Using the Command Line

The command line provides numerous commands that can be used for multiple purposes, like drawing geometries or changing the GUI configuration.

The command line panel is located at the bottom of the main window. In this panel the user can issue commands to be processed by the application.

Figure 1. Calling the box command using interactive mode


Most commands (especially those related to geometry) have two modes of invocation inline mode and interactive mode. In the inline mode, the command is called by specifying the command name followed by all the arguments the command needs to work. In interactive mode, commands are called by specifying their name (in some cases, a modifier can also be specified to alter its behaviour) and then the command line asks for the required parameters, one by one. The latter mode is easier to use when the user does not know the order of the parameters used by the inline mode (which can be queried by calling the command with the–hmodifier). It is possible to abort a command while in interactive mode by pressing the Esc key, or to jump into the previous step by pressing the Ctrl+Left keys combination. The previous figure shows the box command called in interactive mode, whereas the following figure shows the same command called using the inline mode. Both forms of invocation achieve the same result.

Figure 2. Calling the box command using inline mode


Commands that are used to create geometric primitives are called in a similar way. The -n modifier is optional and, if it's present, it must be followed by a user-given name for the created geometry. This name can be used to refer to the created object in commands that represent geometric operations (like copy, rotate or array). If the -n modifier is not present, the created object will be given an automatically generated name.

In the other hand, the -p modifier is mandatory and must be followed by the parameters needed for the creation of the geometry. In case of doubt about the meaning and the order of the parameters needed to create a certain primitive, it is recommended to run the command with only the -h modifier to obtain help.

For further information about the commands general behaviour, use the help command.