Acad07 Cmd Trivia

I'm nearly done updating my best-selling(*) book, "The Illustrated AutoCAD Quick Reference" for 2007 (Autodesk Press). It's still a quick reference, with all commands listed alphabetically, but it is no longer thin. The first edition, for AutoCAD Release 11 (1992) was 272 pages; the current edition will be 928 pages -- 3.4x fatter

One reason for the increase is that it now describes 533 commands, including those not documented by Autodesk, but excluding Express Tools. There are differences between Autodesk's documentation team and I about what counts as a command. For example, they don't document DxfIn and DxfOut; I do.

While writing it, I came up with this command trivia:

- longest command name: ExternalReferencesClose at 23 characters
- shortest command name: U (undo).
- most popular letter: D (52 commands start with D)
- lonliest command letter: Z (Zoom command).
- most descrimated-against letters: K and Y (there are no commands that start with those letters)

Bonus trivia:

The Xref and Image commands are now hardwire aliases for the new ExternalReferences command and its palette. To access the dialog boxes displayed by the original commands, use the ClassicImage and ClassicXref commands.

Xtra bonus trivia:

Even though Autodesk requires that Microsoft's IE Web browser be used with AutoCAD, AutoCAD doesn't use MSN Search. Nope. In AutoCAD 2007's online help, click the "Search the Web for..." button, and it's Google that gets employed.

(*) Best-selling = ranked today as #6 out of 1,600 AutoCAD books at amazon.com.