How to Use the Quad

Quick answer: The Quad is a context-sensitive command menu that appears right at your cursor. Hover over an entity or make a selection, and it shows commands relevant to what you’re pointing at; with nothing selected, it offers general tools like creating entities or inserting blocks instead. Toggle it from the Quad field in the Status Bar, or right-click that field for its settings.

Turning the Quad On or Off

Click the Quad field in the Status Bar to toggle its display. Right-click the same field to open its settings.

Editing an Entity with the Quad

1. Hover the cursor over an entity. It highlights, and the Quad shows the commands you’ve most recently used with that entity type. If ROLLOVERTIPS is on, the entity’s properties show in the Quad too.
2. Move the cursor onto the Quad itself to keep those recent commands visible, along with a few category tabs at the bottom.
3. Hover over a tab to expand the command group underneath it.
4. Click an icon to run that command.

One dependency worth knowing: if SELECTIONPREVIEW is off, the Quad won’t display on hover at all, regardless of what QUADDISPLAY‘s hover option is set to.

Using the Quad With Nothing Selected

When there’s no entity under the cursor or selected, a separate “No Selection Quad” gives you general tools instead, creating entities, inserting blocks, attaching underlays, or opening the Settings and Drawing Explorer dialogs. This requires the “Display the Quad on right click” option to be turned on.

To bring it up:

• Right-click in an empty part of the drawing window, or
• Hold the right mouse button down longer while the cursor is on an entity.

Then either click one of the recently used commands shown, or hover over a tab to expand it and pick a specific command.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why doesn’t the Quad appear when I hover over an entity? Check that SELECTIONPREVIEW is on. If it’s off, the Quad won’t display on hover no matter what QUADDISPLAY‘s settings say.

What’s the difference between the regular Quad and the No Selection Quad? The regular Quad shows commands relevant to whatever entity or selection you’re pointing at. The No Selection Quad appears when nothing’s selected and offers general tools like creating entities or opening dialogs instead.

How do I bring up the No Selection Quad? Right-click an empty part of the drawing, or hold the right mouse button down longer while on an entity, provided “Display the Quad on right click” is turned on.