Specify the Behavior of Dockable Windows

Windows such as the ribbon, Properties palette, tool palettes, and DesignCenter can be docked, anchored, or floated.

Settings for these and other options are often changed on a shortcut menu, available by right-clicking the title bar of the palette or window.

Resize. Drag an edge of the window to change its size. If the window has panes, drag the bar between panes to resize the panes.
Allow Docking. Select this option if you want to dock or anchor a dockable window. A docked window adheres to one side of the application window, causing the drawing area to be resized.
Anchor. Attach, or anchor, a dockable window or palette to the left or right side of the drawing area. An anchored window rolls open and closed as the cursor moves across it. When an anchored window is open, its content overlaps the drawing area. An anchored window cannot be set to stay open. The Allow Docking option must be selected before you can anchor a window.
Auto-hide. A floating window rolls open and closes as the cursor moves across it. When this option is cleared, the window stays open continuously. Docked windows with auto-hide show up as a bar inside the application.
Transparency. Sets the degree of transparency for the window and on mouse over. The window becomes transparent so that it does not obscure objects under it. The window becomes more opaque when it is moused over. This option is not available for all windows.

You can hide all the palettes at once with HIDEPALETTES and turn on all hidden palettes with SHOWPALETTES.

NoteIf a palette has been turned back on manually and moved, it is not affected by SHOWPALETTES.

Procedure

To anchor a dockable window

To float an anchored window

To dock a window or palette

To undock a window or palette

To turn Auto-hide on or off for a floating palette or window

Quick Reference

Commands

System Variables

APERTURE

Sets the display size for the object snap target box, in pixels.

CALCINPUT

Controls whether mathematical expressions and global constants are evaluated in text and numeric entry boxes of windows and dialog boxes.

CLEANSCREENSTATE

Indicates whether the clean screen state is on or off.

CURSORSIZE

Determines the size of the crosshairs as a percentage of the screen size.

DCTCUST

Displays the path and file name of the current custom spelling dictionary.

DCTMAIN

Displays the three letter keyword for the current main spelling dictionary.

DEFPLSTYLE

Specifies the default plot style for new objects in a drawing when opening a drawing that was created in a release prior to AutoCAD 2000, or when creating a new drawing from scratch without using a drawing template.

DRAGMODE

Controls the way dragged objects are displayed.

EXTNAMES

Sets the parameters for named object names (such as linetypes and layers) stored in definition tables.

FILLMODE

Specifies whether hatches and fills, 2D solids, and wide polylines are filled in.

GRIPBLOCK

Controls the display of grips in blocks.

GRIPCOLOR

Controls the color of unselected grips.

GRIPHOT

Controls the color of selected grips.

GRIPS

Controls the display of grips on selected objects.

INSUNITS

Specifies a drawing-units value for automatic scaling of blocks, images, or xrefs when inserted or attached to a drawing.

INSUNITSDEFSOURCE

Sets source content units value when INSUNITS is set to 0.

INSUNITSDEFTARGET

Sets target drawing units value when INSUNITS is set to 0.

INTELLIGENTUPDATE

Controls the graphics refresh rate.

ISAVEBAK

Improves the speed of incremental saves, especially for large drawings.

ISAVEPERCENT

Determines the amount of wasted space tolerated in a drawing file.

LAYOUTREGENCTL

Specifies how the display list is updated in the Model tab and layout tabs.

LOCALE

Displays a code that indicates the current locale.

LOCALROOTPREFIX

Stores the full path to the root folder where local customizable files were installed.

LOCKUI

Locks the position and size of toolbars and dockable windows such as DesignCenter and the Properties palette.

LOGFILEMODE

Specifies whether the contents of the text window are written to a log file.

LOGFILENAME

Specifies the path and name of the text window log file for the current drawing.

LOGFILEPATH

Specifies the path for the text window log files for all drawings in a session.

MTEXTED

Sets the application for editing multiline text objects.

OLEQUALITY

Sets the default plot quality for OLE objects.

OLESTARTUP

Controls whether the source application of an embedded OLE object loads when plotting.

OSNAPCOORD

Controls whether coordinates entered on the command line will override running object snaps.

PAPERUPDATE

Controls the display of a warning dialog box when attempting to print a layout with a paper size different from the paper size specified by the default for the plotter configuration file.

PALETTEOPAQUE

Controls whether palettes can be made transparent.

PICKADD

Controls whether subsequent selections replace the current selection set or add to it.

PICKAUTO

Controls automatic windowing at the Select Objects prompt.

PICKBOX

Sets the object selection target height, in pixels.

PICKDRAG

Controls the method of drawing a selection window.

PICKFIRST

Controls whether you select objects before (noun-verb selection) or after you issue a command.

PICKSTYLE

Controls the use of group selection and associative hatch selection.

PSTYLEPOLICY

Controls the plot style mode, Color-Dependent or Named, that is used when opening a drawing that was created in a release prior to AutoCAD 2000 or when creating a new drawing from scratch without using a drawing template.

QTEXTMODE

Controls how text is displayed.

RASTERPREVIEW

Controls whether BMP preview images are saved with the drawing.

ROLLOVERTIPS

Controls the display of rollover tooltips in the application.

SAVEFILEPATH

Stores the current automatic save file name.

SAVEFILEPATH

Specifies the path to the directory for all automatic save files for the current session.

SAVETIME

Sets the automatic save interval, in minutes.