIT
EL             ELLIPSE
ER             EXTERNALREFERENCES
EX             EXTEND
EXIT          QUIT
EXP           EXPORT
EXT           EXTRUDE
F                FILLET
FI               FILTER
G              GROUP
-G            -GROUP
GD             GRADIENT
GR             DDGRIPS
H               HATCH
-H             -HATCH
HE             HATCHEDIT
HI              HIDE
I                 INSERT
-I                -INSERT
IAD            IMAGEADJUST
IAT             IMAGEATTACH
ICL             IMAGECLIP
IM               IMAGE
-IM             -IMAGE
IMP             IMPORT
IN               INTERSECT
INF             INTERFERE
IO               INSERTOBJ
J                  JOIN
L                LINE
LA             LAYER
-LA           -LAYER
LAS           LAYERSTATE
LE             QLEADER
LEN           LENGTHEN
LI               LIST
LO             -LAYOUT
LS              LIST
LT              LINETYPE
-LT           -LINETYPE
LTS            LTSCALE
LW             LWEIGHT
M               MOVE
MA            MATCHPROP
MAT          MATERIALS
ME             MEASURE
MI              MIRROR
ML             MLINE
MLA          MLEADERALIGN
MLC          MLEADERCOLLECT
MLD          MLEADER
MLE           MLEADEREDIT
MLS           MLEADERSTYLE
MO            PROPERTIES
MS             MSPACE
MSM          MARKUP
MT             MTEXT
MV             MVIEW
O               OFFSET
OP             OPTIONS
ORBIT        3DORBIT
OS              OSNAP
-OS            -OSNAP
P                 PAN
-P               -PAN
PA               PASTESPEC
PE                PEDIT
PL                PLINE
PO               POINT
POL             POLYGON
PR                PROPERTIES
PROPS         PROPERTIES
PRE              PREVIEW
PRINT          PLOT
PS                 PSPACE
PSOLID        POLYSOLID
PTW             PUBLISHTOWEB
PU                PURGE
-PU              -PURGE
PYR              PYRAMID
QC               QUICKCALC
QCUI            QUICKCUI
R                   REDRAW
RA                REDRAWALL
RC                RENDERCROP
RE                 REGEN
REA              REGENALL
REC              RECTANG
REG              REGION
REN              RENAME
-REN            -RENAME
REV               REVOLVE
RO                ROTATE
RP                 RENDERPRESETS
RPR               RPREF
RR                 RENDER
RW                RENDERWIN
S                    STRETCH
SC                 SCALE
SCR               SCRIPT
SE                  DSETTINGS
SEC                SECTION
SET                SETVAR
SHA               SHADEMODE
SL                  SLICE
SN                 SNAP
SO                 SOLID
SP                  SPELL
SPL                SPLINE
SPLANE        SECTIONPLANE
SPE                SPLINEDIT
SSM               SHEETSET
ST                  STYLE
STA               STANDARDS
SU                 SUBTRACT
T                   MTEXT
-T                -MTEXT
TA               TABLET
TB                TABLE
TH               THICKNESS
TI                 TILEMODE
TO               TOOLBAR
TOL             TOLERANCE
TOR            TORUS
TP               TOOLPALETTES
TR               TRIM
TS               TABLESTYLE
UC              UCSMAN
UN              UNITS
-UN            -UNITS
UNI             UNION
V                 VIEW
-V               -VIEW
VP                DDVPOINT
-VP              VPOINT
VS                VSCURRENT
VSM             VISUALSTYLES
-VSM           -VISUALSTYLES
W                  WBLOCK
-W                -WBLOCK
WE                WEDGE
X                   EXPLODE
XA                XATTACH
XB                 XBIND
-XB               -XBIND
XC                XCLIP
XL                XLINE
XR                XREF
-XR            -XREF
Z                  ZOOM

The “dashed” commands open the command line options (no dialog box)

It moves all objects on the first layer selected onto the second layer selected. The first layer will be deleted and purged from the drawing.

Issue the command and select an object or objects that are on the layer(s) that you want to move (merge) to another layer.

All of the objects on the selected layers will be moved to the new layer. The layer names that were used will be gone from the layer dialog box.

It works quite well.

Just type in SYSVDLG after loading the Express Tools.

You will get a dialog box listing all of the system variables.

This dialog box will show you each system variable one at a time and you can review them or change them (unless they are read only).

It will show you where each is stored and the type of data needed. It also has a brief description of the variable.

You can scroll down or type in the variable in the box at the top.

This tool has been around for a while. Check out Shaan Hurleys blog on SYSVDLG for more info

It is a very useful tool.

“I made a block in LT 2006 and checked that it could not be exploded or inserted with different x-, y-scale values, saved the dwg, opened in Acad 2005 and could explode the block, scale it and insert it with different x-, y- and z scale values.”

From Ragnar Thor Mikkelsen – designdata, Norway

Another reader noted that you actually could explode blocks in 2006 even if someone sets them up to not explode… Shhh… Don’t tell anyone…

“Just use the edit block function and in the properties bar re-check that box and then exit out of the function. It took me a moment to figure that one out… where there is a will there is AutoCAD”

From Michael Dattilio from CHI Engineering, Portsmouth, NH, USA

I trust that that amount of effort will slow people down and maybe they will rethink the exploding idea. Then again, maybe not. I have found that many users will go to great lengths to do what is ill advised.

When is a lock not really a lock? There is a workaround for everything…

The BLOCK (bmake) command has been enhanced to include a couple of options that I think should have been there long before 2006.

When you decide to create a block the dialog box opens as before but there are additional items in the middle on the right side… They allow you to control the use of your block after it is added to files.

The first will allow or disallow scaling item uniformly. So keeping the same aspect ratio is easier now. Just click this check box and the block will scale uniformly no matter what.

Then second is to prevent users from exploding the block. When this is unchecked, no one can accidentally explode your attributed blocks and loose data.

Here are my top 20 reasons to move from an older release of AutoCAD (or ADT) to the newest release of Revit Series (which includes a seat of AutoCAD).

1. Work in a true building model environment

2. Automatic Interference checking

3. Automatic creation and updates to Schedules, Sections and Elevations

4. Get a full working seat of AutoCAD as a companion to Revit

5. Export and Import to DWG

6. Share your design with coworkers via Worksets

7. No more need to worry about Layer Names

8. Complete Construction Document creation

9. Work the way you think. Intuitive design interface

10. Large volume of content in the form of Families

11. Work in the tool that is advancing the AE market by storm

12. Automatic updates to cross-references when sheet numbers change

13. Robust site layout tools

14. Work in 2D or 3D or both

15. Changes in one view propagate to all views

16. Create dynamic 3D walkthroughs

17. Design Curtain Walls and Systems and schedule the panels

18. Essential structural tools included

19. Advanced annotation and dimensioning tools

20. Complete control of design Options and Phasing

Lynn Allen gives a tip to make it much easier working with images.

Click here

To print a list of shortcut keys or temporary override keys

1. Click Tools menu > Customize > Interface.
2. In the Customizations In pane, click the plus sign (+) next to Keyboard Shortcuts to expand it.
3. In the Shortcuts pane, filter the type and status of keyboard shortcuts to print.
   • In the Type list, select the type of keyboard shortcuts displayed in the list. Choices include All Keys, Accelerator Keys, or Temporary Override Keys.
   • In the Status list, select the status of keyboard shortcuts displayed in the list. Choices include All, Active, Inactive, and Unassigned.
4. In the Shortcuts pane, click Print.

Straight from the AutoCAD Help file – it’s in there – you should be reading the HELP files.