By Brandon Loehr
- Autocad Text Above Command Line
- Autocad Command Line Settings
- Autocad Command Line Options
- Autocad Text Command Line Code
- Autocad Text Command Line
- Text Command In Autocad
Sometimes we found that command line or bar / box is missing from the AutoCAD. This can happen in any version of AutoCAD 2014, 2015, 2016 or 2017. But you can get back or restore the command line with the following three methods. Somehow users lost command line / bar in AutoCAD. So how users do get back command line / bar in AutoCAD. Command Line. There are many enhancements to the command line that theoretically make your keyboard-based interactions with AutoCAD more productive. I find that all of these features are great if I’m not in a hurry. If I just want to enter a short command and hit Enter, I find the command I get is wrong most of the time. The AutoCAD 2014 command line searches for text styles; they appear at the bottom of the command line window. When you see the one you want, just select it. (Optional) Use the Object Snap button on the status bar to enable or disable running object snaps. What are Command Line Switches Kenny? Command Line Switches are parameters that you add to the acad.exe command line which enable AutoCAD to perform additional operations when it starts. For example, AutoCAD can start with an alternative configuration, run a script, load a template drawing and even open a drawing with a saved view.
Autocad Text Above Command Line
Learning
In my tip today I wanted to highlight an older Express Tool that tends to get overlooked by many users: Remote Text (RTEXT command). It has been made less popular in some aspects by Fields (you can see my tips on Fields here), but it still has some specific, very useful, and underutilized functions that can really come in handy! Lets take a look at using RTEXT in your own drawings.
Remote Text in AutoCAD, also referred to as reactive text, lets you create a text object with the same formatting as an mtext object except with the useful benefit that the content of the text is pulled into your drawing from an external reference text (.txt) file. Quite a few cases where this could be helpful come to mind, and I’m sure a few in particular stand out for you as well. Typical notes and/or legal disclaimers that are common between many drawings make a perfect use case, and we will take a closer look at setting one up today.
Autocad Command Line Settings
To begin, we can activate the Remote Text command from the Express Tools ribbon tab as shown below or by using RTEXT at the command line.
After the command has started, we’re given a prompt with options like Style, Height, Rotation, File, and Diesel. For our example we will hit enter for the default (File) option.
Next, we’re given a dialog box where we can select the text file (.txt) to link and bring into our drawing. In this case, the Example Text.txt file contains some general information I’d like to display on the drawing.
Once you’ve found and selected your text file the next step is as simple as selecting the insertion point by clicking where you would like the next text to be placed and then hitting enter to end the command. Before hitting enter you also have the option of changing some settings like style, height, and rotation. But don’t worry because we can also change all of these settings as you normally would from the rtext properties as shown in the image below.
Now that you’ve inserted your new text and adjusted the properties like text style and size to your liking, you now have a dynamically linked rtext object in the drawing. Any changes that you make to the source text file (.txt) will automatically be updated in any drawings that are linked to it when you open them next or use the REGEN command if you already have them open. You can see in the image below that I’ve made a change to the text file shown on the right.
Autocad Command Line Options
And then, in this image, I have run the REGEN command in my drawing to automatically update the text.
Now that you’ve learned this helpful tool, there’s one thing to keep in mind when using Express Tools and RTEXT in particular. If someone doesn’t have Express Tools installed and opens the drawing, they won’t be able to properly view the object. The fix for this would be to explode the rtext object before sending out a file, simply breaking the link to the .txt file and making it a regular mtext object.
Autocad Text Command Line Code
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed learning about the RTEXT command in today’s Tuesday Tip and it can be incorporated into your regular workflow and toolbox of helpful AutoCAD commands. I know that RTEXT can often be forgotten or overlooked, but I do believe that when used properly and in the right situation it can be a real time saver and safety net for when you need to update some standard text!
If you’d like to learn even more about RTEXT in AutoCAD and see it in action, be sure to check out my Youtube channel and the accompanying video below:
That’s all for today’s Tuesday Tip. I hope you all enjoyed it, and I look forward to the next one!
More Tuesday Tips
Check out our whole TuesdayTipsseries for ideas on how to make AutoCAD work for you. Do you have any favorite AutoCAD tips? Tell us in the comments!
The first part of the mText command in AutoCAD 2014 prompts you for various points and options. Read the prompts carefully to avoid confusion. Here’s how to use the mText command:
- Set an appropriate text style current, and (optional) turn off running object snaps.Make sure to also set an appropriate layer current before creating the text object.
- On the Home tab’s Annotation panel, click the upper part of the split button, labeled Text, to start the mText command.The command line displays the current text style and height settings and prompts you to select the first corner of an imaginary rectangle that determines the word-wrapping width of the text object:
- Pick a point in the drawing.The command line prompts you for the opposite corner of a rectangle that will determine the word-wrapping width; it also gives you the option to change settings first:
- Type H and press Enter to change the default text height.The command line prompts you for a new default text height if the current text style has a height of 0.0:
- If applicable, type an appropriate text height.If you’re adding text in model space, you are strongly encouraged to use annotative text.The prompt for the opposite corner of the mText rectangle reappears. The command line shows
- If you want a different justification from the default (top left), type J, press Enter, and choose another justification option.Enter justify multiline text in the Search box of the online Help system if you want an explanation of the other justification options.
- Pick another point in the drawing.Don’t worry about the height of the rectangle that you create by choosing the second point; the width of the rectangle is all that matters. AutoCAD adjusts the height of the text rectangle to accommodate the number of lines of word-wrapped text. You can adjust width later.The In-Place Text Editor window appears with the tab and indent ruler above it, and the previously hidden Text Editor contextual tab appears on the Ribbon.You may prefer the classic Text Formatting toolbar over the Ribbon’s Text Editor contextual tab. If you want to give the classic version a test-drive, change the value of the system variable MTEXTTOOLBAR. The default value (2) displays the Text Editor tab only; setting the value to 1 displays both the Ribbon tab and the toolbar.Don’t set this variable to 0, unless you want to turn off the Text Formatting toolbar in all workspaces.When you create multiline text in either AutoCAD or AutoCAD LT, text objects default to Dynamic Column mode. You can tell that’s what you’re going to get if the In-Place Text Editor displays a double-headed-arrow symbol in the center of the bottom border of the rectangle you define.The initial selection window primarily sets the width. By default, if you enter enough text to fill the window, mText defaults to splitting the text into two columns, as in a newspaper. If you don’t like this arrangement, you can dynamically stretch the text editor window to become wider or longer.If you never want to use columns in the current drawing, click Columns in the Insert panel of the Text Editor tab, which appears only when you’re creating or editing multiline text. This action sets the MTEXTCOLUMN system variable to 0. It affects only the current drawing, so if you never want columns, set it up in your template drawings.
- Verify the text font and height.The text font and height should be correct if you properly completed Steps 1, 4, and 5. If you didn’t, you can change these settings in the Font drop-down list and the Text Height text box on the Text Editor tab (or on the classic Text Formatting toolbar).
- Type text into the text area of the In-Place Text Editor.AutoCAD word-wraps multiline text automatically. If you want to force a line break at a particular location, press Enter.
- If you want to set other formatting options, select text, right-click, and make an appropriate choice from the menu.By convention in most industries, text in drawings is always uppercase. To always have your notes in uppercase, right-click in the In-Place Text Editor and choose AutoCAPS from the menu.
- Click Close Text Editor on the Ribbon (or OK on the classic Text Formatting toolbar).The In-Place Text Editor window closes, and AutoCAD adds your text to the drawing.You can close the text editor much more easily by simply clicking outside its window. But if you like clicking buttons instead, AutoCAD has amply provided for you.
- If you set an annotative text style current in Step 1, assign an annotation scale to the multiline text object.
Autocad Text Command Line
As you can tell by looking at the Text Editor tab (or the Text Formatting toolbar) and multiline text right-click menu, the mText command gives you plenty of other options. You can show or hide the toolbar, the ruler, or the Options buttons, and you can give the In-Place Text Editor an opaque background. Other tool buttons give you access to columns and numbered or bulleted lists.
Between them, the Text Editor tab (or the Text Formatting toolbar) and the right-click menu also include a Stack/Unstack feature for fractions, a Find and Replace utility, tools for toggling lowercase and uppercase, options for applying background masks and inserting fields, a special Symbol submenu, and an Import Text option for importing text from a TXT (ASCII) file or RTF (Rich Text Format) file.
Text Command In Autocad
If you think you can use any of these other features, choose Resources→Commands→mText in AutoCAD’s online Help browser to find out more about them.