How to Use Command Context Panels
Quick answer: A Command Context panel opens automatically when certain commands start, giving you a place to make selections, adjust settings, or track progress without leaving the command line. It’s dockable like any other panel, floating, docked, or stacked, and reopens at the same size and position each time. A separate, simpler kind of panel, the floating command panel, is used by a handful of other commands, and just opens and closes with the command rather than persisting.
What’s Inside a Command Context Panel
Content varies by command, but generally falls into three categories:
- Necessary steps: entity selection, base point selection, naming, choosing between alternatives.
- Settings: on/off options, default values, tolerances.
- Command progress: how many elements have been handled versus the total, or a progress meter.
Docking Behaviour
Like other dockable panels, a Command Context panel can be floating, docked, or stacked, and it reopens at whatever size and position it was in when you last closed or collapsed it, rather than resetting each time.
Commands That Use a Command Context Panel
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
ARRANGE |
Aligns and distributes a set of entities along the axes of the current UCS |
ARRAYDETECT |
Creates 2D or 3D arrays based on detected entity patterns |
BIMBEAM |
Creates solids classified as Beam |
BIMCHECKDETAILS |
Inspects BIM Project details and their references |
BIMCOLUMN |
Creates solids classified as Column |
BIMCREATEDETAIL |
Creates a 3D detail and saves it to the Details library |
BIMIFY |
Automatically classifies and spatially locates an entire model |
BIMINVERTSPACES |
Converts 3D solids or closed polylines representing spaces into a building structure that encompasses them |
BIMQUICKBUILDING |
Transforms solids into buildings |
BIMQUICKDRAW |
Creates and edits spaces and buildings |
BIMROOF |
Creates solids classified as Roof |
BIMSLAB |
Creates solids classified as Slab |
BIMTAG |
Creates associative tags |
BIMUPDATESTORYHEIGHT |
Changes the height of a story in a BIM model |
BIMWALL |
Creates solids classified as Wall |
BLOCKIFY |
Converts identical sets of entities into block references |
BMASSEMBLYINSPECT |
Checks whether a mechanical assembly can be assembled or disassembled without collisions |
CAEANALYZE2D |
Runs a 2D Finite Element Analysis |
DMAUDIT |
Analyses and repairs drawing errors |
DMSIMPLIFY |
Simplifies the geometry and topology of 3D solids |
DMSIMPLIFYALL |
Simplifies 3D solids across the drawing and its blocks |
DWGHEALTH |
Combines several commands to improve overall drawing size and accuracy |
FINDOUTLIERS |
Finds entities that fall outside the valid area |
NUMBER |
Creates incremental number tags for BIM entities |
OPTIMIZE |
Corrects inaccuracies in 2D or 3D entities |
OVERKILL |
Deletes duplicate or overlapping entities and combines duplicate blocks |
POINTCLOUDCOLORMAP |
Colourises a point cloud |
POINTCLOUDDEVIATION |
Shows how closely point cloud points fit a selected surface |
POINTCLOUDFITPLANAR |
Creates a planar surface or solid from point cloud points |
POINTCLOUDPROFILESWEEP |
Reconstructs a linear feature within a point cloud |
POINTCLOUDPROJECTSECTION |
Generates a 2D raster image, with optional contour lines, from a section box |
SIMPLIFY |
Simplifies entities |
SOLIDIFY |
Converts meshes to solids |
Commands That Use a Simpler Floating Panel Instead
A handful of commands use a plainer floating panel that opens when the command starts and closes as soon as it ends, without the docking or persistence of a full Command Context panel:
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
BIMDIMENSION |
Semi-automatically dimensions selected entities in the viewport |
BIMSTAIR |
Automatically creates a BIM staircase |
FITARC |
Fits an arc or circle to entities |
FITLINE |
Fits a line to entities |
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s the difference between a Command Context panel and a floating command panel? A Command Context panel is fully dockable and remembers its size and position between uses. A floating command panel just opens with the command and closes when it ends, with no persistence.
Does every command use a Command Context panel? No, only a specific set of commands, mostly BIM tools, point cloud tools, and drawing-cleanup commands like OPTIMIZE and OVERKILL, are built to use one.
Can I move or resize a Command Context panel? Yes. It behaves like any other dockable panel, floating, docked, or stacked, and reopens exactly where you left it.