On-screen Command and Status Display Overlay

[cadPNYBN]

Is there some kind of addon/plugin/LISP for AutoCAD that can do a large scale, semi-transparent overlay display of real-time commands being typed as well as status of Ortho, Snap, etc.?

[nrz13]

I don't know of any add-on like that (doesn't mean it doesn't exist), but you could achieve the first part of what you're wanting to do by using a floating command line.  Just increase the font size to get your larger text (OPTIONS > Display tab > Fonts... button).  Reduce the width of the command line as needed to not cover your screen.

For the transparency, select the wrench icon on the command line and set to the desired amount.  Ortho/Snap/etc. will also show up in the command line there, but if you want an always-on display of those items, I think you'd have to use the built-in icons on the status bar.

[Kent1Cooper]

Not exactly what you want, but in maybe it can be helpful in part:

You can have the Snap value displayed only when Snap is on, in the status line, with a MODEMACRO setting.  Make an acad.lsp file [in a place where AutoCAD knows to look] containing this:

(defun S::STARTUP ()
  (setvar "modemacro"
    (strcat
      "$(if,$(getvar,snapmode), Snap:)"
      "$(if,$(getvar,snapmode),$(rtos,$(getvar,snapunit))  )"
    )
  )
)

When Snap is turned on at a setting of 0.5, that shows this in the status line:

which goes away when I turn Snap off.  [The blue square with white dots to the right shows that Snap is on, but not the distance setting.]

You could have an indicator of whether Ortho is on added to that, but [you likely already know] there's one in the status line [if you have chosen to include it in the Customization choices]:

The rest should be achievable as already suggested with a floating command line.

[pendean]

Are you trying to run a demonstration class? Or some sort of online tutorial?

In the meantime... CTRL+F2 then park that pop-up on a screen away from the drafting area of AutoCAD is as close as you can get in the core program as an option for what you seek.

[cadPNYBN]

Thanks for the replies. It's not for a tutorial or demonstration, it's that I frequently work in dense point clouds with a lot of modelled piping and I find that the indicators at the right-bottom of the Plant 3D screen are out of my field of vision and I often forget which mode of Ortho, F3, F4, etc. is current.

[nrz13]

I don't know how relevant this would be to your setup, but I have a Logitech mouse that allows me to customize the buttons on the mouse on a per-program basis.  So what I do is program the forward button to F3 (osnap toggle) and the back button to F8 (ortho toggle) for when AutoCAD is the active program.

Then, as I'm drafting, if my lines aren't snapping, or drawing straight, or vice versa, I can press those buttons with my thumb as I'm in the middle of commands and not mess up my workflow.

[cadPNYBN]

Screen mockup.

[pendean]

You will have to find a 3rd party AutoCAD or OS add-on that does all of that: sorry.

But if you want to ask in one or more of the customizations forums here you might be able to simulate something like that with pop-ups https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/autocad-customization/ct-p/AutoCADTopic1

[cadPNYBN]

Thanks for the suggestion.