Understanding the AutoCAD DesignCenter Interface
AutoCAD DesignCenter is primarily composed of two windowpanes, as shown in Figure 12.1. The pane on the left is the navigation pane or the Tree View interface, and the pane on the right is the content pane or palette interface. The Tree View allows you to locate source objects, and the palette allows you to view the content of the source objects. For example, in Figure 12.1, the Tree View is used to navigate to the My Computer folder, and the folder’s contents are displayed in the palette. By using the Tree View and the palette, you can locate and view source objects.
Figure 12.1. DesignCenter is composed of the Tree View and palette windowpanes.
In the following two sections, you explore the Tree View and the palette interfaces.
Exploring the AutoCAD DesignCenter Tree View
DesignCenter’s Tree View allows you to easily navigate through a directory structure. It works similarly to Windows Explorer, allowing you to expand or collapse folders to control the display of subfolders. By using Tree View, you can navigate to the desired location.
Although Tree View allows you to easily view and navigate a directory structure, you are not required to use it. For example, you can turn off the Tree View display by clicking the Tree View Toggle button, as shown in Figure 12.2. Toggling off the Tree View display is useful after you have located the desired folder, and no longer need the Tree View. By toggling off the Tree View, the palette automatically expands, making the viewing of source objects easier. Once you have used the Tree View to locate source objects, you may toggle it off to display only the palette.
Figure 12.2. You can toggle off Tree View’s display.
Note
You can navigate through directories using the palette by double-clicking a folder to display its contents, or by clicking the Up button to move up one level in the directory.
Tip
Although you can use the palette to navigate through a directory, it’s better to use Tree View because Tree View makes it easier to identify your location in a directory structure. By clicking the plus sign (+) or minus sign (–) button, you can open or close a directory’s contents, respectively.
Tree view can display views in four different modes. Using a particular mode can assist you in locating the desired content source more quickly. The four modes are as follows:
Desktop View. Allows you to locate source data on local or network drives.
Open Drawings View. Lists all opened drawings in the current AutoCAD session.
History View. Displays the last 20 locations of source objects accessed through DesignCenter.
Custom Content View. Lists the currently registered applications used to create custom objects, if custom objects are present.
By selecting the proper mode, you can quickly find the locations that contain the desired source objects.
Note
The Custom Content button is displayed only when there are applications currently registered with your AutoCAD 2002 application. When applications that contain custom content are registered with AutoCAD 2002, such as Object ARX applications, DesignCenter displays the Custom Content button, allowing you to locate and view the registered application’s content.
You can switch to the desired mode by choosing the appropriate view button. The buttons are displayed when the Tree View is toggled on, and are located in the upper-left corner of DesignCenter, as shown in Figure 12.3. The current mode in Figure 12.3 is History, which lists the most recent drawings from which source objects were queried. By clicking the proper button, you can more quickly display the locations of desired source objects.
Figure 12.3. Tree View’s different display modes are accessed from the buttons in the upper-left corner.
Note
In History mode, DesignCenter automatically turns off the palette. This mode is intended to allow you to quickly locate the most recent locations from which you copied source objects. To redisplay the palette, double-click one of the locations displayed in Tree View.
By using DesignCenter’s Tree View, you can easily navigate through a directory structure to the desired location of source data. In the next section, you learn about DesignCenter’s palette interface, which allows you to view source objects.
Tip
You can refresh the Tree View and palette display by right-clicking in the palette, then selecting Refresh from the shortcut menu.
Exploring the AutoCAD DesignCenter Palette
DesignCenter’s palette displays the source objects found in a particular location. For example, when a location is selected using Tree View, the location’s source objects are displayed in the palette, as shown in Figure 12.4. By using the palette, you can easily view the available source objects.
Figure 12.4. The palette displays the source objects using Large Icons view.
The palette can display source objects in one of four views. The view you may prefer to select largely depends on the source objects you are viewing. For example, when viewing blocks in a drawing, it is appropriate to use the Large Icons view to better see each block’s thumbnail image, as shown in Figure 12.4. However, when viewing drawing files in a folder, choosing the Details view may be more desirable, as shown in Figure 12.5. The four available views are as follows:
Figure 12.5. The palette displays source objects using Details view.
Large Icons. Displays source objects using large object icons and uses thumbnail images, if available.
Small Icons. Displays source objects using small object icons, and does not use thumbnail images even if they are available.
List. Displays source objects as a simple list, without file detail information.
Details. Displays source objects as a list, and includes file information such as each file’s size and type, if available.
By selecting the desired view, you can preview the source objects in an appropriate format.
Tip
By right-clicking in the palette, you can select the desired view display by selecting View from the shortcut menu. Alternatively, you can select the desired view display by clicking successively on the Views tool.
Tip
You can control the sort order of objects displayed in the Details view by clicking the button at the top of each column. For example, in Figure 12.5, if you click the File Size button at the top of the palette, you can sort the objects in the list by file size in ascending order. By clicking the button a second time, you can re-sort the objects by size in descending order.
By using the DesignCenter’s palette, you can easily view source objects in a format that you find useful. In the next section, you are introduced to two additional panes that provide additional information about the selected source object.
Viewing Images and Descriptions of Source Objects
There are two additional windowpanes you can open in DesignCenter. These panes display an image of the selected source object and its description, if such information was saved with the source object. By using these panes, you can better identify the contents of a source object before its contents are copied to the current drawing.
The preview pane allows you to display an image of the selected object, and is activated by clicking the Preview button, as shown in Figure 12.6. The preview pane is resizable, and can be expanded to better view the source object’s image. By using the DesignCenter’s preview feature, you can visualize the source object prior to inserting it into the current drawing.
Figure 12.6. The palette displays source objects with a Preview.
Tip
You can automatically generate preview images for blocks that do not have preview images by using the BLOCKICON command, which will generate preview images for block references defined in the current drawing.
The description pane displays text that describes the selected source object. When you click the Description button, if a description was provided, the description pane displays the description below the palette, as shown in Figure 12.7. By using the DesignCenter’s description feature, you can better determine whether the selected source object is the one you need to copy into the current drawing.
Figure 12.7. The palette can display source object descriptions.
By using the preview and description features provided in DesignCenter, you can better identify the contents of a source object before its contents are copied to the current drawing. In the next section, you learn about other techniques for displaying source objects in the DesignCenter’s palette.