Overview

The dashboard provides a single interface element for operations that are relevant to the current workspace. The dashboard eliminates the need to display a lot of toolbars and reduces the clutter in the application window. Thus, you can maximize the area available for work, and use a single interface for speed and convenience.

The dashboard opens automatically by default when you use either the 2D Drafting & Annotation workspace or the 3D Modeling workspace. You can open the dashboard manually:

• Click Tools menu Palettes Dashboard.
• At the Command prompt, enter dashboard.

Dashboard Organization and Operation

The dashboard is organized into a series of control panels. Each control panel includes related tools and controls that are similar to the tools in toolbars and controls in dialog boxes.

The large icons displayed at the left side of the dashboard are called control panel icons. Each control panel icon identifies the purpose of the control panel. On some control panels, if you click the icon, a slide-out panel opens that contains additional tools and controls. An open slide-out panel closes automatically when you click another control panel icon. Only one slide-out panel is displayed at a time.

A tool palette group can be associated with each control panel. To display the associated tool palette group, click a tool or open a slide-out panel.

Display or Hide, Dock, and Resize the Dashboard

You can customize the display of the dashboard in the following ways:

• Size the dashboard horizontally. If not enough space is available to display all the tools in a row, a black down-arrow called an overflow control is displayed.
• Use the shortcut menu to control the auto-hide, docking, and anchoring behavior. With anchoring, the dashboard results is displayed as a narrow space-saving strip along the left or right edge of the drawing area. For more information about docking and anchoring palettes and windows, see Set Interface Options.

Customize the Dashboard

You can customize the dashboard in the following ways:

• You can create and modify dashboard panels using the Customize User Interface dialog box. See Customize Dashboard Panels in the Customization Guide.
• You can specify which control panels are displayed by right-clicking the dashboard and, on the shortcut menu, clicking or clearing the names of control panels.
• You can associate a customizable tool palette group with each control panel on the dashboard. Right-click the control panel to display a list of available tool palette groups.