Supported AutoCAD Commands
MicroStation provides a set of key-ins and tools that are similar to AutoCAD commands. You can use these key-ins to ease your workflows. Below is a list of key-ins and tools that are similar to AutoCAD commands:
| AutoCAD Command | AutoCAD Command shortcut | MicroStation Key-in | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALIGN | AL | ALIGN 3D | Select objects to align |
| CAMERA | CAM | CAMERA SETUP | Opens the Place Camera tool |
| CTABLESTYLE | CT | PLACE TABLE & TABLE SETTING SEED BYNAME <SeedName> | Sets the name of the current table style |
| ADCENTER | ADC | DIALOG EXPLORER OPEN | Opens Explorer |
| PROPERTIES | CH | DIALOG PROPERTIES OPEN | Opens Properties dialog to change the properties |
| DIMARC | DAR | DIMCREATE ANGULAR ARCSIZE | Creates arc dim., select arc or pline arc segment |
| DIMCENTER | DCE | DIMCREATE CENTER MARK | Creates the center mark or the centerlines of circles and arcs |
| DIMCONTINUE | DCO | DIMCREATE LINEAR SIZE | Creates continuous dimension |
| ATTIPEDIT | ATI | EDIT TAGS | Selects tags to edit |
| DIMBASELINE | DBA | DIMCREATE LINEAR STACKED | Selects the start dim. To continue stacked |
| ARC | A | PLACE ARC ICON | Places arc |
| CYLINDER | CYL | PLACE CYLINDER ICON | Places cylinder |
| CHECKSTANDARDS | CHK | STANDARDSCHECKER DIALOG | Opens the Standards Checker |
| MEASURE | ME | MEASURE | Select objects to measure |
| 3DPRINT | 3DP | PRINTERSERVICE ADD ELEMENTTOPRINTMODEL | 3D print |
| 3DWALK | 3DW | NAVIGATE CUSTOM WALK | 3d walk |
| 3DPLOT | 3DPRINT | PRINTERSERVICE ADD ELEMENTTOPRINTMODEL | 3d print |
| 3DMOVE | 3M | MOVE ELEMENT | 3d move |
| 3DROTATE | 3R | ROTATE ICON | 3d rotate |
| 3DNAVIGATE | 3DWALK | NAVIGATE VIEW | 3d navigate |
| DIMEDIT | DED | MODIFY ELEMENT | Edits dim. text or dim. line |
| OSNAP | OS | DIALOG ACCUSNAP | Invokes the Drafting Settings dialog for object snaps |
| MSPACE | MS | MODEL ACTIVE <ModelName> | Switches from paper space to a model space viewport |
| IMPORT | IMP | IMPORT | Imports files of different formats into the current drawing |
The table lists AutoCAD command that you can use in MicroStation, a brief description, and similar (not necessarily identical) MicroStation key-ins or tools. The table shows the AutoCAD commands with the DWG prefix. Alternatively, you can use a command prefix plus an alias from a PGP file to define shortcuts to these commands.
| AutoCAD Key-in | Description | Similar MicroStation Tool or Key-in |
|---|---|---|
| DWG 3DFACE | Places a face. | Key-in: PLACE SHAPE ICON |
| DWG 3DPOLY | Places a line. | Key-in: PLACE LINE CONSTRAINED |
| DWG ARC | Places an arc. | Key-in: PLACE ARC ICON |
| DWG AREA <OBJECT | Add | POINTS> | Measures area and perimeter.
If set to Object, measures the area of an element. If set to Add, measures the area of an area bounded by the union of two or more closed planar elements. If set to Points (default), measures the planar area with its vertices defined by a series of data points. |
Key-ins: MEASURE AREA ELEMENT , MEASURE AREA UNION , MEASURE AREA POINTS |
| DWG ARRAY | Copies an element many times to create an array. | Key-in: ARRAY ICON |
| DWG ATTDEF | Defines tags. | Key-in: DIALOG TAGS SETS |
| DWG ATTEDIT | Modifies values for tags. | Key-in: EDIT TAGS |
| DWG AUNITS <0 | 1 | 2 | 3> | Sets the units for angles. 0 = decimal degrees. 1 = degrees/minutes/seconds. 2 = gradians. 3 = radians. | — |
| DWG AUPREC <#> | Sets the number of decimal places for angle units. | — |
| DWG BASE <x,y> | Sets the insertion base point for the current model. The insertion base point is used when the model is referenced into another model. | — |
| DWG BHATCH | Defines hatches. | Key-in: DIALOG TOOLBOX PATTERNS |
| DWG BLOCK | Defines a cell. | Key-in: DIALOG CELL MAINTENANCE and DEFINE CELL ORIGIN |
| DWG BREAK | Deletes part of an element. | Key-in: DELETE PARTIAL |
| DWG CECOLOR <color_#> | Sets the color for new elements. | Key-in: ACTIVE COLOR |
| DWG CELTSCALE <scale_factor> | Sets the line style scale factor for new elements, relative to the global scale factor. When a new element is created, the actual line style scale factor is the CELTSCALE value multiplied by the LTSCALE value. | Line Styles dialog, Scale factor setting |
| DWG CELTYPE <0–7 | name> | Sets the line style for new elements. # = standard line style number 0–7. Name = name of a custom line style. | Key-in: ACTIVE STYLE |
| DWG CHAMFER | Constructs a chamfer. | Key-in: CHAMFER |
| DWG CHAMFERA <distance_value> | Sets chamfer distance 1. | Construct Chamfer tool, Distance 1 setting |
| DWG CHAMFERB <distance_value> | Sets chamfer distance 2. | Construct Chamfer tool, Distance 2 setting |
| DWG CHANGE | Lets you modify element attributes. | Key-in: CHANGE ICON |
| DWG CIRCLE | Places a circle. | Key-in: PLACE CIRCLE ICON |
| DWG CLAYER <layer_name> | Sets the level (DWG layer) for new elements. | Key-in: ACTIVE LEVEL |
| DWG CMLJUST <0 | 1 | 2> | Specifies justification for multi-lines. 0 = top. 1 = middle. 2 = bottom. | — |
| DWG COPY | Copies elements. | Key-in: COPY ICON |
| DWG DATE | (Read only.) Lists the current date and time in the format: <Julian day number.><Decimal fraction of a day>. | — |
| DWG DDATTDEF | Defines tags. | Key-in: DIALOG TAGS SETS |
| DWG DDATTE | Lets you modify values for tags. | Key-in: EDIT TAGS |
| DWG DDCOLOR | Lets you modify the active color table. | Key-in: DIALOG COLOR |
| DWG DDEDIT | Edits text. | Key-in: EDIT TEXT |
| DWG DDIM | Defines dimension style settings. | Key-in: DIALOG DIMSTYLES OPEN |
| DWG DDINSERT | Places a cell. | Key-in: PLACE CELL ICON |
| DWG DDUCS | Manages auxiliary coordinate system (ACS). | Key-in: DIALOG COORDSYS |
| DWG DDVIEW | Manages saved views. | Key-in: SHOW VIEWS |
| DWG DIMALIGNED | Places a linear dimension parallel to the element being dimensioned. | Key-in: DIMENSION AXIS TRUE and DIMCREATE LINEAR SIZE |
| DWG DIMANGULAR | Dimensions the angle between two lines. | Key-in: DIMCREATE ANGULAR LINES |
| DWG DIMCENTER | Places a center mark at the center of a circle or arc. | Key-in: DIMENSION CENTER MARK |
| DWG DIMLINEAR | Dimensions the linear distance between two points (length) . | Key-in: DIMCREATE LINEAR SIZE |
| DWG DIMORDINATE | Labels distances along an axis from an origin (datum) along the ordinate axis (the line along which the distances are measured). | Key-in: DIMCREATE ORDINATE |
| DWG DIMRADIUS | Dimensions the radius of a circle or a circular arc. | Key-in: DIMCREATE ELEMENT RADIUS |
| DWG DIMSTYLE | Controls dimension settings. | Key-in: DIALOG DIMSTYLES OPEN |
| DWG DIST | Measures distance. | Key-in: MEASURE DISTANCE POINTS |
| DWG DTEXT | Places text. | Key-in: PLACE TEXT ICON |
| DWG DWGCODEPAGE | Shows system code page. | — |
| DWG ELLIPSE | Places an ellipse. | Key-in: PLACE ELLIPSE ICON |
| DWG ERASE | Deletes an element. | Key-in: DELETE ELEMENT |
| DWG EXPLODE | Breaks up elements into smaller components. | Key-in: DROP ELEMENT |
| DWG EXTEND | Extends elements to an intersection. | Key-in: EXTEND ELEMENT 2 and EXTEND ELEMENT INTERSECTION |
| DWG EXTRUDE | (3D only) Creates a surface or solid — a complex 3D element generated by linearly extruding a profile element a defined distance. | Key-in: CONSTRUCT SURFACE PROJECTION |
| DWG FILLET | Constructs a circular fillet (arc) between two elements. | Key-in: FILLET ICON |
| DWG FILLETRAD | Stores the current fillet radius value. | Key-in: FILLET ICON , Radius setting |
| DWG FILLMODE <0 | 1> | If set to 1, closed elements are filled. If set to 0, closed elements are not filled. (Click Update View to see changes.) | Key-in: ACTIVE FILL |
| DWG GRIDMODE <0 | 1> | If set to 1, displays the grid. If set to 0, the grid is not displayed. | Key-in: SET GRID |
| DWG GRIDUNIT <unit> | Specifies the grid spacing for the current view. | Key-in: ACTIVE GRIDUNIT |
| DWG GROUP | Creates and manages groups. | Key-in: GROUP ADD |
| DWG HATCH | Defines hatches. | Key-in: DIALOG TOOLBOX PATTERNS |
| DWG HIDE | Turns on rendering in hidden line mode. | Key-in: RENDER ALL HIDDEN |
| DWG HPANG <angle> | Specifies the hatch angle. | Hatch Area tool, Crosshatch Area tool, Angle setting |
| DWG HPNAME <name> | Specifies the hatch pattern name. | Pattern Area tool, Pattern Cell setting |
| DWG HPSCALE <#> | Specifies the hatch pattern scale factor. | — |
| DWG HPSPACE | Specifies the hatch pattern line spacing. | —
Hatch Area tool, Crosshatch Area tool, Angle setting |
| DWG IMAGE | Controls the display of raster images in a DGN file view. | Key-in: DIALOG RASTER |
| DWG IMAGEADJUST | Controls the image display (brightness, contrast, and fade values). | Key-in: RASTER DLGGENERAL OPEN |
| DWG IMAGEATTACH | Attaches raster references to the active design file. | Key-in: RASTER ATTACH INTERACTIVE |
| DWG IMAGECLIP | Crops a raster image using a clipping boundary. | Key-in: RASTER TOOLCLIP |
| DWG INSBASE <X, Y> | Sets the insertion base point for the current model. The insertion base point is used when the model is referenced into another model. | — |
| DWG INSERT | Places a cell. | Key-in: PLACE CELL ICON |
| DWG INSERTOBJ | Inserts new objects into your file. | Key-in: OLECNTR INSERT |
| DWG INSUNITS <0 — 20> | Sets the Design Center Units
for a DWG file in MicroStation. Use a value between 0–20 to specify the
units:
|
— |
| DWG INTERFERE | (3D only) Constructs a solid that is the intersection of two or more overlapping solids. | Key-in: CONSTRUCT INTERSECTION |
| DWG INTERSECT | Constructs a solid that is the intersection of two or more overlapping solids. | Key-in: CONSTRUCT INTERSECTION |
| DWG ISOLINES <#> | Sets the number of isolines used to display solids and B-spline surfaces. | 3D and B-spline dialog, Surface/Solid Iso Lines setting |
| DWG LAYER | Controls level display and level symbology. | Key-in: LEVEL MANAGER DIALOG OPEN |
| DWG LEADER | Places a note with a leader line. | Key-in: PLACE NOTE |
| DWG LINE | Creates line segments. | Key-in: PLACE LINE CONSTRAINED |
| DWG LINETYPE | Activates line styles and sets line style modifiers. | Key-in: LINESTYLE SETTINGS |
| DWG LOCALE | Shows the ISO language code. | — |
| DWG LTSCALE <scale_factor> | Sets the global scale factor for line styles. | Key-in: ACTIVE LINESTYLESCALE |
| DWG MATCHPROP | Matches element attributes. | Key-in: MATCH ELEMENT |
| DWG MIRROR | Mirrors an element. | Key-in: MIRROR ICON |
| DWG MLINE | Places a multi-line (multiple parallel lines). | Key-in: PLACE MLINE |
| DWG MOVE | Moves an element. | Key-in: MOVE ICON |
| DWG MTEXT | Places text. | Key-in: PLACE DIALOGTEXT ICON |
| DWG OFFSET | Moves or copies an element parallel to the original. | Key-in: MOVE PARALLEL OFFSET |
| DWG ORTHOMODE <0 | 1> | Turns on Axis lock. | Key-in: LOCK AXIS |
| DWG PAN | Shifts the view to a different part of the design. | Key-in: PAN VIEW |
| DWG PASTESPEC | Applies a special display format to contents of the clipboard. | Key-in: CLIPBOARD PASTESPECIAL |
| DWG PLINE | Places a chain of connected line segments and arc segments. | Key-in: PLACE SMARTLINE |
| DWG PLINEGEN <0 | 1> | If set to 1, defines the way that line styles are controlled for line strings and shapes. If set to 0, the pattern will restart for each segment. | — |
| DWG PLINEWID <width> | Defines the width for wide custom line styles. Note that AutoCAD only supports width on polylines. | Line Styles dialog, Width settings |
| DWG PLOT | Creates printed output. | Key-in: DIALOG PLOT |
| DWG POINT | Places the active point. | Key-in: PLACE POINT |
| DWG POLYGON | Places a polygon. | Key-in: PLACE POLYGON ICON |
| DWG PSLTSCALE <0 | 1> | Controls how line styles
are scaled in AutoCAD layout viewports. (Note: MicroStation treats layout viewports as reference
attachments (referred to below as viewport attachments).)
If set to 0, then the line styles within viewport attachments are based on the units in which the model was created, and therefore are not affected by the scale of the sheet model. If set to 1, then the line styles within viewport attachments are based on sheet model units. |
— |
| DWG QUIT | Exits MicroStation. | Key-in: EXIT |
|
DWG RECTANG
DWG RECTANGLE |
Places a block. | Key-in: PLACE BLOCK ICON |
| DWG REDRAW | Updates the views. | Key-in: UPDATE VIEW EXTENDED |
| DWG REDRAWAll | Updates the views. | Key-in: UPDATE VIEW EXTENDED |
| DWG REGEN | Updates the views. | Key-in: UPDATE VIEW EXTENDED |
| DWG REGENALL | Updates the views. | Key-in: UPDATE VIEW EXTENDED |
| DWG REGION | Creates a complex shape from a region. | Key-in: CREATE REGION ICON |
| DWG RENDER | Controls rendering settings. | Key-in: DIALOG RENDER |
| DWG REVOLVE | (3D only) Creates a surface of revolution. | Key-in: CONSTRUCT SURFACE REVOLUTION |
| DWG ROTATE | Rotates elements. | Key-in: ROTATE ICON |
| DWG RPREF | Sets rendering settings. | Key-in: DIALOG RENDER |
| DWG SCALE | Resizes an element. | Key-in: SCALE ICON |
| DWG SECTION | Trims elements to a common intersection. | Key-in: CONSTRUCT TRIM |
| DWG SHADE | Turns on screen rendering (shading). | Key-in: RENDER ICON |
| DWG SLICE | Subtracts the volume of one or more solids from another solid. | Key-in: CONSTRUCT DIFFERENCE |
| DWG SNAPANG <angle> | Sets the snap and grid rotation angle for the current view. | Key-in: ACTIVE GRIDANGLE |
| DWG SNAPBASE <X, Y> | Sets an origin point for the grid. | — |
| DWG SNAPMODE <0 | 1> | If set to 1, each data point is forced to lie at coordinates that are multiples, in each dimension, of the (Unit) Distance. | Key-in: LOCK UNIT |
| DWG SOLID | Places a four-sided filled polygon shape. | Key-in: PLACE SHAPE ICON |
| DWG SPELL | Reviews text for spelling errors. | Key-in: SPELLCHECK |
| DWG SPLFRAME <0 | 1> | If set to 1, displays the
control polygon of each B-spline curve. Also displays invisible edges of mesh
elements.
If set to 0, the control polygons and invisible edges are not displayed. |
Key-in: SET INVISGEOM |
| DWG SPLINE | Places a B-spline curve. | Key-in: PLACE BSPLINE CURVE |
| DWG SPLINEDIT | Edits a spline. | Key-in: DIALOG TOOLBOX CURVEMODIFY TOGGLE |
| DWG STYLE | Creates and modifies text styles. | Key-in: TEXTSTYLE DIALOG OPEN |
| DWG SUBTRACT | Subtracts the volume of solids from another solid. | Key-in: CONSTRUCT DIFFERENCE |
| DWG SURFU <#> | Sets the number of rule lines for the surface's U parameter. | Evaluate Surface tool, Number of Points setting |
| DWG SURFV <#> | Sets the number of rule lines for the surface's V parameter. | Evaluate Surface tool, Number of Points setting |
| DWG SYSCODEPAGE | Shows the system code page. | — |
| DWG TEXT | Places text. | Key-in: PLACE TEXT ICON |
| DWG TEXTSIZE <#> | Sets the default height for new text created with the active text style. | — |
| DWG TEXTSTYLE <name> | Sets the name of the active text style. | Key-in: TEXTSTYLE ACTIVE |
| DWG TOOLBAR | Displays and customizes toolboxes. | Key-in: DRAFTPAL OPENTOOLBOX |
| DWG TORUS | Places a torus (donut-shaped solid). | Key-in: PLACE TORUS |
| DWG TRIM | Simultaneously trims multiple elements. | — |
| DWG UCSICON <0 | 1> | If set to 1, a coordinate triad representing the Active Auxiliary Coordinate System (ACS) displays. If set to 0, the ACS triad does not display. | Key-in: SET ACSDISPLAY |
| DWG UCSORG <X, y, Z> | Sets the ACS origin for the current view. | ACS origin. |
| DWG UCSXDIR <X, Y, Z> | (Read only.) Sets the X direction of the active ACS for the current view. | ACS X Direction. |
| DWG UCSYDIR <X, Y, Z> | (Read only.) Sets the Ydirection of the active ACS for the current view. | ACS Y direction. |
| DWG UNION | Unites two or more overlapping solids. | Key-in: CONSTRUCT UNION |
| DWG UNITS | Sets the Design Center Units (AutoCAD system variable INSUNITS) for a DWG file in MicroStation. Opens the DWG/DXF dialog, where you can change the unit settings. | — |
| DWG VISRETAIN <0 | 1> | If set to 1, changes to the
level attributes for attached references are saved from session to session.
If set to 0, changes to the level attributes for attached references are valid for the current session only; they are not saved. |
Key-in: SET REFLEVELOVERRIDES |
| DWG WBLOCK | Writes a new DWG file from one of the following: | — |
| DWG XATTACH | Attaches a reference to the active model. | Key-in: ATTACH REFERENCE |
| DWG XBIND | Merges references into the master DGN file. | Key-in: DIALOG REFERENCE and REFERENCE MERGE |
| DWG XCLIP | Defines a clipping boundary. | Key-in: REFERENCE CLIP |
| DWG XCLIPFRAME <0 | 1> | If set to 1, turns on display of reference clip boundaries. If set to 0, turns off display of reference clip boundaries. | Key-in: DIALOG REFERENCE |
| DWG XREF | Defines references (XREFs). | Key-in: DIALOG REFERENCE |
| DWG ZOOM | Changes the magnification of the view. | Key-in: ZOOM IN and ZOOM OUT |