Using a "-" gets a pulldown Please help

[ReachAndre]

I am trying to use some commands in the command line.


50% of the time when I enter "-" at the command line, I get a small pulldown from the upper left portion of the screen with window options. I have found no rhyme or reason for the occurence.

I would like to do 2 things, understand why it does this only sometimes, and disable it so that I can use commands such as -layer

Thanks,
Andre

Spoiler

I think it's a Windows thing. Since IE7 ALT toggled the underscore under the capital letter in Windows Menu Bars: http://benosullivan.co.uk/windows/how-to-toggle-the-menu-bar-in-internet-explorer-7-and-8/
Try it in AutoCAD or Internet Exployer. Click ALT and look at the menu bar, then click it again. With the underscores off you should be ok, but we use that key a lot so it's not a perfect answer just all I have.

Thanks Tom, this provided the solution.

[ccowgill]

Is it possible that you have dynamic input turned on? if I shut if off and only use the command line, I do not get a pulldown, but if I have dynamic input on (which is my default) I will get a pulldown menu as well as the input at the command line.

[ReachAndre]

Dynamic input is off

[Opie]

I have this problem with Civil 3D 2011. I have no solution for it though. :?

[cadtag]

it's evidently a reproducible bug, and discussed on the Autodesk forums for 2011. What's evidently happening is that the ALT key gets pressed, and then the - acts as a menu accelerator and pops up a pulldown. If you're a ribbon fanatic, you can try setting MENUBAR to 0,

If you find the ribbon a waste of pixels/time, then try hitting ESC 3 times to cancel all the way out. May be a good idea to edit you CUI files, and change all instances of ^C^C to ^C^C^C

[rkmcswain]

it's evidently a reproducible bug, and discussed on the Autodesk forums for 2011. What's evidently happening is that the ALT key gets pressed, and then the - acts as a menu accelerator and pops up a pulldown. If you're a ribbon fanatic, you can try setting MENUBAR to 0

What is the bug? If the ALT key is pressed (or is sticking), the the hyphen key calls the current document's control menu. This applies to all MDI applications, and worked the same in earlier versions of AutoCAD. Also, the setting of MENUBAR has no effect on the result of ALT+Hyphen.

I wonder if the problem isn't that the ALT key is sticking...?

To the OP, with AutoCAD being the active application and no command running, try pressing the Space Bar.... if the ALT key is stuck, this should bring up the application Control Menu (as opposed to the document control menu).

[Jmurphy]

I wonder if the problem isn't that the ALT key is sticking...?



No I doubt it seeing it's been mentioned else where ;) and the developers are aware of it.
It's the combination of using the some key and something else that I can't remember right now.

[jaberwok]

Could it be Windows "sticky keys"?

"Turn on Sticky Keys. This option sets Sticky Keys to run when you log on to Windows. Instead of having to press three keys at once (such as when you must press the Ctrl, Alt, and Delete keys together to log on to Windows), you can use one key by turning on Sticky Keys and adjusting the settings. This way, you can press a modifier key and have it remain active until another key is pressed."

Not very likely, I admit.

[Tom Beauford]

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-2011/dash-key-goes-to-menu/m-p/2690027#M2584 Many workarounds including turning of the Menu bar, hitting Esc 3 times, toggling with Alt... Programers are aware so maybe it will be fixed in the next update.

[rkmcswain]

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/AutoCAD-2011/dash-key-goes-to-menu/m-p/2690027#M2584 Many workarounds including turning of the Menu bar, hitting Esc 3 times, toggling with Alt...

OK.
Using this procedure, I can duplicate it.
For me, it's looks like a Win7 thing....
LDT2008 on XP works as normal (only 2 ESC needed)
LDT2009 and C3D2011 on Win7 both behave just like the example linked about.



...Programers are aware so maybe it will be fixed in the next update.
I just wish they would fix the bug where plot preview hides the Prospector and Settings tabs in the Toolspace....

[Opie]

OK.
Using this procedure, I can duplicate it.
For me, it's looks like a Win7 thing....
LDT2008 on XP works as normal (only 2 ESC needed)
LDT2009 and C3D2011 on Win7 both behave just like the example linked about.
I have this problem in C3D2011 on XP 64 bit. I did not find their "possible" solutions as an acceptable solution. Tech support wanted me to recreate my windows profile. I don't have that kind of time. I'll live with the bug over doing that. And that was not even a tried and true solution.


I just wish they would fix the bug where plot preview hides the Prospector and Settings tabs in the Toolspace....
I was wondering why that happens. Thanks.

[rkmcswain]

I have this problem in C3D2011 on XP 64 bit. I did not find their "possible" solutions as an acceptable solution. Tech support wanted me to recreate my windows profile. I don't have that kind of time. I'll live with the bug over doing that. And that was not even a tried and true solution.

I had never noticed the "-" (hyphen) button problem until I saw this thread.
MENUBAR=0 here, but I don't think I would have noticed even it = 1.
I guess it's because people are using ALT to activate menu items?



I was wondering why that happens. Thanks.
I met Barbara Piper at AU last year and she knew the cause... I could not figure it out either... I just knew that I looked up periodically and those tabs were missing...

[Opie]

It usually occurs to me after I have used a C3D command and want to use a command line autocad command. It becomes a pain.

[Julesagain]

I came here today looking for an answer to this problem. I'm using vanilla 2011 Acad. As far as I know, my ALT key is not sticking, and I like having the menubar on, so menubar=0 will be a last resort. I don't have dynamic input on most of the time - only for specific tasks that I rarely ever do. I'm not using Win7, we're on XP here. I will say I only noticed this in the last two days. The only thing I've changed in those two days was an update to Firefox, unless my company implemented an update to XP, which I don't have any control over.

Tidbit: If I hit cancel 3 times, I ALWAYS get the error. It doesn't seem to matter if my cursor is in the drawing space or on the command line. I am one of those old fogeys who types almost everything in on the command line, with various shortcuts and hotkeys. But this is happening when I'm trying to type in filenames or when saving data in a script (the one that's driving me the craziest is a script to insert the drawing name in all our blocks on that page, preparatory to extracting said blocks out to a materials list). Often those names include dashes. I'll include the script if anyone is interested, but it's been working fine for years, like I said, I just noticed this problem in the last couple of days, and kept thinking I must have switched over to another window or something. Finally sat there and tested it until I realized what was going on, and came here hoping someone had an answer.

Grrr!

[Tom Beauford]

I came here today looking for an answer to this problem. I'm using vanilla 2011 Acad. As far as I know, my ALT key is not sticking, and I like having the menubar on, so menubar=0 will be a last resort. Grrr!
I think it's a Windows thing. Since IE7 ALT toggled the underscore under the capital letter in Windows Menu Bars: http://benosullivan.co.uk/windows/how-to-toggle-the-menu-bar-in-internet-explorer-7-and-8/
Try it in AutoCAD or Internet Exployer. Click ALT and look at the menu bar, then click it again. With the underscores off you should be ok, but we use that key a lot so it's not a perfect answer just all I have.