AutoCAD’s status bar displays the coordinates of your cursor’s location. Three display modes are available:

• Static (off): Absolute coordinates change only when you specify a point.

• Dynamic (absolute): Absolute coordinates change as you move your mouse.

• Distance and angle display (relative): Polar coordinates (distance < angle) change as you move your mouse. This option is available only when you are drawing objects that prompt for more than one point.

To change the coordinate display, click in the coordinate display area, or right-click and select the mode you want.

When Dynamic Input is on, you can set the Dynamic Input tooltip to display coordinates all the time. Right-click the DYN tab on the status bar and select Settings. On the Dynamic Input tab in the Drafting Settings dialog box, select the Settings button under Pointer Input.

Caption: Select the Settings button under Pointer Input.

Under Visibility, you can specify that the tooltip display all the time, even when you’re not in a command.

Caption: Visibility settings for Dynamic Input tooltip coordinate display

Conversely, if you don’t like the tooltip, you can specify that it appear only when you start to type coordinate data. The default setting displays the tooltip automatically when AutoCAD prompts for a point.

Caption: When Visibility is set to always, the tooltip displays your cursor location at all times.

Orthogonal mode restricts you to drawing or moving objects at 0, 90, 180, and 270 degrees. Click Ortho on the status bar to toggle the mode on and off. Note that Ortho mode affects only points you pick on screen with your mouse. Any coordinates that you type in via the Dynamic Input tooltip or the command line will not be constrained by Ortho mode. For example, if you enter a polar coordinate with an angle of 45 degrees when drawing a line, you will end up with a line at a 45 degree angle.

The Ribbon, which made its debut in AutoCAD 2009, displaced the pull-down menus found in previous versions of AutoCAD. If you want to regain your pull-down menus, you have a choice of several options.

• Change the system variable MENUBAR to 1 (one). Do this by typing MENUBAR at the command line, then typing 1. This turns the menus back on.  
• To get rid of the ribbon, type Ribbonclose at the command line (or right-click in the tab bar at the top of the ribbon to access the Close command in the shortcut menu that appears). Type Ribbon to bring it back.
• Change your workspace to AutoCAD Classic. This turns off the Ribbon, turns on the menu bar, and opens the toolbars.
• Minimize the Ribbon. The little arrow button to the right of the tab names (to the right of Output in the screen shot above) is the Minimize button. Click on it to cycle through the following options:
• Minimize to Panels. Only the tab and panel titles appear.
• Minimize to Tabs. Only the tab titles appear.
• Show Full Ribbon. Entire ribbon appears

If you just want to move the Ribbon around, right-click in the tab bar at the top and select Undock. This makes it behave like a regular floating tool palette. You can now reposition the Ribbon anywhere on screen and set it to Auto-Hide so it shrinks to a bar until you roll your cursor over it. You can also redock it at either side of the AutoCAD screen.

Like most other AutoCAD interface elements, the Ribbon can be customized. We’ll discuss how to do that in a future tip.

The sequence of prompts for assigning a Stretch action (Stretch or Polar Stretch) to a dynamic block are a bit different than the prompts for other actions. You can assign the Stretch action to a Point, Linear, Polar, or XY parameter. If you use a Point parameter and add a Stretch action, you simply select the objects. However, with a Linear, Polar, or XY parameter, you must first specify which point you want to associate with the Stretch action. You can do this by moving your cursor over it (a red circle indicates the active point). Or use the Start Point/Second Point selection option (press Enter to use the default second point). Once you select the point, you will be prompted to specify a stretch frame to define the part of the geometry to be included in the action.

Caption: Specify a stretch frame by selecting diagonal corners. Note the red circle that indicates the point (here in a linear parameter) associated with the Stretch action.

This is much like specifying a crossing window in the Stretch command, where objects within the window are moved and those crossed by the frame are stretched. You can also define the window by picking diagonal corners. The final prompt asks you to select objects. If you don’t select an object that is in the stretch frame, it will not stretch or move. If an object is outside the stretch frame but in the object selection set, it will move.

Caption: Stretch action settings as displayed in the Properties palette.

The prompt sequence for the Polar Stretch action is just like that for plain old Stretch, but you also specify objects to rotate only.

Caption: When you insert a block with a Stretch action, you can click on the dynamic grip to stretch it (above) into the desired shape (below).

This parameter has no associated actions. It defines a base point for your dynamic block.

Caption: Base point parameter is indicated by a circle with crosshairs.

Caption: Base point parameter settings as they appear in the Properties palette.

Use it when you want the block’s base point to maintain its relationship to the block when other parts of the block are modified. For example, you may want the base point to always be the lower left corner of a rectangle, even when that corner is stretched to a new position.