For an individual moving from the relatively-simple AutoCAD to ABS, the similarities of the interface are great, but the differences in the user interface are just enough to be confusing. Here’s a quick walk around the screen for the new user.

Command Window

ABS retains the AutoCAD concept that all commands available on toolbars and menu pulldowns can be typed in.  The command window can be resized, moved to the top or sides of the drawing window.  The drawing window status bar, containing the layer tabs, display setup icon, display configuration selection and the application status bar are fixed at the bottom margin. 

Menu Pulldowns and Toolbars

The default pulldowns and toolbars are from the building systems menu group.  Additional items from this menu group are available by selecting “Window -> Pulldowns” as shown.  Note the Building Systems 3” group.  In ABS 3.3, many of the tools were accessed from pulldowns.  Since ABS 2004, these are now available on the Tool Palettes, but the older style is also available if you prefer.

You also have the option of selecting or de-selecting the Project Navigator, Tool Palettes, and the Properties Palette, as well as the Content Browser.  Clean Screen selects/deselects the toolbars and palletes, to maximize the drawing window. The options for ADT and AutoCAD Menus change to their respective menu systems but do not, for example, open the ADT palettes. Typing the “Menu” Command works similarly, but does not give a short cut back to the Building Systems Menus. The Design Pulldown does give access to the ADT Tools (doors, walls, windows, etc).Additional Toolbars

By Right-clicking in the Toolbar area, you can access the rest of the Building systems toolbars. Toolbars are placed in the drawing window, but can be dragged to the toolbar area.
By clicking the customize option, the Customize dialog box is opened, allowing you to drag individual commands to the drawing area, add them to existing toolbars, or create new toolbars. Typing the command CUIload allows access to the ADT and AutoCAD toolbars and pulldowns. By browsing from the menu groups tab and selecting the .cui file that you wish, you can then add menu items from the Menu Bar tab.

In addition, when you right-click in the open toolbar space as above, the options from that .cui file will also be available. (Note: Opening the ACAD Menus will probably duplicate many of the standard toolbars from ABS such as the Standard Navigation toolbar and the layers toolbar. Be sure to close any duplicates.) I will cover the standard ABS menus as we proceed through the individual lessons. Also available on the installation CD are the AutoCAD Express tools. Located under the Support directory, the Express tools have their own installation script, which must be run manually.

Tool palettes, properties palette, and the project navigator

Tool Palettes were added in ADT 2004 and ABS 2004. They enable many of the menu functions from pulldowns, as well as specific blocks or hatch patterns, available on a palette that can be located not only in the drawing area, but also in the computer screen.
Tool palettes are organized in a tool palette set in which you can add, remove, rename, and rearrange palettes.  Along with the tool palette set that exists when you start Autodesk Building Systems, additional tools and palettes are stored in the Content Browser, and you can drag and drop them onto the tool palettes.  You can also add blocks from other drawings through the Design Center, or Style Manager. Only one tool palette set can be active during an Autodesk Building Systems session, but several palettes can be combined into a single one, through the “Options” dialog-more on this shortly.

Right-clicking on the Tool Palette Set bar (the grayer bar on the left), or clicking the properties icon on the bar, gives you the option of docking palettes to the side of the drawing window, making the palette transparent or selecting whether the palette displays text, icons, or both. The double arrows icon above the properties icon enables auto-hide, which reduces the palette set reduces to the grey bar, when not under the cursor.
 

In ADT, most tools have their properties set via the properties palette. In ABS, however, most commands, whether typed in, or selected from a menu or a tool palette, open a dialog box that allows the properties to be changed as the command is being executed (for example, changing duct size in the middle of a command). These dialog boxes have a push pin that allows the dialog to minimize when not being used, freeing up the drawing window.

In addition to the Tool palette, there is a similar window for object properties, as well as one for the project navigator. The project Navigator will be discussed in great detail in a later article. Use  of the properties palette is explored in the individual discipline lessons. As a general navigation issue, in ABS, unlike ADT, many of the properties of an object (duct, pipe, schematic line, electrical panel, etc) are not modifiable via the properties menu, but rather through  the dialog boxes that are accessed by selecting the object and right clicking.

STATUS BAR
Drawing Setup
The drawing setup dialog box is accessed by left-clicking on the arrow icon below the layers. The drawing setup dialog allows you to change the units used in the drawing, the scale used for annotation and schematic symbols, layering and layer key standards used in the drawing and the default display representations used. 

 
Display Status Information Communication Center & Screen Toggles

Since the launch of ABS 2005, a wealth of information has joined the Display configuration in the lower right corner of the screen. The Display pulldown allows you to select the particular way that all AEC (ADT and ABS) elements of your building model will be displayed in a particular view. The default configurations available support floor and ceiling views, with the ADT elements in their default representation or screened (gray).

By building your own display configurations, you can, for example, have a view which shows electrical items in detail, and hides piping and ducting, or which shows new construction in detail, and existing elements in gray. The Display Manager for building these views is covered in its own lesson. In addition, you have the option of displaying the viewport and drawing scale displayed, the hatching and layer override key, and viewing the object isolate toggle in the right-hand corner of the screen. (The object isolate toggle will be discussed in the lessons on drawing in 3D). The communications center checks to make sure you are up to date on all Autodesk patches. The next two buttons allow you to turn off the status bar for more drawing screen, or to clear the screen entirely for drawing.

The Options menu
By right-clicking in the command window, or from the format menu, you can select the “options” dialog box.  Settings you select in the dialog box can affect your individual profile, regardless of the drawing you are in, or the setting for an individual drawing. Those which affect the current drawing (or which can be saved in a template) are flagged with the Autodesk drawing icon.

The options dialog allows you to set such items as:

Specific to ABS are the following tabs: